by Steve Saka

CNX Cigar Counsel | September, 2000

The Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, Inc. (RTDA) is the premiere trade association for the promotion of tobacco and tobacco related products in the US. Its principal members are the retail tobacconists who sell to the consumer and it associate members include almost all tobacco related product manufacturers. Each year the RTDA hosts a 4-day convention for companies to debut their new products and to familiarize retailers with their product lines. The majority of the products displayed at the RTDA are cigars and/or cigar oriented.

This is a "trade only" event, however consumers are always eager to hear the news as soon as the show ends. The following synopsis is my assessment of the Year 2000 68th Annual RTDA Convention & International Trade Show.

This review is based solely upon my personal perspective and opinions and in no way represents the RTDA's or any other entities' interest.

General Insights:

San Antonio proved to be a miserably hot location for the show, however due to the layout of the hotels and the convention center you did not have to spend much time outside. Both the convention center and the two Marriott hotels supporting the show were professional and acted as good hosts for the show from my perspective. There were enough quality cigar friendly places within walking distance to facilitate post-show meetings. The primary drawbacks were the heat and the difficulty getting to the San Antonio airport from certain cities and air carriers. Overall, a good location to host the show.

The show featured 313 different vendors consuming a total of 912 booths worth of space. There were 14 vendors with 10 booths or greater worth of display space and they accounted for 25.4% of the showroom's physical size consumption. Here are all the exhibitors with 10+ booth displays:

46 Booths - General/Villazon 36 Booths - Altadis USA/Consolidated 35 Booths - Davidoff 20 Booths - Phillips & King 14 Booths - Ashton Cigars 14 Booths - Arango Cigars 14 Booths - Kretek International 13 Booths - Drew Estates 12 Booths - Canary Island Cigars 10 Booths - G.A. Andron 10 Booths - Cigar Aficionado 10 Booths - Lane Ltd. 10 Booths - Santa Clara Cigars 10 Booths - Tabacalera Perdomo

According to Bill Fader, Executive Director of the RTDA, there were 800+ different retailers accounting for 2,000+ separate badges represented at the show.

Overall, the show felt much less crowded and busy than any in recent history. However, it seemed that most of the retailers in attendance were there to purchase rather than just "kick the tires."

In almost every case, the cigars featured at this show were good. Better construction, better tobacco, better blends, and more reasonably priced. From a cigar smoker's perspective, I believe the upcoming year will be a better one that any of the previous 5 years.

Oddly enough in a post-convention conversation, a representative from CA he told me he found the show "uninspiring." Although I will grant there was not as much buzz or as many new products as in recent past, I regard the show as the best in years.

Interestingly there were no major line extensions on any of the Cuban brands. The only additions that I noted were the two tubos within the Romeo y Julieta line from Altadis and the introduction of the Sancho Panza brand by General.

Packaging was a primary focus of many vendors. General trends included the introduction of tubos by many brands including RyJ, La Gloria Cubana, Griffin, Avo, Bahia, Zino, etc. Also 20ct. boxing is increasing drastically in popularity.

Cuadrado pressed cigars were another apparent trend, almost everyone is offering some sort of square pressed cigar.

Another readily apparent trend was the pitch of product as being "fuller bodied," "stronger," "more aggressive," etc. cigars. In fact, only twice during the show did anyone try to pitch me on a milder, smoother smoke.

Cameroon wrappers were featured prominently at the show, as was the increasing use of H2000 leaf as wrapper, binder, and filler.

The recent consolidation and shakeout of the industry was very evident to anyone by the lack of new start-ups and the mega-booths of General and Altadis.

Almost all of the low-end humidor makers were gone. The only two with any significant presence were Decauter and Mastro de Paja. Santa Clara's humidors have captured a significant portion of this trade. However, all three top end humidor makers were at the show: Daniel Marshall, Michele Perrenoud, and Elie Bleu.

From my discussions with the vendors and retailers, I feel the boutique brands were doing steady business this year. I believe this is primarily due to the lack of competetion in the smaller cigar lines such as Indian Tabac, Tony Borhani, Graycliff, Cusano, etc. and the general feel amongst retailers that they need more keystone boutique brands on their shelves to protect their businesses from the big discounters like JR Cigar.

