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April 5, 2011 n VOL. 16, NO. 7 n FROM THE PUBLISHER OF CIGAR AFICIONADO MAGAZINE
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IN THIS ISSUE:
FEATURED CIGAR
TASTING REPORT:
VERTICAL BRAND TASTINGS:
n Montecristo 75th Aniversario [page 2]
ALEC BRADLEY NEW YORK
EMPIRE TORO
HONDURAS n PRICE: $12.75 n BODY: MED. TO FULL
For a full tasting, see page two.
91
POINTS
n Alec Bradley New York [page 2]
CURRENT SIZES:
n Punch Punch [page 3]
n Saint Luis Rey Serie A [page 3]
CIGAR NEWS
n Aurora Creates Cigar for Japan [page 4]
n Cut Cubans: Habanos Trims Portfolio [page 4]
n Punch Rare Corojo 10th Anniversary [page 5]
BEST CIGARS THIS ISSUE
Alec Bradley New York Empire Toro Honduras 91
Montecristo 75th Aniversario No. 4 Dom. Rep. 91
Punch Punch Cuba 91
Alec Bradley New York Six Two Honduras 90
Montecristo 75th Aniversario Churchill Dom. Rep. 90
Montecristo 75th Aniversario Edmundo Dom. Rep. 90
Montecristo 75th Aniversario Lancero Dom. Rep. 90
Saint Luis Rey Serie A Cuba 90
n Milder Version of Cain [page 5]
n The Berlin Wall Cigar [page 5]
n Connecticut With a Kick [page 6]
n Zino Z Class [page 7]
n Blood of the Bull From Fuego [page 7]
n Illinois Mulls Smoke License [page 8]
n NY Tax Cap Shot Down [page 8]
A CIGAR FOR THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN
CIGAR COMPANIES HAVE LONG
GIVEN TO CHARITABLE CAUSES. Now,
with Japan facing its darkest moment in more than 60
years, La Aurora S.A. has created a cigar that will help
benefit the relief effort following the March earthquake
and tsunami that killed so many. See page four.
TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF: CONNECTICUT COROJO
GENERAL CIGAR HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR CONNECTICUT WRAPPER FOR SOME TIME.
Its biggest cigar brand, Macanudo Café, is made with Connecticut-shade wrapper. It’s one of the few companies
to make cigars using Connecticut Habano, a sun-grown wrapper leaf that once was immensely popular in the
Connecticut River Valley before being pushed aside by the larger, more abundant Connecticut broadleaf. Today,
General has released a cigar made with a new type of Connecticut wrapper called Connecticut Corojo, which is the
hallmark of the new Punch Rare Corojo 10th Anniversary cigar. Corojo seed was created on a Cuban farm called
El Corojo, and this is believed to be the first time it has been grown in Connecticut. See page five for the full story.
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TASTING REPORT
Montecristo 75th Aniversario
vertical brand tasting
Country: Dominican Republic
Maker: Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd.
Distributor: Altadis U.S.A. Inc.
Filler: Nicaragua, Honduras
Binder: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuador
Purchase Date: March 2011
No. 4
91 POINTS n 5" x 44 n $10.00 n Humidor Selection
This cigar burns evenly and offers substantial smoke
to the draw that belies its diminutive size. The cigar is
meaty in character with notes of cedar and orange peel.
Body: Medium
Churchill
90 POINTS n 7" x 54 n $18.50
Dark and oily with some veins to the wrapper, this sweet,
toasty cigar is balanced by some spicy overtones and a
dark-roasted coffee finish.
Body: Medium to Full
Edmundo
90 POINTS n 5 5/16" x 52 n $17.50
Rich and dark in appearance, this cigar burns evenly,
showing a pleasant balance of ground coffee, toast and
nutty flavors that leave a nougat note on the finish.
Body: Medium
lancero
90 POINTS n 7 1/2" x 40 n $15.00
Though this thin cigar burns crookedly, its draw is full
of bold hickory notes, some flavors of earth and an
underlying meatiness.
Body: Medium to Full
no. 2
89 POINTS n 6 1/8" x 52 n $18.50
This dark, oily cigar smokes evenly, starting with cocoa
flavors that combine with leather notes for a sweet and
savory smoke.
Body: Medium to Full
BRAND SUMMARY: Altadis U.S.A. Inc. owns the rights to make
and distribute the non-Cuban version of the storied Montecristo
brand. As the name suggests, the Montecristo 75th Aniversario was
released to celebrate the brand’s 75th birthday. The cigars come
packaged in sampler boxes of five, containing one of each
size, or 20, containing four of each size. At retail, they are
displayed in partitioned boxes that offer the entire range when
sold individually. There is also a giant commemorative humidor,
which holds 30 of each size, totaling 150 cigars. The brand did
well, and the diminutive No. 4 (91 points) was the standout.
Average Rating: 90.0 points
Alec Bradley New York
vertical brand tasting
Country: Honduras
Maker: Fabrica de Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L.
Distributor: Alec Bradley Cigar Co.
Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua
Binder: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduras
Release Date: October 2010
empire toro
91 POINTS n 6" x 54 n $12.75 n Humidor Selection
The wrapper of this cigar is very dark with a slight
reddish hue. It draws well, showing cedar, cocoa and
leather flavor. A balanced smoke.
Body: Medium to Full
six two
90 POINTS n 5 1/4" x 52 n $11.00
This dark robusto has an ueven burn, but a full draw.
The smoke is meaty and hearty with significant woody
notes and a concentrated molasses finish.
Body: Medium to Full
95-100: Classic n 90-94: Outstanding n 80-89: Very good to excellent n 70-79: Average to good commercial quality
Below 70: Don’t waste your money n N/A: Not Available
Note: Prices are manufacturers’ suggested retail, before taxes.
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liberty churchill
89 POINTS n 7" x 50 n $12.75
Large with a firm draw and semi-even burn, though
there’s lots of flavor, beginning with sweet notes that
give way to leather before a toasty finish.
Body: Medium to Full
gotham torpedo
87 POINTS n 6 1/8" x 54 n $13.50
The pyramid top of this cigar isn’t sharply formed, but
the wrapper is oily and attractive. An odd, red wine note
precedes sweet wood flavors and a licorice aftertaste.
Body: Medium
declaration gran toro
87 POINTS n 6" x 58 n $13.00
Some tasters encountered a firm draw on this dark,
thick cigar, which is cedary and woody with a licorice
aftertaste that sticks to the palate.
Body: Medium to Full
BRAND SUMMARY: In response to New York state’s draconian
tobacco tax—75 percent of the wholesale cost of a cigar, one
of the highest taxes on cigars in the United States—Alan Rubin
of Alec Bradley Cigar Co. came out with a cigar just for New
York cigar shops. It is simply called Alec Bradley New York.
“It’s a cigar we’re only going to sell at New York retailers,” said
Rubin. Although he was born and raised in Florida, Rubin has a
connection to the Empire State by way of his parents—his mother
is from Queens and his father is from Brooklyn, which are both
boroughs of New York City. “With New York getting hammered
[by taxes] as much as it is, it’s good timing,” said Rubin. Wrapped
in Criollo ‘98 wrapper and binder grown on a small farm
in Trojes, Honduras, Alec Bradley New York has a blend of Honduran
and Nicaraguan fillers. They are being rolled at the Fabrica
de Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L. factory in Honduras and
come presented in art deco-style bands featuring the Empire State
Building. While you’ll have to come to New York to try them, it
shouldn’t be too hard to find the cigars, as they are available in
about 50 brick-and-mortar shops throughout the state, including
New York City proper, the general metro area, upstate and
Western New York. As a tourist or a resident, invest in the Empire
Toro. It scored 91 points and was the most impressive of the tasting.
Note that the listed prices include the New York State tax.
Average Rating: 88.8 points
punch
current SIZE
Country: Cuba
Maker: N/A
Distributor: Habanos S.A.
Filler: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Wrapper: Cuba
Box Date: October 2009
punch
91 POINTS n 5 5/8" x 46 n £13.52 n Humidor Selection
A slightly box-pressed cigar that has a dark, reddish
wrapper. Toast and nut flavors build to profound leather
and coffee notes.
Body: Medium to Full
Saint luis rey
current SIZE
Country: Cuba
Maker: N/A
Distributor: Habanos S.A.
Filler: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Wrapper: Cuba
Box Date: December 2008
serie A
90 POINTS n 5 5/8" x 46 n £13.60
Herbal notes get through the firm draw of this cigar, as
do salty touches of leather and earth. The finish has a
slightly perfumed quality.
Body: Medium
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95-100: Classic n 90-94: Outstanding n 80-89: Very good to excellent n 70-79: Average to good commercial quality
Below 70: Don’t waste your money n N/A: Not Available
Note: Prices are manufacturers’ suggested retail, before taxes.
