Archive | August, 2006

Stogie Reviews: Cohiba Siglo V (Cuban)

10 Aug 2006

We have received a number of comments from our wonderful readers inquiring when we planned to post a review of a Cuban cigar. After all, over the past few months, we discussed Oswaldo Payá, analyzed Cuban reform, and even shared a Cigar Aficionado Fidel Castro interview with you. Well, beloved Stogie Guys, inquire no more.

A few days ago, I was lucky enough to partake in a Cohiba Siglo V. Since JFK signed the trade embargo in 1962, of course, Cuban cigars have been illegal in the Land of Liberty. I should therefore point out I was overseas when I purchased and smoked this cigar (cough, cough).

The Siglo V is an expertly constructed 6.69 inches by 43 ring gauge stogie with a beautifully smooth creamy brown wrapper. Placing the foot of this unlit cigar under your nose is like breathing in the subtle perfume of a delicate angel.

I gave the stogie a proper snip with my V-cutter (I didn’t want to unnecessarily squander any delicious tobacco) and patiently toasted the foot with an array of wooden matches. A sweet plethora of notes gradually accumulated.

The first puff yielded a heavenly blend of sophisticated floral notes pleasing to the whole palate. The second and finishing phases of this Cuban witnessed an evolution of complex salty and sour flavors complemented by an ever-present dark chocolate sweetness. Not surprisingly, I have no complaints about the burn or draw.

Now some will argue, perhaps effectively, that Americans are over-fascinated with Cubans simply because they are illegal. While I agree that forbidden goods are always more desirable, I tried to clear my head of such thoughts while writing this review.

Notwithstanding my attempts at inward thought control, I can’t honestly conjure any negative aspect of the cigar and, thus, must wholeheartedly give the Cohiba Siglo V a perfect five out of five stogies.

[Reader Contest about this article here.]

-Patrick A

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Stogie News: New Cigars from CAO

9 Aug 2006

We’ve written about how CAO leads the cigar industry with its innovative marketing strategies, so it comes as no suprise that, once again, CAO is bringing something new and unique to market:

Lovers of unusually shaped and creatively crafted cigars should examine C.A.O.’s Brazilia vs. Italia: Artistry of Champions sampler set. The collection of five cigars breaks new ground in cigar making. Two of the shaped cigars are C.A.O. Italia blends, two are C.A.O. Brazilias and one is a combination of the two blends dubbed “Bratalia.” Two of the cigars feature oversized trumpets with feet nearly wide enough to serve as baseball bats.

By the way, those “trumpets” are the 96 ring gauge cigars that we wrote about a few weeks back (the ones that were scaled down from 137). At $100 dollars for the set, these five cigars certainly aren’t cheap, but there’s nothing else like them on the market.

So if you’re feeling adventurous and burdened by too much cash in your wallet, pick up the Artistry of Champions sampler set at your local cigar retailer…and feel free to send one over to the Stogie Guys!

-Patrick S

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Stogie Commentary: Smokers Don’t Get a Fair Shake

8 Aug 2006

We often tell you how smokers are victimized by government-imposed smoking bans that make it illegal for restaurant owners to permit smoking in their establishments. But don’t think for a second that smokers’ treatment as second-class citizens ends there.

Tobacco taxes are another way to victimize smokers. In May, we explained why these taxes are so wrong:

When politicians and well-funded “activists” target taxes on unpopular or unorganized groups in order to fund their pet projects, it is the political equivalent of a schoolyard bully picking on the weakest kid in school. If politicians cannot convince citizens that taxes to fund their projects should be spread broadly across the tax base, they should reevaluate the necessity of the program, not look for a more vulnerable group with which they can saddle the burden.

But now we find another even more extreme example of smokers being targeted with “tobacco taxes.” In Alabama, three Jefferson County cities have been illegally collecting taxes on tobacco for two years to the tune of $2.1 million.

The Alabama Supreme Court reversed itself Friday and ruled illegal a 10-cent tax on tobacco products levied by some Jefferson County cities. “I think the Supreme Court got it right on the legality of the tax,” said lawyer Pete Short, who filed a lawsuit seeking to get the tax overturned. “The law was clear that cities in Jefferson County could not tax tobacco products.”

So will they try to give this money back to the victims it was stolen from? Quite the opposite:

The high court ruled that money collected under the tax by Bessemer, Hoover and Hueytown – about $1.8 million – go to Cooper Green (government) Hospital after a third of the sum is awarded in attorney fees.

So, to sum up, Big Brother took $2.1 million from smokers and, after two years of litigation, the victims get nothing back. Whatever money remains after attorney fees returns to the very government that stole the money in the first place!

That wouldn’t pass for justice in a kangaroo court in a third world dictatorship…But for people who choose to smoke, it’s just another example of how smokers can’t get a fair shake.

-Patrick S

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Stogie Reviews: La Flor Dominicana Reserva Especial Belicoso

7 Aug 2006

In our July 26 post, Patrick mentioned that we planned to attend a La Flor Dominicana BBQ at Bethesda Tobacco. I just recently had the opportunity to smoke one of the cigars I purchased at that event – and I was not disappointed.

The La Flor Dominicana Reserva Especial Belicoso is a beautiful milk chocolate-colored stick in a silky Ecuadorian Connecticut seed wrapper. With a handsome red and black band, this smooth five and ½ inches by 52 ring gauge stogie is truly a pleasure to behold.

After snipping the cap with a double guillotine cutter and toasting the foot with my torch, the cigar gave off a delightful array of spicy notes. The first puff produced peppery bitter flavors with tiny hints of sweetness, an intriguing interplay between the Piloto Cubano filler and the Nicaraguan binder. Overall, this stogie yielded a nice, subtle balance on the palate. But – for a medium to full-bodied cigar – the flavors were not as pronounced as I would have liked.

Fortunately, there were no issues with body construction: The burn remained perfectly even throughout, and the draw was anything but cumbersome. In my own experience, I’ve noticed that a stogie’s physical attributes are at their peak when you don’t notice them at all. When there are no problems with burn and/or draw, the smoker can focus his or her attention on the most important characteristic: the taste of the tobacco.

On the whole, this is a superior cigar with a lot to offer. The only drawback is that its flavors aren’t as strong as advertised. Notwithstanding that critique, I give the La Flor Dominicana Reserva Especial Belicoso a very respectable four out of five stogies.

-Patrick A

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Stogie Guys Friday Sampler IV

4 Aug 2006

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Fuente only makes the Don Carlos line every 30 years, so when these special edition cigars hit the stores in October, don’t be shy about grabbing yours. Also, be on the lookout for Perdomo’s Lot 23 release featuring tobacco from the choicest, most furtile land at a very resonable four to five dollars a stick.

2) In Tuesday’s post, we discussed Fidel Castro’s failing health and its implications on Cuban economics and politics. In 1994, Cigar Aficionado conducted a rare and interesting interview with the dictator about cigars, the trade embargo, and Cuba’s future.

3) We tell you all the time about how smoking bans are just plain wrong, but here’s one reason we neglected: They take money away from charities. And perhaps more importantly, smoking bans are now targeting that classic American institution, the strip club.

4) Jeff at Cigar Envy put together a five part series on the best “Made in America” cigars. Check it out and remember: “Uncle Sam wants YOU to smoke a cigar!”

5) Ever wonder what goes into making a cigar? Here’s a three minute version, set to a latin beat.

-The Stogie Guys

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Stogie Reviews: Davidoff Grand Cru No. 3

3 Aug 2006

Davidoff Grand Cru No. 3 2In Monday’s post, I told you how Mike Copperman of Bethesda Tobacco welcomed us into his fine store for a private cigar tasting. I also told you a little about one of the extraordinary smokes he shared with us that afternoon, the elegant Davidoff Gand Cru No. 3. Since it was one of the finest stogies I had ever enjoyed, I thought it merited its own review.

This five inch by 43 ring gauge Dominican is a medium to mild-bodied smoke with a smooth, attractive, caramel-colored wrapper. While most (even premium) cigars use two pieces of tobacco to connect the wrapper to the cap, the entire outer surface of this Davidoff is hand-made from one contiguous tobacco leaf – a skill most rollers cannot achieve.

With that in mind, instead of whipping out a double guillotine and slicing off too much premium tobacco, I used my fingernails to puncture a small hole in the cap and expose the cigar’s filler (a method that I highly recommend if you have a terrific cigar). I subsequently slowly and meticulously lit the foot with a wooden match.

What followed was an explosion of delicate toasty notes, particularly hints of sweet hay. And when I took the first puff, I could tell this was truly a match made in heaven. The delicate blend of salty Olor, acidic San Vicente, and peppery Piloto Cubano tobaccos yielded a unique harmonious flavor pleasing to the whole palate. This symphony of tastes remained fairly constant throughout the smoke, and the cigar maintained a true pull and an even burn to the end.

This stogie’s only drawback is that it’s quite expensive (you can expect to pay about $13 apiece). But you really get your money’s worth: Davidoff’s 72-point inspections are unparalleled in the industry. Also, keep in mind this is not for you if you’re looking for something to knock you on your ass. Despite its plethora of complex flavors, it’s still a very smooth, graceful, and mild smoke.

I therefore enthusiastically give the Davidoff Grand Cru No. 3 a perfect five out of five stogies, a first for StogieGuys.com.

-Patrick A

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Stogie Tip: Fixing an Uneven Burn

2 Aug 2006

So you’re enjoying a cigar, maybe a bit distracted, and suddenly you notice it has an uneven burn. This happens to everyone, but what’s a Stogie Guy to do?

The following tips should help you fix an uneven burn (also called a canoe), but remember that the best thing to do is to avoid an uneven burn in the first place. A proper light is a good way to start an even burn. Also, in most cases, step one alone will be adequate if you catch an uneven burn soon enough:

First, you can start by rotating the cigar so the slow burning part is at the bottom of the cigar. Because a fire needs oxygen to burn, the bottom of the cigar will burn faster (as it has access to more oxygen) than the top. This is also why you should rotate your cigar as you smoke.

Second, if placing the long end on the bottom doesn’t work, we recommend touching up the fast burning part of the wrapper by applying moisture to the wrapper to slow down the burn. Usually saliva will get the job done, but remember you just want to add a little moisture to the wrapper…you don’t want a wet stogie.

If the aforementioned two techniques don’t work, you should get you lighter or matches back out and burn off the section(s) that’s burning too fast. However, don’t rush to quickly take a puff afterwards: the ash is likely unstable and may fall on you. Wait until the burnt wrapper turns black and then burns off completely.

Finally, once you’ve rid your stogie of the uneven burn, monitor it carefully to avoid further predicaments. Happy smoking!

[Thanks to Tristan and longashes from ClubStogie for the pictures.]

-Patrick S

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