Will Cuban tobacco soon be rolled in the US?

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, BrightonCorgi said:

There are a few Euro brands that use Havana tobacco, but have been for many decades.  Hajenus is another that first comes to mind.

We use to bring in Goya cigars for a short time (1998-99) from the Canary Islands. They had Cuban filler.  Better than Guantanamera but you could see the lineage. 

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, BrightonCorgi said:

They'll have to ship in contract rollers from other countries in the short term if they are that low on qualified rollers.  Rolling crappy cigars is not the path forward.  Better to have less cigars available, but have them reliable.  NC's are too much of threat compared to 20 years ago.

Big roller shortage in the Nicaragua and DR currently.  Top dollar is being paid to retain them. 

[Huckleberry]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

Big roller shortage in the Nicaragua and DR currently.  Top dollar is being paid to retain them. 

I guess I we shouldn't be surprised.  If I they can't find an unskilled worker to make my DQ Blizzards correctly, I have to believe it is much harder to find a skilled worker to roll a good cigar

Next question, what are all these people who are quitting their jobs doing for money? 

[Fuzz]

12 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

Next question, what are all these people who are quitting their jobs doing for money? 

Onlyfans.

[El Presidente]

12 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

Next question, what are all these people who are quitting their jobs doing for money? 

They are going to the higher paid factory.

There is a NC boom underway.

Rollers are guns for hire in this market 😁

[asudevil08]

17 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Onlyfans.

ASMR onlyfans

[bishop532]

20 hours ago, Psiman said:

new Clear Havana's will be no less than $100 each. no thanks and I will just buy Habanos.

What’s your thinking on this? How’d you come to that number? 

[Capt. Corona]

22 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Cuba isn't that desperate. The finished product is where the money is. They can store leaf indefinitely, and over the medium term there's always a raw materials shortage. The input shortage they'll figure out in the near term. 

They pay the farmers and the factory workers a pittance. Packaging is HSA's biggest expense and they've brought a lot of that in-house. All they have to do it wait up to a year or two and get 2500% more return on the leaf, and usually far less time than that. 

Cuba also wants the monopoly and to have it they must control the leaf from seed to smoke. Why not? One of the "benefits" of authoritarianism. 

why not?

Simple....not all leaf is EL cigar worthy.

Desperate or not, the path to fast, easy money is easily followed.

[Corylax18]

1 hour ago, Capt. Corona said:

Simple....not all leaf is EL cigar worthy.

Yes, hopefully most of it is much higher grade than that. 😆

[Capt. Corona]

13 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Big roller shortage in the Nicaragua and DR currently.  Top dollar is being paid to retain them. 

And the end retail price is showing it.

Just like the rest of the world playing catch up.

 

8 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Yes, hopefully most of it is much higher grade then that. 😆

EL, RE ...you know what I meant 🤪

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, Capt. Corona said:

why not?

Simple....not all leaf is EL cigar worthy.

Desperate or not, the path to fast, easy money is easily followed.

The crap leaf still goes to finished products even if it's Troya or Guantanamera.

Again, you're talking about $1 now vs. $25 in a year. You'd have to be beyond desperate, like junkie looking for a fix desperate to take that deal. 

[JohnnyO]

Villiger likes to sprinkle romanticism from the 50-60's that their cigars have Cuban leaf. The marketing geniuses at Villiger got them in a lot of trouble with their "Cuban leaf blend" that later became "Cuban seed" and now "Havana seed". When asked if there was Cuban leaf in his cigars in 2018 his answer was: "Not for cigars exported to the US" leading others to believe that his European market cigars have Cuban leaf. He hasnt had any leaf in decades, Cuba cut him off as they did Davidoff in the 80's. John  

[bmac]

Prez are you putting down the Newmans?😬

[Ryan]

These were on sale in this country and the UK until about 2014. "100% Cuba filler". I'm not sure why they went away.

Lots of cigars, including all Villigers, left the Irish market when plain packaging came in for all tobacco types in this country. That came later than 2014 but was in discussions for at least 3 years.

[El Presidente]

7 hours ago, bmac said:

Prez are you putting down the Newmans?😬

How?  I just posted the article 

Best of luck to them. Anyone who employs people in this industry has my full support.

[bmac]

38 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

How?  I just posted the article 

Best of luck to them. Anyone who employs people in this industry has my full support.

It’s an interesting topic no doubt.You are an innovative, paradigm smashing entrepreneur so I know you appreciate ambition.Enjoy the beach 🏖 

[El Presidente]

1 minute ago, bmac said:

Enjoy the beach 🏖 

....it is pissing down rain 

 

.........long lunches ahead 

 

 

 

[porkchop]

On 2/23/2022 at 2:05 PM, El Presidente said:

Big roller shortage in the Nicaragua and DR currently.  Top dollar is being paid to retain them. 

What is the yearly take for a roller in DR or Nicaragua? 

[El Presidente]

58 minutes ago, porkchop said:

What is the yearly take for a roller in DR or Nicaragua? 

300 USD a month in Nic

[Strangg1]

Is that comfortable middle class wage?  Or is it low paying?  Never having been i'm not sure what that equates to locally.

[SCgarman]

2 hours ago, El Presidente said:

300 USD a month in Nic

How about a roller in Havana? 

[El Presidente]

20 hours ago, Strangg1 said:

Is that comfortable middle class wage?  Or is it low paying?  Never having been i'm not sure what that equates to locally.

$400 is average but that doesn't make you middleclass. It makes you struggle street. 

[NSXCIGAR]

On 2/23/2022 at 3:43 PM, bishop532 said:

What’s your thinking on this? How’d you come to that number? 

I don't think they'd be quite that high but rollers in the US would certainly cost a pretty penny. 

I would also imagine Cuban wrapper would not be used just as it wasn't in almost all clear Havanas. Havana wrapper is far too expensive and Sumatra or Ecuador is much cheaper and easier to work with. 

In fact I doubt Tabacuba would ever sell wrapper even if they did sell raw leaf. The shortage is almost always in wrapper. 

[bishop532]

9 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I don't think they'd be quite that high but rollers in the US would certainly cost a pretty penny. 

I would also imagine Cuban wrapper would not be used just as it wasn't in almost all clear Havanas. Havana wrapper is far too expensive and Sumatra or Ecuador is much cheaper and easier to work with. 

In fact I doubt Tabacuba would ever sell wrapper even if they did sell raw leaf. The shortage is almost always in wrapper. 

Honestly I wouldn’t mind a mixture of Cuban and NC tobacco. I know some people think it’s an abomination, but I think it’d be cool to see what it’s like. Definitely would not pay $100 a cigar for that privilege, but I agree with you that guess seems too high. 

Were clear Havanas super expensive compared to regular Cubans back in the 20s and 30s?