Blunt Debate

One of the most recent and grotesque legislative threats to cigar smokers, our freedoms, and common sense is the Washington DC City Council’s efforts to ban the sale of single cigars; because they are considered ‘drug paraphanalia’.  This is a legislative trend we have seen in other places and despite its stupidity, I’m sure we will see it again.  So, we must address the problem with facts before it gets more ridiculous.

First, we must explain what a ‘blunt’ is, since most cigar smokers probably have no idea.   The Urban Dictionary defines a blunt as a “cigar hollowed out and filled with marijuana.”  The term derives from the short-filler Phillie Blunt brand which was originally used to create blunts.  The term blunt originated in the 1980s and continued to be a popular inner-city technique for smoking marijuana throughout the 1990s.   Our research indicates it has faded in popularity over the last ten years.

It is important to note that blunts are made from short-filler, cheap cigars, which are available at convenience stores.  Blunts are not made from premium cigars nor do they use natural tobacco leaves; they use homogenized tobacco leaf.  A long-filler premium cigar cannot be emptied in the same way a short-filler cigar can and it would be prohibitively expensive to purchase a premium cigar to smoke marijuana.  So, even if you think the government should prohibit products which can potentially have illicit uses, you must understand that premium cigars do not fit into that category.  Furthermore, if you follow the logic of prohibiting products that can be used to smoke marijuana, then you will have to ban all paper, all plastic bottles, apples, and a myriad of other benign objects.

Ultimately, the idea of banning a product that has potentially illicit uses is absurd; by that logic you could ban almost everything in the world*.  Even worse, it shows how intellectually bankrupt our legislators are and does nothing to protect citizens or our freedoms.

*This legislative mentality is brought to you by the same nanny state that believes it makes sense to ban products that are “attractive to children.”…..  Remember that our current legislators can take away ever pleasure and freedom you enjoy in the name of your “health and welfare”.

#WITWITTH? - Where In The World Is The Tobacconist Handbook

It took over a decade to create and our pre-marketing campaign left many people wondering, where in the world is The Tobacconist Handbook?  Well, The Tobacconist Handbook (TH) is here and available at Amazon.com.   More importantly, we want to know who has the TH and would like to share your pictures with the Tobacconist University community: we are calling this the #WITWITTH? Project.  You can view the photos on our Facebook Fan page or Follow TU on Twitter to see the latest and greatest contributions to the #WITWITTH? Project.  Thank you to everyone who is contributing, and especially Jessica Padrón, who took the extraordinary photograph above.

The Certified Medallion: Leveraging TU

We tell all TU Apprentices and Certified Tobacconists that getting Certified and passing the final exam is just the beginning of the process, albeit the hardest.  Ultimately, Certification must be leveraged by wearing the Certified Pin and using the Certified Medallion, on business cards, store signage, and your website.  After all, if you get Certified and never mention it to your customers, co-workers, vendors, and the community around you, then the benefits will never materialize.  While TU is no magic bullet for what ails our industry, the ability to leverage it is a massive competitive advantage.

PS: every CRT store can get a framed diploma with their logo, store signage stickers, and the right to use the Certified Medallion as long as they maintain one CRT.  Individual CRT can receive the Certified Pin, a personal diploma, mouse pad, and more…

The Tobacconist Handbook Proof

The Tobacconist Handbook Proof has arrived.  And, it is indeed proof of our credibility and professionalism.   These 205 pages, 120+ custom images/graphics, and 41,000+ words took almost fifteen years to create and then another 2,000 hours to distill into a handbook.   I could not be more excited to preview it here for you.  Thank you to all of the well-wishers and inquirers; it will be available in September 2009 and you will definitely be hearing more about it in the months to come.  Please sign up for our email list to get the latest and greatest news!

 

 

National Media Honors Certified Tobacconists

Certified Tobacconists from across the country received national media recognition for their accomplishments in a news report today:

 

Gaining positive media attention is a rare thing indeed these days, and important to projecting and preserving the honor and credibility of the luxury tobacco industry.  Congratulations to everyone who has been certified and was mentioned in the article.  Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.  And thanks to all our apprentices.  We look forward to certifying all of you and watching this list grow!

Advertising That Works

Rene' Gerard Sr.  CMT Academic Contribution

Certified Master Tobacconist #1751

Advertising That Works

I have owned my shop for 24 years and I learned that consistant Talk Radio works for me. I have had a yearly contract with my local talk radio station and with that contract I had them carry The Cigar Dave Show live every Saturday Morning for the last 10 years. This has worked very well for me. I can change my radio spots with in 2 days and use it to promote in store events, specials and if nothing is going on I have 3 or 4 generic spots that we can run. I have gotten to know my radio rep very well and she cuts my spots with me so my customers get to here me talk about the new stuff or personally invite them to the shop. when we cut a new spot they e-mail it to me and I keep it for future use if needed. Hope this helps.

Cigar Anatomy: Final Exam Review

Premium cigars are composed of long filler, binder, and a wrapper. They are made exclusively by hand, although the bunch (binder+fillers) can be created using a Lieberman machine which assists the roller. In general, bunchers place 3 to 5 filler leaves* together and wrap them with a binder leaf, then place them in a mold and press.  The bunched cigars are rotated in the mold several times, about every 30 to 45 minutes, in order to create an even compression without a seam.  After the bunch is removed from the mold and press the wrapper leaf will be applied.  Wrapper leaves have their entire stem removed and each half of the leaf will be used on separate cigars.  These wrapper leaf halves are mirror images of each other so one will be applied right-to-left and the other left-to-right.  It is important to note that wrapper leaves are prized for their elasticity, tensile strength, consistent color and texture.

*Important Note: filler leaves have only half of their stem removed.  The half closest to the tip of the leaf is the thinnest part and it will remain; the thicker bottom half will be discarded.