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CIGAR NEWS
A CIGAR FOR THE
PEOPLE OF JAPAN
By David Savona
The oldest maker of
cigars in all of the
Dominican Republic
has created a new cigar
to help the people of
Japan. A cigar called Para
Japón—which translates
to “For Japan”—will
be shipped to Aurora
cigar distributors starting
the last week of April.
A portion of proceeds
from sales of the cigar—which will retail for $10—will be
donated to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief fund,
via Japan Tobacco Imex Co. Ltd.
The cigar is going to be a robusto size, measuring 5
inches long with a 50 ring gauge. Aurora said the cigar
would be medium to full bodied, made with a binder
leaf from Nicaragua, filler tobacco from the Dominican
Republic, Brazil and Cameroon and covered in Nicaraguan
wrapper. Aurora is making 50,000 of the cigars, and they
will be sold worldwide.
The cigars will be packed 25 to the box, and called Sumo
Robustos, decorated with artwork by Mario Takeyama
and Dan Reeve, the design team of CigarExplorer.com.
Takeyama is a native of Japan.
The dead are still being counted in Japan after a
magnitude 9.0 earthquake and devastating tsunami struck
the northeastern portion of the country on March 11.
“We are very pleased to lay our helping hand to our brothers
of Japan by supporting the humanitarian assistance to
this great nation,” said Aurora president Guillermo León.
“When hurricanes have struck the Dominican Republic,
Japan was there for us.”
Aurora has made cigars in the Dominican Republic since
1903. Its cigar brands include Aurora, Guillermo León and
León Jimenes. n
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CUBAN CIGARS GETTING CUT
FROM PORTFOLIO
By Gregory Mottola and Gordon Mott
Every year, a few Cuban cigars are deleted from
Habanos S.A.’s portfolio of sizes. This year, a trio
of San Cristóbal de la Habana sizes are on the chopping
block. The Muralla, Mercaderes and Oficios are scheduled
to be taken out of production. Though not part of the
original core line, which was launched in 1999, these sizes
were released in 2006 as La Casa del Habano exclusives.
At the time of their launching, these sizes were available
only at La Casa Del Habano stores, the official retail outlet
licensed by Habanos S.A. Cigars that are La Casa del
Habano exclusives can be identified by a secondary siennacolored
band that bears the franchise logo in gold.
Each of these San Cristóbal sizes were unique within the
Habanos portfolio, as no other brands utilized those specifications.
The Muralla measured 7 1/8 inches long by 54
ring. Called a Rodolfo in Cuban cigar factories, it was the
largest regular production torpedo size made in Cuba. The
Mercaderes, also referred to as Hermosos No. 1, measured
6 5/8 by 48 ring and the Oficios, or Dalias Cortas, were
rolled at a diminutive 5 3/8 by 43. This cut will bring the
The Muralla, Mercaderes and oficios are discontinued.
San Cristóbal brand back down to its original four sizes:
El Morro, 7 1/8 by 49; La Fuerza, 5 1/2 by 50; El Principe,
4 3/8 by 42; and La Punta, a 5 1/2 by 52 belicoso.
The San Cristóbal El Morro has done particularly well in
Cigar Aficionado tastings, scoring 93 points in 2004 when
it was named one of the Top 25 cigars of the year.
“We always look at the year-to-year sales of our cigars
and the ones that aren’t selling, we often take out of production,”
said Anna López Garcia, director of marketing
operations for Habanos, in an interview in the April 2011
Cigar Aficionado magazine.
Because the cuts are recent, many of these cigars can
still be found on retail shelves around the world and likely
will become auction-quality collector’s items in the future.
Discontinued cigars have a tendency to gain value in the
collector’s market. n
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A NEW WRAPPER FOR NEW
PUNCH RARE COROJO
By Gregory Mottola
You’ve probably heard of the Punch Rare Corojo cigar
brand, but have you ever heard of Connecticut Corojo
tobacco It’s a proprietary wrapper that General Cigar Co.
is using for the first time on its new Punch Rare Corojo
10th Anniversary, a 5-inch-long, 50-ring-gauge cigar that
has just started shipping to retailers.
This release of the Punch Rare Corojo differs greatly from
previous launches, as Punch Rare Corojo brand cigars have
typically been made with wrappers grown in Ecuador from
Sumatra seed.
