What This Country Needs Now

From the Print Edition:
Kevin Spacey, Jan/Feb 02

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Some people (inevitably nonsmokers) mistakenly thought that a great cigar was simply a luxury product, and that cigar sales would take a dive after September 11. They naively believed that a good smoke had more to do with a pretty Cartier watch or a flashy Gucci tie than a glass of fine wine or a good meal. But while luxury products in general have been taking a beating since this fall, premium cigar sales are holding their own. Friends in the fashion business in Italy tell me that brands such as Prada and Gucci have lost as much as 40 to 50 percent of their global business, particularly in the United States. Obviously, for many people, it doesn't feel right going out and spending pockets full of money on a Prada suit or Gucci shoes after September 11, but buying and smoking a great cigar is something they still appreciate -- the pleasure is a hell of a lot less expensive.

For example, Enrico Garzaroli, the bear-like owner of the Graycliff Cigar Co., says that his cigar business couldn't be any better. He is selling plenty of his finely crafted smokes. On the other hand, his hotel and restaurant business in Nassau, Bahamas, is in the doldrums. "My cigars are selling incredibly well right now," he said, puffing on one of his double corona blue label smokes in a New York bar last October. "The rest of my business is #*@*. I have had nothing but cancellations at the hotel and restaurant."

Garzaroli isn't surprised, though. He and others have seen it all before. It was the same in the early 1990s during the Gulf War. People cut back on just about every luxury imaginable -- except for cigars. "I think that people actually smoked more during Desert Storm," said one New York City cigar shop manager I spoke to last fall. "They would rather eat or drink less than not enjoy a good cigar."

This all doesn't mean, however, that the cigar manufacturers (particularly Cubans) reading this column should get some dumb idea such as raising their prices. If anything, they should give us a break and drop them. And they should deliver better quality.

I can't help but think that Cuban cigars are going to take a beating in the marketplace, if their quality doesn't improve. Before September 11, the talking heads in charge of the Cuban cigar business said that they were going to make (and sell) close to 150 million cigars in 2001. I assume that they have now adjusted their forecasts, and plan to do less. However. the readjustment might improve the quality of their cigars. When I visited a few cigar factories in Havana last August, I was appalled by the general lack of quality.

The flaws were right out in the open for everyone to see, from inferior filler tobacco and wrappers to sloppy craftsmanship. One cigar sorter, who was grouping the finished smokes by color, said to me that the "wrappers were incredibly ugly and marked." Added a roller in the other room, "Don't blame us. We are just doing the best we can with what we have. Whenever there is a problem, people always blame the cigar roller."

Key Cubans in the cigar business say that the percentage of rejected cigars coming from factories has actually decreased. In some factories, officials have even introduced new machines that check the draw of cigars, and they say that these machines never make a mistake in detecting plugged cigars. Did they ever think that maybe the percentage of rejected cigars is down because more are being shipped out of the factory to the poor retailer and consumer?

If the Cubans don't improve their quality soon, they simply won't be able to sell their cigars. Serious cigar smokers are not going to spend their precious money on mediocre cigars -- and we are all watching our dollars very closely. It's the same with all cigars, whether they come from Cuba, Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic. Quality is what counts now. What we really need are $15 and $20 quality cigars that sell for $10 and $8.

The bottom line, however, regardless of price, is that we all need great cigars in these troubled times. That's why the autumn sale of aged, premium Cuban cigars at Christie's went so well.

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