![Havana - Cuba - 3519](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Havana_-_Cuba_-_3519.jpg)
The Cigar boom is the name given to the resurgence of
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...
consumption in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
during the mid-1990s. Beginning in 1992, imports and sales of
premium
Premium may refer to:
Marketing
* Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products
* Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing, ...
cigars began to rise dramatically and manufacturers struggled to keep up with demand, leading to industry-wide shortages of raw materials and finished products. The period was marked and the trend accelerated with the 1992 establishment of ''
Cigar Aficionado
''Cigar Aficionado'' is an American magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the good life and the world of cigars. Published since September 1992, the magazine is known for its profiles on celebrities including Michael Jordan, Jack Nicholson, Th ...
'' magazine.
By 1997, production caught up with demand and the downward side of the cycle of
boom and bust began to make itself felt, leading to a shakeout of many of the smaller and weaker upstart manufacturers of
boutique
A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse".
The term ''boutique'' and also ''d ...
premium cigars. A slow resurgence of the industry began in 2001, until by 2011 total cigar imports began again to approach the peak years of the boom.
History
American cigar demand in the 1980s
Throughout the decade of the 1980s, imports of handmade cigars into the United States remained stagnant at about 100 million cigars per year.
The lengthy plateau in consumer demand allowed
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
farmers and brokers and cigar manufacturers to plan for future production.
[Lew Rothman, "Are You Kiddin' Me? Just How Dumb Does Everyone Think We Are?' ''Cigar Magazine,'' vol. 3, no. 4 (Winter 2006-07), pp. 138-140.] Since cigar tobacco requires an extensive preparation process, including stripping, sorting,
fermentation
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
, and aging, which can take years on its own, dramatic changes in the level of output required two or three years of advance time.
Cigar industry veteran
Lew Rothman
Lew or LEW may refer to:
People
* Lew (given name)
* Lew (surname)
Places
* Lew, Oxfordshire, England
* River Lew, in Devon, England
Transport
* LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany
* Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...
later recalled that
"Because there was only a finite number of potential customers and a fairly predictable demand for premium cigars, the quantity of tobacco planted to supply that demand, and the price for those wrappers, binders
Ring binders (loose leaf binders, looseleaf binders, or sometimes called files in Britain) are large folders that contain file folders or hole punched papers. These binders come in various sizes and can accommodate an array of paper sizes. The ...
, and filler leaves, remained very constant throughout the 1980s and into the '90s. Basically, there were no new farmers, brokers, or factories for the product, and it was 'the same old, same old' for over a decade."
The 1992 revival
In the 4th Quarter of 1992, the long-term decline in the importation of cigars began to show signs of being reversed, as quantities increased by 4% over previous year totals.
["The Cigar Boom What It Was (and Is),"](_blank)
openlibrary.com/, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
The end of 1992 also saw the establishment of a new publication, credited by some with spurring the cigar boom of the 1990s.
''
Cigar Aficionado
''Cigar Aficionado'' is an American magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the good life and the world of cigars. Published since September 1992, the magazine is known for its profiles on celebrities including Michael Jordan, Jack Nicholson, Th ...
'' magazine, a glossy monthly publication, helped to legitimize the idea that cigars were not a vile relic of a by-gone century and helped to foster an
epicurean
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism.
Few writings by Epi ...
attitude towards hand-crafted tobacco products.
Over the years a number of important celebrities revealed themselves to be cigar
connoisseurs
A connoisseur ( French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator ...
in its pages, including television's
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
and radio's
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
.
The year 1993 saw the first significant increase in cigar imports to the United States in more than a decade, with a total of 117.8 million cigars brought into the country, an increase of about 10 percent over the previous year's totals.
[David Savona]
"The Cigar Boom,"
''Cigar Aficionado,'' Autumn 1996.
The next year saw a further 12 percent gain in the number of imported cigars into the American market, to 132.4 million pieces.
This was followed by an astounding 33 percent gain in 1995, with 176.3 million cigars imported into the country in that year.
This trend further accelerated during the first part of 1996, with yet another 36 percent gain posted in the first quarter of that year.
By the time 1996 came to a close, some 293 million premium cigars had been imported into the United States — an astonishing 66% gain over 1995's record imports.
Many upstart companies began in the 1990s in an attempt to meet blossoming demand, with long-term survivors including
Tabacalera Perdomo
Perdomo is a brand of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold worldwide by Tabacalera Perdomo. Manufactured by Perdomo Cigars, the company is a family owned and operated business headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida and headed b ...
(established 1992),
Oliva Cigar Co.
Oliva Cigar Co. is the manufacturer of several brands of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold internationally. Melanio Oliva began growing tobacco in Pinar del Río, Cuba, in 1886. In 1964, in the aftermath of the 1959 Cuban Re ...
(established 1995), and
Rocky Patel
The Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Company is a manufacturer of cigars, founded by Rakesh "Rocky" Patel and based in Bonita Springs, Florida.
History
The company was founded in 1995 as Indian Tabac Cigar Co. by Hollywood attorney Rakesh "Rocky" Pat ...
(established mid-1990s). Many other upstart companies began manufacturing cigars in this period, meeting a change in consumer purchasing patterns that favored purchasing single cigars produced by a broad range of manufacturers rather than box quantities from established makers.
