COMPAÑIA HONDUREÑA DE TABACOS OPENS KUUTS, LLC DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN AMERICA
 COMPAÑIA HONDUREÑA DE TABACOS OPENS KUUTS, LLC DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN AMERICA
MIAMI FL – Well-established throughout Europe and the rest of the world with a sales volume in excess of 2 million cigars per year, Compañia Hondureña de Tabacos brings its premium cigars stateside with the opening of Kuuts Distribution Center, a brand new, state of the art distribution center in Southeast, Florida.
With over 15 years of experience and a new factory in Danli, Honduras capable of making over 6 million cigars per year, the company is set to distribute 3 premium brands in the United States. All 3 hand-made premium cigar brands; Placeres Reserva, Miró, and Tabacalera Zapata are set to debut in 2013 and feature 100% long filler tobacco and are offered in a range of vitolas.
Placeres Reserva is a box pressed product available in 5 vitolas featuring a Habano wrapper grown in Nicaragua. This medium to ¾ body cigar has a binder from Costa Rica and a filler blend from Honduras & Nicaragua.
Miró is available in 4 vitolas and features a Sumatra wrapper. This medium to ¾ body cigar has a filler blend from Nicaragua and Honduras.
Tabacalera Zapata gets its name from one of the company’s founders, Ramon Zapata Perez. This medium bodied masterpiece is finished with a Connecticut Oscuro wrapper and a Nicaraguan binder. The fillers consist of aged tobacco from Nicaragua, Honduras and Jaltepec.
According to John Gonzalez, Vice President of Kuuts, “We believe we have a great portfolio of products for our initial offering in the US market. There is something for everyone and a lot of room to grow as well. The company has made a tremendous commitment to the US market and we look forward to developing a long-standing relationship with today’s cigar connoisseur and the great retailers throughout the country”.
Kuuts LLC was established in Miami Florida in October 2012 for the purpose of distributing products manufactured by Compañia Hondureña de Tabacos to the US market.
Visit Kuuts online at: Kuuts.com
Bill To Protect Premium Cigars Gets New Number (HR 792)
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The Traditional Cigar Manufacturing & Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2013 is now H.R. 792 |
 On December 21, 2012, the President’s Administration again noted its intent to bring cigars under the domain of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The threat is real. Between April 2010 and December 2012, the federal government told us they were coming after our humidors, seven times.
As you know, throughout 2012, tremendous progress was made to advance H.R. 1639 and S. 1461 so that the legislative process could help protect our passion for a great cigar. Through your petitions to Congress, your voice was heard, with over 200,000 messages to the U.S. House of Representatives, 221 bi-partisan members said Yes to Cigar Liberty. Fourteen members of the U.S. Senate joined them in that chorus, telling the FDA to Leave our Cigars, Alone. Now, we’re doing it again. With our brethren at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, we now have H.R. 792. U.S. Representatives Bill Posey and Kathy Castor have again joined forces in the spirit of bi-partisan cooperation to help our cause. They have come together with a dozen members of Congress from both sides of the aisle as ‘original co-sponsors,’ to again tell the FDA that they have no business, in the cigar business. We need you again. Over 208,000 in Cigar Nation spoke to Congress in 2012. We need to do better. This time, in the spirit of our new bill number, we’re going to take Operation Cigar Liberty to new heights. With 792 petitions per Congressional District, that would be 344,520 messages to Congress, asking that they support this critical piece of legislation. Sign this simple petition with your name and zip code. We take care of the rest. Let us know of your legislator’s response. Let’s make our voices heard, as never before. The FDA could rip the soul out of the cigar industry, as we know it. By jeopardizing seasonal blends, threatening boutique production, imposition of new fees, keeping cigar samples out of your hands, and by their very prohibitionist approach, gutting the community tobacconists of Main Street America. CRA will keep you informed of the progress with H.R. 792 [and the forthcoming Senate bill] and what your legislators are saying. It’s time for Cigar Nation, to speak, loud and clear. |
| TAKE ACTION: Help Exempt Premium Cigars From FDA Regulation! |
| H.R. 792 – Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act Did you know that on April 26, 2010, December 20, 2010, and July 7, 2011 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration publicly posted their intent to regulate cigars in the Federal Register? Some of the measures FDA could consider, as we believe they are, include:
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Cigar Rights of America Facilitates International Support Against FDA Regulation of Cigars
Cigar Rights of America Facilitates International Support
Against FDA Regulation of Cigars
Fairfax, VA – Cigar Rights of America announced this week a dramatic new measure in the
effort to combat federal regulation of cigars. CRA has not just been working the halls of
Congress since legislation was filed to protect cigars from potentially threatening
regulations by the US Food & Drug Administration. The organization has also been engaging in a brand of shuttle diplomacy among the primary cigar producing nations of Latin America.