“For ten years, cigar enthusiasts have looked forward to
the annual return of the Rare Corojo…a spicy, no-nonsense
blend at a reasonable price,” said Rick Chandler, director
of marketing for Punch cigars. “This year, we’re pleased
to have upped the ante by offering the classic Punch Rare
Corojo along with the standout new taste of the 10th
Anniversary frontmark.”
According to Chandler, General Cigar, which grows
great amounts of Connecticut-shade tobacco, has also been
growing the Cuban-seed Corojo variety in the Connecticut
River Valley since 2004, albeit in limited quantities and on
a purely experimental basis.
“Once we felt the tobacco was ready in terms of
quality and flavor, we cultivated it for the Rare Corojo,”
said Chandler.
This Corojo-seed wrapper is markedly different than the
Connecticut Habano tobacco that
General uses on some of
its cigars, including
Hoyo de Monterrey
Excalibur Legend.
Corojo seed is grown
elsewhere in the cigar
world, most notably in
Honduras by Camacho
Cigars. It originated in
Cuba on a plantation
called El Corojo.
Aside from the new
Connecticut Corojo wrapper, the
Punch Rare Corojo 10th Anniversary has
the same blend as the previous releases of Punch Rare
Corojo, which consist of a Connecticut Broadleaf binder
and a combination of Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican
tobaccos in the filler.
The cigar is made at General Cigar’s Honduras American
Tabaco S.A. (HATSA) factory in Honduras and retails for
$6.50 each.
To commemorate the release, General also redesigned
the cigar band. n
A MILDER CAIN CIGAR
NOW AVAILABLE
By Andrew Nagy
Studio Tobac, the Oliva Cigar Co. entity
tasked with creating innovative cigar blends,
has released a new, milder cigar blended with
the everyday smoker in mind: Cain Daytona.
Cain, which was released in 2009, is an allligero
blend that always promised considerable
strength. Ligero is the most powerful form of
filler tobacco used in the cigar business. Like
previous Cains, Cain Daytona is another allligero
blend, but the ligero comes from a
region of Nicaragua known for elegance
rather than power. Cain Daytona is made from
tobacco from the Jalapa Valley, Nicaragua’s
northern-most tobacco growing region.
According to brand ambassador Bryan Scholle,
less direct sunlight hits the tobacco fields of
Jalapa due to the fact that it’s a valley, and the
result is a leaf that is full flavored, but a touch sweeter and
milder than previous Cains.
“We wanted to make a more approachable Cain for
the everyday smoker,” said Scholle. “[The blend] is toned
down a little more and carries a bit of pepper with it.”
The Cain Daytona comes in five sizes, 24 to a box. The
names of the new Daytonas reflect the size of the smokes:
the 543 measures 5 inches long by 43 ring gauge; the 550
is a 5 by 50 ring robusto; the 646 is 6 by 46; the 654T is a
torpedo measuring 6 by 54, and the 660 is a monster 6 inch
long by 60 ring cigar. The suggested retail price for singles
in the line run from $4.70 to $7.80.
The Cain Daytona debuted across the United States and
internationally on March 17. The entire line was rated in
the March 22 Cigar Insider, and had an average score of
88 points. n
BERLIN WALL CIGAR—IN MARBLE
BOX—HITTING SHELVES
By David Savona
Time to reinforce cigar store shelves. Hammer +
Sickle Berlin Wall, a Honduran cigar made with copper
bands and packed in solid marble boxes, is finally reaching
cigar shops after months of delays. The packaging on these
cigars goes against tradition in every way.
The cigars were on display back in August at the Interna-
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tional Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailer (IPCPR) trade show,
alongside an actual piece of the Berlin Wall owned by Eric
Hanson, who owns the Hammer + Sickle brand. “The
cigars were ready to go at the show,” said Hanson, “but
the box is made in rural Pakistan and was delayed due to
flood season and violence. The village we make the boxes
in is 100 kilometers north of Karachi and is one of the last
places on earth to get natural ziarat white marble, which
was used in part to make the Brandenburg Gate. Since we
are celebrating the 21st anniversary of the fall of the wall
we wanted to be as authentic as possible.”
The packaging is striking, white marble adorned with
a metallic carving of the Brandenburg Gate. The copper
cigar bands are quite impressive as well. Each copper ring
(they clink when tapped against a metal ashtray) is held in
place by its own tensile strength. A small paper band sits
beneath the copper one to avoid tearing the wrapper.
