Tag Archives: cigar rights

News: Largest Premium Cigar Manufacturers Join Together to Challenge Improper FDA Regulation

This news came to me by way of Drew Estate, but involves them, General Cigar, Davidoff, Perdomo, C.L.E. and Tabacalera U.S.A. This is a big deal getting these six companies putting up a united front. I love that they use the FDA’s own studies against them. Check it out. 

Largest Premium Cigar Manufacturers Join Together to Challenge Improper FDA Regulation

The largest manufacturers in the premium cigar industry today filed a joint comment with the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) opposing the agency’s Proposed Substantial Equivalence (“SE”) Rule, which would require manufacturers to submit to an extensive application and testing regime to keep any “non-grandfathered” cigars on the market.

 

In this joint comment, premium cigar manufacturers Davidoff of Geneva USA, Drew Estate, General Cigar Company, Tabacalera USA, Perdomo Cigars, and C.L.E. Cigar Company call for full exemption of premium cigars from FDA regulation and specifically object to the application to the Proposed SE Rule to premium cigars.  According to Dylan Austin, President of Davidoff of Geneva USA, “Our joint comment filed today shows FDA’s Proposed SE Rules to be an overly broad and unjustifiably costly set of regulations that are so lacking in scientific substantiation as to be nothing more than an illegal economic ban on handmade premium cigars that will cripple the manufacturers and retailers in this important industry.” 

This joint comment marks the first time these premium cigar manufacturers, who are all also members of Cigar Association of America (“CAA”), have joined together to file their own set of comments specifically regarding premium cigars.   Javier Estades, President and CEO of Tabacalera USA, stated, “We are all proud members of CAA, which as the cigar industry’s oldest and most well recognized trade association, continues to robustly represent the interests of the entire cigar industry at the federal, state, and local levels.  We fully support CAA’s incredible work in challenging current FDA regulations, which are wrong for all cigars, and recognize that certain aspects of FDA’s regulations uniquely and disproportionately impact premium cigars.  We therefore decided to come together to address these issues head on.”

 

Added Glenn Wolfson, CEO of Drew Estate, “Our joint comment to FDA is very powerful because it is based on data.  The FDA has undertaken extensive research about the usage patterns of premium cigars and their impact on public health.  The resulting data from this scientific research is clear and unambiguous as to two critical facts.  First, premium cigars are not used by youth.  Second, based on the usage patterns of adult premium cigar smokers, there is no statistically significant difference in mortality rates or disease rates between the overwhelming majority (over 95%) of premium cigar smokers and non-smokers.  Said differently, the FDA’s own data makes clear that FDA regulation of premium cigars will neither impact what is virtually non-existent youth usage or materially benefit the public health.  On the other hand, due to the unique nature of this artisanal, handmade industry, the costs of FDA regulation of premium cigars will be devastating, particularly to small businesses.”

 

“The Premium Cigar Manufacturers have in our joint comment called upon FDA to look at their own research and reach the only conclusion their own data can support,” stated, Nick Perdomo, CEO of Perdomo Cigars, “that the Proposed SE Rules are simply inappropriate as applied to premium cigars and that premium cigars should be exempt from FDA regulation.”

 

Regis Broersma, President of General Cigar Company concluded, “As the leading manufacturers in the premium cigar industry, all of us proudly stand together today to protect all premium cigar manufacturers regardless of size, retailers and consumers from what can only be described as unduly burdensome, grossly over-reaching, and wholly improper regulation.  We invite all industry members to review our joint comment and to speak to your local representatives about the devastating impacts of FDA’s proposed regulations on your businesses.  Together we can make a difference.”

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.

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News: New House Bill and J.C. Newman Co. Response

Yesterday Halfwheel reported that House Bill H.R. 1854 was introduced to exempt premium cigars rom regulation and to explain what premium cigars are.  Following is a statement from Drew Newman, general counsel of J.C. Newman Cigar Co., on the new bill:

 

“We are very grateful to Representatives Kathy Castor, Bill Posey, and their bipartisan group of cosponsors for reintroducing H.R. 1854 today.  This legislation, which would exempt premium cigars from FDA regulation, is just common sense.
 
