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But in any event, the people have spoken and he deserves our congratulations!

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Read the entire story below, courtesy of CigarCyclopedia!

It’s only the Town Council of small Miami Lakes, Florida, but Nick Perdomo triumphed in a hotly-contested race for Seat 1 held on October 7.

Perdomo received 1,794 votes of 4,583 cast (39.4%) to win the seat, ahead of attorney Caesar Mestre (26.29%), the city’s youth advisory task force chair Peter Diaz (21.8%) and dentist David Bennett (12.76%).

“My vision for Miami Lakes is one where town officials will be held accountable for their actions,” said Perdomo in a statement. “Residents deserve the very best individuals to represent their needs and I believe that by applying common sense business practices, we can find solutions to the issues that affect all of us on a daily basis. Fiscal responsibility, crime prevention, efficient public services, and traffic relief are my top priorities.”

Perdomo isn’t giving up day job, however, and will continue to operate the Tabacalera Perdomo. But being an elected official and having some access to other local legislators in Florida will also give Perdomo a chance to become a reference point for tobacco issues and be able to represent the often-not-consulted cigar side of things.

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It’s a unique move for Davidoff, which has previously only absorbed brands – Avo and The Griffin’s – that were made by its cigar-production partner, Hendrik Kelner. Now, it will add a long inventory of brands which were developed by the father-and-son team of Julio and Christian Eiroa and long-time advisor Sal Fontana, including the hot-selling Camacho Corojo lines.

Davidoff has made its reputation on cigars made in the Dominican Republic, including Davidoff, Private Stock, Winston Churchill and Zino. Although it manufactured Zino cigars in Honduras for many years, all of those brands – Zino Classic, Zino Platinum Crown and Zino Platinum Scepter – are now made in the Dominican.

In Camacho, Davidoff acquires one of the top factories in Honduras with mature brands that have a devoted following, especially of its Camacho lines, including the Camacho Corojo, Camacho 10th Anniversary and the sensational new Camacho Triple Maduro. In addition, the Camacho portfolio includes the Baccarat brand, a mild-bodied cigar with a sweetened cap that sells in the millions annually, and the highly-regarded La Fontana line.

The high regard in which the top Camacho lines are held by smokers fits well with the Davidoff image and several of the Camacho blends are price-controlled – meaning they must be sold at or very close to the list price – as are the Davidoff lines and several other Davidoff-distributed brands. The new and elegant packaging for Camacho’s high-end Diploma series fits well with the Davidoff style as well.

For Julio and Christian Eiroa, it had been no secret within the trade for several years that they had been willing to sell if the price was right and they could concentrate on making better cigars than dealing with the administrative burdens of sales and distribution.

No details on the price of the transaction were available and as Davidoff is a private company, no public filing is likely to be made. A formal announcement is expected today.

Courtesy: CigarCyclopedia

“When I was 18 months old my mischievous uncle substituted a cigar for a pacifier. Now I still use the pacifier occasionally, but mostly I use cigars. So I’ve been smoking for a very long time; in short, I believe it increases your longevity. I tell young people, ‘Just do like Bill Clinton and me: Don’t inhale.’ All these health bans, smoking bans, they always say it’s for your health, and they always point out that’s why they’re doing it. But if you look at Japan, Korea, Israel, Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, all of them have much higher smoking rates per capita than America, they all have much longer life expectancy than Americans. All we can conclude from that is, speaking English is killing us.”

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Magnum’s Cigar, Wine and Liquor Emporium contention that it met the statutory requirements of the Smoke-Free Arizona Act was upheld by the Arizona Court of Appeal after being rejected at the trial court level.

“I’m extraordinarily pleased and happy for me and my family,” said Amar Patel in an interview with the Arizona Capitol Times. “It’s always what we felt was right and we felt we were going to win this case.”

The Arizona Department of Health Services told Patel that because his store also carries a liquor license, smoking was not allowed since bars and restaurants were specifically included in the 2006, voter-approved measure. But Patel’s store qualified for the exemption for tobacco shops because it receives more than 50.1% of its revenue from the sales of tobacco and tobacco-related products.

“We are not a bar that sells cigarettes, we are quite the opposite,” said Patel when his suit was filed in February. “We are a cigar store that happens to have a bar in it.”

Patel lost the first round when a Maricopa County Superior Court judge decided in March that the Smoke-Free Act applied to him. But that decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal. Judge John Gemmill wrote that “Although the act specifies that the majority of a retail tobacco store’s sales must be from tobacco products and accessories, it places no restrictions on the source of the other 49.9 percent sales.”

Patel said that the case has cost him more than $100,000 in legal fees so far and it’s likely that the Department of Health Services will ask for a review by the Arizona Supreme Court. Don Herrington, the head of Epidemiology and Disease Control for the Department of Health Services said that “all of its options” are being considered.

In the meantime, Patel is hoping the case will be finally resolved soon so he can get back to business. “Since this all started, I haven’t been able to promote my business in any direction. I haven’t been able to promote it as a cigar shop. I haven’t been able to promote it as a bar. This is what the state has cost us.”

Patel’s concept of a facility that’s primarily a cigar store but also serves alcoholic beverages is growing in popularity. In Las Vegas, the Casa Fuente at The Forum Shops at Caesar’s includes both a walk-in humidor and a full bar while in Orlando, Florida, the popular Corona Cigar Co. includes a comfortable lounge with alcoholic beverage service under the same roof as its enormous cigar selection.

Pending a review by the Arizona Supreme Court, Patel can – for now – promote Magnum’s as a winner for common sense and against the bias of an overzealous State health department. And if you’re in Phoenix, also as a place to enjoy a good cigar.

Courtesy: CigarCyclopedia

Both models give you great looks, large storage capacity and a great price to boot! 

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What ever category you may fall into, we have several good gift ideas at Humidor Vault.  Actually we have created a whole new category for our new Cigar Humidor Gift Sets!  Check them out, they come with everything you need to give a great gift to your cigar aficionado friends!

Don’t forget our Personalized Cigar Humidors, our Personalized Pub Signs and our Engraved Gift section as well.  Remember, for personalized and engraved items, we need additional time to get the personalization or engraving done!

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The newest statistics, compiled by the Cigar Association of America from U.S. Customs Service data, showed that 26.76 million premium cigars were imported into the U.S. in July of 2008, down about 13 percent from 2007. However, the 2007 figures also includes an unknown number of little cigars, so the two years are not directly comparable.

Even so, for the first seven months of the year, U.S. premium cigar imports totaled 142.98 million, down a little over 16 percent from 2008. In comparing the pace of imports, after seven months in 2007, some 51.2 percent of all imports for the year had been counted. By that measure, premium cigar imports for 2008 can be projected at 279.36 million, which would be the lowest figure since way back in . . . 2003 and would be the sixth-highest import total on record.

The breakdown of the import report shows:

Overall, there were 821.81 million cigars of all types imported into the U.S. from January to July, a strong 22.8 percent ahead of the same time period in 2007.

It’s worth noting that these strong figures do not include rising production and sales reported at U.S. makers like John Middleton, Inc., now a unit of Altria Corporation, or at machine-made giant Swisher International.

Despite all of the negative attention given to tobacco these days, people are still smoking – and enjoying – cigars in strong numbers nationwide.

Courtesy: CigarEncyclopdia

 However CigarEncyclopedia.com goes on to say that they believe the Democrats are playing for time and if Obama is elected along with a continued majority of the Democrats in Congress, then SCHIP will become law. 

To read the full story…go here.

 Hopefully, not all of the cigar stores will go out of business….but many will if this happens!

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