If one thing is absolutely crystal clear after this week’s PCA show in Las Vegas, it’s that the cigar industry is taking a page from the craft beer movement, ditching the old-timey, traditional iconography that for decades have adorned its boxes and bands. Instead, bold, bright, brash colors were the highlight of the event, from the forward-thinking design of companies like Crowned Heads, to the Back to the Future-themed “McFly” cigar from Oscar Valladares.
Much like we’ve seen in the spirits world over the last year or so, the marketing focus on tradition is fading away, as a younger, hipper, more modern approach is taking hold and catching fire. Tradition is still spoken of when you speak with each company, but the designs have completely moved away from historical precedent.
Like any product marketing, there were plenty of mediocre cigars with flashy packaging, building on today’s archetype cigar smoker: no longer the suited gentleman smoking in his leather book-bound library, but rather the bearded, jewelry-adorned, rock and roll biker, sipping a glass of high proof Bourbon while smoking a more powerful stick.
Like the Bourbon industry, there are only a handful of major players actually growing tobacco and rolling cigars within the industry; hence, almost all of the boutique brands at the show are being made at the same factories. Think of the 50+ brands of MGP-sourced whiskey on the market right now, each with its own approach, story, and flavor-profile.
That being said, what I appreciate about the cigar world is that it hasn’t yet been broken down into component marketing, meaning that—unlike most Buffalo Trace products—there isn’t one factory or producer that smokers are endlessly chasing based on the source of its tobacco. It’s wide open.
And, based on what I saw over the last few days, it’s about to explode.
-David Driscoll