The cigars are made under contract for The Cigar
Agency LLC, the distributor of the brand, by Tabacos
Rancho Jamastran, best known for making Camacho. The
cigars are made from a blend that is heavy on Honduran
tobacco—the wrapper and binder are Honduran, as is part
of the filler blend, which also has some Dominican and
Nicaraguan leaf.
Hammer + Sickle Berlin Wall comes in three sizes: The
Robusto, which measures 5 inches long by 50 ring, has a
suggested retail price of $8.50, the Toro, which is 6 by 50,
is $8.30, and the 6-by-52 Churchill is $8.60.
Hanson said Berlin Wall is linked to his original cigar
release, Hammer + Sickle. “Berlin Wall is a line extension
of Hammer, and meant to fulfill the desires of the rich
flavor, solid medium-body smoker.”
Hanson has a knack for packaging. Second Growth, a
wine-inspired brand of cigars made by Hendrik “Henke”
Kelner, comes packed in boxes crafted from used wine
barrels from a second-growth Bordeaux chateau. It comes
in one size, a 7 1/4 by 54 parejo that retails for $32.50 per
cigar. There were 1,000 boxes made. n
CONNECTICUT WITH A
KICK AND OTHER NEW
E.P. CARRILLOS
By David Savona
Early this month a pair of new lines from E.P. Carrillo
are going to hit store shelves. One is made with a
historically mild wrapper, the other is an extension of a
limited-edition blend that received rave reviews in 2010.
The E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut Edition, a cigar
wrapped in Connecticut-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador
by ASP Enterprises Inc., comes in four sizes. The Stella is
5 1/8 by 42, and has a suggested retail of $4.50; Brillante is
a robusto measuring 5 by 50, with a suggested retail price
of $5.25; Divino is 6 by 52, and sells for $6.25 and Gran
Via is 7 by 49, selling for $7.
Brand creator Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, formerly the
mastermind behind the La Gloria Cubana brand, says
this cigar “breaks the mold of your typical Connecticut,”
saying the smoke has a bit of spice to go with the wrapper’s
traditional creamy flavor.
A test smoke of a sample New Wave Connecticut Edition
Brillante lived up to Perez-Carrillo’s description of having
more power than most Connecticut-wrapped cigars. The
smoke had a bit of a kick early on, with a touch of spice,
then, after some time, took on the creamy notes typically
found in a cigar with Connecticut-seed wrappers. The body
was mild to medium.
Perez-Carrillo landed a huge hit with his E.P. Carrillo
Edición Limitada 2010 Elencos, ranked No. 4 on Cigar
Aficionado’s most recent Top 25 list and rated 94 points.
The cigar was created as a limited edition, but Perez-Carrillo
is taking the same blend and creating a line of cigars
that will be available year round called E.P. Carrillo
Elencos Series.
The three-size line is made up of the Don Rubino,
measuring 5 1/4 by 50, with a $9.50 retail price; Elites,
which is 6 by 54 and $12, and Acto Mayor, a torpedo
measuring 6 1/4 by 52. It sells for $12.50.
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The names of the cigars in both lines are somewhat unusual.
“I wanted to give each cigar an identity. I didn’t
just want to say it’s a robusto,” said Perez-Carrillo. “The
Elencos means as cast, like a cast in a play. The Elite is like
the top actor in the cast. Acto Mayor means major act.
And Don Rubino, that’s just a name that I came up with.
It came to me one day. I didn’t give it much thought until
I started working on the robusto blend. That’s basically
where the names come from.”
New Wave Connecticut also has some unique names.
“Brillante, that means brilliant. I looked at the cigar and
that’s the name that came to me,” he said. “Stella is named
after my daughter’s mother-in-law, who is unfortunately
no longer with us. She was such a great inspiration to
me, so I wanted to name a cigar after her. The Stella is a
corona—she was a small person, thin, and it just reminded
me of her. Gran Via, is one of the best known streets in
Madrid. I love Madrid, and for some reason that big cigar just
reminds me of that street. I’m awed by the beauty, the
architecture… I want each cigar to have its own identity—
each name means something to me.” n
binder, and hearty Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. The
cigars come outfitted with a sleek black band and are packaged
in streamlined, brushed-metal tins of 20. Four sizes
will be available: the 654T, a toro measuring 5 7/8 inches
by 54 ring; the 550R, a 4 7/8 by 50 ring robusto; the 546P
5 1/4 by 46 (Pyramid); and the 643C, 5 5/8 by 43.
