Let's get a few things out of the way first. What are boutique cigars? Well, they are small businesses, brands and manufacturers, operating within the larger cigar industry. That's it, mostly. There are some boutique wings of larger companies--akin to when a company such as General Mills adds a niche branch; organic for instance. But predominantly, boutiques are small. Micro, even. Also, not all small cigar companies are boutique. For a better idea of boutique, think craft beer before it all got bought up by the biggies.
Another factor is ethos. There is a boutique ethos that is palpable and, much as with pornography, you'll know when you see it. Some attach numbers to a definition. I don't like numbers because I am not good with numbers. I also think numbers can deceive, but again, not a numbers guy. Plus, this is a Think Piece, which means I have intentionally as well as obtusely refused the entry of any hard data. I'M SHOOTING FROM THE HIP HERE. You might also say I've gifted myself with plausible deniability.
More to duly note is that I am not a boutique only or big brands only cigar smoker. I see the good and the bad in each. I'll leave that statement there because if I plug it in anywhere else this might read oddly. Realistically, the pros and cons of each is an interesting topic but not the one at hand here. The point of this particular Think Piece (TP) is to voice a concern I have over the future of boutiques. It's maybe not the usual one folks fret over (essentially the pitfalls of being the small guy), but another one almost entirely. Then again, it could also be what was just mentioned parenthetically.
Something else is that I'll most likely resort to calling the big brands 'legacy' brands. The brands that get as close to mainstream recognition as our industry gets. The brands that can be got freely, sans having to hit up specialty brick and mortar shops or sites. These are the brands that the headshop down the block stocks. What pipe smokers would call over-the-counter (OTC) brands. If you're reading this, you know which companies I mean, both legacy and boutique-wise.
We are coming slowly out of a ::: very ::: unique point in time, a real 'unicorn' of an era. I'm certain you also know what I mean when I say that. Due to events familiar to us all, cigar smokers spent the last couple of years smoking more cigars than their previous usual. Whether that meant jumping to one a day from one a week, three a day from one a day, or even once in a blue moon or never at all to more regular imbibing or imbibing at all. There was and maybe still is such a rush on premium cigars that talk of leaf shortages began quite some time ago. Succinctly, there's a shit ton of demand and lesser of at least certain materials.
The whole world shared a prolonged "smoke 'em if you got 'em" moment.
With this moment, came an accompanying rise in whatever cigar media is. Sometimes it's a dedicated website, professionally staffed and with its finger on the pulse of the industry--other times it's an Instagram account run by a person who has been smoking for an often surprisingly short period of time. As with boutiques vs legacies, this TP ain't about my thoughts on what is or isn't media or who is or isn't an influencer... necessarily. On second thought--it's almost entirely about influence.
Hear me out, and again, this is simply a thing I've noticed--
Now, I have cited already the uptick in new media/influencers within the premium cigar world. I too have already mentioned that no small amount of these folks are new to newer smokers. Historically speaking, new cigar smokers do not chase down hard-to-find craft boutique offerings. That's just how it is. So on account of this, and their ability to roll an incredible by-comparison amount of cigars, legacy brands are having the time of their lives. They are readily available, hardly ever out of stock, somewhat familiar to many, and generally an easier 'get' for a nascent palate.
Legacy brands will neither confound nor unsettle. It's what they do. Their offerings typically perform in an attainable manner. Awesome. I don't always want to be challenged and rarely wish to be dared. Here's the thing, though: these newly-minted influencers are talking them up like nobody's business; again, no slight on them, they are the cigar smokers legacy brands are there for; always been, always will be. But while they're sharing via social networks the legacy cigars they smoke, even newer smokers are seeing them and there are, as stated, more newer smokers than there have been in a long time.
"But new smokers always went that way, didn't you just say that, Kap?" I sure did and thanks for reading, but again, I'll emphasize MORE. Plus, what I'm seeing is all this, coupled with a sort of bottleneck effect. Remember that leaf shortage I eluded to? That's predominantly affecting the smaller companies. Here's the really bad part. Legacy brands almost all have a top-shelf of 'wow' offerings. Meaning that after you get the hang of their more pedestrian offerings you can expand your palate, in theory, under their roof. The need to experience craft might be lost on some smokers because they wrongly feel it has already been met.
It's a bottle-neck, and right there on the on-ramp. I mean when was the last time these legacy brands were so cool in the self-appointed cigar geek realm?
Whether that feeling is right or wrong, isn't ultimately of too much concern. Also, some smokers use what they smoke as a status symbol, a whole other issue in and of itself. So, with shortages either looming or arrived, a holy mess in terms of distribution, and a new breed of smoker-become-influencer not privy to them or even maybe wishing to be--what's a boutique company to do? It's at this point that I bow out. I have no answers. I have but a final, humble thought. If our industry loses its avant-garde, out of the ordinary realm--then we and it both and all suffer.
And if that tree were to fall, it'd make for a terrible sound. If anyone were there to hear it.
I'll now offer advice (the gall), in a two-fold manner. Go to your local brick-and-mortar cigar shop. If you don't have one, find an online spot that carries some rarer gems. No, I don't have any recommendations as to either. The second-fold, if I may be so bolder, is directed at the proprietors of said shops. Stock the legacies, sure--but don't forget to take a boutique in here and there. Tell your staff to tell your customers all about each. Spread knowledge. Doesn't that sound wonderful? I mean it's no Afternoon Delight (cucumber sandwich and builder's tea) but what is?
Soon, it'll all catch up with itself. Newer smokers will evolve into seasoned smokers and continue to share their escapades with their followers. The industry will become less top-heavy. The legacy brands probably don't want to hear that--but they probably should want to. Growth is good. Pruning is too, but since no one involved is neither a rose bush nor a rhododendron, that will just happen on its own. Stay calm, and carry on. STAY CALM.
And really, that would have been a fine note to end on. Instead, I'll friggin' not. In a final bit of stuff I've noticed and will now notate, I'm fresh back from looking at Twitter. Where someone posted a pic of a certain legacy brand offering that they 'hadn't smoked it in ten years.' This is far from the only time I've seen a thing like this expressed, documented. "I'm probably making too much of all this." - Custer, Battle of the Little Bighorn? If so, is it fair to look at where it went wrong for boutiques?
Continuing to not mention brand names, an awful lot of those un-mentioned 'boutique' names who have come in over the last while--shouldn't have. The worst part is due to their any number of shoestring budget ill-conceived passion projects over project planning shenanigans, they've hurt the more legitimate boutique operations by giving the entire sect a bad name. This quite honestly, makes my aforementioned ask of retailers an admittedly hard sell. So, I'll ask it again wth a "pretty please" addendum, knowing it requires work and risk on both their end, as well as the smoker. Hard work, indeed--or rather harder than needed.
And who looks to the enjoyment of cigars for work?
::: very :::