This period also saw the growth of parallel grass roots industries, such as
independent record labels
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
, premium
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
houses powered by the rapid expansion of
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
, and
microbreweries
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
which produced special varieties of
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
.
[For evidence that the premium cigar community was conscious of the parallel even at the time, see the coverage o]
"Micromania"
in ''Smoke'' magazine, vol. 1, no. 4 (Fall 1996). The rapid expansion of demand for and manufacture of hand-crafted cigars may be seen as part and parcel of this broad consumer trend which sought specialized craft products over generic mass-produced goods.
Problems of the boom
Due to the nearly 2 year turnaround between tobacco seed and the youngest finished premium product, production was for a time unable to keep up with the new
fad-like demand for premium cigars, resulting in widespread backorders and rising prices.
By 1995, the number of backordered cigars to American tobacconists hit the 25 million mark.
[Savona, "A Brief History of the Cigar Industry," pg. 167.] Even as imports soared, this supply situation worsened, until nearly 50 million cigars were on backorder, unable to be shipped due to insufficient wholesale inventory, in 1996.
For nearly 6 weeks in the summer of 1996,
General Cigar Company
General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia.
Company history
In 1961 General Cigar, which was ...
found itself sold out of its
Macanudo cigar, unable to ship even a single box of what was then the best-selling premium cigar in America.
Lew Rothman later remembered the extraordinary situation in these years:
"Insanity reigned. * * *
"Tobacco is harvested in six to seven primings, as the leaves on a plant mature from bottom to top. Each priming is normally three leaves. In past years and under normal circumstances, what is left is the corona, or top, of the plant. These are very small leaves heavily laden with nicotine
Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...
. The corona was often sold to chewing tobacco
Chewing tobacco is a type of smokeless tobacco product that is placed between the cheek and lower gum to draw out its flavor. Some users chew it, others do not. It consists of coarsely chopped aged tobacco that is flavored and often sweetened; ...
companies who flavored this nicotine-laden tobacco and then sold it under names like Mail Pouch, Red Man
America's Best Chew (formerly Red Man) is an American brand of chewing tobacco which was first introduced in 1904.[nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...](_blank ...<br></span></div>, and others... If the corona remained unsold, then it and the stalk would be plowed under to provide soil-enriching <div class=)
for next year's crop.
"During the Cigar Boom years, this practice all but disappeared! Why? Because during the priming cycle the tobacco stalks would have a secondary growth of tiny leaves much like the sucker branches you might see on a tree limb. The shortages of tobacco were so ferocious that everyone began harvesting these tiny second-growth leaves, called ''capadura,'' to use as filler tobaccos, and brokers started to sell capadura, the same stuff that used to get plowed under. The point being that every single conceivable scrap of anything that would pass for cigar leaf was being courted by manufacturers large and small, new and old, to meet the demand for cigars in the first half of the 1990s."
As backstocks of aged tobacco vanished and inferior sources were exploited, quality suffered. The April 1997 issue of ''Cigar Insider'' newsletter rated 50 offerings and scored none higher than 90 points for the first time in the publication's 16-month history.
Newcomers to the industry, intent on making quick cash from the cigar fad, frequently produced an inferior product.
The bust of 1997 and legacy
The cigar boom is recognized to have ended in 1997, when the expanded supply of handmade cigars caught up with backorders and soon far outstripped demand, leaving millions of unsold cigars in wholesale inventory.
[Simon Chase, "Havana's Obesity Challenge," ''Cigar Magazine,'' vol. 7, no. 3 (Fall 2010), pp. 125-129.] Dedicated cigar smokers wearied of the frequently poor quality of new makers and returned to established names of the industry,
[Savova, "A Brief History of the Cigar Industry," pg. 168.] while many newcomers moved on to new hobbies.
As demand for new brands plummeted, newly established makers faced unparalleled
cash-flow
A cash flow is a real or virtual movement of money:
*a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected ...
problems and began to dump their unsold inventories. Discount cigar retailers suddenly found themselves awash in available product, with cigars sometimes being sold in 1998 for less than the cost of production.
The bust which swept the industry continued for a period of two years, a shakedown which resulted in the death of many fledgling companies.
Many of the manufacturers who survived the downturn of the industry, generally basing their production in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
, or
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
, were able to reestablish themselves through the marketing of new and innovative shapes and sizes.
Traditional
ring gauges were de-emphasized in favor of thicker and longer products, a trend which has continued into the cigar market of the 21st century.
Cigar sales began to climb again only in 2001.
The rate of growth in the subsequent decade was slow, steady, and sustainable, averaging 6 percent annually.
In 2011 a total of 278.5 million premium cigars were imported into the United States — 2.5 times the level of the last "pre-boom" year, 1991.
References
{{reflist, 2
Further reading
* David Savona
"The Calm: The Gold Rush Days of the Cigar Boom are Gone, and So are Most of the Quick-Buck Artists Who Flocked to the Dominican Republic,"''Cigar Aficionado,'' vol. 7, no. 6 (October 1999), pp. 228–237.
1990s in the United States
Cigars
Commodity booms
Tobacco in the United States