The Stogie Guys

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. Below is our latest Friday Sampler.

1) One week before Indianapolis hosts Super Bowl XLVI between the Giants and the Patriots, anti-tobacco politicians in Indiana are still pushing for a statewide smoking ban. Now, to pass the bill, some legislators are lobbying to exempt bars. As it currently stands, the only exemptions are for private clubs, casinos, hookah bars, and retail tobacco shops. “The House last year approved a smoking ban bill that included an exemption for bars, but it failed later after health advocates argued it would be one of the nation’s weakest bans,” reports the Indianapolis Business Journal.

2) Cigar Journal, formerly the European Cigar Cult Journal, has opened a Florida office that will process U.S. subscriptions and be held responsible for growing the publication’s brand in America. Each issue of Cigar Journal includes cigar reviews, reports, and research. Robert McDuffee, co-founder of the DogWatch Cigar Radio podcast, will help the office liaison between the U.S. cigar scene and Cigar Journal’s main office in Vienna, Austria.

3) Inside the Industry: José M. Seijas is resigning as head of Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd., the Altadis USA cigar factory where smokes like Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta are made. Room101 Cigars is launching a new limited series called OSOK—an acronyn for “one shot, one kill”—that we first sampled last fall and which features an Ecuadorian habano wrapper around corojo tobaccos. Adrian’s Costa Rican and CroMagnon brand owners Michael Rosales and Skip Martin, respectively, are merging their operations to jointly form RoMa Craft Tobac (the company will release a new CroMagnon extension, two new lines, and a “new flagship” product for their Adrian’s Costa Rican brand).

4) Around the Blogs: Tiki Bar tries the Maldonado Dynasty Mogul. Cigar Explorer explores the Kristoff Corojo Limitada. Nice Tight Ash checks out the Alec Bradley Black Market. Cigar Inspector inspects a Gurkha Cellar Reserve Prisoner. Cigar Fan fires up the Toraño Vault. Stogie Review reviews the Padilla Black Bear.

5) Deal of the Week: Like Rocky Patel and Gurkha? Then you’ll enjoy this Rocky vs. Gurkha 12-cigar sampler for only $40. Not only do you get five Rocky Patel Olde World Corojo Toros and five Gurkha Raider Habano Toros, included is one Gurkha Signature Aniversaro 1887 Limited Edition and one Indian Tabac Super Fuerte.

-The Stogie Guys

photo credit: ISBHC

The other day I was browsing our cigar reviews archive and discovered something that surprised me. Despite well over 500 reviews, my colleagues and I have never written a full review of a cigar from the original (Brown Label) Tatuaje Cabinet line.

Even with 19 Tatuaje reviews, including multiple “five stogie” ratings, and a few Brown Label variations (Reserva SW and Reserva Porkchop), the “Selección de Cazadore” line were somehow missed. To remedy this I decided to review the Havana Cazadores (6.4 x 42).

Billed as the strongest of the six original sizes, the Havana Cazadores is “wet-packed” in foil. When added to the other sizes in the line—Unicos, Noella, Taino, Especiales and Regios—the first letters spell Hunter, after one of Tatuaje creator Pete Johnson’s dogs.

The cigar features Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos wrapped in a habano Ecuador wrapper. The samples I smoked for this review were medium brown in color, though others I’ve enjoyed in the past were far darker. Since 2003, the original Cabinet line has been made at Don Pepin Garcia’s El Rey de Los Habanos factory on Calle Ocho in Little Havana.

The cigar is noticeably well-constructed with a Cuban-style triple cap. Despite not being particularly thick, it’s very firm to the touch. As I smoke the cigar, a light gray ash develops and holds steady for over an inch.

The Havana Cazadores starts with a bite of pepper and settles into a medium- to full-bodied smoke. Cedar and cocoa are dominant, but there’s also notes of coffee, clove, earth, and cinnamon. Towards the second half, buttery flavors develop and the body picks up with some added spice.

It’s no wonder that Pete Johnson says this is his favorite of the original Tatuajes. It’s my favorite too, with the smallest size, the Noella, being a close second. The entire Tatuaje Cazadores line has been a staple in my humidor for a few years now, so it’s hardly a surprise that I like it. But it took the attention to detail that is required to sit down and write a review to remind me why I still enjoy this cigar.

Nearly a decade after it was first released, the original Tatuaje still provides flawless construction, excellent balance, and a tasty combination of full flavors that focus nicely on the palate. That’s why the Tatuaje Havana Cazadores earns four and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

-Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Don Tomás is one of many brands produced by General Cigar, which is either the largest or second largest cigar company in the world, depending on who you ask.

Being a label in the General Cigar portfolio carries both advantages and disadvantages. As far as disadvantages go, Don Tomás is often overshadowed by the more visible General brands, including Macanudo, Cohiba, Punch, Partagas, and La Gloria. And I think it’s safe to say that many cigar veterans tend to snub their noses at mass-produced cigars like those made by General, no matter how good they may be.

As for the advantages, Don Tomás can thank General for both its wide distribution and its affordable price. For example, the subject of today’s review, the Don Tomás Maduro Robusto, can be found at many online and brick and mortar retailers, and it can be purchased for as little as $2 to $3 when bought by the box of 25.

This cigar measures 5.5 inches long with a ring gauge of 50. It has a smooth Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper around Honduran and Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos. Made at the Centro American Cigars factory in Danlí, Honduras, the Robusto makes a better impression than its price might suggest, with its firm feel and pre-light aroma of light cocoa and coffee.

Once lit, the initial profile is mild and sugary with hardly any spice. The syrupy texture tastes of raisin, dark chocolate, marshmallow creaminess, and some typical maduro sweetness. The draw is a tad tight, resulting in less smoke production per puff than I’m accustomed to. Aside from the draw, the construction qualities are outstanding—particularly for such an inexpensive smoke. The burn line is very straight and the white ash layers nicely off the foot, where it holds strong for over an inch.

I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the Don Tomás Maduro Robusto, and I wasn’t. The flavors are just OK with little complexity and hardly any variance from start to finish (the only major change is the introduction of some woodsy spice at the end). That said, if you’re looking for an everyday maduro that won’t break the bank, you could do a lot worse. That’s why this smoke earns three out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

-Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As is customary each January, seemingly everyone is making their list of the top cigars of the previous year. We haven’t published such a list in the last few years, but we did create a best-of list to send out to subscribers of our newsletter two years ago.

Such lists are fun, as you compare your preferences with the list author’s. And sometimes you’ll realize there is a cigar you’ve wanted to try but haven’t, or maybe an old favorite that you’ve gotten away from for no particular reason.

But creating a best-of list (or at least a good one) is problematic. For starters, you need to determine criteria that will result in a meaningful list.

Will only new cigars be considered? Is smoking just a single enough to to fairly evaluate a cigar? (If you review cigars like we do, is a full review required?)

Once you’ve determined which cigars are eligible, how exactly do you determine the best? Should price be a factor? Cigar Aficionado says they re-review all top-scoring cigars blind (but if they get different ratings one must wonder if the ratings are at least a bit arbitrary). Others, I’m sure, just reflect on what they’ve written or said, mostly relying on memory.

One of the best ways to determine your favorite cigars of the year is to consider the cigars you bought and/or smoked most regularly. This method is used the least. (Under that criteria, the Tatuaje Petit Cazadores Reserva, 7-20-4 Dogwalker, CroMagnon, and the Illusione Singulare LE 2010 Phantom would be my top smokes of 2011.)

But then some hidden gems that I didn’t get to smoke as much as I might have liked would miss the list (Humo Jaguar, Grimalkin by Emilio Cigar, San Lotano Oval, Crowned Head’s Four Kicks, and the E.P. Carrillo LE 2011 “Dark Rituals”).

Ultimately, I think the best part of making a best-of list isn’t the final list but thinking back on what you smoked last year, what you enjoyed, and what you wish you smoked more of. Whether you share your personal “Best Cigars of 2011” list with others (feel free to do so in the comments if you want) or not, what’s important is that you reflect about your favorites from the past. Doing so will make for better smoking in the future.

-Patrick S

photo credit: Flickr

[Editors’ Note: The following is written by Martin, a friend of StogieGuys.com who lives in Scotland and writes at WhiskyCritic.com.]

Oh dearest, dearest pocket. I sincerely hope you can forgive me once more for digging too deep, collecting the very last you had to offer, for no reason other than my own decadence. Forgive, and recover. I’m sure most, or at least many, fellow whisky lovers of less than unlimited means will have been in a similar situation at least once: You know you shouldn’t buy something, but equally you know that there is absolutely no chance of you not buying it.

Well that’s the situation in which I now find myself. I was in the shop the other day to pick up a couple nice beers and, as I approached the till, my eye immediately went to the lovely selection of whiskies stashed behind it—the sneaky buggers always know how to get you, don’t they? Put yummiest stuff by the till and any flesh and bone human is instantly rendered unable to do anything but make an unplanned purchase.

That is basically the unnecessarily long story of how I ended up buying a bottle of Aberfeldy 21 Year Old, at just over £90 ($140) for the bottle.

I had been wanting to try it for quite some time and my local pub hasn’t had it in stock, so my basic line of reasoning (ever so refined, as always) was, “Why the heck not?” With my quite considerable expense in mind, expectations were high. The nose on the toffee-colored spirit didn’t disappoint, presenting a bouquet of flowers, oak, and an exotic sweetness which I can only describe as somewhere between Brazil nut and coconut. So far so very good. The palate is light and has a bit more kick to it, starting off with a pinch of spice, followed by heathery honey, oak, and sweet citrus—which I suppose might make it orange, though I’m not sure I actually want to be that precise about it. Oh well, too late now! As for the finish, it’s basically long, dry, and carries a mild spiciness all the way through, and it’s delicious.

The question which will undoubtedly be on everyone’s mind at this point (assuming you all share my exact thought pattern) is: Was it worth the ninety-odd pound? The answer is yes, and no, and maybe, and oh I don’t know! I don’t have any regrets because it is a delicious whisky—very nicely balanced, very drinkable, all in all very pleasant. But then again, it is a quite expensive whisky, and I can’t say that I wouldn’t be able to get an equally nice bottle for half the price. It’s a tough call, but if you like a light, well-balanced, slightly sweet and spicy whisky, and it’s within your price range, then I’d say go for it.

-Read more from Martin at WhiskyCritic.com.

photo credit: The Whisky Exchange

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

This Torpedo (6.1 x 52) is more my size than the large Gordo-sized version I reviewed last summer. The Nicaraguan and Honduran cigar has plenty of talent behind it, as La Palina worked with Alec Bradley to develop the cigar, which is made in the Raices Cubana factory in Honduras. The result is an earthy, full-bodied smoke with a bit of spice, black coffee, and bittersweet chocolate. Even at around $11 each, it’s an cigar that’s not hard to appreciate.

Verdict = Buy.

-Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Like the Riserva di Famiglia that I reviewed in December, this blend is made for Tennessee’s Bellaterra Ranch by the Toraño family. It features Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos wrapped in a golden Ecuadorian wrapper. Italian for “the sweet life,” the blend has a light, sugary profile of honey, oak, and toffee, and the physical properties—despite a somewhat stiff draw—are excellent. This is a good selection if you’re looking for a mild lancero that’s off the beaten path.

Verdict = Buy.

-Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys