Cigar boom

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.

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.

"[2] 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.

[2] 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.

[5] This period also saw the growth of parallel grass roots industries, such as independent record labels, premium coffee houses powered by the rapid expansion of Starbucks, and microbreweries which produced special varieties of beer.

[6] The rapid expansion of demand for and manufacture of hand-crafted cigars may be seen as part and parcel of this broad consumer trend which sought specialized craft products over generic mass-produced goods.

[7] Even as imports soared, this supply situation worsened, until nearly 50 million cigars were on backorder, unable to be shipped due to insufficient wholesale inventory, in 1996.

[8] Dedicated cigar smokers wearied of the frequently poor quality of new makers and returned to established names of the industry,[9] while many newcomers moved on to new hobbies.

As demand for new brands plummeted, newly established makers faced unparalleled cash-flow problems and began to dump their unsold inventories.

[8] Many of the manufacturers who survived the downturn of the industry, generally basing their production in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, or Honduras, were able to reestablish themselves through the marketing of new and innovative shapes and sizes.