Indian connoisseurs get cigar-maker glowing

A cigar called Rocky Patel is here to hook crème-de-la-crème in India. At a time when cigarette is losing its charm on the health concern, cigar is gaining ground as the smoke of the season for luxury lovers.

Connoisseurs, who till now had to import from Cuba and Honduras, say about five lakh cigars are bought and sold in India with the market growing at about 20 per cent. According to various estimates, the market size for cigar stands at ₹150 crore.

Rocky Patel, the founder-promoter of the Florida-based Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Company, says unlike cigarette, cigar is a luxury product.

Priced between ₹300 and ₹2,000, cigars have been attracting the attention of luxury lovers.

“There are at least 20 cigar clubs in India and most are mostly found in metropolitan cities. Our products are premium products even though many Indian brands operate in ₹300-500 price bracket,” Patel adds. Rocky Patel cigars are priced between ₹ 750 and ₹2,000. Rocky Patel Premium Cigar manufactures about 20 million premium cigars every year.

Cigar production began in Germany in 1788 and is made by curing tobacco and fermenting its leave and later cut and filled.

Industry watchers point that Indian consumers have a high-brand recall for Cuban cigars. Patel adds that newer brands are coming from Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and, Ecuador among others.

Hemanth S of Cigar Conexion, a cigar club, says that the cigars are largely hand rolled or machine rolled. The company says it will be retailing cigars on the e-commerce platform as well.

Both Patel and Hemanth say that laws regarding tobacco industry are stringent and a significant chunk of high-end cigars still make inroads into the India through the grey market route.

Patel says the goal is to make the premium cigars available by scaling up the distribution and also setting cigar lounges in select hotels.

“We also in the process of tying up with star hotels to increase our penetration in the Indian market,” Patel said.

Food and Beverage managers see the potential in this market and are creating standalone lounges at their hotels. In India, some of the brands that sell cigars include ITC Ltd and K K Modi Group. Last year. ITC had entered the cigar manufacturing business. It had previously launched Armenteros, hand-rolled cigar in the Indian market.

The K.K. Modi Group is the largest importer of cigars in India and is also the distributor for brands such as Habanos SA, Altadis, Davidoff, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, and Villiger Sons.

Asked if smoking a cigar is as harmful as cigarette, Patel says that unlike its popular cousin, cigar is not an addictive. Rocky Patel cigars are both hand-rolled and machine rolled and are made in Nicargua.

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