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Nicaragua Cuts Highway Speed Limit to 31 MPH

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

Earlier this week, the Nicaraguan government cut the highway speed limits to just 50 km/h (31 mph) for cars, trucks and SUVs, meaning the maximum speed limit in the country has been cut in half since the start of this month. Nicaragua is responsible for more than half the handmade cigars imported into the U.S. Co-president Daniel Ortega hinted at the move earlier this year, saying that the country needed to cut down on traffic-related deaths.
Supreme Court: Tobacco Companies Can Pick Where to Sue the FDA Over Product Approval Denials

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court found that tobacco and vaping companies can more or less choose which federal court will hear their appeals if the FDA rejects their applications for tobacco and vaping products. This is a result of a challenge first brought by R.J. Reynolds (RJR), which applied to have its Vuse Alto menthol pods, approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
Crowned Heads Broadway Ships, OZ Family Cigars’ Karatoba Gets Nationwide Launch

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

Two new lines are shipping from Crowned Heads’ warehouse in Nashville. One is a new release from Crowned Heads and it marks a major shift in the company’s branding. The new Crowned Heads Broadway uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over a binder from Jalapa, Nicaragua and fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nicaragua.
Drew Estate Increasing Prices in 2025, Cites Tariffs

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

On Wednesday, June 25, Drew Estate will increase the prices of its cigars. In a letter sent to retailers, the company cited increased production costs and tariffs as reasons for the increase. Every cigar on the company’s price list will be affected, with the changes increasing the MSRPs by 5-25 cents depending on the SKU.
Louisiana Gets 50-Cent Cigar Tax Cap

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

Last Wednesday, Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law H.B. 325, which means that starting next year, most handmade cigars will be cheaper in Louisiana. The bill establishes a new taxation method for cigars in Louisana by introducing a tax cap, meaning that no cigar will pay more than 50 cents in state excise taxes.
Camacho Limited Edition 2025 Goes on Sale

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

Davidoff has begun selling the newest Camacho cigar. It’s called the Camacho Limited Edition 2025, a 6 x 52 toro that uses a Mexican wrapper over a Honduran binder and what the company says are Honduran and “well-aged” Dominican fillers. Each cigar has an MSRP of $17.50 and they are packaged in aluminum jars of 20.
Davidoff Revenue Remains Flat in 2024, Cigar Production Drops by 10 Million

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

Oettinger Davidoff AG—the parent company of Davidoff, AVO, Camacho and others—has announced that it generated CHF 541.7 million ($662.78 million) in revenue in 2024, which the company says is a .9 percent increase compared to 2023, when Davidoff generated CHF 546.2 million. While the figure is lower in Swiss francs, exchange rates likely explain why Davidoff describes this as a slight increase.
European Union Considering a 1,092 Percent Cigar Tax Increase

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

The European Commission is considering a massive tax hike that could massively increase the tax rates for cigars in some countries. Politico has obtained a leaked draft document of the European Commission (EC)’s proposal to modify the Tobacco Excise Directive. The EC handles policy for the European Union (EU); each EU member country has one seat at the European Commission.
AGANORSA Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

In the late 1990s, Eduardo Antonio Fernández Pujals went to Nicaragua to start an agriculture business. Like so many others in the cigar business, Fernández is Cuban, albeit born in Havana but raised in the U.S. Unlike pretty much every other person in the cigar industry, he has a background in pizza delivery. In 1987, his brother Leopoldo founded Telepizza; less than a decade later, it had become the largest pizza chain in Spain.
Patina y Viso Horny Verdigris Shipping Next Month

1 week ago | halfwheel.com | Charlie Minato

The owners of Patina Cigars and Viso Horny have worked together on a new cigar that will ship to stores next month. It’s called the Patina y Viso Verdigris, a 5 x 52 robusto that uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over an Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed binder and fillers from Nicaragua. It is made at Nicaragua American Cigars S.A.Pricing has not yet been finalized, but production is limited to 300 bundles of 10 cigars, which will be distributed by City of Palms.