Weekly News (Dec. 25, 2023)

Gurkha Sues Davidoff Over “Year of the Dragon”

The story of the week. Gurkha has a bunch of dragon-related registered trademarks and a pending trademark for “Year of Dragon.” Davidoff has 11 other Year of ___ cigars and a very unique Year of the Dragon cigar that it sold in the U.S. in 2018. I’m curious to see how this proceeds as there’s both this lawsuit and a trademark fight.

Davidoff Launches Customer Portal for Retailers

When Davidoff sent out a press release about this last week, I was surprised to learn that Davidoff didn’t already have a customer portal that allows retailers to order wholesale inventory using the internet. I was even more surprised to learn how few companies actually have these. I’d imagine that will begin to change but perhaps the integration is a lot more difficult than it seems.

Caldwell Adds Blind Man’s Bluff Sweet Tip

I’m also surprised more companies haven’t done what Caldwell did here. The company took the Blind Man’s Bluff Connecticut and Maduro blends and added a sweet tip. To me, the key is that the blend is the same, just with the sweetened tip. Humans like sugar, and I think taking already established blends and sweetening them could be very successful, at least until it’s banned by FDA.

Cigar News

• Apostate Cigars Adding Moroni’s Trumpet & The Endowment at PCA 2024
• Casa Cuevas Increasing Prices on Core Lines
• Gurkha Year of the Dragon 2024 Begins Shipping
• Prometheus Ships OpusX Lost City Carlito’s A, Opus Holiday Samplers
• Viaje Skull and Bones Tsar Bomba Arrives at Select Retailers

Regulations

International

• EU Ombudsman Looking Into EU Tobacco Lobbying — via Politico

Local

• South Windsor, Conn. Considering Ban on Smoking on Public Property — via CTInsider.com

Reviews

• Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023
• Don Pepín García 20th Anniversary Limited Edition
• Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion 1794 Tarred & Feathered
• Metapa Claro Corona Gorda
• Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet Box-Pressed Torpedo
• The Tabernacle Knight Commander

Deals From Our Sponsors

• Atlantic Cigar Co: Viaje Skull & Bones Tsar Bomba Cameo Blue — These are only going to select Viaje accounts. I’m not sure how different this one—or the other two colors—are from the long list of previous Skull and Bones releases, but your local Viaje store may not get these.
• Cigar Hustler: Supreme Leaf Perfecto — This just shipped to stores. Fun fact: this is the third different 6 x 54 Supreme Leaf vitola.
• Cigars Direct: Fuente Fuente OpusX Lost City Carlito’s A — At $120, this is over MSRP. That said, if you have to have one, here’s a way to get one.
• Corona Cigar Co.: LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition — This is one of my favorite new packaging designs of the year. In addition to getting a LeRoy Neiman lithograph with the box, the bottom of the inside of the box has a graphic that looks like the paint-splattered floor of Neiman’s studio.
• Famous Smoke Shop: XIKAR XO — Famous has various XIKAR XOs at 40ish percent off, including this basic colorway at $58.95. For $60, this is a tough deal to beat on a cigar cutter.
• Gotham Cigars: Montecristo White Whiskey Glass Set — Get five Montecristo White Toros, two branded whiskey glasses and a set of whiskey stones.
• JR Cigars: Davidoff Aniversario No. 1 Limited Edition Collection — Yes, it’s not cheap. Yes, it’s quite long. But Brooks had very nice things to say about the Davidoff Aniversario No. 1.
• LM Cigars: Oliva Serie V Melanio Sampler — Six Oliva Serie V Melanio cigars, including lanceros of the Melanio and Melanio Maduro.