Scotch and cigars are a classic pairing, but lately I’ve been turning more and more toward rum as my spirit of choice when enjoying a cigar. One of my favorite rums for smoking is the incredibly rich Ron Zacapa Centenario, a Guatemalan rum distilled from sugar cane “honey” and aged for 23 years via the solera method. In short, this means that rum lost to evaporation one year is replaced with rum from the next, meaning that each barrel contains a blend of rums from each year. The rum is smooth, sweet, and very cooling, which can be an agreeable feature when having a cigar. For people who haven’t paired rum and cigars before, Zacapa is an eye-opening experience.
On Tuesday, July 13, my friend Ed Ryan from the Portland Cigar Club and I putting together an event at Alu Wine Bar and Lounge to bring together Ron Zacapa and cigars on the Alu patio. Ed’s bringing in two cigars, the Honduras Caribbean Honduran Puro Maduro and the Kinky Friedman Kinkycristo, which is a blend of Honduran & Nicaraguan tobaccos wrapped in a Costa Rican binder and a Honduran wrapper. These will be matched with Ron Zacapa served neat and in two cocktails. This is a fantastic deal, but space is limited, so buy your ticket on PayPal to reserve your seat.
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Following the lead of New York’s David Paterson, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has proposed new taxes on tobacco, candy, and soft drinks. Cigars may be hit especially hard:
It would also increase taxes on smokeless tobacco and cigars, generating $15 million for the state. (Administration officials said a $2 cigar that now costs $2.76 would jump to $4.46.)
As cigarette taxes hit their maximum and states lose revenue to SCHIP, they’re going to turn to other forms of tobacco. This will leave cigars especially vulnerable. They can’t be smoked quickly like cigarettes, making them much harder to consume under smoking bans. Nor do they enjoy the cartel protections of the Master Settlement Agreement.
Note also that Boston is scheduled to force its six remaining cigar bars out of business.
[Via the Stogie Guys.]
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The Stogie Guys have the scoop on a private cigar club opening soon in Alexandria, VA, in the wake of the state’s smoking ban:
[...] CXIII Rex will have all the amenities of traditional cigar lounges, including a well-stocked walk-in humidor, a selection of top libations and small-batch wines, ample seating, wireless internet, private humidor lockers, and the like. But this club, slated to open in late March, will also feature more luxurious accommodations. Included will be a state-of-the-art air ventilation system, an access-only elevator, an all-female wait staff, and a private cigar blend crafted by none other than Rocky Patel. [...]
Individual memberships, as you might expect from a club of this caliber, are not inexpensive. The cost is $5,000 to join CXIII Rex and $100 each month thereafter. Franco and Noe tell me that 200 slots are available, with 160 already claimed for. If, like me, this is above your price range, or if you reside outside the Washington metro area, you still have to appreciate the high attention to detail and passion that’s going in to creating a premier cigar lounge. I haven’t seen anything like it before.
Some of this sounds great, some of it a little gauche. (Is touting an all-female wait staff really necessary? It doesn’t exactly challenge the stereotype of the rich, male, self-important cigar smoker.) But what’s significant is that this business can exist at all. The Virginia smoking ban, as misguided as it is, at least allows for a market response. Dedicated lounges where smokers can congregate without offending others are free to open. This is in stark contrast to states like Oregon where the right to allow smoking in one’s bar is limited only to the favored few who happened to do so when a ban was passed.
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One of the things I miss most about Virginia is cigar sessions with good friends. Whether it was in front of Murky Coffee in the summer, in the back room of EatBar in the winter, or out on my balcony after a night of cocktails, it was always a welcome change of pace from the busy life in DC. For a variety of reasons it’s much harder to enjoy that hobby here in Portland.
To change that, Ron Dollete of PDXplate and I are hosting a cigar night this Monday at El Gaucho, one of the few Portland bars that still has a smoking room. We’re hoping to make it a monthly thing. Our group so far is mostly bartenders, but anyone who likes stogies and spirits is welcome to join. Details are on the event’s Facebook page.
(Our wise rulers in Salem have decreed that only cigars shall be set alight in bars, so leave your cigarettes and pipes at home.)
Previously:
Last night of smoking at the Horse Brass
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The AP reports on a troubling new trend:
The nation’s top distributor of clove cigarettes is offering fans a new way to get their fix after the spice-flavored cigarettes are banned at the end of this month—cigars.
The new filtered cigars—close to the size of a cigarette and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry—allow Kretek International Inc., which imports Djarum-brand tobacco products from Indonesia, to avoid new federal laws banning flavored cigarettes other than menthol.
The ban on flavored cigarettes, which critics say appeal to teenagers, doesn’t include cigars.
The difference? Cigarettes are wrapped in thin paper, cigars in tobacco leaves. While the cigars also are made with a different kind of tobacco, the taste is similar. The cigars come 12 to a pack, rather than 20 for cigarettes, but cost nearly half as much.
