Up In Smoke

Zippo Manufacturing Video

Michael J. Gibbs — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:49:13 GMT

Every wonder how the most successful and most reliable lighters of all time are made? Check out this video?

CAO's Latest Marketing Videos...

Michael J. Gibbs — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:36:47 GMT

CAO is starting the teases for their new cigar to be launched in Las Vegas this summer. Kind of a little of this and a little of that from other movies. One protracted scene screams of it's homage to Pulp Fiction.

Watch them consecutively.

Don't forget to sit through the credits for out-takes.

Making a CAO America Cigar...

Michael J. Gibbs — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:39:30 GMT

Ever wonder how they get those delicious looking barber pole stripes on the new America Cigar? Check out this video:

Camacho Site Gets Upgrade

Michael J. Gibbs — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:05:55 GMT

At the end of January, Camacho Cigars announced a release of their newly redesigned website. Some of the enhancements that they tout are:

New Look and Feel with Interactive Flash front end
New Press Room with news past and present on Camacho brand products
New Events section with calendar subscription and RSS capabilities
New VIP Section & Camacho Cigar Bar page (VIP accepting new members late March)
New Comment & Contact options using WordPress driven Press Room
Interactive 3-D Renderings of Cigar Boxes
Interactive Homepage with a scrolling cigar feature
Flash driven “Our Story” section
Google powered Dealer Locator
Wordpress back end for unlimited scalability

Of special interest is the VIP Club. They are offering a lifetime membership in their VIP club for for a one-time fee of $25.00. What do you get for this? Well, how about:

3-Pack of cigars exclusive to the club
A special Camacho VIP baseball cap that is personalized
Membership card
News and updates on new products available in advance to club members

I'd say the cigars alone are worth the price of entry, let a lone the ball cap. Sounds like a natural for a true Camacho cigar fan.

Full press release

5 Cent Cigar?

Michael J. Gibbs — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:55:42 GMT

Thomas Riley Marshall is probably best known for saying "What this county needs is a good 5 cent cigar" as a wise-acre comment to a colleague in the U.S. Senate when a long-winded senator paused his speech after "what this country needs...". We've come a long way since then in terms of quality and varieties of cigars available in the industry.

Adjusting 5 cents for the GDP per capita, those 5 cents would be equivalent to about $3.00 today. And guess what, we've got some fantastic bundle cigars available at the Tobacco Barn that will fill that bill. These are all long-filler, hand-made cigars and all of them taste fantastic. You might say they are the best bang for the buck anywhere on the 'Net.

Check it out at http://www.Tobacco-Barn.com/CheapCigars.aspx but just don't call them cheap, we prefer to call them "Great, Inexpensive Cigars!"

House Fails to Override Presidential Veto of SCHIP Program for the Third Time

Michael J. Gibbs — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:46:36 GMT

From a press release:

January 23, 2008- The U.S. House of Representatives again failed leadership again failed to win over enough Republicans to override President Bush's veto of a children's health insurance bill Wednesday.
International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR)
Chris McCalla
Legislative Director

Current SCHIP Program Extended, No Taxes Attached

Michael J. Gibbs — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:51:28 GMT

From a press release:

Current SCHIP Program to be Extended to 2009
Veto Override Attempt of Current SCHIP Legislation Unlikely
As you know, the President vetoed the current SCHIP legislation on December 12. The House leadership has scheduled a vote for January 23 to attempt to override that veto. It appears that the House will not be able to muster the 2/3 vote necessary to override the veto.
Late last week there was talk regarding a short term extension of the current SCHIP program through March 31, 2008. However, on December 17, negotiators agreed to extend the current SCHIP program through March 31, 2009 with a small increase in funding necessary for the states to maintain their current enrollment through that date. There will be no increase in tobacco taxes to fund that modest increase.
While it is always possible that Democrats will introduce another SCHIP bill in 2008 to force Republicans to vote on the issue, it now appears likely that the issue will be pushed into 2009.
The International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers is a not-for-profit trade association organized as the advocate for the independent retail tobacconist and recognized as the "Voice of Authority and Reason" on premium tobacco related issues.

SCHIP Round Two Struck Down...

Michael J. Gibbs — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:22:36 GMT

President Bush Vetoes SCHIP Expansion Bill For The Second Time

President George W. Bush on December 12th vetoed for the second time legislation aimed at expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $35 billion over five years exclusively funded by increases in the Federal excise tax rates on tobacco products, saying "our nation's goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage, not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage."

