The lead producer, Nicaragua, shipped 148.3 million cigars to the United States, accounting for 61 percent of all cigar imports. Its numbers were flat compared to the first seven months of 2025.

In second place, the Dominican Republic shipped 46.9 million cigars (19.3 percent of all imports). That country had a decrease of 6.9 percent when compared to the same period of 2025.

The No. 3 producer, Honduras, was right on the heels of the Dominican Republic with 44.9 million cigars. That Central American nation was the only major producer to show a gain, and it was a large one—Honduran shipments were up more than 11 percent over last year. It now accounts for 18.4 percent of the market.

Honduran cigars are clearly working for the American palate. The Lizards and I have found Honduran tobacco to be the closest experientially to Cuban tobacco, generally. It’s no surprise to see Honduras climbing the chart here - a ton of excellent producers are making great cigars. Viva!

I was thrilled to join Mitch for my - and his - first podcast interview on The Cigar Soldier Podcast. Mitch has been a listener and supporter of the Lounge Lizards since the very early days and I was honored that he asked me to do it. Please let us know what you think!

Apple | Spotify | Download

Thanks again, Mitch.

We’ve all seen the Sphere footage over the last few years. Dead & Company, Eagles, etc. but this Metallica footage is the first where I’ve felt compelled to go see a show. The Vegas dread for PCA 2027 is fading quickly!

The new travel humidor contains twenty cigars presented in the Duke format - 54 x 5½” - the same as the Partagás Serie E. No. 2 and the Bolívar Soberano EL. MSRP is $64/cigar or $1280/box.

Habanos continues to serve its “stuck in the airport” customer segment. It’s interesting to see this announcement, as most Duty Free shelves worldwide remain 90% empty.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that U.S. citizens “are no longer authorized to attend or organize professional meetings or conferences in Cuba.

Going to the Habanos Festival is now explicitly forbidden for Americans, even those who travel on an accepted OFAC general license (e.g. Journalism/Support for the Cuban People, etc.).

This brings another question to mind - will HSA move the festival elsewhere in 2027? There’s no reasonable way it can resume in Havana under the current conditions.

The chosen vitola is the Torres, the format with the largest ring gauge in the brand's regular portfolio (54 x 4⅜″). The capa, tripa, and capote leaves, all from the 2022 harvest in Vuelta Abajo, underwent a supplementary aging process of at least three years.

Let’s do some math. The three years’ aged petit robusto is $220 MSRP or $50/ inch. For comparison’s sake, a 2023 box of twelve “regular” Vígia sold for $650 three weeks ago on Bond Roberts. With the auction fee, that’s $62/cigar.

The two extra bands on the Reserva add $158 per cigar.

Hooten Young is teaming up with Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., a major firearms company, to release two new Ruger-branded cigars and a new bourbon.

Cigars, bourbon and firearms: The Holy Regulatory Triumvirate

New LL out today featuring the Padrón 1964 Anniversary Exclusivo Natural paired with Privateer Navy Yard True American Rum. We discuss which Cuban cigars we’d save, revive or kill, the new Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022, European cigar distributors going insolvent, Pagoda’s humidor neglect, the final call on U.K. plain packaging comments and much more.

This episode solidifies that we’ve slept on the Exclusivo in Natural for too long.

If you've heard the podcast at any point over the last year, you know my fascination with Chen Zhi's downfall is endless. Chen is/was the largest individual shareholder in Habanos S.A. and other adjact tobacco businesses. Long story short: he was running a massive pig-butchering scheme that was earning him billions - which he then used to purchase HSA and the other assets in 2020. It's caused a lot of damage industry wide - Cuban and non-Cuban tobacco alike. Google/ChatGPT his name and you'll have three-days' worth of reading to do.

The article that's linked in the title here, from FiNews.com, is the most shocking development this year. Most notably, the revelation of Chen's ownership in storied HSA distributors Hunters & Frankau and Pacific Cigar Company.

Eighteen months ago when it was known that HSA was forcing their way into ownership positions at their distributors worldwide - with the threat of less cigar allocation - it was widely believed that H&F and PCC escaped unharmed. How could a 100 year old business acquiesce like this?

Now we know they did and to the tune of 50%. The article is long (and worth reading) but even better is the flowchart teased in the middle of the page. Click into that and do some exploring and perhaps you'll find the numbers as interesting as I did. It very quickly reduces the confusion around Chen and his entangled enterprises.

Important to note (as this all happened while I was absent from the site here) - several European distributors are facing heavy banking scrutiny for their involvement with Chen. It's 2026 and banks very much do not like risk - and they really don't care who you are or how much money you have. It also doesn't help that this is all happening in the tobacco business...

Let's not forget the issues in Cuba resulting in significantly less stock being available. Will these distributors survive?

Big news from Bond Roberts today. They're a big supporter of the Lizards and we are a big supporter of them. Like it or not, these transactions are already taking place on social media and internet forums - most often unregulated and certainly not authenticated.

In 2020, BR changed the game for Cuban cigar transactions and now will provide the first professional and secure platform for the sale of non-Cuban cigars under the eye of Developing Palates' John McTavish (Cigar Surgeon).

OpusX is sure to be a headlining act.