Buying Boutique Cigars

Editorial

César Salinas Chávez

By definition, for a cigar to be considered boutique –an unwritten rule– the tobacco company must produce fewer than one million pieces per year. That is, less than one hundred thousand cigars monthly, and within this range lies 90 percent, or more, of the brands marketed in the global premium tobacco market.

In contrast, major brands lead sales and dominate the market. Just two examples: Scandinavian Tobacco Group produces over three billion cigars annually, with a presence in over one hundred countries, boasting a portfolio of 200 brands, and La Aurora, which produces one billion cigars per year, is present in 60 countries.

The United States still represents the primary market for tobacco companies, due to its proximity to producing countries such as the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, its main suppliers. According to Cigar Rights of America (CRA), in 2022 sales reached 13.1 billion cigars, of which 464 million premium cigars were imported, and by the end of 2023, this sector experienced an unexpected one percent growth –a slight decrease was anticipated–, closing with the importation of 467 million units.

Based on this data, it begs the question: How large is the boutique cigar market in the United States? What importance has this sector gained as a distinct option, offering an interesting and attractive diversity for the smoker? Is it worth buying more boutique cigars?

In the absence of statistics, we estimate that major brands –producing more than one million cigars per year–, dominate 90 percent of the market, and according to CRA data, the potential universe of boutique cigars imported by the United States would be around 47 million cigars.

This number is actually higher, undoubtedly, when considering that there are more than 10 thousand registered cigar brands in that country. But beyond this numerical analysis, what does a boutique brand represent for the smoker? Does it offer the same quality, complexity, and consistency as major brands?

Right now, the Humo Latino team is concluding a working tour in the Dominican Republic, the main supplier of raw materials and cigars to the United States. We visited dozens of factories producing hundreds of boutique cigar brands for the US market; primarily small and medium-sized tobacco companies, whose dedication, perseverance, and quality we witnessed.

Factories where Master Blenders, rollers, and many of their employees have worked for 10, 15, and even more than 20 years in world-renowned companies and have access to top-quality tobaccos due to their limited productions, which they manufacture under the strictest standards, because a customer is not just a sale, but an opportunity to grow and expand in an increasingly demanding market.

The boutique cigar experienced a boom during the pandemic, and today it perhaps represents the sector with the most growth and long-term positioning capacity, due to the great variety and novelty they offer to smokers. Being informed, searching for, and consuming boutique cigars supports the diversification of the premium cigar world and helps new stories and factories emerge and consolidate. For the sake of the Tobacco World, it is worth buying boutique cigars.