Why Pennsyvania??

[joshb83]

I'm sure there is a logical reason to it, but I've noticed all the big name Cigar and Pipe companies are usually based out of Pennsylvania, there must be a reason, lower taxes on tobacco? Good tobacco farms?? Anyone have an idea?

 

[ssjones]

That is a great question. As far as I know, there is no (or very little) tobacco grown in PA. PA in general is the least evasive tax state, particularly for tobacco products. That has to do something with the number of larger shops. Interestingly, one of the largest chain shops, JR Cigars, doesn't have a presence in PA (that I'm aware of).

 

[tyler]

No tobacco tax.
Also true of Florida, which is another major center of online tobacco sales.

 

[cortezattic]

Wikipedia states that at one time, perhaps still, shade grown tobacco was cultivated in Pennsylvania.

P&C sells chopped Pennsylvania cigar leaf (Maduro).

 

[blendtobac]

Actually, there's a fair amount of tobacco grown in PA. A number of cigars use Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrappers, Diesel and Diesel Unlimited Maduro being two examples. There are other tobaccos grown in PA as well.

The tax structure in the state is one of the main reasons for a number of companies (ours included) being based in PA. But having a strong workforce and being an industry hub doesn't hurt.
Russ

 

[joshb83]

Well, i appreciate all the answers, and i guess who better to explain it than Russ. Thanks for all the info guys

 

[settersbrace]

The Amish grow some shade grown as Russ mentiond. Drew Eastates uses some if it in their cigar line up. And yes, no tobacco tax.......yet.

 

[mso489]

Interesting! Connecticut is a big cigar leaf grower too, I've heard, which you seldom associate with that state.

 

[carytobacco]

Florida has a tobacco tax (very high surprisingly) but cigars are exempt.

 

[tyler]

Florida has a tobacco tax (very high surprisingly) but cigars are exempt.

I stand corrected...interesting caveat. So that's why its a cigar online outlet, and pipe tobacco not so much, I guess.

 

[wilson]

There is, or at least used to be, a good deal of tobacco grown in southeastern PA. I can remember driving out the PA turnpike and seeing miles and miles of tobacco fields. A hundred years ago, there were a lot of cigar manufacturers in PA. Like breweries, it was a more local industry so they were found in many states. Middleton still manufactures in PA.
We always think of tobacco as being a crop in the south, but PA has a fair bit, as do other states. And, as mentioned by mso489, a lot of cigar wrapper tobacco was (maybe still is?) grown along the Connecticut Rive in CT. Now, when you see that a cigar has a Connecticut wrapper, very often it is the same variety grown under similar conditions elsewhere. The 1961 movie, Parrish, is set on a tobacco plantation in the Connecticut River valley.

 

[newbroom]

The world's largest tobacco company is located in Georgia, if I'm not mistaken. It supplies the likes of P&C with a large portion of their inventory by default. The Scandinavian Tobacco Company parent Co. of Lane Ltd.

http://www.st-group.com/en/about/our-companies/tucker-georgia-usa#start

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-manufacturer-retailer-spotlight/stokkebye-lane-stg-shake-up/