Cigarette Consumption
In 2001, tobacco firms sold 413 billion cigarettes in the US and total revenue was $71 billion, or 17.2 cents per cigarette.
By 2015, consumption had declined to 269 billion cigarettes, but due to rising prices and taxes, revenue had increased to $94 billion, or 34.9 cents per smoke.
The most popular brand is Marlboro, with 40.2% of the market.
Newport is second with 13.2%.
The top two firms have 80.2% of the market.
The resurgence of the CIGAR
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaf, rolled in a series of types and sizes, that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth.
Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canary Islands (Spain), Italy and the Eastern United States.
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 Jay Leno and the TERMINATOR himself Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 
The year 1993 saw the first significant increase in cigar imports to the United States in more than a decade, with a total of 117.8 million cigars brought into the country, an increase of about 10 percent over the previous year's totals.
The next year saw a further 12 percent gain in the number of imported cigars into the American market, to 132.4 million pieces. This was followed by an astounding 33 percent gain in 1995, with 176.3 million cigars imported into the country in that year. This trend further accelerated during the first part of 1996, with yet another 36 percent gain posted in the first quarter of that year. By the time 1996 came to a close, some 293 million premium cigars had been imported into the United States — an astonishing 66% gain over 1995's record imports.
Many upstart companies began in the 1990s in an attempt to meet blossoming demand, with long-term survivors including Tabacalera Perdomo (established 1992), Oliva Cigar Co. (established 1995), and Rocky Patel (established mid-1990s). Many other upstart companies began manufacturing cigars in this period, meeting a change in consumer purchasing patterns that favored purchasing single cigars produced by a broad range of manufacturers rather than box quantities from established makers.
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. 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.
These days, to have a Cigar is compared to as one who enjoys the finer things in life. Sit back, relax and have a smoke, maybe some cognac, read the paper or a good book and forget about the world around you.
A couple of tips, let the ash build up on the end as it burns as much as possible and don't puff on it more often then every 30 seconds or a minute. The cigar should burn slowly and "cool." If it burns to fast and "hot" the cigar will taste much more bitter and harsh.
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