The Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

Way back in November, Patrick A gave the Cusano 18 a sub-standard two stogie rating. Undeterred, I recently lit one of these robustos up to see if I could get a better result. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t much better; the same harsh chemical flavor greeted me that was so accurately described in the review. Occasionally, when the chemical taste subsided, I was greeted with lovely butter and nut flavors. Still, despite these few enjoyable moments and excellent construction, I cannot recommend the Cusano 18 Robusto.

Verdict = Sell.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

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

1) Victoria McKee of General Cigar recently let us know about new additions to some of General Cigar’s most popular brands. The Macanudo Gold, Macanudo Maduro, Partagas Black Label, Partagas Spanish Rosado and Cohiba Black lines are all adding new sizes. For the details see this article from Cigar Aficionado.

2) Ohio’s smoking ban may have hurt business in Ohio’s bars, but the outlook is rosier just across the border. Bars in Michigan and Pennsylvania are reporting booms as disenfranchised Ohio smokers cross the border for a place to have a smoke.

3) Around the Blogs: Leafy Times tries the Avalon Juke Blue. Cigar Beat reviews an Opus X. The Smoking Lounge lounges with a Rocky Patel Vintage 1990. Keepers of the Flame smokes a Macanudo Cafe Lords. Stogie Fresh has a Camacho Scorpion. Cigar Jack gives the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill a try. Stogie Review fires up a La flor Dominicana Factory Press.

4) Deal of the Week: This week’s deal is a little different because it doesn’t just score you some good smokes… it also is charitable. Joining the Cigar Connoisseur Club by J.C. Newman Cigars gets you four great Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino Sungrown cigars and a sharp golf shirt. And in case that isn’t enough, a portion of your membership goes to the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation to build schools and health clinics in the Dominican Republic. (Of course, if you still haven’t got a gift for dad we suggest you check out last Friday’s Deal of the Week.)

–The Stogie Guys

Cigars can appeal for any number of reasons. Some offer a terrific bargain, others the opportunity to savor a rare treat. One cigar might earn a top rank because it can be enjoyed day after day, while another stick might be the perfect complement to a great Scotch. Whatever the appeal, we all have cigars that we think are special.

We’ve decided to recommend some cigars we feel are particularly worthy of your attention and call them Gold Star Smokes. From time to time, we’ll clue you into three favorites – one from each member of the StogieGuys.com team. I guess you could consider anything posted here worthy of the Stogie Guys Hall of Fame, if such a thing existed.

Also, feel free to leave your own suggestions as comments, and we’ll consider adding them to future Gold Star Smokes posts.

Co-Founder & Editor in Chief Patrick A

My first choice for our Gold Star Smokes series was an instant classic the moment I took the inaugural puff. At six and ¼ inches with a 52 ring gauge, the Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo is a well-aged Ecuadorian masterpiece with rich notes of dark roasted coffee beans and almond. It’s not cheap at $8.75, but clearly worth every penny. This has become my one go-to cigar for extra-special occasions.

Co-Founder & Publisher Patrick S

The El Rey Del Mundo Robisto Larga is a favorite of mine that I seem to rediscover every six months. Big (six inches with a 54 ring gauge) and packed full of rich earth and chocolate flavors, it is the best vitola from the El Rey Del Mundo brand that never seems to get a fair shake. The presentation – each Robusto Larga is wrapped in tissue paper – makes it seem like a present, and the obscuro wrapper underneath is a pleasure to look at too. This is truly a rare cigar that goes equally well on the golf course or after a fancy dinner. All this for the bargain price of about three dollars per stick.

Tampa Bureau Chief George E

The Punch Champion is a little four and ½ inch bowling pin of a cigar that’s just plain fun to smoke. Pick one up and I’ll bet it feels great. Enjoy the light aroma of cedar before you light it. Best of all, it’s got that Punch spice, but it doesn’t stop there; other flavors kick in along the way. You can usually find them for around $4 per stick.

–The Stogie Guys

In the wake of the latest G8 summit in Germany, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to reflect on the truly international nature of the cigar industry. After all, your average premium stogie is a great example of the benefits of globalization.

Take a moment and consider your favorite cigar. For the purposes of this article, I’ll choose my most recently reviewed go-to smoke: the Toraño Signature Collection Toro.

Maybe I’m just easily amused, but I think it’s remarkable that the stogie’s brown maduro wrapper was grown in Brazil while the binders and fillers are products of the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. All this from a company that has major operations in Mexico and Ecuador and sells most of its products in the United States.

Call me crazy, but sometimes when I sit down with one of these excellent cigars, I think about all the entrepreneurs, farmers, rollers, truck drivers, graphic designers, ink manufacturers, marketing professionals, and administrative support that went into transforming my stogie from idea to seed to leaf to finished product.

Then I think about all the people and skills that were required to make each cigar rolling implement, each farming tool, and each…well, everything. When you get right down to it, countless people play at least some minor role in the manufacture of each stick.

This got me thinking about one of my favorite short essays of all time: “I, Pencil” by Leonard E. Read. A quick read and completely worthwhile, it was first published back in 1958, but its message is as relevant now as it ever was.

