When you pull in a half-million dollars a speech, why not celebrate with the "Rolls Royce" of cigars?
Former President Bill Clinton reportedly indulges in some of the world's most expensive cigars, from a Dominican Republic company whose smokes fetch up to $1,000 -- that's per cigar, not per box.
Kaizad Hansotia, the chief executive officer of the company Gurkha, told Bloomberg News that one box of "His Majesty's Reserve" fetches $25,000. That price is expected to increase to about $30,000 by next year.
"We hunt for the most exotic tobaccos around the world," Hansotia said, rationalizing the nearly $1,000 price tag. The company produces about 20,000 boxes per year, and has a three-year waiting list. Clients include business leaders, royal families and dignitaries. A-List celebrities like Matthew McConaughey -- and apparently one former president -- also smoke the company's premium cigars.
"Bill Clinton loves the Beauties; he loves the Gurkhas," Hansotia said.
The company's Beauties go for about $600 apiece. It's unclear whether Clinton also smokes the HMRs.
The latter features aged tobacco fermented in Louis XIII cognac. "People try to copy us, but we have no competition," Hansotia told Bloomberg News.
The claims about Clinton's cigar preferences follow a string of reports about Bill and Hillary Clintons' sky-high speaking fees and special requests while on the road. It also comes after Hillary Clinton, who is considering a 2016 presidential run, claimed her family was "dead broke" when they left the White House in 2001.
Critics pointed out that while they indeed were in debt, the former president immediately went on to earn millions on the speaking circuit.
