The Stogie Guys

Now that the 2008 NCAA Tournament is set, we are teaming up with our friends at CigarsDirect.com to offer the best cigar prizes ever for a March Madness bracket challenge. The fantastic prizes, courtesy of CigarsDirect.com, are as follows:

Grand Prize: Padilla 1932 Signature Humidor filled with 45 Padilla cigars ($1,500.00 retail value)

2nd Place: Box of Fuente Fuente Opus X Robusto ($799.95 retail value)

3rd Place: Box of Arturo Fuente Anejo #77 “Shark” ($579.95 retail value)

4th Place: Box of Fuente God of Fire Churchill ($239.95 retail value)

5th Place: Box of Fuente Hemingway Short Story ($139.99 retail value)

As always at StogieGuys.com, entry is 100 percent free. Please fill out your bracket here. You must register with CBS Sportsline, then after you log in with your username and password you will be asked to enter our league password (which is “cigars”).

Rules: Please make sure to enter a valid email address when signing up. CigarsDirect.com will notify all winners via email at the end of the tournament. If you do not respond within two weeks, the prize will go to the player with the next highest point total. All brackets must be filled in by March 20.

Fine Print: The contest is in no way affiliated with CBS Sportsline, and no one will have access to your personal information (except for your email and name). There must be at least 50 entries or else the prizes may change.

Good luck!

[Additionally, CigarsDirect.com is including free shipping on all other orders placed during the NCAA tournament. For free shipping simply enter the code “stogieguys” at checkout.]

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: NCAA

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

This pudgy little smoke (4″ x 50) has an attractive vein-free Ecuadorian wrapper. The flavor is of wood and paper with a tiny hint of black pepper spice. The draw on this mild smoke is good, but this is a hard purchase to justify at over $7 apiece.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

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.

One of the six original Cohibas known as the Línea Clásica, this four and 7/8 inch by 50 ring gauge Robusto is an admirable smoke with excellent construction. I found pleasant flavors of sweet hay and honey with a touch of spice – not unlike my colleague’s full review. Expect to pay anywhere from $12 to $15, which is a fair price if you’re a lover of mild- to medium-bodied smokes.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: 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) Add a few Pennsylvania religious groups to the list of nanny-staters who advocate government- mandated smoking bans. It was reported this week that a handful of Christian groups in the Keystone State are pushing legislators to pass an intrusive statewide ban with no exemptions for bars or cigar shops – ironic for a state that was founded on religious freedom.

2) In slightly happier news, lawmakers this week carved out exemptions for bars, restaurants, and casinos in Iowa’s proposed statewide smoking ban. One anti-smoking zealot said the ban would be “pretty much useless at this point.”

3) Arganese, maker of such sticks as the Presidente Maduro, recently decided to streamline its convoluted assortment of cigars. According to Cigar Aficionado, the company will no longer make every stogie available in three different strength levels and three different wrapper varieties.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews the Rocky Patel Fusion Double Maduro. Cigar Inspector inspects a Davidoff Anniversary No. 2. Keepers of the Flame tries a Nestor Reserve Maduro. Cigar Jack smokes a Canimao Torpedo. Stogie Baby fires up an Illusione 88.

5) Deal of the Week: Need to travel, but don’t want your smokes damaged? Check out this Traveler Sampler. For just $39.99 you get five top smokes from General Cigar (Macanudo, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Punch and Partagas) plus a travel cigar case. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: ArganeseCigars.com

Finding wonderfully blended and constructed cigars that won’t put a dent in your budget is a top priority for me. That’s why it gives me such pleasure to review the Cupido Criollo.

Like J.L. Salazar, Don Kiki (Brown and White), La Carolina, Cabinet Selection, and Cameroon, this is another fine, under-priced Cuban Crafters product from the fields of Estelí. It is made with a criollo wrapper and Cuban-seed habano long leaf binders and fillers.

The Corto vitola sports a unique perfecto shape with a slight box press, and measures four and ½ inches with a 56 ring gauge at its widest point. With a metallic, Valentine-inspired band, a near flawless wrapper, and a distinctive form, this is the kind of gorgeous cigar that makes you really appreciate the fine art of rolling tobacco.

Establishing an even light is as easy as touching a flame to the tiny foot. I am immediately greeted with rich coffee and wood flavors and a smooth, nicely rounded spice.

At its widest girth, the flavor is well-balanced and medium-bodied with a slightly bitter finish. It picks up down the narrow stretch, but never becomes harsh or hot. The smoke is cool, abundant, and floral.

The physical properties are also impressive. It is a great joy to watch the firm, finely layered ash build off the foot in the cigar’s unique shape – I only ashed once during the 45-minute smoke. The burn starts and remains fairly even to the nub, and it stays lit even when left neglected. The band removes easily and without incident.

These flavor and construction characteristics were completely consistent for the six Cortos I smoked for this review. Amazing, especially since they sell at the low price of $65 for an individually numbered box of 25 ($2.60 per stick). Only 9,000 boxes are manufactured each year.

I am convinced this is one of the best sub-$3 cigar experiences I’ve ever had. If you like criollo tobacco and don’t have a lot of time, this should be your new everyday smoke. I give the Cupido Criollo Corto four and ½ out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. To purchase this cigar from a StogieGuys.com affiliate, click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Rum and cigars go remarkably well together, sharing complementary flavor profiles and a similarly tropical heritage. This is no secret to anyone remotely familiar with cigars or spirits. So what new light, if any, can be shed on cigar and rum pairings?

Plenty. In fact, I would argue that simply matching a random stogie to a random glass of liquor is doing a grave disservice to both. Care and attention must be paid to selecting a rum that accentuates a cigar’s flavors without overwhelming them.

Perhaps the right rum adds spice where there is little, or adds a touch of sweetness where there is spice (see El Dorado). Either way, you don’t want the match to be too on-the-nose.  The perfect rum for a given cigar will both round out existing flavors and, within reason, hint at new flavors that could not be uncovered without the drink. Like the combination of beans and rice, the marriage of cigar and rum conjures flavors and textures neither product could produce on its own.

Flor de Caña is one of my favorites: a premium Nicaraguan rum sold at upscale supermarkets, served at cigar bars, and probably available online from specialty retailers. In particular, Centenario is well worth the $25-30 or so that you’ll pay for a 750ml bottle. This is a 12-year-old sipping rum, to be enjoyed straight or on the rocks – but never muddied with a mixer.

The Centenario has the medium caramel coloring and peaty aroma of a single-malt Scotch – quite unusual for a rum of any variety. Like a good Scotch, it too must be given some time to “open up” or air out after the first pour. It can be quite strong when fresh out of the bottle, and I find that a few minutes of airing, and perhaps a dash of cold water, will help unlock the complexities of the liquor and mellow out its bite.

Once sufficiently “opened,” the rum still maintains its peaty strength, but will reveal hints of citrus, hazelnut, vanilla, and spice. This is not a sweet rum by any means, and as such I would not recommend pairing it with a light-bodied or overly mellow cigar. At the same time, the flavors of the rum might be cancelled out by a strong or spicy stogie. I would recommend pairing the Centenario with anything from the Fuente Hemingway line, perhaps a Rocky Patel ’92, or especially an Oliva Serie O – the latter being a Nicaraguan puro to match this Nicaraguan rum in character and in flavor.

–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As a coffee lover, it’s only natural that I gravitate toward maduro cigars. The dark, rich, earthy tones of a good maduro pair perfectly with a steaming cup of black coffee (or a nice glass of rum, depending upon the time of day).

Recently I found myself searching for the perfect accompaniment to several pounds of ludicrously expensive and rare Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans I’d been given by an old friend. Coffee aficionados will know instantly, at the mere mention of the Jamaican Blue Mountain appellation, that these are no ordinary coffee beans. And they demand no ordinary smoke to match them.

Ordinarily, I stock my humidor with plenty of 5 Vegas Series A’s. Inexpensive, yet phenomenal, they’ve been my everyday smoke for many months now. But for this special occasion, I decided to be a bit more adventurous, and I splurged on some Montecristo Media Noche No. 2s. At roughly $15 per stick, or $230 for a box, the No. 2 is not the kind of cigar I should have bought on impulse. For many of us, that’s quite a hefty price to pay on a whim – especially for Montecristo’s first foray into maduro territory. For all I knew, they might have screwed this one up.

A quick physical assay of the cigar in question, however, put my fears to rest. Dark, oily, and impeccably wrapped, the Media Noche is quite the show pony. Had Plato smoked cigars, he might have considered this handsome torpedo the archetypal image of ‘cigar-ness.’ To take this stogie in hand is to see and smell the luxury of well-oiled leather. The pre-light aroma gave off deep and striking notes of espresso, leather, and earth. I couldn’t wait to light up this impressively sized, 6.1 inch by 54 ring gauge beauty and find out if my senses weren’t deceiving me.

I wasn’t dreaming. The cigar lit beautifully and maintained a very firm, but manageable draw. The burn was even throughout, producing a light gray ash that contrasted beautifully with the darkness of the Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper. For such a powerful-looking cigar, the Media Noche began with a whisper: a rich, peppery, but decidedly mellow flavor, slowly building up as the smoke progressed. This richness gave way to notes of vanilla and even cream as the cigar reached its final third – a delicate landing after a smooth takeoff and enjoyable flight.

I give this fine cigar a near-perfect four and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys