1990s cigar boom

The Cigar Boom is the name given to the resurgence of cigar consumption in the United States during the mid-1990s. Beginning in 1992, imports and sales of premium cigars began to rise dramatically and manufacturers struggled to keep up with demand, leading to industry-wide shortages of raw materials and finished products. The period was marked and the trend accelerated with the 1992 establishment of Cigar Aficionado magazine.

By 1997, production caught up with demand and the downward side of the cycle of boom and bust began to make itself felt, leading to a shakeout of many of the smaller and weaker upstart manufacturers of boutique premium cigars. A slow resurgence of the industry began in 2001, until by 2011 total cigar imports began again to approach the peak years of the boom.

Throughout the decade of the 1980s, imports of handmade cigars into the United States remained stagnant at about 100 million cigars per year. The lengthy plateau in consumer demand allowed tobacco farmers and brokers and cigar manufacturers to plan for future production. Since cigar tobacco requires an extensive preparation process, including stripping, sorting, aging, and fermentation, dramatic changes in the level of output required two or three years of advance time.

Stable consumer demand allowed companies to safely plan for the needs of the marketplace but the nature of the industry did not allow for rapid expansion of production. Cigar industry veteran Lew Rothman later recalled that

"Because there was only a finite number of potential customers and a fairly predictable demand for premium cigars, the quantity of tobacco planted to supply that demand, and the price for those wrappers, binders, and filler leaves, remained very constant throughout the 1980s and into the '90s. Basically, there were no new farmers, brokers, or factories for the product, and it was 'the same old, same old' for over a decade."

In the 4th Quarter of 1992, the long-term decline in the importation of cigars began to show signs of being reversed, as quantities increased by 4% over previous year totals.

The end of 1992 also saw the establishment of a new publication, credited by some with spurring the cigar boom of the 1990s.Cigar Aficionado magazine, a glossy monthly publication, helped to legitimize the idea that cigars were not a vile relic of a by-gone century and helped to foster an epicurean attitude towards hand-crafted tobacco products. Over the years a number of important celebrities revealed themselves to be cigar connoisseurs in its pages, including television's William Shatner and radio's Rush Limbaugh.

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Wikipedia