Luciano Cigars announces a new cigar line, Foreign Affair, launching at the 2023 Total Product Expo in Las Vegas. The new cigar was carefully blended as an ode to the globalization of the cigar industry and its smokers, to the capacity we have of connecting with one another by experiencing a great cigar together.

This reverence found between premium tobacco, passion, and the relationships built from them was also reflected in the friendship between Luciano Meirelles, Frank Cossio (Co-founder of Astorian Cigar Co.), and Mike Dounoulis (Luciano Cigars’ Regional Sales Manager  &  Co-founder of Astorian Cigar  Co.). The trio worked on the cigar for over a year, led by Cossio’s attentive palate, Dounoulis’ creativity, and Meirelles’ blending complexity. At the end of this journey, Foreign Affair is a cigar designed to appeal to the differing perceptions of all  smokers. 

“The idea was to convey the unique and transcendent connection we experience in the shared space of smoke, cigars, and people. This cigar to me is emblematic of the relationships and bonds we’re able to build in our industry.”  Mike Dounoulis, Luciano Cigars Florida Sales Manager & Co-founder of Astorian Cigar Co.

 The cigar will be offered in the following four sizes packaged in 24 count boxes:

?      Corona – 5 ? x 42            $9.50      MSRP
?      Rothschild – 4 ½ x 48     $10.35   MSRP
?      Toro Extra – 6 ½ x 52     $11.80   MSRP
?      Belicoso – 6 x 54               $12.50   MSRP

Wrapper: Sumatra Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua & Ecuador
Filler: Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Dominican Republic

Foreign Affair is made at the Luciano Cigars Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. It will be debuting at TPE 2023 in Vegas, with Luciano Cigars found at booth #2079. 

Originally posted on February 26, 2023 @ 3:18 am

Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s General Cigar Company has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Empresa Cubana del Tabaco d.b.a. Cubatabaco.

The lawsuit appeals the December 20, 2022 decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) regarding the cancelation of the COHIBA trademark registrations in the US. In addition to appealing the TTAB decision, General Cigar also filed additional claims seeking a declaration that Cubatabaco has no grounds at all to cancel General Cigar’s COHIBA trademarks in the US.

Régis Broersma, president of STG’s North America and Rest of World division said, “By initiating this lawsuit to appeal the TTAB decision and to obtain a declaration of its rights, General Cigar expects the court will ultimately rule it has exclusive US rights to the COHIBA marks.”

While the lawsuit moves forward, General Cigar will continue to manufacture, market, sell and enforce its COHIBA marks, and General Cigar’s COHIBA registrations remain active.

Owen McKeon US general counsel for STG noted, “General Cigar has appealed the Board’s decision as it is improperly based on the re-litigation of a claim that was decided in General Cigar’s favor by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit more than a decade ago. As such, General Cigar maintains that the Board’s ruling is contrary to clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent.”

In February 2005, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled unanimously in favor of General Cigar Co., Inc. in the lawsuit filed by Cubatabaco in 1997 over the trademark ownership of the COHIBA brand in the United States. In the ruling, the Second Circuit held that “General Cigar’s legal right to the COHIBA mark has been established against Cubatabaco. General Cigar has a right to use the mark in the United States because it owns the mark in the United States.”

Originally posted on February 26, 2023 @ 3:18 am