PipesandCigars.com Offers Build Your Own Sampler

Now cigar fanciers with eclectic tastes can put together their own personal best collection of smokes from the wide selection of premium cigars offered by this online tobacconist. The company has just introduced a series of items that lets customers pick from hundreds of choices to create their own customized cigar sampler.

Here’s what Travis Lord, the Marketing Director of PipesandCigars.com, had to say about this new item: “Our Build Your Own Cigar Samplers are something I’ve been working on for a while now. The difficult part from a logistical standpoint was the pricing and the back-end infrastructure. Now that I’ve got both of those figured out, I’m very excited to introduce these to our customers. This concept is something many of our customers have been asking for, and so I really wanted to make it happen.

“Most of our competitors don't offer anything like this, and the ones that do just give lists of single cigars at their regular retail prices and let customers go from there. Since we sell singles of almost every cigar we carry anyways, I wanted to do something different and better, and offer a better value as well.

“With our items, customers pick a size range and a general price category. Then they are presented with choices of many different cigars that fit the criteria, in some cases over 125 different choices are available. They pick out whichever cigars they want, and pay the same price regardless of the cigars selected.

“Since I’m a cigar smoker and online shopper myself, I designed the items the way I’d want them to be if I was shopping for them - simple, easy-to-use, and with a huge variety of choices. Rather than attach our regular price to each cigar, the one-price-fits-all format gives ease and clarity, and it also allows us to discount them an average of 30% off what we would normally sell each cigar for individually.”

The Build Your Own Sampler packs each have seven cigars and are priced starting at $34.95, going up to $109.95 for ultra-premium cigars. Check it out at PipesandCigars.com.


Tobacco Retailers Fight Illinois Tax Hike

Back in June, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn enacted a substantial tax increase on cigarettes, small cigars, roll-your-own cigarettes and moist snuff, from 18% to 36% of the product price. Now some organizations have filed suit to roll back the hike.

The suit, which was filed by the Cigar Association of America, along with the National Association of Tobacco Outlets and the Northbrook Arango Cigar Co., claims that the law’s new definition of “cigarette” is “unconstitutionally vague.” It’s up to the individual storeowners to decide which products are cigarettes and which are “little cigars” in order to affix the correct stamps.

The suit seeks an injunction to roll back the new laws.


NY Stog-A-Thon Raises $35,000

New York City has to be one of the least-friendly places for smokers, but that didn’t stop the New York Tobacconists Association from staging a major cigar event.

The NYTA’s first annual Stog-A-Thon took place on July 24 at the Water’s Edge restaurant and catering hall in Long Island City, and raised $35,000 for the organization through ticket sales, auctions and raffles.

The Stog-A-Thon kicked off with a cocktail hour where guests were encouraged to enjoy cigars, then the puffing began again after a three-course non-smoking dinner.

According to NYTA president Ron Melendi, “The purpose of the event is to raise money so that the professional tobacconists can have their voices heard in Albany. These small businesses are suffering because of excessive taxation and a full-out frontal attack on these businesses.”

More than 300 guests paid $250 each to attend the event, where they were invited to partake of cigars from over 30 manufacturers, including Davidoff, Fonseca, La Flor Dominicana and Nat Sherman.