“Three years ago, FDA decided to apply the massive and costly regulatory scheme designed for cigarettes onto handcrafted premium cigars, which my family has been rolling for four generations and 124 years.  FDA’s one-size-fits-all approach simply does not work for premium cigars, which is why, according to FDA’s own estimate, regulation would cause much as 50% of the American cigar industry to close.
 
“Premium cigars are a natural, agricultural product and make up just 0.01% of the overall tobacco industry.  According to the FDA’s own research, children do not smoke premium cigars, and the median adult consumer smokes just 1.7 premium cigars per month.  Therefore, there is no scientific basis for treating premium cigars like cigarettes and regulating us out of business.
“In 1885, Vicente Martinez Ybor brought the cigar industry to Tampa.  His arrival transformed Tampa from a small village to the dynamic, diverse city that it is today.  Premium cigars are a very important part of Tampa’s cultural fabric and heritage, which is we greatly appreciate Congresswoman Castor’s leadership in helping to save Tampa’s hometown industry.  
“H.R. 1854 is bipartisan legislation that is a companion to S. 7, which Senator Marco Rubio introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.  We are very hopeful that Congress will enact this legislation this year to clarify that it is has never been Congress’s intent for FDA to regulate the premium cigar industry out of business.”
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News: Sen. Marco Rubio Strongly Advocates for Premium Cigar Exemption

This came to me via the folks at J.C.Newman, written better than I ever could! Great speech, I tried to embed the video, but it was gikving me fits technically. so click the link in the article to go to the speech or the fine folks at J/C. Newman went to the trouble of transcribing it at the end of the piece. Fingers crossed that this makes a difference, the FDA comment period ended yesterday, I left mine, and the IPCPR/CRA left a 500+ page comment. Considering the FDA’s own studies show zero, I repeat, ZERO percent of children interested in premium cigars, perhaps they’ll at least get off that particular piece of the regulations…

 

In an 11-minute speech, Sen. Marco Rubio called for Congress to save Florida’s premium cigar industry – including J.C. Newman Cigar Co. in Tampa – from FDA’s excessive regulations.

 

Yesterday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the United States Senate about the urgent need to exempt premium cigars from FDA regulation. His speech can be viewed here, https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4742275/sen-rubio-cigar-speech-july-26-2018 , and a full transcript is below.

 

Sen. Rubio noted that the premium cigar industry “is on the verge of extinction” because of excessive and costly FDA regulation that “was never intended to apply to premium cigars.” Exempting premium cigars, Sen. Rubio said, would “free up the FDA to go after what they intended to go after, what everybody thought this was about, which is common tobacco products like cigarettes.”

 

Sen. Rubio cited J.C. Newman Cigar Company, a four-generation, 123-year-old family business in Tampa. He explained that FDA regulations are projected to cost J.C. Newman’s historic Ybor City cigar factory $30 million – more than three times its annual revenue.

 

Legislation to exempt premium cigars from regulation was introduced by Sens. Rubio and Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Bill Posey (R-FL) and has been co-sponsored by more than 160 Members of Congress. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives included the exemption in a FY 2019 budget bill. Senator Rubio spoke yesterday while the Senate was considering companion legislation. When Congress finalizes the FY 2019 budget later this year, Senator Rubio said, “we’re going to be fighting for this. . . this needs to get fixed because this is the last chance.”

 

“We are extraordinarily grateful for Sen. Rubio’s leadership and support of Florida’s historic premium cigar industry,” said Eric Newman, president of J.C. Newman. “As Sen. Rubio noted, this is truly a bipartisan issue and one that Congress urgently needs to solve.”

 

“Our family has been proudly hand crafting, all natural premium cigars for more than a century,” said Bobby Newman, executive vice president of J.C. Newman. “Like Sen. Rubio explained, our premium cigars are nothing like cigarettes.”

 

“The premium cigar industry is an important part of Florida’s cultural heritage,” said Drew Newman, general counsel of J.C. Newman. “We sincerely appreciate Sen. Rubio bringing this important issue to the Senate floor and for fighting to save our historic industry.”

 

Transcript
In my home state of Florida, we have a rich history in manufacturing, hand-rolled premium cigars. And for those who aren’t familiar with it, a hand-rolled premium cigar is not the same thing as a cigarette.

 

Number one, they’re an expensive product, and they are consumed very differently from a cigarette or some other tobacco product. I would say they’re more like wine than they would be like a cigarette, for sure.

 

The interesting thing about the cigar industry and its history, not just in Florida, but in this country, is that almost exclusively, the manufacturers of premium, hand-rolled cigars are small, family-run businesses.

 

By the way, so, too, are the retailers that sell it. This is not the kind of thing you go and buy at 7-Eleven. There are stores that specialize in the sale of premium cigars. They cater to a clientele that can afford to buy these things and they’re significantly older than someone who would walk into a convenience store and buy a pack of cigarettes from behind the counter.

 

And the companies that are involved in this endeavor are not the big companies that we see involved generally in the tobacco industry. They’re family-owned businesses, both at the retail level and also at the manufacturing level. They are, in addition to all this, they represent a rich part of the cultural history of the Cuban community in Florida.

 

Ybor City in Tampa is an example of it. It was a city that — an area that was settled over a hundred years ago by Cubans that came to Tampa to start a very vibrant hand rolling cigar industry, which again these are hand-rolled, premium cigars. These are people literally sitting down and rolling it the leaves and these are high-end products.

 

This industry is on the verge of extinction. I’ll tell you why. In 2016, the previous administration, they finalized the rule based on a 2009 law that, by the way, it’s intended — its intended target was not premium cigars. They meant to go after tobacco products that were mass produced. But this law was interpreted that would require premium cigars to regulate the manufacture, the import, the packaging, the labeling, advertisement, promotion, sale, and the distribution of their products. And with each new product, they’d have to do it over again.

 

So from year to year, the premium cigar industry may change the blend inside the hand rolled cigar. They come in boxes of eight or 12. Every time that one of these things was changed, you’d have to redo the labels, redo the packaging, redo — everything would have to be completely redone which is simply cost prohibitive because these blends change constantly, especially as you bring new markets.

 

Now, I’ve offered an amendment to the minibus that’s before us that would exempt premium, hand-rolled cigars from the FDA regulation, not just so the industry can survive but so it can thrive and also to free up the FDA to go after what they intended to go after, what everybody thought this was about, which is common tobacco products like cigarettes and some of the other things that we are aware of.

 

Now, any time you talk about this, it gets a little tricky because people talk about tobacco use and causing cancer. I’m as sensitive to that as anyone. My father was a lifelong smoker. He lost his life in his early 80’s because of cigarette smoking. We need to do everything we can to discourage people from smoking and consuming tobacco, especially cigarettes that are consumed in mass quantity and are cheap to buy in large quantities. I would note that it is already illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone who is under the age of 18. I would also tell you that beyond that, that the numbers have continued to decline in tobacco use. So we know that the laws that are in place and the programs have worked.

 

But one of the things that we’ve focused on that’s brought to bear some of these issues is that tobacco is a legal product and small — tobacco is a legal product and small manufacturing of cigars is being harmed by this but the regulations were not intended for them. The regulations were designed to target cigarettes for flavored, fat cigarettes and other commonly used tobacco products, the kinds that could potentially be marketed to young people, that are not like a premium cigar five, eight, $10 each one, $80, $90 a box but the sort of flavored fat cigarettes, all the new stuff that’s coming out that you can buy if behind the counter and they’re very cheap to buy and they’re manufactured, mass manufactured. That’s what the rule was about.

 

It was never intended to apply to premium cigars but the way it was written and the way the rule was interpreted, that’s would it’s now doing. It’s putting the same requirement on a completely different product and it’s a requirement they simply can’t meet.

 

And here’s the irony of it. All of the things that were targeted under this new rule are going to survive. They’re still going to be around. A little bit more expensive, a little harder to bring to market. But they are still going to survive. All the mass-produced tobacco products will continue — continue to be more accessible. But the premium cigar manufacturers are going to get wiped out. One more irony in all of this — it is still illegal to mass-import Cuban cigars, but you can bring them in on an individual quantity. Those are not impacted by these regulations at all. None whatsoever. So you just think about that for a moment. A product made in another country doesn’t have to meet the same guidelines but has all the same attributes.

