Heard in the Humidor: For the week of February 4-8th 2008

With the Screen Actors Guild Awards being given a waiver in the ongoing Writers Guild strike against producers, the stars came out in January for the event and so did the cigars.

Los Angeles – C.A.O., which under lifestyle marketing chief Jon Huber, is one of the most active participants in entertainment awards programs, was sampling its cigars in the private HBO S.A.G. Awards Luxury Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel near Beverly Hills.

"We handed out approximately 65 C.A.O. Sopranos samplers (4 cigars/sampler) and another 40 boxes of C.A.O. Vision Catalyst (20 cigars/box)," said Huber, successfully placing his brand with high-profile performers who came to the Luxury Lounge as guests of HBO and who will now at least try the brand, if they are not already a C.A.O. smoker. Among those who picked up cigars were acting stars Hector Elizondo, Martin Lawrence and Joe Mantegna, English comedian Ricky Gervais and actress Perrey Reeves ("Mrs. Ari" in "Entourage").

And, naturally, there were plenty of takers from the cast of "The Sopranos," including creator and head writer David Chase and actors Tony Sirico ("Paulie Walnuts"), Steve Schirripa ("Bobby Bacala") and John Ventimiglia ("Artie Bucco").

>> A company called ACME Sports and Entertainment, headquartered in Florida, announced on January 30 that it plans to open three coffee and cigar bars in the Tampa area in February under the name "Casa Havana Coffee Bars & Cigars."

"With many states now banning cigar smoking in restaurants, bars and public areas," said company chief Thomas Kozlowski, "cigar bars are the last safe haven for smokers. Casa Havana plans to fill that substantial void by offering an elegant coffee/cigar bar concept nationwide."

The company announcement did not name the locations, but did say that one additional Casa Havana store would be added per month beginning in March, with locations already identified in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, New York and Orlando.

>> The final totals from the tender period for Altadis, S.A. stock to Imperial Tobacco showed that 95.8 percent of the company’s shares were sold to the British tobacco giant. With the acceptance rate at more than 90 percent, the remaining shares are required, by Spanish law, to be sold to Imperial at its 50 Euro offer price. Imperial said in a statement last week that it expects such transactions to be completed around February 21 and Altadis will be de-listed from the Spanish and French stock exchanges, ending the existence of a tobacco giant that lived less than a decade in its final form.

>> Short fillers: What is the genesis of the well-known phrase, "Close, but no cigar"? There are many opinions on this topic, but here’s what we believe is the right answer: Cigars were an extremely popular item, and along with pipes, the preferred method of consuming tobacco in the U.S. in the 19th Century. As such, cigars were used as prizes in various contests, including those at carnivals and state fairs. So, if you competed in a game of skill at a local carnival, there was a good chance that instead of a stuffed animal, you might be competing for a cigar. Hence the retort from the game operator to a losing contestant: "close, but no cigar."

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Heard in the Humidor is a publication of Perelman, Pioneer & Company. Copyright 2008; All rights reserved.

Cigar Cyclopedia

2/5/08

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