January 29, 2024 Charlie Minato Weekly News

Weekly News (Jan. 29, 2024)

Cuban Cigar Prices Increase for 2024

We’ve begun to see the first price 2024 price increases take effect. A new price list from Spain shows most of the Cuban cigars increasing from the 5-10 percent range, with the notable exception of Trinidad, which has only one SKU increasing in price. The cost of Cuban cigars—especially for Cohiba and Trinidad—remains comical to me, but it seems like price elasticity has begun to have some effect.

Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a scenario that involves prices decreasing. It would be nice if the price hikes came with some increase in quality—or even supply—but I don’t get the sense that’s the explanation for the dramatic increases that began in 2022.

Rocky Patel Plans New 60,000 Cigar Per Day Factory in Nicaragua

The new Rocky Patel Premium Cigars S.A. won’t be open until late 2025 or 2026, but I think we are in a new chapter of the Nicaraguan cigar industry. New facilities like the ones from Oliva, the upcoming Arturo Fuente factory and this modern-looking monstrosity from Rocky Patel are changing the looks of the city of Estelí. I’m all for the change and curious to see what impact this has on Rocky Patel (the company) as Patel (the person) told me that the new rolling room will be 15x the size of the company’s current Nicaraguan factory. It seems a certainty that will mean more Nicaraguan-made Rocky Patel cigars, the question is whether existing lines will be moved out of their current factories to this one.

Ohio Senate Overrides Governor’s Veto of Tobacco Preemption Law

We’ve extensively documented this saga, which began in December 2022 and has resulted in two different Ohio General Assemblies passing the law, two vetos from Gov. Mike DeWine and now one override of the veto. These preemption clauses—which prevent cities and counties from passing their own tobacco laws stricter than the state law—have proven to be very effective at keeping the sales of flavored cigars legal. If you want examples of the tobacco industry on the offense, it’s passing laws like this. Unfortunately, the overall climate is way more defensive than offensive.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.

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