Last week, following several months of meetings and groundwork, a joint letter was issued
by the Ambassadors to the United States for Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican
Republic.
Facilitated by Cigar Rights of America, the staff of each embassy has been kept apprised
of the legislation filed in 2011 to protect cigars from FDA oversight, which finished
2012 with 221 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives, and fourteen in the U.S.
Senate. The bills are currently being resubmitted for the 113th Congress.
While previous joint letters have been sent to the members of the House and Senate
committees for foreign affairs by the Honduran and Dominican Republic ambassadors, this
is the first joint statement of all three, and sent directly to the Obama Administration.
Signed by Ambassador to the U.S. for Honduras Jorge Ramon Hernandez-Alcerro, Ambassador to the U.S. for the Dominican Republic Anibal de Castro, and Ambassador to the U.S. for Nicaragua Francisco Campbell, the letter highlights the economic significance of the premium cigar industry to each of their respective nations, and why the government of the United States should not promote regulations that can pose threats to the industry.
The letter states, “If history is any precedent, some of the regulations that could be
imposed by the agency would prove disastrous to the centuries old cigar industry that
provides over 350,000 jobs among our three nations, and represents millions of dollars in
export revenue. No regulatory measure should threaten such jobs, and hence raise the
specter of political and economic consequences within our region.â€
The letter further notes that premium cigars were neither a target nor the intent of
Congress, when it passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The
ambassadors point out that the legislation pending in Congress, as well as letters sent
from Members of the House and Senate to the FDA, “serves to echo our deep concern about
the direction and intentions of FDA.â€
Alonso Menendez Robusto
The Alonso Menedez line of cigars is from the Dona Flor Cigars company from Brazil. Dona Flor has a rich history in the cigar industry and their cigars are now available in the US via Dona Flor USA. For more company information take a look at the review i did of the Dona Flor CC Bahia Blend Corona. I saw a recent review from Cigar-Coop of another Dona Flor cigar, so that got me wanting to try another Dona Flor. So, today I am going to take a look at the Alonso Menedez Connecticut. I say its a Connecticut, but it is Brazilian grown tobacco.
 
Size: 5×50
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Brazil
Binder: Brazil
Filler: Brazil
Source: Sample from Dona Flor USA
General Cigar Announces New Website
General Cigar Launches New Website
The new General Cigar website, http://www.cigarworld.com/ has just gone live! While the name’s the same, the site has been completely redone. The folks at General Cigar spent almost a whole year developing it.
Think of the new Cigar World as a digital cigar lounge. It’s got cool interactive features like a virtual humidor and a cigar bomb component, and it gives cigar lovers the chance to interact and voice their opinions.
Cigar World also brings General Cigar to life, with detailed information on the company and their portfolio of products. It includes biographies of the artisans who make their cigars.
Other new features of the site include an education section, which will come in handy for those of you who need to brush up on their cigar knowledge.
The site also has a section devoted to lifestyle content. It’s called CW World Magazine and it includes articles on wine and spirits, men’s apparel, sports, electronics and more. CW Magazine is easy to locate on cigarworld.com. Just find CW Magazine on the main navigation, and click to get there.
To celebrate the launch of the site, General Cigar is running a contest called the 30 Days of Giveaways. Cigar World humidors, autographed boxes and other prizes are available. Just create a profile on the site, and you’re entered to win. Visit http://www.cigarworld.com/ to get in on the action.