Three general topics were the primary focus of most discussions:

1) When will the embargo end and what will be the result

2) Who will be next to be consumed by the consolidations, and

3) What brand will JR Cigar buy out or secure the distribution rights to next?

Almost no new products caught my eye at this year's show except the new torch-style lighter coming from ST Dupont. Called the "X-tend", it is a lightweight sleek torch available in five different aluminum finishes which retail for roughly $135.00. Personally, I had hoped they were going to make a high-end torch lighter, but instead the company opted to design and promote a less expensive model. The reasoning behind this is two fold: 1) They need a high volume product to help overall sales, 2) They were unable to develop a lighter that could last longer than a year or so. This is a common problem with all ultra-high temperature torch lighters. Wisely so, Dupont's trademark is not featured anywhere on the lighter itself. Even with these flaws and the over $100 price point, I believe this product will be a good seller.

Miscellaneous Winners and Losers:

	One of the few upstarts that seem to do well was Drew Estates. They make a near identical product to the Lars Teten cigars by Phat, but at about half the price. Their booth was jumping, while Phat Cigar's looked like a morgue.
	Phillips and King and Lane Ltd.'s booths were both completely dead.
	Caribe Imports and SAG Imports both appeared to do tremendous business based on the strength of their existing blends and two new cigars: the Camacho Corojo for Caribe and the Vegas de Fonseca for SAG.
	The Blazer Coroporation is a definite loser. They were the pioneers of the torch style lighter with their PB-207 model, but have been giving up turf ever since the knock-offs started appearing. In response, they launched a new wider flamed model, the CG-001. Regretfully for them, this lighter is a piece of junk - not only is it too expensive, but it is just a rework of their PB-207 lighter in a very bulky and ugly permanent plastic modesty casing.
	Tabacalera Perdomo (formally known as Nick's Cigars) did a very brisk trade the entire show. They also happen to be the company with the greatest number of new facings: 27.
	All of the various cigar magazine booths' received very little traffic as far as I could tell.

New Cigars Introduced:

Below are my cigar tastings notes and impressions from the RTDA. They are solely my initial opinions and insights and do not include all of the cigars introduced at the RTDA, but the ones I felt were noteworthy. All prices mentioned are MSRP.

El Credito launched three new cigars. As an expansion to their stock line there is now a Hermoso (4 1/2 x 48 @ $3.35 ea.) and a Glorias en Cedros (6 3/4 x 48 @ $5.25 ea.). The two Glorias en Cedros I smoked were exceptional cigars and their packaging is top notch. They come in tubos within either 7 or 14 ct. boxes. Personally, I felt the blend was stronger than the stock line, and Ernesto confirmed that they were actually a blend between the stock and the newer Serie R line. The third new cigar introduced was the Serie R No. 6 - this is a 5 7/8 x 60 @ $6.00 ea. monster of a smoke. It smoked great, but was too large for my personal liking. One thing that impressed me about all the LGCs I smoked during the show was how slow and cool their burn was throughout. I really loved the LGC Glorias en Cedros, in fact I have already bought 10 boxes for myself.

Davidoff launched maduro cigars in their Avo, Griffin, and Paul Garmirian lines. To my knowledge, this is the first time there has ever been any Maduro cigars offered by Davidoff. Regretfully, I think they are doomed to fail. Most maduro smokers are looking for a bargain and these cigars are all priced $7 and up. Of the three offerings, the PG Maduro is by far the best, in fact this is quite an exceptional smoke: smooth, earthy, wonderfully blended. The worst is the Avo, in fact his cigar is just plain awful - grassy and crass. For me it was the worst cigar of the RTDA.

Villazon had two new cigars at the show: the Excalibur 1066 and the new Sancho Panza.

The Excalibur 1066 was the cigar subject to pre-RTDA promotional vote, the winner being Selection #2 - "the full bodied Honduran with a Cameroon wrapper and a Connecticut Broadleaf binder." It received 50.7% of the vote with Selection #1 receiving the other 49.3%. This cigar is available in four sizes:

Merlin ~	5 1/4 x 50 @ $4.75 ea.	All come in 20ct. boxes. All of the samples I smoked were of excellent burn, draw, and flavor. However, some exhibited underfilling. I regard this as a brand to watch and one to give a full test when it hits the shelves.
King Arthur ~	6 1/4 x 45 @ $4.55 ea.
Galahad ~	6 3/4 x 47 @ $5.35 ea.
Lancelot ~	7 1/4 x 54 @ $5.75 ea.