Why is this troubling? Not because people will continue smoking killer cloves. Not even because cigar shops may now be filled with their powerful aroma. No, it’s troubling because it will attract the government’s attention to cigars:
Whether the cigars are truly different or just an attempt to circumvent the ban by making superficial changes is in the hands of the FDA, said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
“The key is the legislation gives the FDA the authority to respond to these types of frankly totally irresponsible actions,” Mr. Myers said.
Mr. Myers joined executives from the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Amercian Legacy Foundation late last month urging the FDA to take a closer look at the issue.
Regulation of cigars is currently fairly light, allowing for the development of new brands and competition among them. And as an essentially pure agricultural product — they’re just rolls of cured leaves — that’s the way things ought to be. If the FDA or Congress starts turning its attention to cigars there’s no telling what harm they could to the industry.
I wrote about the pseudoscientific absurdity of banning flavored tobacco here.
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Patrick and Patrick of the Stogie Guys are reporting live this weekend from the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association Trade Show in New Orleans. (Man, I’m missing all the fun events in New Orleans this summer!) My favorite bit so far is this clever subterfuge to get around the new SCHIP tax:
In our preview on Thursday we mentioned Arganese was creating a two-in-one cigar designed to minimize the SCHIP tax. Below is a photo of the cigar, called “S-This.” What might not be clear from the photo is the cigar is really two smokes, connected at their heads with an extra bit of wrapper that can easily be removed by the smoker. So while for tax purposes the consumer is buying five cigars, in reality they get ten smokes. Sneaky.
Joining two stogies and letting the consumer cut them apart is a great idea. I don’t know how these smoke, but I’d buy some just to stick it to the man.
Previously:
Will SCHIP sink the states?
SCHIP and “the” tobacco tax
Children, say “thank you” for smoking
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USA Today has a depressing piece up on the state of the cigar industry. The short version is that the economic downturn, sudden tax hikes, and smoking bans are killing the industry. I worry about the long-term effects anti-smoking laws will have on premium tobacco. Making and smoking it could become a lost art, creating a cascade of job losses in the US and especially in growing countries. Cigar smoking will become exceedingly rare; furtive smoke breaks for mass-market cigarettes will continue just fine. [Via Stogie Guys.]
As an example of what we’re up against, here’s what the city council in Del Mar is up to:
Del Mar officials took a step this week toward banning smoking on city sidewalks and restaurant patios after diners complained about smoke ruining their meals at newly installed outdoor cafes.
The council will hold a public hearing before voting on the ban, but council members Monday bluntly expressed their distaste for smoking.
“You shouldn’t be exposed to a health hazard while walking down the streets of Del Mar,” said Councilman Don Mosier.
Mayor Crystal Crawford said she remains open to hearing from the public but noted, “This is a council of non-smokers.” [...]
Staff members also will research the idea of creating a city licensing program to regulate tobacco retailers.
There was discussion about banning cigarette vending machines, but no one remembered seeing such machines in Del Mar.
What kind of person complains to the city council about a bad experience at a restaurant? If one’s Caesar salad isn’t up to par, the usual remedy isn’t asking the local rulers to step in and fix it. You talk to the manager, write a bad review on Yelp, or take your business elsewhere. Smoke exposure shouldn’t be any different. The fact that non-smokers are turning to the city council to get their way is just another example of how anti-smoking hysteria has poisoned civil society.
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It’s been a busy week for tobacco policy. One of the developments is senate approval of an exemption for cigar bars in New Hampshire:
The New Hampshire Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that would grant cigar bars permission to sell liquor if approved by the House.
Though the bill exempts cigar bars from the state’s two-year-old ban on smoking in public bars and restaurants, lawmakers added restrictions to the bill before it passed in a 21-9 vote.
Businesses will be required to: not serve food of any kind, show proof that 60 percent of gross revenue is derived from cigars or related products, maintain a humidor on the premises, and prohibit cigarette smoking. Also, all job applicants must be warned in writing about the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure.
This should be good news. Exemptions for cigar bars aren’t uncommon and there’s no reason New Hampshire shouldn’t have one too. And yet the prohibition on cigarette smoking bothers me. What is the justification for letting cigar smokers have places to enjoy their hobby indoors while denying the same right to cigarette smokers? There isn’t one. Cigar smokers just happen to have the resources to protest. Once their needs are met, who’s going to stand up for people who choose other forms of tobacco?
That’s exactly the question faced in North Carolina this week, which has joined the shameful ranks of states with smoking bans. Cigar bars can qualify for exemptions. Hookah bars, on the other hand… :
For the past several months, fliers have hung from the walls of Adam Bliss’s local hookah bar. They asked customers to call senators and lobby for an amendment to an anti-smoking bill that would keep Hookah Bliss open.
Bliss called the senators himself twice a day. He contacted hookah bars across the state to fight for an amendment. But after much effort, his lobby has failed.
The bill, which was ratified May 13 by the N.C. General Assembly, will prohibit smoking in all restaurants and bars. It was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Bev Perdue, causing Bliss to have to close his doors in January since he serves both alcohol and tobacco products. [...]
Legislation does allow for some tobacco-based businesses to stay open.
The new law permits cigar bars and private clubs to continue operating. However, Bliss said it would not be possible to change his business to fit under either of these categories.
