Obamamania Adds Cigars to Growing List of Products Showing Up Around Town
By Pasadena Independent
Published: Thursday, March 26th, 2009
As the newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama tries to kick an old cigarette smoking habit, and cities worldwide are enacting tough, anti-smoking laws, along comes a Nicaraguan company that has produced the latest in a sea of merchandise trying to cash in on his popularity with “Obama – Series 44” cigars.
Granada Cigars, a small outfit based in Nicaragua’s tobacco-growing north, is using local and Cuban leaves to hand-roll cigars wrapped with a gold band that says “Obama 44,” commemorating the 44th U.S. president.
The name of the cigar company pays homage to the oldest city in Central America, Granada which was founded in 1524. Before the Cuban embargo, the world’s highest quality cigar tobacco came from the Vuelta Abajo district in Cuba. Master cigar producers finally found a goldmine in Nicaragua’s Jalapa Valley. The combination of soil, climate and elevation yields some of the best tobaccos in the world according to many experts of the subject. The nearby city of Esteli, considered to be the cigar capital of Nicaraugua, is where Obama 44 cigars are hand-rolled. Considering the variety of tobacco available in Nicaragua, it is easy to see how Nicaraguan cigars have grown in popularity.
On Saturday afternoon, Chivas Cigars in association with Stafford Barker, Regional Sales Manager for Granada 1524 Cigars, hosted an Obama Cigar party in Old Pasadena complete with Grenada Girl Tanya Davis. The model, touting the virtues of fine Nicaraguan cigars along with a host of local celebrities, one of whom is model Thomas Turner, who posed for the poster which is seen nationwide advertising the pungent tobacco leaves, mingled with guests as they sampled the admired and trendy cigars.
The cigars come in various sizes and strengths and the company says some 13,000 have been ordered so far across the United States .That adds to thousands of Obama products — like comics, cognac, candy, hot sauce and even a sex toy — that hit the market during the media frenzy of the Democrat’s campaign and inauguration.
“Distribution is booming, the cigar is selling because of ‘Obamamania’ and we want to take advantage of that,” said one of the representatives.
During the celebrations Saturday, Cigars by Chivas owner, Anto Kamavan was joined by co-owner of the cigar company, Miguel Ramirez and partner Thomas Turner as well as Ehul Davis and Vernon Kemp as spokespeople for the company.
Among the Obama-themed items expected to generate millions in sales are a soap bar called “The Audacity of Soap,” after the president’s “Audacity of Hope” book, and Ben & Jerry’s “Yes Pecan!” ice cream, a riff on his “Yes we can!” campaign slogan, which boasts “amber waves of buttery ice cream with roasted nonpartisan pecans.”
No word yet from the White House on how the president feels about this latest attempt at stimulating one company’s revenue.
For more information visit their website at www.granada1524.com or www.obamacigar.com
Photos and Story by Terry Miller
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