 

Now, I talked a little moment ago about Tampa and in particular Ybor City. And today after all these time there’s only one factory left, a company called J.C. Newman. It is within the area and is known as Cigar City. They’ve been making premium cigars — not cigarettes, not flavored cigarettes, not JUULs so people can vape. I’m talking about premium, expensive, handmade cigars. They’ve been making them since 1895 and that’s going to come to an end in the very near future in this rule goes through. They’re a profitable company. They sell about $10 million worth of product annually. That sound like a lot of money. It is nothing compared to the mass-produced tobacco products. It is going to cost them three times that amount just to comply with the FDA regulations. Three times just as much — upwards of $30 million to comply with the way this rule has been interpreted.

 

The sad part about it is that everyone knows this. You go to the FDA and they say, look, we get it. The law was supposed to go after these guys, but that’s the way it was written. Everyone admits it. But yet that’s the way it’s going to be. And not just J.C. Newman, it’s going to put other retailers, and then the specialty cigar stories, it is going to put them out of business all because of a stupid regulation that was written as a result of a law that was not properly drafted and interpreted inappropriately. The federal government is going to put these guys out of business. And the irony is the people that they were trying to impact by the regulation are going to survive and remain in business and be as — survive and remain in business and be as successful as ever and the people that it was not meant to harm are going to get wiped out.

 

This is the epitome of government overreach abuse. Regardless if the business is 100 years old, this represents the livelihood of hundreds of American families. There are people that work in the factory, own those retail stores and they are going to be out of work not because the market shifted, not because Americans no longer wanted to smoke premium cigars. They’re going to be out of business because no one can stay in business if the cost of following the law is three times as much as what you can make. You can’t do it. That is legal product made by a hardworking Americans who have been designee it for a very — doing it for a very long time, not the intended target of this rule. And it is unjust for them to be singled out, just unfair, it’s wrong.

 

Here is the worst part about this rule. It is written retroactively. Not only will they have to start complying moving forward. You could argue just don’t change your blend in the future. They will have to go back and relabel, repackage everything they have been making for the past 11 years. That explains the cost for just this one business. By the way, they’ve broken no laws and yet they’ve been singled out and this threatens their livelihood.

 

This is a bicameral and bipartisan issue. A number of members here in the Senate from across the aisle agree with this. I have been working with Senator Nelson on this for a long time. This is not a partisan issue, this is, no sir, a big tobacco issue. This is — this is not a big tobacco issue. This is a premium cigar issue consumed by people in different ways. You don’t smoke ten cigars a day.

 

We just know — common sense. But this is what’s going to happen. We’re going to wipe these guys out because of a government rule and the way it was interpreted, even though it was never meant to be about them.

 

We have an amendment, we have a law that fixes all this. I’m not going to offer it on this bill because it’s already part of the House package that lines up with the appropriations bills that are before us. But I wanted to point this out because I know people in Ybor City and I know people who care about this are watching. And I want them to know when this issue gets conferenced with the House that we’re going to be fighting for this, that this needs to get fixed because this is the last chance.

 

That’s the other point. This rule is about to kick in. The comment period is about to end, and the rule is going to kick in. So this is our last chance. If we don’t get it right here when we work this out, this is going to happen.

 

You’re going to be reading about it and maybe it doesn’t matter in some places. It matters a lot to Florida. It matters a lot to this company in Ybor City, in Tampa. It matters a lot to the hundreds and thousands of people across the country who work in the retail shops that sell them and who work in the places hand rolling and making them. And this is just wrong. And we should do everything we can to stop it from happening. And I hope that we will in conference deal with this issue. I’m glad it’s in the House version. I wish we could get it in the Senate version. We’re going to fight to include it in the final version.

 

We are not going to stand by and watch as J.C. Newman and small businesses like them are put out of business by a rule that was never supposed to apply to them.