A cigar bar is defined to make more than 25 percent of its profits from cigars, which Bliss does not serve. A private club is defined as a country club or organization linked with a nonprofit organization which does not provide food or lodging to a person who is not a member or member’s guest.
“This bill has basically protected the playground of the rich and elite,” he said, noting his confusion about why an amendment would be passed for a cigar bar but not a hookah bar. “They are allowing the exact same types of businesses to operate.”
Bliss is absolutely right. There’s no reason that he should be shut down while a cigar bar next door could remain open. We are all in this together. Even if we only enjoy cigars, we need to stand up for the rights of cigarette, hookah, and pipe smokers. Or even we don’t smoke at all, we shouldn’t compromise the right of consenting adults to assemble and consume a legal substance.
New Hampshire should pass this cigar bill, but it shouldn’t stop there. The same exemption requirements should apply to the sale of any tobacco product, not only those consumed by the upper class.
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… is apparently banning smoking out of doors, on golf courses, where people intentionally stay far away from one another:
Patrick Reynolds of the Foundation for a Smokefree America acknowledged that moving the anti-smoking fight from indoors to outdoors was “cutting edge.”
“But these are in fact reasonable laws,” Reynolds, grandson of tobacco pioneer R.J. Reynolds, said. “Second-hand smoke causes lung cancer.”
If that logic is hard to follow, that’s why it’s “cutting edge.”
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It ain’t easy, but it is possible. Tomorrow Broadway Cigar is hosting its grand opening celebration, featuring cigar rolling demos, free beer (of the root variety), barbecue, a beer and spirits tasting, and raffles. I got to preview the space a few months ago and it’s very nice: flat screen TVs, free wi-fi, and big, comfy leather chairs. Check their site for details.
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Maryland is considering a bill to raise its cigarette tax from $2 to $2.75 per pack, but legislators are worried that the price increase will cause teenagers to start smoking cigars instead. Luckily they’ve come up with an easy solution to the problem: Raise taxes on cigars too! Under the proposal, the tax on cigars will jump from 15% of the manufacturer’s price to an extremely punitive 90%. Combined with the statewide smoking ban, the new SCHIP taxes, and the recession, retailers are understandably fearing for their livelihoods. This could potentially defeat the revenue-raising purpose of the taxes. As a retailer friend of mine once said, “90% of nothing is nothing.”
Though no politician could get away with saying it, I’m not convinced that teenage smokers switching from cigarettes to cigars is something to be discouraged (assuming they are going to continue smoking something). Cigars aren’t inhaled directly and are less habit-forming,* and they could become a rewarding hobby into adulthood. If I were the parent of a teenager I would much rather see him smoking a few cigars per week than taking constant cigarette breaks throughout the day.
This is not the first anti-cigar proposal to come out of Maryland recently. Maryland cities and counties have been banning sales of low-cost, individual cigars to keep them out of reach of the poor and of teens who might strip out the tobacco and replace it with an even more illicit leaf.
*Update: To clarify, by “non-habit forming” I’m referring to their general usage, not to their chemical properties.
[Hat tip to the ever-vigilant Stogie Guys.]
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And now for some good news: The Long Beach, CA city council passed its proposal to loosen the local smoking ban, granting official approval to the city’s 13 cigar lounges. Even this is far too much diversity for anti-tobacco activists:
Lung association spokesman Steven Gallegos disagreed, telling the Los Angeles Times: “This is a giant step backwards for public and employee health. This product kills almost half a million people a year. If this ordinance passes other cities throughout Los Angeles County will look at Long Beach and say, ‘If they did it, we can too. Public health be damned.’”
Just this once I’m going to hope he’s right.
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As you all know, Oregon is welcoming me to the state with a strict new smoking ban that goes into effect on January 1. As smoking bans go it’s not the worst in the US, in that it at least makes exceptions for cigar bars and retail shops. The income requirement from cigar sales is fairly reasonable too: at just $5,000 per year, smoke-friendly cigar bars should be able to achieve it without too much trouble.
The rules for cigar bars have a curious restriction though:
To qualify as a cigar bar, a business must… Prohibit the smoking of all tobacco products other than cigars
Presumably this means that hookahs and pipes are literally out the window (and at least 10 feet away from it). This is absurd. Pipe and cigar smokers join together in the brotherhood of the leaf. Where one is welcome, so is the other. Yet come January 1, enjoying a pipe in a smokers’ bar will be illegal.
I don’t think the intent of the legislature was to ban pipe smoking. It’s such a rare activity these days that they probably just didn’t consider it. My guess is that their true goal is to discriminate against cigarette smokers. They want to make it absolutely impossible for them to find places where they can light up. And further, by denying cigar bar owners the right to serve them they make it even harder for cigar bar owners to build a customer base and stay in business.
All of which shows yet again that the motives for these smoking bans has very little to do with protecting employees and the public from secondhand smoke and everything to do with stamping out a lifestyle deemed unworthy by our nannying rulers.
[Hat tip to commenter Ben at Stogie Guys.]
Previously:
Not a war on smokers?
Please do smoke, if you like
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Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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