The other new cigar offered by Villazon is the Sancho Panza. This new cigar represents one of the few Havana named brands that was missing from the US domestic market. It is a value priced cigar comprised of a dark Connecticut Shade wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican piloto cubano blended filler. Also it is offered in four sizes:

Valiente ~	5 1/4 x 50 @ $3.40 ea.	The cigars themselves are attractive box pressed smokes in 20ct. varnished cedar hinged cabinets. The band is too glossy imo, but the real issue is the cigar. Opinions on this one were very mixed at the show, some folks liked it while others absolutely hated it. I was unable to smoke any of these fairly to render a judgement at this time.
Caballero ~	6 1/4 x 45 @ $3.20 ea.
Glorioso ~	6 1/8 x 50 @ $3.90 ea.
Primoroso ~	6 3/4 x 47 @ $3.90 ea.

General had very few new cigars to offer, yet they had one of the most coveted at the show, the Ramon y Ramon.

This is a limited series cigar created and name in honor of master cigar maker Ramon Cifuentes who regretfully passed away in January 2000.

The Ramon y Ramon is a traditional Cameroon Partagas with a Broadleaf binder and a fuller-bodied blend. There are supposedly only 100,000 of these cigars and they will only be sold in a special limited edition humidor of which there is 1,000 units. Included in each humidor will be 100 Ramon y Ramon cigars plus 50 Partagas 150s that were released from Edgar Cullman Sr.'s private stock. Here are the contents of the humidor:

150 Cigars total in a Custom Humidor for $2,720.00.

(20) Ramon y Ramon Padre ~ 6 3/4 x 43 (20) Ramon y Ramon Familia ~ 6 1/4 x 47 (20) Ramon y Ramon Nino ~ 5 1/2 x 50 (20) Ramon y Ramon Legado ~ 5 3/8 x 44 (20) Ramon y Ramon Padrino ~ 7 1/2 x 49 (10) Partagas 150 A ~ 6 3/4 x 43 (10) Partagas 150 B ~ 6 1/2 x 47 (10) Partagas 150 C ~ 5 1/2 x 49 (10) Partagas 150 Robusto ~ 4 1/2 x 49 (05) Partagas 150 AA ~ 7 1/2 x 49 (05) Partagas 150 D ~ 5 x 38

As much as I hate being pulled in by the hype and the cost I must admit that the humidor is very attractive and the couple of Ramon y Ramon Nino samplers I smoked were exceptional. Although they claim the blend to be "fuller" I would overall regard it as medium bodied. What impressed me about the cigar was the intricacies of the flavor. The wrapper is spicy while the filler has definite floral and earthy notes masterfully balanced. This cigar exhibits one of the best aromas I have enjoyed in a long time. Personally, I think they should skip all this "limited edition" stuff and just make this cigar outright in cedar cabinets.

The only other two items of note from General are the Macanudo Robust will now be available in a tubed Portofino size and they are now offering the Cohiba blend in a 4 3/16 x 34 square pressed vitola called the Pequenos. The Pequenos are available in tins of 6 cigars each for $12.96 per tin.

La Aurora is introducing a Leon Jimenes Maduro in four basic sizes: Churchill, Robusto, Corona, and Belicoso.

Puros Indios only new offering is a box pressed 6 x 48 vitola called the Cigar King. Essentially it is the same cigar as the Toro, but pressed. To be honest, the press job on the ones I have seen were lousy, they barely had any shape at all. Also I have to question the color label I saw on the sample box; it featured Rolando Reyes Sr. in a PI shirt and hat looking dazed and confused. I hope they select a better photo of this great cigar maker to use because I can't see the current one helping sales.

Caribe Imported Cigars introduced two new smokes at the RTDA. The first being the Camacho Corojo. This seven cigar line is made with 100% 1st generation Corojo seed leaf. For these cigars are a hands down winner - excellent construction, extremely attractive, and packed full of flavor. They begin with a bit of a bite, but settle out quickly to become a full bodied satisfying cigar. This new cigar will only be available from 36 retailers and in limited quantities. Their other new cigar is the Camacho Havana available in the same seven vitolas, but using a Jamastran Habano Criollo wrapper. Over recent years this cigar company has begun to create blends geared more towards the diehard cigar smoker and I regard them as one to watch.