 

Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

 

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Some Classic Fuentes, A La Madrina and a Murcielago Cigar

Once again, there’s been a lot of news in the cigar world this week, the best of which was the announcement that the warning label requirement has been delayed (here, and Forbes has a nice piece about it too.).  I don’t understand the logic behind requiring cigar boxes to have warning labels covering 30% of the box when cigarettes have no such requirement, nor do I want my website covered in warning labels. It’s ridiculous. We better start putting warning labels on cars, trucks and buses, then! It’s all quite annoying. What’s also annoying is the next time there’s a call to action in the cigar community and there are less than 30k responses, there’s a certain Facebook group that likes to brag about how many members it has, but that number doesn’t mean crap if they don’t do anything when it matters! Contacting your elected officials really does make a difference, unlike the FDA, these people are obligated to read your opinions. Let me get off my Sunday morning soapbox and get on to this week’s cigars!

 

HdM Epi 2It was Independence Day week, also my wedding anniversary, and I used to smoke a nice Havana cigar as a form of civil disobedience to celebrate, but that’s not that much of a thing any more, it’s just a tradition now. I selected my last Hoyo de Monterey Epicure no. 2 that was gifted to me around six years ago, so I figured it would be ready to go. For a change, I only had to have one Cuban cigar, because this one worked right!  It was sweet, floral and medium bodied, and the floral finish stayed with me quite a long time. We went to a friends for a picnic and I enjoyed the finish throughout the day (I had packed plenty of cigars, but it turned out to be a non-cigar crowd, so I waited until I got home). This one came from an Englishman, and it was really quite good. People

 

ArturoFuente_Anjejo50After the picnic, while sitting on the porch listening to Pennsylvanians enjoy their newly legal big-boy fireworks which scare my poor dog into hiding under an end table, I lit an Arturo Fuente Añejo No. 50. I had smoked a Hemingway Classic earlier in the week, there are certain cigars I like to keep in the humidor and smoke every now and then, these are two of them, although the Añejo is less of a “classic” than the Classic, I Fuente_HemingwayClassic_Maduroguess.  The aptly named Classic has basically tasted the same for the last 20 years that I remember smoking them, an amazing feat. The Añejo is a particularly appealing cigar to me. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper aged in Cognac barrels, and the binder and filler was originally the Opus X blend, because they lost an Opus wrapper crop one year and put broadleaf on instead. Whether this is still the case or not, I don’t know, but it’s a delicious cigar with great flavor. I can’t wait to brew up a Moka pot of Fuente Espresso with one of these.

 

La Madrina ToroI continued working through the Dapper Cigars samples from last year’s IPCPR show, and the La Madrina captured my attention. Like the El Borracho last week, they go into detail on their website about the make-up of the blend which borders on the ridiculous. Here’s what they have to say about the blend of the La Madrina: Wrapper: Ecuador / La Luchita / Cuban Seed Habano / Oliva Tobacco Co; Binder: Mexico / San Andrés / San Andrés de los Perros S.A. de C.V.; Fillers: Nicaragua / Esteli / Guadalupe / Oliva Tobacco Co.; Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co; Dominican Republic / Habano ‘92 / (Undisclosed) / Oliva Tobacco Co, U.S. / Pennsylvania Broadleaf / Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co.. We are seeing more and more vague blend descriptions due to looming FDA regulations, and I made the comparison last week to Steve Saka, and he’s said himself that he’s backed off from specificity in this regard for this reason. They can pretty much say “US tobacco” and “Imported” tobacco, and get away with just about anything. Anyway, that’s a whole ‘nother discussion. The La Madrina was a tasty smoke, which I enjoyed to a finger burning little nub. This was the 5 ¼” x 54 Toro (confusing, the Robusto is 5.62 x 50 and the Toro is 5 ¼ x 54, and Dapper Cigars website doesn’t come up in a google search…so much confusion!)  Anyway, there is a lot of nice flavor going on with this, nuttyness, dark chocolate, rich tobacco, I liked it a lot. It’s interesting to see PA Broadleaf in the filler, I have some cigars with PA tobacco lined up this week. Good stuff.