La Palina Cigars Announces Price Decrease
“Smoked Up” No.6
This year is really moving fast! Here it is, already into the second week of February. There has been crazy weather up north with snow storms and rain and tornadoes here down south. Between it being cold one day and warm the next, I did jot down a few notes on some of the cigars I smoked this past week as well as some cigar news from the week.
Cigars from the Week
Ponce de Leon Torpedo:Â I got this cigar as a gift from a local shop owner. I couldn’t find any information on these cigars, so if you find any, let me know. It was a very woody & nutty cigar. Stayed fairly consistent the whole way through. Not a very complex smoke, but a somewhat enjoyable one. The draw was great & burn was nice. I let it sit while tending the ribs on the smoker & it didn’t need a relight. A medium bodied & flavor strength cigar that would be a good morning or afternoon smoke seeing its not too bold.
Alec Bradley Maxx Brazil Corona
The Alec Bradley Maxx Brazil is a cigar that is only available at Cigar.com or CigarsInternational.com and is the same blend as the original Maxx line. But, instead of the Nicaraguan maduro wrapper and a Costa Rican binder, it has a Brazilian Habano wrapper and a Brazilian Mata Fina binder. I have had my fair share of the “original” Maxx line, but when I saw the Brazil line, I had to try them. Once I did, they started to really grow on me more and more. I was smoking these fairly regularly and figured, why not do an in-depth review of my favorite size, the Corona.
Size: 5.5×42
Vitola: Corona
Wrapper: Brazilian Habano
Binder: Costa Rican
Filler:Â Colombian, Nicaraguan, Mexican, and Honduran
Cost: $6.25
Source: Purchased
Ezra Zion Re-Branded as Jamais Vu
| OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
Ezra Zion Cigar Company, recipients of multiple Cigar of the Year Awards for 2012, are re-branding their inaugural cigar release, INCEPTION. The name of the blend will be changed to JAMAIS VU. Chris Kelly explains, “After being cleared for use by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we went into furious production on INCEPTION. Come to find out, the USPTO failed to inform us of another company that was using the same name and ended up awarding them the trademark rights.” Kyle Hoover, co-owner added, “We knew we had a choice: we could engage in a lengthy, nasty legal dispute, or we could keep our focus on making great cigars. We chose the latter.” “It’s the exact award-winning blend as INCEPTION, nothing has changed there, but along with the new branding we will be redesigning the packaging and adding 3 additional sizes as well.” The Don Fonseca noted. “I think our customers will be pleased!” “We chose the name “JAMAIS VU” because it’s the opposite of Deja Vu, and the definition tells the story of the rebranding of INCEPTION. JAMAIS VU is defined as “…a sense of eeriness and the observer’s impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before.” Chris continued, “Those customers with INCEPTION boxes have a very limited edition piece of cigar history! We will begin production on the rebranded JAMAIS VU within the month.” More information on Ezra Zion Cigar Co. can be found at EzraZion.com or @EzraZionCigars |
Visit Cigar Federation at: http://cigarfederation.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
“Smoked Up” No.5
This week has been really crazy for me. I got one of only two prereleased cigars from Elogio & Cresecent City Cigars and got a review of it up. It was a pretty good smoke! So I was stoked to have been one of two who got to review it first. Then, I had a  loss of a family friend. So I had a lot on my mind this week.
“We don’t know what we got it, until its gone.”
RIP Joesph Hurd Sr. You will be missed.
 Cigars of the Week
Viaje 5th Anniversary: Most Viaje LEs I’ve found need to rest a few months to reach their full potential. This one has sat for about two months. The draw started out tight, but eased up some once into it. The burn was fairly good, and only needed one touch-up. Had chalky wood & slight pepper flavors at first with a slight cocoa undertone. Around halfway the pepper died off & left the chalky wood notes. There was a slight taste of a salt aftertaste to it towards the end. For a 5th Anniversary cigar, I had expected a good bit more from Viaje. Maybe it needs more rest in the humidor.