Bahia is undergoing quite a few changes in packaging and product lines. They introduced a humidified humipak base 4 cigar pak meant to be displayed on a fancy rotating display and have started tubing some of their cigars. They also introduced a small cigar (4 1/4 x 32) in tins and a new discount brand called "B" for less than $90 retail per box of 20. My understanding is that they will also be launching a new XXO in a natural Corojo wrapper, but I did not see any of these samples while at the show.

CAO debuted their new "eXtreme l'anniversaire" as the third blend within their anniversary line made by Tabacalera Perdomo. It is a stronger blend consisting of 5 different tobaccos in the blend, 2 different ligeros: Jalapa and Esteli. The binder is Ecuadorian and the wrapper is a drop dead gorgeous fifth priming of Ecuadorian Sumatran. This cigar is offered in 5 different sizes and is packed in 20ct. boxes priced from $136 - $162 a box. The cigar was exceptional looking, but regretfully the few samples shared at the show were too freshly made to judge, in fact I was expressly warned of this when they share a few with me. I regard this as a cigar that has tremendous potential and am anxious to try a few once they have been allowed to set-up properly.

Cusano Cigars continues to hang in there and offer some of the best little known or recognized cigars of the show. In particular, they are launching a new Cusano Exclusivo line which includes three different vitolas. These cigars come wrapped in a double fermented Connecticut shade wrapper and are incredibly smooth on the palate with plenty of flavor. An excellent medium bodied creamy smoke.

La Flor Dominicana also offered cigars in tubes and a 2000 series in 50ct. cabinets. The 2000 series features a dark oily Cameroon wrapper and is only being offered in two sizes: No. 1 (6 1/2 x 44) and the No. 4 (6 x 47). I did not sample either of these cigars.

Tabacalera Perdomo introduced an amazing 27 new facings at the show - this young company continues to be an innovator and to improve their lines. Of particular note is the introduction of the all Nicaraguan puro Perdomo Estate Selection. Not only are these cigars dark, oily, and gorgeous, but the blend is superb. It is a medium bodied smoke that is very lush and complex against the palate. This seems to be an ultra-premium designed to go head to head with the Padron Anniversary line. It is offered in five sizes:	Imperio ~	5 1/2 x 48 @ $8.00ea.
	Regente ~	5 x 54 @ $9.00ea.
	Aristocrata ~	7 x 54 @ $10.00ea.
	Prestigio ~	6 1/2 x 55 @ $11.00ea.
	Monstro ~	6 1/2 x 54/60 @ $12.00ea.

Others notables introduced at the show were the Perdomo< now being offered in Maduro and the re-release of a full line of the very popular discount priced Cuban Bullets.

Santa Clara Cigars introduced their La Rosa Especial Maduro line. These cigars are made by Nestor Plasencia in his Honduran factory. Initially this was a brand I dismissed, but the Maduros pack one hell of a good wallup. These are a strong earthy smoke with a an austere dry finish. The Puesta del Sol in particular impressed me, this 6 3/4 x 54 pressed vitola is one of the strongest cigars in the current market and at a great price of about $3.00ea.

Altadis USA has so many cigar brands within its holding it is mindblowing. Their RTDA catalog is 77 pages long and that is without any pictures, just row after row of different cigars they sell. I could write ten pages on their offerings alone, but instead have decided to concentrate on a few cigars that caught my eye.

Like so many others, they introduced a tubed cigar. However in their case, it should have been done years ago as they were previewing the new Romeo y Julieta 1875 in a tubo model.

Churchill en Tubo ~	7 x 50 @ $5.50ea.	These tubes are dead ringers for the famous Habana RyJ Churchill Tubos and are certain to be top sellers.
Clemenceau en Tubo ~	6 x 50 @ $5.25ea.

They also launched a new Te-Amo Aniversario with an H2000 wrapper and a multi-nation blend that tastes nothing like the stock Te-Amo line. It is offered in 8 different sizes:

Magnum 45 ~	6 1/2 x 45 @ $3.90ea.	The Perfectos, the Habana No. 2, and the Toro Maduro are all box pressed and as you can see the prices are reasonable. This is a cigar that should do well with consumers, but it will require a significant advertising push on their part. Many consumers have already dismissed Te-Amo as a cigar not for them, and unless they are made aware that these are a significantly different blend they may not be inclined to try it.
Toro Natural ~	6 x 50 @ $4.00ea.
Toro Maduro ~	6 x 40 @ $4.00ea.
Churchill ~	7 1/2 x 50 @ $5.00ea.
Robusto ~	5 x 52 @ $3.80ea.
Habana No. 2 ~	6 1/8 x 52 @ $5.00ea.
Perfecto Natural ~	5 1/2 x 54 @ $4.00ea.
Perfecto Maduro ~	5 1/2 x 54 @ $4.00ea.

Saint Luis Rey also got a facelift with the new Reserva Especial line. Offered in just five larger sizes, this cigar possesses a impressive Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade grown wrapper. I believe this wrapper to be a big improvement on this line.

Also of interest are the Reserve line extensions of both Don Diego and Onyx brands. Both blends have been modified by the addition of the new Peruvian ligero to their mix. I was unable to secure any for tasting, but am genuinely interested to see what impact this stronger ligero has to the venerable brands.

Ashton is adding two new sizes to the very popular full bodied VSG line: Enchantment (4 3/8 x 60 @ $10.00ea.) and Spellbound (7 1/2 x 54 @ $12.00ea.). There were no samples, however I am looking forward to giving the fireplug short robusto a try. Of all the cigar sizes introduced at the show within the traditonal line this seems the most drastic. Should prove interesting...

Mayorga is adding a Churchill Maduro (7 x 50) to its recently reintroduced line of cigars. It has a dark naturally processed Costa Rican wrapper, Jalapa Nicaraguan binder, and a belend of three different Nicaraguan filler tobaccos: Esteli, Jalapa, Ometepe. This entire line has been one of my favorite new cigars of the past year and the Churchill Maduro I sampled was as equally exceptional. Btw, these were very popular with retailers at the show.

La Unica is adding a Cameroon wrapped cigar to their line plus revamping the packaging. The cigars are of perfect construction, however I was genuinely surprised by the prices considering the value priced roots of this bundle brand. The vitolas include:	Torpedo No. 1 ~	5 5/8 x 55 @ $7.50ea.
	Churchill No. 2 ~	6 1/2 x 50 @ $6.75ea.
	Belicoso No. 3 ~	5 x 50 @ $6.25ea.
	Robusto No. 4 ~	4 1/2 x 52 @ $5.75ea.

And last, but not least, Sag Imports is introducing a new cigar within the Fonseca family called the Vegas de Fonseca. This is a Cameroon wrapped gem with a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and a Dominican blended filler. It is offered in 6 sizes in 20ct. boxes:

Anteros ~	7 x 50 @ $4.75ea.	Box pressed and beautiful in eye catching eggplant colored dress boxes these cigars are going to be hard to miss on retailer's shelves. This was my favorite new cigar of the show. It is a mild-medium strength cigar with tons of body and flavor. It is creamy and rich with solid earthy flavor and a delicate spice on the finish. This is the best cigar from Manual Quesada in years.
Sobrinos ~	5 1/4 x 50 @ $4.25ea.
Vegas #2 ~	6 x 43 @ $3.95ea.
Vegas Petite ~	5 1/2 x 40 @ $2.95ea.
Belicoso ~	6 1/4 x 52 @ $5.75ea.
Vegas #10 ~	6 x 44/50 @ $6.00ea.

My Year 2000 RTDA "Must Try" New Cigars: - La Gloria Cubana Glorias en Cedros (medium-full) - Paul Garmirian Maduro (mild-medium) - Excalibur 1066 (medium) - Ramon y Ramon (medium) - Camacho Corojo (full) - CAO eXtreme L'anniversaire (medium-full) - Cusano Exclusivo (medium) - Perdomo Estate Selection (medium) - La Rosa Especial Maduro (full) - Mayorga Churchill Maduro (medium) - Vegas de Fonseca (mild-medium)

I hope you found this synopsis of the Year 2000 RTDA to be helpful and informative. The 2001 69th Annual RTDA Convention and International Trade Show will be hosted at the Marriott Waterside, Tampa, Florida, August 15th - 18th, 2001.

For more information regarding the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, Inc. (RTDA) you can visit their website at: http://www.rtda.org