 

Murcielago_ToroGrandeLast night I smoked the new Espinosa Murcielago made at AJ Fernandez new San Lotano Factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. The size was a Toro Grande at 6½” x 54 with a box press, a San Andrès wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ve been a fan of the first two iterations of this brand, and was hopeful that this would continue to work for me, and wasn’t disappointed. Great smoke, nice balance of spice and sweetness, with the dark flavors I love. It was an easy two hours of enjoyment, the construction was what one expects from AJ Fernandez, and is consistent with Espinosa’s  brands.  This size might be a CI exclusive, I picked it up at the Hamburg store last winter when we were there for an Espinosa event, as I don’t see the size listed on the Espinosa website (also hard to find in a Google search, whats up with that, is is just me?) The Bat continues to impress, loved it when it was Eddie Ortega’s favorite cigar and it was made at My Father, love the third generation.

 

That’s enough for now. It’ll be interesting to see what this week brings as the IPCPR starts next weekend. will it be a busy news week again or will everyone be busy moving stuff to Vegas, bitching about various things, heat, unions, viruses, etc…I’ll miss seeing everyone, but some things I won’t miss!  Safe travels to everyone going!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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News: FDA Warning Labels Delayed via JC Newman Co.

This just came to my inbox from Drew Newman, General Counsel of J.C. Newman Cigar Co.. This is very positive news in the fight against over-reaching regulation. Thanks to the Newmans and everyone who fights for our rights. I remember when Drew Newman caught all sorts of heat for posting on the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group when he was 16…

It seems only fitting that the day after our country celebrated America’s independence a federal court has stepped in to help preserve the right of American adults to enjoy a fine, handcrafted cigar. 

We are extremely pleased that Judge Mehta has delayed the implementation of the FDA’s new massive cigar warning labels indefinitely until the courts have a chance to decide their constitutionality. Particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s decision last week that struck down similar government-mandated statements as unconstitutional, it is only fair that the FDA’s new warning label requirements be delayed until these substantial constitutional questions are resolved by the courts.

As Judge Mehta noted in his opinion, it would cost millions of dollars for our family business and other premium cigar companies to redesign the tens of thousands of different decorative cigar boxes sold in America to accommodate the FDA’s massive new warning labels. Forcing premium cigar companies to apply these massive new warning labels now — while the FDA is in the midst of reconsidering the regulation of premium cigars and after the Supreme Court just struck down similar statements as unconstitutional — made no sense and amounted to, as Judge Mehta explained, a “grossly unfair exercise of agency authority.”

It is an incredible relief for Judge Mehta to give us a reprieve from this enormous and costly regulatory burden. America’s historic premium cigar industry has been struggling with how to absorb the high costs of redesigning the innumerable variety of cigar boxes sold in America.

Importantly, however, today’s decision only delays FDA’s regulation of premium cigars. It does not give the American premium cigar industry permanent relief. Therefore, it is imperative that everyone who enjoys a premium cigar submit comments to the FDA urging that the agency exempt premium cigars from regulation. The FDA is accepting public comments until July 25. Comments may be submitted online by visiting http://www.SaveCigarCity.com.

We are extremely grateful to Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and Representatives Kathy Castor and Bill Posey for their tireless leadership in supporting the premium cigar industry. They have been persistent and outspoken in advocating that the FDA’s new cigar warning label requirements be delayed while the agency is reconsidering the regulation of premium cigars. 

We are also very thankful for the plaintiffs in this case, the Cigar Association of America, Cigar Rights of America, the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, for their steadfast determination in representing our four-generation, 123-year-old family business and America’s historic premium cigar industry.

About J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
Founded in 1895 by Julius Caeser Newman, J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the oldest family-owned premium cigar maker in America. J.C. Newman rolls its El Reloj, Factory Throwouts, and Trader Jacks cigars by hand-operated, vintage cigar machines at its historic cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. It also hand rolls its Brick House, Perla del Mar, El Baton, and Quorum cigars at the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. J.C. Newman’s Diamond Crown, MAXIMUS, Julius Caeser, and Black Diamond cigars are handmade by Tabacalera A. Fuente in the Dominican Republic. With its longtime partners the Fuente family, the Newmans founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which supports low-income families in the Dominican Republic with education, health care, vocational training, and clean water. To learn more about J.C. Newman Cigar Company, visit www.jcnewman.com.
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