Re: Noticable Curiosity
I also think that THIS TIME, we are not likely to have a repeat of the birth and death of all the boutiques.
I think this is due to simply one fact: the last boom caught everyone by surprise. THere was no way that
you can take a product that takes 3-5 years from seed to store and produce it in a year or less, and that's just what
they tried to do, all of em. Now all the big manufacturers have at least 8 years of tobacco on hand and most
of the small ones 3-5 minimum. I talk like I know, haha, I don't KNOW. But I feel like I have been keeping up enough
to lay it out there. Good tobacco and good connections will lead to good cigars that smokers will smoke and enjoy.
Most of the dead retailers couldn't DO that. Their cigars were barely smokeable, and they thought "If I can just
hang on two years, I will have a GOOD cigar on store shelves." But for 90% of them, the first impression was the last,
and they are all gone. I think one that stayed longest but might be gone now is Cupido. I also think CAO was there.
But look at Drew Estate....serious boutique, now threatening to break out of that class into major manufacturer.
I would be SHOCKED if Acid disappeared, and apparently Liga Privada is being smoked by a few people....hehe.
All the good players have tobacco on hand and contracts on paper for the future. Chances are 70% if you are
smoking a boutique blend today, it will be there in ten years. I can't say what will happen to the small shelf
space boutiques, but I think this is a boom that will simply turn into a trend and then into an era. Like I said,
constraints on smoking or not, demand is NOT GOING DOWN, and times are really tough. This may be the START of a boom.
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