The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and informative as possible, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other snippets of interest. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) As if you didn’t already know, this weekend’s big cigar news begins and ends with the kickoff of the 76th Annual IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas on Sunday. Keep it right here at StogieGuys.com for live, on-the-ground coverage—including highlights of the new cigars that are expected to debut.

2) A petition to get an initiative on a ballot to exempt cigar bars from Washington’s oppressive smoking ban came up 12,000 signatures short this week. Now the downtrodden owners of cigar bars, stores, and private clubs in the Evergreen State are expected to lobby legislators in January in a last-ditch effort to save their livelihoods.

3) Inside the Industry: Select boxes of Rocky Patel cigars will be shipped with “custom-printed” Humidipaks starting late this summer. Last year’s Dominican floods are making shipments of the already scarce Opus X even rarer. General Cigars won a lawsuit confirming the company’s ownership of the U.S. Cohiba trademark.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review smokes the Tatuaje Cojonu 2006. Cigar Jack smokes the Kristoff Criollo Churchill. Matt lights up a Toraño Noventa. Cigar Command reviews the 5 Vegas Miami Robusto. Keepers of the Flame continues its vertical review of the Padrón line with the Ambassador.

5) Deal of the Week: This Medium Bodied Sampler includes ten top-notch cigars for just $39.99. It features Romeo y Julieta Viejo, Macanudo Maduros, Cocinero Liga Especial, Toraño 1916 Cameroon, and Oliva Serie O. The sampler also includes free shipping on the entire order. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Convention Hotels

LAS VEGAS — As in past years, the upcoming International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show will feature numerous new and revamped cigars. And as George E noted yesterday, competition is fierce for the best tobacco with increased cigar imports, but that hasn’t slowed the trend.

StogieGuys.com will be on the ground in Las Vegas covering the convention with live updates throughout the day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. However, you don’t need to wait until then to know many of the new cigars that will be introduced. Here is a preview of some of the new releases:

Ashton Cigars is releasing Benchmade, which will cost $2-3 per stick. Like last year’s release, the San Cristobal, Benchmade is a Don Pepin Garcia creation, this time with Nicaraguan mixed-filler tobacco.

CAO is releasing their new Lx2 line, or “ligero times two,” which promises to feature plenty of the spicy ligero tobacco. The cigar follows CAO’s Mx2 (Maduro) and Cx2 (Cameroon) and will cost $6-8 per stick with three sizes: Robusto, Toro, and Torpedo.

Cuban Imports, better known as the exclusive importer of certain H. Upmann and El Rey Del Mundo lines, is debuting an extension of its Exile blend that will be called the Exile Wired. The cigar features an Ecuadorian criollo wrapper grown by the Oliva company, a Connecticut broadleaf binder, and a filler comprised of a Nicaraguan ligero and viso tobacco along with Domincan seco leaf. It will come in four sizes—a 4.5 inch x 52 Rothschild, a 5.5 inch x 44 Corona Gorda, a 6 inch x 52 Torpedo, and a 7.25 inch x 52 Double Corona—with suggested prices ranging from $3.99 to $5.49 per cigar.

Cusano will be reintroducing two of its Cuvée blends: Rouge and 151. The lines have been completely re-blended since their original introduction. Rouge now features an Ecuadorian wrapper with Domincan and Ecuadorian filler, and the 151 sports a dark Brazilian maduro wrapper.

EO Cigars, maker of the 601 line, will again partner with Don Pepin Garcia for its new release. Cubao will retail for $6.50-7.50 per individual cigar and be made at Garcia’s Tabacalera Cubana S.A. factory with an Ecuadorian sumatra oscuro wrapper and filler and binder tobaccos from Nicaragua.

Illusione is coming out with a new line called Cruzado. Don Giolito, maker of Illusione, says Cruzado will be medium-bodied (milder than Illusione), with a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and Honduras.

La Aurora is introducing a new size featuring the same blend as its Preferido Cameroon cigar—a Cameroon wrapper with Dominican filler and binder. Instead of the round double torpedo shape, the new stick will be a 6 and 7/8 inch by 40 Lancero.

La Flor Dominicana maker Litto Gomez is featuring a new perfecto size for its La Flor and Coranodo sizes. The cigars will come in a box of five that also includes a new, but thus far unknown, blend.

La Perla Habana is introducing a very limited release, Andioamo, and Perla, a new addition to its Black Pearl line. Both cigars harken back to historical Havana, with Andiamo being released to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the city by Europeans and the Perla aiming to recreate the taste and aroma of pre-Castro Cuban cigars of the 1940s and 1950s. Both come in Robusto, Toro, and Torpedo sizes, with Perla also being released in a large 8.5 inch by 52 “A” size.