“It’s the fullest bodied Zino Platinum to date,” said
brand manager Richard Krutick, “but each shape has its
own unique strength and flavor.”
Despite the increased power, however, the cigars will
carry a decreased price tag as they are set to retail in the
$8 to $12 range (far less expensive when compared to the
other Zino Platinum brands) and have been pre-released to
Davidoff stores and a few Davidoff appointed merchants.
The Z-Class is made in the Dominican Republic. n
Stephen silvestri
ZINO RELEASES AMPED UP
Z-CLASS
By Gregory Mottola
new, full-bodied Zino is coming to retail in May—
A the Zino Platinum Z-Class Series. Stronger than the
Zino Platinum Crown or Scepter lines, the Z-Class draws
its increased power from a Dominican Wrapper, Peruvian
JESUS FUEGO RELEASES BLOOD
OF THE BULL
By Gregory Mottola
Sangre de toro, which translates to “Blood of the Bull,”
is an expression used in cigar factories to designate the
reddish Colorado colored wrappers during the tobacco
sorting process. Cigarmaker Jesus Fuego has named his
newest brand after this term—J. Fuego Sangre de Toro.
“This is a project we have worked on for almost four
years now,” said Fuego. “The blend was created by my
father José Fuego and myself. All the tobaccos have been
aged for a minimum of four years and are grown by Nestor
Plasencia exclusively for us.”
Sangre de Toro is made with a Colorado colored,
Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper; a Nicaraguan Criollo binder;
and Nicaraguan filler tobacco that is half Criollo and
half Corojo. It comes in four sizes, none of which retail
for more than seven dollars: Corona Gorda, 5 1/2 inches
by 46 ($5.75); Robusto, 4 7/8 by 49 ($5.95); Toro, 6 by
50 ($6.75); and Belicoso Fino, 5 1/2 by 52 ($6.95). The
cigars are made at the Tabacos de Oriente factory in Danlí,
Honduras, which is owned by Plasencia.
According to Fuego, he recently had to discontinue his
J. Fuego Natural line—the mildest blend in the J. Fuego
brand portfolio—because he needed those tobaccos to
make his Gran Reserva and Delirium lines.
“By introducing this new Sangre de Toro we keep our
J. Fuego brand on the medium- to full-bodied side of the
spectrum, and we are able to have a J. Fuego cigar with a
more affordable price.” n
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ILLINOIS SMOKING LICENSES
By Andrew Nagy
The Illinois House, having already voted to lift the state’s
casino smoking ban, is expected to vote this week on a
bill that would, if passed, give local government the power
to issue individual smoking licenses.
House Bill 1310, sponsored by Rep. Anthony
DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights, amends the Liquor Control
Act of 1934 by giving local liquor control commissions the
ability to issue smoking licenses. To be eligible for such a
license, businesses must disclose to all employees that
smoking will be permitted on the premises and show
that all employees have acknowledged they have
received this disclosure. Prominent signage stating
that smoking is allowed on the premises would
also be required. In addition, only a business that makes
10 percent or less of its revenues on food is eligible, so
restaurants can’t apply. And if a business already has a
liquor license, it must be in compliance with all of the terms
of said license to receive a smoking license.
The current smoking law, called the Smoke Free Illinois
Act, went into effect in 2008 and bans smoking in public
places, as well as within 15 feet of entrances.
Opponents of the bill believe it is a step in the wrong
direction, but the bill’s supporters point out that the legislation
merely gives local municipalities the option to grant
licenses and does not make it a requirement.
“With the license, you can control how many (smoking
establishments) there are,” said Rep. Randy Ramey,
R-West Chicago, another of the bill’s sponsors, in a report
by The Journal-Standard. “Businesses should be able to
have an option.”
Both the Cigar Rights of America and the International
Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association support
the bill. DeLuca said in various news reports that he
plans to ask the House to vote on the bill this week. n
NO TAX CAP FOR NEW YORK
By Andrew Nagy
After much debate, New York State lawmakers finally
passed a $132.5 billion budget last week, but not
before throwing out a proposal that sought to give some
relief to burdened tobacconists by capping the excise taxes
on a single cigar at one dollar.
The $1 tax cap was included in the Senate version of the
budget, but failed to garner support in the state Assembly.
The lobbying effort for the tax cap was heavy, with the
Cigar Rights of America, the IPCPR, Cigar Association of
America and state retailers all involved. n
2010 CIGAR AFICIONADO
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