President Bush had vetoed the original SCHIP bill on October 3rd, arguing that the $35 billion expansion is too costly, took the program too far from its original intent to help the poor, and would be a step toward federalizing healthcare. The US House on October 18th sustained the presidential veto in a 273-156 vote. In a bid to win over more Republicans, US House Democrats on October 24th proposed a new version of the SCHIP bill that retained the amount of expansion and funding source, but tightened eligibility rules, generally barring coverage to illegal immigrants, childless adults and children of families with incomes exceeding three times the poverty level. However, the revised measure secured a veto-proof margin only in the Democrat-controlled Senate, while House Republicans held enough of their members together to sustain a presidential veto. With only a few days left in the congressional session, it is not clear if Congress would schedule a veto override vote, which is expected to almost certainly fail (Politico.com 12/12).

Extension Expected to be Approved by Congress

As we are in constant contact with our federal lobbyists who have been closely monitoring this SCHIP issue, popular consensus, both public, from the media, and more private channels within the "Beltway," holds that a veto override vote will fail for there remains the lack of support to muster a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives to override the president's veto.

At this point, as the current congressional extension (following the first failed veto override vote) for SCHIP program expires December 14th, there will most likely be another extension to fund the program into 2008.

As this issue continues becoming more contentious on Capitol Hill, we urge all of you to remain calm, but vigilant. At this time, it is not necessary to contact your Congressmen and urge them to oppose a veto override attempt, as there is not enough support to approve such a legislative attempt.

The current Congressional session adjourns Dec. 22.

New Cigar Pricing Launched...

Michael J. Gibbs — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:56:38 GMT

Save Even More During November Sale

The Tobacco Barn is proud to announce that we have modified our cigar pricing structure to provide you, our favorite customers, with better pricing. In the past, our 10% box discount was applied on just that, box sales. The problem was that we had boxes of cigars that only had 5 cigars in them at one extreme to 100 cigars per box at the other extreme.

As such, we've instituted a policy that cigar sales on the website where you purchase 20 or more of the same cigar will get you the "box discount" of 10%. No longer will Edge (and other cabinet-style cigars) require the purchase of 100 sticks just to get the discount.

And to sweeten the pot even more, we are adding this discount ON TOP of the existing 10% discount on cigars being offered during the month of November!

Now you have no excuse to stock up that new humidor you've just bought... What's that you say? You haven't bought a humidor yet? Now is the time to do so as you can get these at a 30% discount off our low prices as well. Don't wait until the last minute though as the selections on humidors are limited so act now.

See this page for more details on this fabulous sale.

CAO Branching out into... Watches?

Michael J. Gibbs — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:32:16 GMT

CAO has recently issued a press release trumpeting that they have chosen to team with Anonimo watches on the release of a new watch at the Big Smoke in Las Vegas next weekend.

Nashville, October 31, 2007: CAO, one of the world’s foremost premium cigar manufacturers, has been chosen as the exclusive cigar brand to launch the Anonimo Shelby Mark II SE watch at the upcoming Cigar Aficionado Big Smoke in Las Vegas on November 9-10.
...

In addition to receiving a highly rated CAO Cigar, guests of the CAO booth in Las Vegas will also receive a special promotional offer on Anonimo watch winders and travel cases, courtesy of AnonimoUSA. “The personalities and philosophies of CAO and Anonimo were a perfect marriage,” commented CAO Chief Marketing Officer Jon Huber. “Much like CAO, the Anonimo brand prides itself upon being a perfect blend of tradition and innovation. We’re excited about this association, and our CAO Vegas team will be proudly wearing Anonimo watches during the Big Smoke.”
The Anonimo Shelby Mark II SE watch will be limited to 500 units of each dial color with a suggested retail price of $5,500.00. For more information on CAO and Anonimo watches, please visit www.caointernational.com and www.anonimousa.com.

In other news, their new America line of cigars has received a 90 rating from Cigar Aficionado magazines Cigar Insider. This is the 10th brand from the Memphis-based cigar manufacturer to receive a rating of 90 or better ("Outstanding"). I've tried these and agree that this is certainly one of the best smoking (and looking) CAO cigar to come out recently.