The Reyes Family, makers of Puros Indios and Cuba Aliados, is producing two new cigars under the Reyes Family name: Reyes Family Classic and Reyes Family Premier. The milder Classic line ($4.50-6.00 each) features an Ecuadorian Sumatatra wrapper and Brazilian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican fillers. The medium-bodied Premier line ($6.00-9.00 each) utilizes a dark Ecuadorian maduro wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and filler from Nicaragua’s Jalapa region.

Tabacos de la Cordillera will also unveil four new cigars at the show: two medium- to full-bodied maduros (the Fundacion Ancestral Remedios 1942 and the Fundacion Ancestral Santa Clara), and two natural cigars (the Vogel Green and Vogel Red).

Toraño Cigars is finally releasing the third edition of its extremely limited Tribute line. The blend will come in three sizes—a Robusto, a Churchill, and a Torpedo—with only 1,200 boxes of each size being made. The cigar features a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler.

Noticeably missing from the announced new releases are the two largest cigar companies, Altadis USA and General Cigar, makers of some of the best-selling and most well-known sticks. No word yet from Altadis, but we expect to see new releases from the largest cigar maker in the world with an announcement just before or at the IPCPR show. Meanwhile, Victoria McKee of General Cigar tells StogieGuys.com that General will be announcing its new cigars tomorrow.

Stay tuned to StogieGuys.com for live coverage from the IPCPR trade show starting this Sunday, July 13th.

[Along with original reporting, this article features information from Cigar Aficionado and CigarCyclopedia.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: IPCPR

With the IPCPR Las Vegas convention on the horizon, it’s natural to think about new cigar releases and company announcements (which Patrick S will be detailing tomorrow). I’m afraid, however, I can’t help but look to the future with a little trepidation.

In recent years, we’ve been blessed with many great cigars, the emergence of top-tier blenders, and some extraordinary limited edition smokes. But we’ve also begun to experience inconsistency, brand proliferation that seems to defy common sense, and lots of just plain duds.

It’s hard not to wonder if all the growth has, once again, pushed the need for the high-quality, well-aged tobacco that’s necessary for excellent cigars beyond availability. I know growers have expanded quite a bit in recent years, with Nicaragua probably the most notable example. And just think of the countries you often hear about now that were virtually non-starters in the production of cigar tobacco just a few years ago: Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Italy…

But growing tobacco isn’t the same as growing good tobacco. (I’ve had a couple of cigar makers tell me that it’s extremely easy to get tobacco these days, but competition for high-quality leaf is tougher than it’s ever been.) Then there are the requirements for aging and curing, processes that can’t be hurried without harming the outcome.

Consistency is also a critical factor for cigars. Smokers expect their sticks, with a few exceptions, to taste and perform more or less the same from box to box, year to year. It isn’t really like wine or high-end coffee, where the grapes and beans—and the results—are evaluated crop by crop. The demand for cigar repetition is more akin to liquor. In addition to a cigar’s taste, we expect to experience the same quality construction, draw, application of the cap, burn, etc., each time we light up.

When you consider all these factors—and look at the endless number of new cigars hitting the market—I think it’s hard not to feel some pessimism.

While it is possible, of course, to create an almost infinite number of blends, I don’t believe it’s possible to make so many consistently and to also make them good and distinctive as well. Consequently, I think we’ve all had the unpleasant experience of finding a new cigar that’s terrific, only to be roundly disappointed when you then bought a box. Or when you tried others by the same blender or manufacturer with poor results.

So, though I’m eager to learn about new cigars unveiled at IPCPR, I hope at least some of those in the industry will address the vital underlying issues of quality and consistency. That could give cigar smokers at least a little glance into what lies ahead.

–George E

photo credit: IPCPR

I’ve always had good, if not stellar experiences with Avo Uvezian cigars. They tend to be very straightforward. Not that there’s anything wrong with a smoke that’s quick and to the point, but something about me—call it my artistic temperament—prefers a bit more complexity in my smokes.

This is why I find “traditional” tasting cigars like Avos, Punches, and others to be solid doubles, or even triples, but rarely homeruns. They get most of the details right, but the big picture isn’t as beautiful as it could be. I could continue mixing and expending various, increasingly clichéd metaphors here, but I think you get my point: I like a challenging cigar.

I’d never tried an Avo Maduro before, and so it was only logical that I pick one up before consigning the whole Avo brand to the “good, but not necessarily my kind of cigar” graveyard. I am very glad I did.

The Avo Maduro Piramide is a handsome and dignified 7 inches by 54 ring gauge figurado. It’s wrapped up neatly and smoothly, with some bumpy tooth here and there that adds a great deal of character to the boot-leather-brown leaf. There cigar is firm, oily, and smells of rich tobacco and freshly sanded wood. The pre-light and fully lit draws are perfect. Just rolling this cigar around in your fingers, lighting it carefully and methodically, and taking your first puff is a tactile treat.

As for the flavor, it’s definitely straightforward. But if any cigar makes a great case for straightforward flavor, it’s this one. It’s blustery and blunt, full of leather and that indescribable, “classic tobacco taste.” There’s not a lot of chocolate or spice to this stick and, frankly, I’m glad. Let 90% of high-end maduros have their cocoa overtones. The Avo Maduro would feel awkward and out of sorts with any sort of sweetness. This stogie is all about the rough, masculine flavors of tobacco and little else. I could easily picture my literary idol Ernest Hemingway chewing on a cigar like this one, perhaps on the deck of his boat off the coast of Cuba.

Perhaps, as Hemingway reminds me, I could stand to trim some excess and needless complexity from my cigars, my life, and my work. After all, a stogie full of flourish and surprise is certainly welcome. But sometimes there’s great beauty in simplicity.

For uncomplicated, yet intriguing flavor, a great aroma, and near-perfect aesthetics, I award the Avo Maduro Piramide four stogies out of five.

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

–Jon N

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The first wrapper grown by the Toraños on their own plantation? Tobacco from Panama? These two unique traits help define the distinctive character of the Toraño Virtuoso line.

Advertised as the brand’s strongest blend, Virtuoso is “a testament to the Toraño family’s Cuban heritage.” It sports a Nicaraguan sungrown wrapper, a Honduran binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama.

The 4.75 inch by 52 ring gauge Encore vitola—rated 89 in the February 2006 issue of Cigar Aficionado—is a tasty-looking treat. While you’ll find plenty of veins, some messy seams, and a hastily-applied cap, the stick is nonetheless as smooth as it is solid.

Another unique feature apparent in the two Encores I smoked for this review is the presence of a slight box press. Maybe my tobacco-laden mind is starting to play tricks on me, but the circumference appears to take on somewhat of a flat oval shape. Or maybe not.

No matter. One thing I’m certain about is the delicious prelight aroma that pours out of the foot and off the sienna-colored wrapper (which is lighter than most sungrowns). George E wrote about these “earthy, vegetal” notes in a Quick Smoke of the larger Forte size.

Once lit, those tastes carry over for the first inch or so. The dominant flavors, however, are of black coffee, pepper, oak, and nut with a little bit of cocoa sweetness adding balance. Balance is especially important on a stick like this with a flavor profile that remains very consistent during the 85-minute smoke.

The finale sees no increase in harshness or spice—or anything else for that matter—even when the nub gets too hot to hold. Don’t get me wrong, though; despite its uniformity, the full-bodied taste never left me bored.

Like most Toraño creations, at least in my experience, the physical makeup of this stick is above average. The burn is straight, the white ash strong, and the clear draw produces ample tufts of thick, rich smoke.

While this cigar isn’t quite as tasty as those from Toraño’s Signature line (face it: I’m a sucker for Brazilian wrappers), it’s still well-built and delicious. You won’t be disappointed if you pick up a box of 25 for the going rate of just over $100. That’s my justification for giving the Toraño Virtuoso Encore four out of five stogies.

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

–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 line landed a spot on Cigar Aficionado’s top 25 and has gotten lots of good reviews online. I paid $6.75 for this five inch stick, which features a shade-grown Nicaraguan corojo wrapper. Combined with a mix of filler from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Colombia, the “Three Centuries” generates a distinctive taste. I found it to be a medium smoke with a great, slow burn, excellent draw, and huge smoke production. I got a core of leather with some spice and a touch of sweetness in the last third or so. If you’re looking for something a little different, give one of these a try.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Grand Habano Cigars

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

This prototype hasn’t been released by Cuban Crafters, but we were fortunate enough to get our hands on some. While I don’t know the exact makeup of this stick I can tell you that it features a somewhat dry Connecticut wrapper that is velvety to the touch. The taste reminded me of another boutique favorite of mine, the Ybor City Handmade. I found hay notes along with cream and hints of pepper. Construction is good, despite a slightly spongy feel, with an even burn and steady ash. Even though I enjoyed this Torpedo, I think the Chruchill format—of which I’ve tried two now—is even better. Still, I can recommend you pick up this attractive torpedo when it becomes available.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S