The essay, written from the point of view of a pencil, goes on to explain how millions of workers – from loggers to miners to the numberless people who refined and fabricated each necessary component – have a hand in every pencil produced, no one of whom even knows more than a very few of the others involved, and many of whom live thousands of miles apart.

Fascinating. At least to me, anyways. These truths are so easily applied to cigars (and most other products you can imagine for that matter) that each puff should be a wonderfully awe-inspiring delight. Well, maybe that’s a bit overboard. But you have to admit it is worth the thought every once in awhile.

Say what you will about the G8 and globalization (and, believe me, many people emphatically do), but I count myself lucky that millions of people take the time and effort to bring great cigars to my humidor – even if they don’t realize it.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars

If there’s anyone out there producing as many fine cigars at modest prices as Oliva, I’d love to hear about them. I’ve already sung the praises of the company’s Serie G Maduro in an April Quick Smoke.

Now let me wax poetic about the extremely tasty and tiny Oliva Serie G Special. Its shape resembles the pig-in-a-python style of the Punch Champion, though the Oliva has a more tapered end and at three and 3/4 inches it is a half inch shorter. The ring gauge is listed at 48.

I enjoyed one recently at a shop when I had already smoked something else and ended up with more time on my hands than I’d anticipated. At $2.75 per stick, it’s a bargain. For a box of 48, I’ve seen Internet prices listed at under $80. That is an absolute steal.

For what surely must be a difficult cigar to roll, it smokes magnificently. The burn, often a concern with delicate African Cameroon wrappers, was sharp, the solid ash remarkably white, and the smoke thick and plentiful.

The Cameroon wrapper generated what I think of as tobacco’s typical understated zest, and it seemed to float under the rich tobacco taste of the Nicaraguan Habano filler and the Cuban-Seen Habano binder. Not overly complex or multi-dimensional, but would you really expect that in a cigar under four inches?

I think this would be great for new cigar smokers. It’s smooth on the palate, there’s lots of smoke to play with, and it won’t last too long. Just make sure not to smoke too fast and create too much heat.

If you’re like me and find little appeal in cigars the size of cigarettes, the Oliva Special is a satisfying choice when you want a smoke but don’t have much time. Based on the taste and value, I give this special little cigar three and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–George E

Tags: cigars

Camacho is known for its full flavored smokes. So when the Honduran-based company announced that it was introducing the industry’s first triple maduro cigar, smokers everywhere braced for the power-packed smoke which is just starting to hit select cigar stores.

Made in Camacho’s factory in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras (just outside of Danli) the blend combines five different types of maduro tobacco – but Camacho is keeping tight-lipped about the details of the leaves that make up the blend, except to say that the wrapper and filler are grown on Camacho’s farms in Jamastran.

Measuring in at six inches with a 54 ring gauge, the Figurado is an imposing smoke with its dual silver and black bands, both of which frame the toothy, jet-black maduro wrapper. There are a few small veins, but even those tend to get lost in the darkness.

Yet despite its intimidating looks and secretive origins, the power of this cigar isn’t fully realized until you light up and take a few puffs. Once that happened, we discovered a knock-you-on-your-ass strength that even well-seasoned smokers rarely come across. Dark, rich, and earthy, the cigar starts out with a bang – and an intense tobacco buzz that some will find too intense.

Were it to continue that strong and full-bodied, we might not have made it to the end of this pyramid-shaped bomb. But fortunately, a little less than an inch into the smoke, it gained a softer, more complex edge as the overpowering earth flavors mellowed, revealing notes of black coffee and a sweet edge that usually defines maduro smokes.

The draw is on the loose side – occasionally becoming too loose – but the overall construction is quite good. The rough, gray ash holds surprisingly well (despite continuously looking as if it were about to fall off) and the burn was even to the end.

With about a third of the cigar left, its mellowness departs and again we are left with the same strong tobacco and earth flavor that welcomed us to the first ever “triple maduro” cigar.

Ultimately, we doubt the Camacho Triple Maduro will ever be a daily smoke for most people – even for the most committed “maddy” smokers. Still, it’s a fun ride, and one we suggest stogie smokers give a try. (That is except for cigar beginners, in whose hands the Triple Maduro would be a cruel joke.)

For some, once will be enough, as the maduro flavor is too overpowering; for others, this will be a new smoke to mix into a regular rotation.

All things considered, the innovative, full-bodied, intense Camacho Triple Maduro Figurado is just a bit too rich to earn a rating higher than three and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A & Patrick S

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

When I first lit up this seven inch by 50 ring gauge Dominican, I was a little concerned. The draw was tight, the burn was uneven, and the ash was anything but stable. But after about 15 minutes into this hour and ½ smoke – and after a few touchups with my matches – it really settled down into an above average cigar. Box-pressed and a bit spongy to the touch, the Bazilian maduro wrapper and Cuban-seed Dominican long-leaf tobaccos yield classic earthy flavors with a dash of spicy pepper. All things considered, every stogie enthusiast should at least give one of these a try. If you’re a fan, the Victor Sinclair Vintage Select is a great bargain at less than $3 per stick.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars