caudio51
BoM Nov '05; Mar '06
From his email:
2006 Retail Tobacco Dealers Association (RTDA) Show and Convention report
Once again and for the 74th time tobacco retailers, from all over the country and world, descended upon the convention floor held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sands Expo Center connected to the Venetian Hotel. Although busy for the three days the show floor didnt seem to be as crowded as I expected and the ease with which Mrs. Uncle Mikey and I were able to pass from vendor to vendor made it easy to find new merchandise for all of you. Ive not yet smoked my way through all the new prospects but I do want to tell you about a few I found and will be carrying as soon as my purchases come in. Certainly some of the new lines I am smoking my way through will pass onto my shelves and you will see them when they come in or read about them in upcoming news letters.
Shortly the Cigars of Rocky Patel will grace the shelves of the Herf House as well as new lines from Alec Bradley, EO Brands, Oliva and Drew Estate and many more. For those of you not familiar with the well made and wonderful cigars of Rocky Patel here are a few of the lines you will need to look for at the Herf House. Vintage 90 and 92, Olde World Reserve, Sun Grown, Edge, Edge Missile, Java and Rocky has taken on the Nording line for manufacture and distribution. (Nording is one of the best pipe and pipe tobacco companies). From Alec Bradley we will have Pryme and the newest edition to their cigars MAXX a medium strength full bodied cigar in the mid price range and a variety of sizes that will surly please every smoker. I have always had access to Pryme but didnt really like the original edition of this cigar and since it was pricy I didnt feel it would be a great value for my customers ..Things change and so did Pryme. Totally re-blended the new edition of this cigar has more taste and flavor then it did before and has been re-priced for value smokes in the mid to upper end of the spectrum. United Tobacco, EO Brands makers of REO and VIBE have a new cigar in the market called 601. This new offering is being made by Don Pepin Garcia in his new factory in Nicaragua and is a medium strength full body cigar with spice and sweet core of cedar and nuts with a back taste of coffee. Mrs. Uncle Mikey really liked this one and Eddie Ortega and his partner Eric Espinoza tell me they are already working on another blend with Don Pepin. While mentioning Don Pepin, we will also have several of his own lines in the store and on the internet as well but I have not yet smoked through them to decide which blends will work best for you all. The Oliva Family of fine cigars, producing consistent quality products over they years were one of the first completely vertical cigar companies in the industry. By dropping one line the Oliva O Bold and adding a new line the Special S plus changing packaging to complete a new look for the Oliva Family will help establish a stronger foot hold in a commanding industry. The new Special S is medium in strength and full flavor with lots of spice and some pepper. When smoking the sample I couldnt put this one down .nubbed this stick to the very finger burning end. We will start with five sizes for this line. In addition the Oliva Grand Cameroon and Maduro will now be called Serie G and the Oliva O Classic and Maduro will be called Serie O with new sizes available very soon. Lastly from Oliva is the new Master Blend 3 with a new Double Robusto size for this highly prized cigar line. From Drew Estate the Herf House will now include the New Chateau Real, and La Vieja Habana lines. This new Chateau Real (pronounced REEAHL), will give Davidoff Millennium and Ashton a real run for the money. Not an herbal blend but natural tobacco utilizing the same type wrapper that Davidoff and Ashton use for their cigars this mild to medium strength cigar is creamy smooth with so many complex flavors you have to smoke it to believe it and medium priced as well.
In addition to the above there will be a bunch of new cigars some you have never heard of and some you know very well but I could not get to some of the suppliers at the show and was asked to wait a week to contact them to place my orders. Such is nature of the RTDA frenzy which occurs with some suppliers. Many of you know that uncle mikey was contacted by a number of manufacturers for assistance with their lines and I have not smoked all of them to know what I will do with their offerings. One particular manufacturer gave me a sample to try and the cigar tasted like I had just licked a ball field with my tongue. He got his answer right away. I do have some promising cigars I believe I should be bringing in and not the least of these is a new cigar from Panama. Plus it would appear that the Mexican and Brazilian manufacturers are making a new attempt to enter the US market. I know, I know you dont want another Te Amo but one sample I tasted was blended with Nicaraguan and Honduran tobacco along with Mexican binder and wrapper and truth be known many cigars you already love use Mexican binder and wrapper as well as filler but no one tells you this because of the stigma Mexican cigars carry. I do promise you this, should I decide to bring in any cigars from Mexico they will be to the American palate and certainly a good value. I did not find anything from Brazil that I really liked and only one sample was long fill. All seemed to be high priced for their quality.
Accessories were another matter of interest for me. There are so many to choose from I decided that not too much was new and would stay with the tried and true smokers toys I could trust to give you my customers a value for your money. Xikar has come out with several new products and you will see them in the store and on the website very soon. The addition to their lighter line is stunning as well as a new toy or two that you wont see in Thompsons catalog. One thing Mrs. Uncle Mikey and I saw a bunch of is Hookah. I couldnt believe how many companies are vying for that market. Im not going to get into these since here in Virginia they can be construed as paraphernalia but I know in many states retailers are starting to sell them as well as the stuff they put in the bowl to smoke. Oh, I did purchase a new humidification device called The Puck. This is a crystal bead that needs no propylene glycol added, ever.
Having attended many RTDA shows in the past and being in this industry for so long I have seen many produces of some bad and well as fine cigars come and go. Altadis one of the industry leaders of course had their typical 10.000 sq ft booth. They are the largest display on the show floor and in years past always busy. Not this year. I think I could have driven an Abrams tank right through the display without hitting one single person. In the mean time one could not get to CAO or La Flor Dominicana and I had to wait until the last day of the show to finally speak with Rocky Patels people. Tony Borhani, producer of the Bahia line of cigars once one of the larger displays on the show floor had two booths off to the side of the show and sat and spoke with the same three people for the three day event. Times, styles and tastes keep changing and we retailers need to keep our taste buds to the grind stone in order to continue to bring you our loyal customers and cigar consumers the best of the best this industry has to offer. mb