Smokeshop

April 2016 SMOKESHOP 27 told a mixed story of fading fortunes and rising potential. The Philippine Republic ranked fourth with one million premium cigars shipped to the U.S., a modest 3.1 percent gain over 2014's 975,000 premium cigars, and its biggest presence since 1999 when it hit 2.21 million sticks. The Philippine Republic posted its slimmest market pres- ence in 2005 with only 291,000 premium cigars, while fluctuating exports to the U.S. have since posted an overall 245 per- cent gain through December 2015. Daugh- ters & Ryan (D&R), the exclusive U.S. im- porter of cigars handmade by Tabacalera Incorporada, the oldest producer of cigars in Asia now in its 135th year of operation, offers a range of the factory's tradition- ally aromatic and mild cigars while ex- panding its newest lines, the spicier 1881 Perique and 1881 Perique Maduro blends with additional sizes. The blends were co-developed by Tababacalera and D&R, utilizing D&R's own Louisiana-produced perique tobacco. While dark Mexican tobaccos from San Andres continue to generate consid- erable marketplace excitement and are prominently featured in Central Amer- ican and Dominican-produced blends, Mexican premium cigar imports, ranked as fifth overall, plunged by 51 percent, from just over half a million in 2014 to 285,000 last year, a dramatic new 20-year low. The leading producer of Mexican cigars for the U.S. market, Tabacalera A. Turrent, undertook a major revamp- ing of its brands, discontinuing most of its blends previously distributed by Altadis U.S.A., and relaunching its new Casa Turrent line, still very much in a building phase. Three blends have been released to date, which the company is self-distributing. The company's core Te-Amo brand continues to be distrib- uted by Altadis. Black Cházaro, a new Mexican brand developed by Mexican Congressman Luis Cházaro and posi- tioned as an ultra-premium line, was launched in Texas last year. Costa Rica, a boom-era producer which peaked at 2.67 million U.S.-bound cigars in 2000 but had essentially vanished from the U.S. market only a few years later, has steadily expanded its modest presence on domestic store shelves since 2005, reaching 250,000 premium cigars in 2015, a 16 percent gain over 2014 when it shipped 216,000 premium cigars. It has held the number six position since 2013. The seventh and final key suppli- er country last year was the Bahamas, which posted a 64 percent decline in U.S.-bound premium cigar shipments in 2015 to 29,000 cigars, down from 81,000 sticks in 2014. This total represented the country's smallest U.S. market presence since it first appeared on U.S. Customs reports in 2004 with 1.21 million cigars and peaked the following year with 1.64 million. Its principal producer, Graycliff Cigars, has shifted its expanded produc- tion largely to the booming domestic Ba- hamian retail market. NON-PREMIUM LARGE CIGARS Total imports of large cigars for consump- tion in the U.S. reached 6.65 billion sticks in 2015, an increase of 5.8 percent over the 6.18 billion sticks tracked by customs in 2014. Of that total, the CAA estimates 314.6 million cigars were considered premium, or 4.8 percent, meaning that 95.2 percent or 6.22 billion non-premium large cigars entered the U.S. The Dominican Republic accounts for the lion's share of total large cigar imports into the U.S. at 5.65 billion sticks or 86.4 percent in 2014, a 25 percent jump over 2014, when 4.51 billion large Dominican cigars were imported. Bangladesh fol- lowed with 243.2 million, or 3.7 percent; Indonesia with 230 million or 3.5 percent; Nicaragua with 209.6 million or 3.2 per- cent; and Honduras with 151.6 million, or 2.3 percent. The remaining one percent of total large cigars was spread among 22 different supplier nations. The total declared customs value of all large cigar imports, premium and non-premium, at the time of importa- tion was $826.5 million in 2014, a 12.5 percent increase over 2013's declared value of $734.96 million. LITTLE CIGAR IMPORTS Imports of little cigars, defined as those weighing 1.36 kg. or less per 1,000 sticks, increased by 24.4 percent in 2015 to 23.41 million from 18.82 million in 2013. Spain led this category as the dominent country of origin with 5.2 million cigars or 22.2 of total imports, a massive jump of 2,501 percent over 2014's total of 200,000. Neth- erlands followed with 4.89 million or 20.9 percent; Denmark with 4.48 million or 19.1 percent; Ireland with 3.41 million or 14.5 percent; and the Dominican Repub- lic with 2.66 million or 11.4 percent. 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 Dominican Republic Honduras Nicaragua Top Suppliers of Premium Cigars to the U.S., 1996–2015 > The top three supplier nations of premium cigars to the U.S. have been on different tra- jectories since the post-boom glut of cigars worked out of the supply chain, as Nicaragua overtook Honduras in the U.S. market and has closed in on the Dominican Republic.

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