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.

Well over a year ago the Taino Robusto got one of our worst ratings ever. So after a year of aging I tried a one of the torpedos made by Taino in New York City. This smoke was far more impressive than my last encounter. With perfect construction, I was able to enjoy a complex mild to medium flavor, featuring honey and subtle earth notes.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar. The following is a Guest Quick Smoke, submitted by a StogieGuys.com reader. If you’d like to submit your own for publication, please contact us.

The Montecristo Petit Edmundo is rather discreet and the appearance is minimalist, yet its packed with quite an interesting bouquet of flavors. After a painless light, I was hit by stimulating scents of hazelnut, black pepper, and precious wood. From time to time, I could also distinguish cacao and fresh mushroom flavors. It was a very pleasant kaleidoscope of tastes, which was getting more and more powerful, especially in the last third. The dynamism and power of the rich flavors make up for the appearance.

Verdict: Buy.

–Submitted by Denis K from Toulouse, France

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) If you’re a  Florida Stogie Guy (specifically the Tampa area), you may be interested to know that Thompson Cigar’s Cigar Artisans event is going on tomorrow and that tickets are still available. With entry you get over 50 cigars and, as George wrote last year, you get to meet many of the men (and women) who produce the fantastic cigars you enjoy every day.

And better still you can enjoy all this with a clean conscience because, as the Tampa Tribune reports, a portion of the proceeds goes to the Southeastern Guide Dogs charity. Tickets can still be purchased through Thompson’s website.

2) Tax-achusetts’ senseless statewide smoking ban just isn’t enough for some Bostonians. An outdoor ban for a plaza beside Quincy City Hall was proposed this week at a license hearing by Boston cops. Their justification, according to City Council President Doug Gutro, is to keep the area clear of “unsavory characters.”

3) The revulsion some people feel about smoking seems to know no bounds, extending even to a desire to manipulate news coverage to “set a good example.” Check the first item in the ombudsman’s column for the Virginian-Pilot for an excellent discussion of the topic.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews the La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet. Cigar Jack tries the Palmas Puro Natural. Keepers of the Flame lights up a Trinidad 100th Anniversary Robusto. Cigar Monkey smokes an Alec Bradley MAXX.

5) Deal of the Week: Tatuaje (made by Don “Pepin” Garcia) might just be hottest cigar going these days, and this sampler is a perfect way to try the brand’s many highly rated blends. With five different sticks that usually sell for over $10 individually, the $37.50 sampler is quite economical. Pick yours up here.

–The Stogie Guys

In three years, Mike McCarthy has built his cigar shop in Palm Harbor, Florida, into a premiere spot that both customers and manufacturers respect and admire. In a highly competitive arena – at least four more shops are within easy driving distance, numerous other nearby outlets carry premium cigars, and then there’s the seemingly endless array of Internet sellers – his focus is on cigars.

At MJM Fine Cigars, the store is the humidor, and the walls are lined with hundreds and hundreds of facings from scores of manufacturers. It is the kind of selection some smokers can only dream of.

When you talk to Mike, his passion quickly becomes apparent. He talks about constantly reading, researching, and evaluating new ideas to improve his operation. He’d like to see cigar sites and blogs do more promotion for local shops and put less emphasis on Internet prices. Otherwise, he said, “one of these days, there are going to be no local guys left.”

He said he’s well aware that trying to compete on price alone is a poor business plan. No matter how low you go, there’s always someone willing to go lower: “If you’re going to play the pricing game, you’re going to lose every time.”

His philosophy is centered on having what cigar smokers – newcomers and sophisticates alike – are looking for and on treating them well when they visit his shop in a strip center on busy U.S. 19 north of Clearwater.

“What’s made me successful,” Mike explained, “is romancing these cigars and getting guys to try different things…Why anybody would want to open a shop and sell the same old stuff is beyond me.”

Mike’s also not interested in expanding the small seating area, with a TV, at the front of the store. His plans for renovation and expansion are aimed at creating more space to showcase additional premium sticks.

“Hey, man, if you’re a cigar dude, you want it. You read the magazines and you want to find something different…you’ve got a better chance than not of finding it here. You want the same old stuff, bro, you can go anywhere,” he said.

Another hallmark of Mike’s shop is a monthly cigar event, where he’s presented top industry figures like Pepin Garcia. An avid pipe smoker, Mike also custom blends tobaccos and carries an impressive array of high-end pipes. He hosts monthly meetings of the Bay Area Pipe Guild at MJM.

His experience in the business goes back more than 25 years when he worked at a cigar shop while attending college. He was in and out of the trade over the years and got back full-time by opening MJM in 2004.

One of the most important things he’s learned, he said, is to focus on the “average guy.”
To that end, Mike said he tries to use common sense and rely on his own experiences.

“I think the average guy wants to have a good selection, wants to be treated fairly, he wants to be remembered when he comes in,” he said. “Charge him a fair price, have some events, throw him a bone every now and then, and he’s happy. I consider myself an average guy.”

But he’s got a store that’s way above average.

–George E

Tags: cigars

Every weekend day here at StogieGuys.com we publish short Quick Smokes: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar. Now, you can win free cigars by submitting your own Quick Smoke.

To participate, simply submit your entry to our general contact email address. The five readers who submit the best submissions (as selected by the StogieGuys.com editors) will receive an Arganese Cigars three-pack sampler with robustos from each of their three blends.

Here are a few tips to give your Quick Smoke the best chance of being selected:

All submissions need to include the full name of the cigar with your rating of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.” (A “buy” rating means you would definitely recommend others try the cigar; a “sell” rating means you wouldn’t recommend it; and a “hold” rating is reserved for cigars in between.)

Include your name and hometown.

Please remember we’re not looking for essays; just 100 words or less (three or four sentences will do) with your impressions.

Also, you can increase your chances of publication by choosing a cigar that hasn’t already been a Quick Smoke or the subject of a full review.

While not necessary, please feel free to include an original photo of the cigar, its dimensions, country of origin, etc.

Finally, a little fine print: By submitting an entry into this contest, you attest that you are 18 years of age or older and give StogieGuys.com the exclusive right to publish your Quick Smoke. While everyone is encouraged to enter a submission for possible publication, only those with addresses in the continental U.S. are eligible to win the prizes.

So get your submissions in today for a chance to win some free smokes!

–The Stogie Guys

From the fertile Cibao Valley in the northern region of the Dominican Republic comes the Avo XO Trio series, an attractive line of six cigars blended for a rich flavor with a smooth body. Unlike the ultra-mild Classic series, of which I am not a fan, Avo Uvezian created the XO Trio line for a slightly fuller taste.

The Intermezzo is a five and ½ inch by 50 ring gauge stick that’s soft and spongy to the touch. At about $7.60 apiece, it sports a clean Connecticut Shade wrapper adorned by the traditional mahogany-colored Avo logo.

I had no trouble establishing a nice, even burn with a few wooden matches. From there, the first few puffs are predominantly salty, a characteristic that leads me to believe the Dominican binder and filler is at least partly made up of Olor tobacco.

(Davidoff, which owns Avo, also uses Olor leaves to balance out the flavor in its wonderful Grand Cru series.)

Fortunately, the one-dimensional taste quickly matured to reveal light complimentary notes of syrup, butter, and ginger. Even as a spice builds into the final third, the stogie remains mostly mild-bodied. Some sour flavors get in the mix during the homestretch, but these can be minimized by taking your time.

While the ash is a bit flakey and unstable off the foot, the draw is clear and the burn stays even throughout the one hour and 20 minute smoke.

When you get right down to it, I find this stick to be very enjoyable – especially in the middle where a well-balanced, aromatic smoke dominates the palate. I noticed no chemical aftertaste, an unimpressive trait that’s all too common among Connecticut Shade stogies.

So even for its somewhat expensive price, I’m recommending the Avo XO Trio Intermezzo as a nice morning/mid-afternoon smoke, and giving it three and ½ out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

In a year of many anticipated cigar releases, perhaps the most anticipated non-Cuban cigar debut is only a month away. Speaking with Cigar Aficionado reporter David Savona, Padrón Cigars President Jorge Padrón said the company’s new 80^th Anniversary stick will debut “before Thanksgiving.”

At that time, the maduro version of the Padrón 1926 Serie 80 Years edition will be released, with a natural wrapper version to follow. The cigars are the first ever perfectos produced by Padrón, which has recently moved all of its cigar production to Estelí, Nicaragua after years of splitting production between Honduras and Nicaragua.

The large perfecto (pictured at right, held by Jose Orlando Padrón) will be distributed in boxes of eight and will retail for a pricey $30. Padrón has said that initially stores will only receive one box.

Total production of the “Padrón 80’s” – which use some of the oldest tobacco the Padróns hold – will top out around 40,000 cigars a year.

While final packaging has not yet been announced, expect bands with individual serial numbers as Padrón attempts to counter potential counterfeiters. Padrón’s anti-counterfeiting measures have been stepped up of late as their 1926 Millennium and 1964 Anniversary Series have become some of the most counterfeited non-Cuban cigars.

In a special “Urgent Alert” posted on Padrón’s website, the company gives customers tips for verifying the authenticity of their cigars and warns consumers about internet purchases from unauthorized online retailers.

With production of the cigar so limited and demand sure to be very high, we suggest talking to the owner of your local B&M about reserving one if you want to be one of the first to try this highly-anticipated stogie.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars