The Stogie Guys

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) Cigar Aficionado reported this week that imports of premium stogies exceeded 300 million in 2007, “a number that was thought unreachable in the early days of the 1990s cigar boom.” The Dominican Republic and Honduras are still the largest suppliers to the U.S., but Nicaragua is gaining speed with shipments up 22 percent.

2) CAO President Tim Ozgener recently posted another interesting video on YouTube. This one goes into great detail about the Gold series, a mild cigar that Tim describes as “my father’s favorite blend.”

3) Tired of lighting up in the garage or huddling around a space heater on the deck during winter? Well, there’s a 117 sq. ft. prefabricated structure that will certainly make you the envy of all your smoking buddies. It’s insulated, pre-wired (think HDTV), and can “tuck into any area,” according to the manufacturer. The complete Kithaus is $44,900. Or get the base model for only $29,500. Neither price includes shipping, taxes, or installation.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews the H. Upmann Signature. Cigar Jack lights up a La Gloria Cubana. Velvet Cigar smokes the Omar Ortez Original. Cigar Inspector inspects a Macanudo Maduro. Matt smokes a Tatujae Reserva SW.

5) Deal of the Week: Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, which makes this sampler a perfect choice. You get ten smokes including a Cohiba, a Macanudo, and two Punch cigars, plus you get a box of fine chocolates for your sweetie. All fthis or just $39.99. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Cigar Aficionado

We had 67 entries in our second annual Stogie Guys Super Bowl Contest, but there could only be two winners. Congratulations are in order to Matt and Dennis, who both picked the New York Giants to win by three. (Four people correctly picked the Giants by three, but Matt and Dennis won because their projection of 45 total points scored put them closer than the other two entries.)

The two lucky winners will receive six cigars from eGars.com. Each will get the Honduran Classic Sampler and the Punch Rothschild Sampler, which contain the following smokes:

• Sancho Panza Caballero – 6.5 x 45
• Excalibur Prensado Oscuro – 6.125 x 48
• Punch Rare Corojo Double Corona – 6.75 x 48
• Punch Rothschild EMS – 4.5 x 50
• Punch Rothschild MM – 4.5 x 50
• Punch Rare Corojo Rothschild – 4.5 x 50

We’ve yet to catch up with Matt, but Dennis did tell us a little about his Super Bowl day. After smoking a Tatuaje Series P and a Carlos Toraño Signature, he watched the game at home with his family where they “pigged out” and had a great time.

When we asked Dennis if he was Giants fan, he responded quite definitively: “Hell No! Please don’t ask me that ever again. I’m a Redskins fan for life! [The pick] was strictly strategy.” Dennis also said that he only started smoking cigars this year, but he already has good taste – citing the Padron 2000 and the Toraño Signature as two of his favorites.

Congratulations again to Dennis and Matt, and a special thanks to eGars.com for sponsoring the contest.

Please note that eGars.com is also running a special deal just for StogieGuys.com readers. Enter “SGVIP” as a promo code when you checkout and receive ten percent off your first order!

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: AP

There’s something satisfying about smoking a cigar bearing the name of one of Winston Churchill’s favorites, even if the appellation and the packaging are about all they share.

The current incarnation, introduced in 2002 by Ashton, is made in Honduras with a wrapper and a binder from that country. The filler is a mixture of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos.

They produce a fine cigar. Construction, as with most cigars connected to Ashton, is first-rate. The wrapper is dark, the ash tight, and the draw nearly perfect. The cigar burns slowly and produces volumes of smoke, even a little too much when the stick is resting in the ashtray.

Strength on the Monarch (six inches with a 50 ring gauge) was medium with an abundance of flavor. If you find what I did, you’ll taste coffee, leather, and a bit of toast. Occasionally, spice moves in and out to keep it even more interesting.

The Monarch sells for a little over $100 for a box of 25 and five packs can be had for around $25.

I usually remove a cigar’s band before I light up, but in this case you might want to leave it on. It is a detailed, embossed beauty worthy of continuing admiration.

I feel the same way about the cigar and therefore give it a rating of three and ½ out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. Cigars for this review were provided by CigarsDirect.com, and can be purchased here.]

–George E

photo credit: Ashton Cigars

I smoke plenty of cigars of all shapes and sizes, and I’ve come to a conclusion lately: I really like torpedos, pyramids, belicosos, or what ever else you want to call them.

Some of the classic cigars of all time – including the Montecristo No. 2 – are torpedos, but the vitola has more to offer than just a fantastic heritage.

Belicosos can be a real work of art, making you wonder just how skilled the rollers that create these cigars must be. In many factories, only the most talented torcedores work on the belicoso sizes.

But the benefits of the torpedo aren’t simply aesthetic either. Pyramids focus the flavor on your palate, concentrating it on one spot. If the cigar is good, this means that those good flavors are even more intense.

So if you’re in the mood for a great cigar, consider a torpedo, pyramid, or belicoso. Here are five of my favorites:

• Montecristo No. 2 (Cuban)
• Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No. 2
• Cohiba Edición Limitada 2006 Pirámide (Cuban)
• Davidoff Millenium Blend Piramide
• Padrón Serie 1964 Piramide

So what are your favorite pyramids?

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The Super Bowl just may be one of the best occasions of the year to smoke cigars. There are hours and hours of football-related television programming, lots of fried foods, plenty of adult beverages, and great gatherings of loved ones and friends.

Yesterday a few of my pals (Patrick S included) and I spent a good six hours at Shelly’s Back Room, pretty much the last cigar-friendly establishment in all of Washington. It is a “civilized cigar parlor” with numerous high-definition TVs, a cozy atmosphere, and an excellent menu. It was here that we witnessed one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.

I don’t mind saying that we were smoking and drinking virtually nonstop throughout our entire stay. Included in my three-cigar extravaganza was a mild and creamy Ybor City Handmades Torpedo (the last from my November 2006 trip to Tampa) and a full and peppery J.L. Salazar y Hermanos Reserva Especial Robusto (full review forthcoming). Not surprisingly, Makers Mark seemed to go quite well with everything.

But we want to know what you were up to. When you get a chance, please leave a comment and let Stogie Guys Nation know where you watched the big game and what you smoked to celebrate one of the world’s greatest sporting events.

–Patrick A

photo credit: 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.

This cigar has hit the Stogie Guys reverse trifecta: negative reviews from all three of us. Though the other verdicts were rendered on the natural, I didn’t find this darker sibling any better. Despite what sounds like an interesting blend – a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper, a Brazilian mata fina maduro binder, and Dominican filler tobaccos – the cigar disappoints with bitter and harsh tastes. Perhaps the most amazing attribute is that a cigar with all that maduro tobacco seems to have none of the typical maduro sweetness.

Verdict = Sell.

–George E

photo credit: 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.

At just over four inches with a 40 ring gauge, Cohiba’s Siglo I vitola takes about 40 minutes to burn from light to nub. It packs a full, deceptive spice into a short format that’s perfect for mid-afternoon breaks. The price ($8.60 per stick) is quite steep, though, and the finish is a little hot for my liking. I’d rather take my time with a larger, smoother size from this famed Cohiba line.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys