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.

With a Brazilian wrapper that’s grown in the shade instead of the sun, this blend doesn’t capture the chocolaty flavors I’ve come to expect from mata fina tobacco. The Green Label’s toasty sweetness, however, makes the 5.5 inch, 44 ring gauge Corona tantalizing in its own right. The strength charts somewhere between the mild White Label and the mighty Brown Label, and the construction is nothing short of superb. I think you’ll find this cigar well worth the $33 per bundle of 25 price tag.

Verdict = Buy.

–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.

I picked up this rustic looking torpedo at the Morton’s/PG dinner I attended in July. Like most PG cigars I’ve sampled, I found impressive depth and complexity. Along with a warm tobacco flavor, there’s subtle fruit undertones (like a smooth Red Burgundy wine) and plenty of earth. Combined this flawless construction, and I can heartily recommend this cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: 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) Cigar Rights of America kicks off its “Freedom Tour” on Tuesday in New York City. The national membership drive will also sweep into Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Orlando next week to raise awareness of CRA’s mission to combat the influential anti-smoking movement. Cigar celebrities like Rocky Patel, Tim Ozgener, Charlie Toraño, and Jorge Padrόn will be in attendance.

2) Despite a recent setback when a judge refused to temporarily stop enactment Iowa’s state smoking ban, a group of Iowans have formed Choose Freedom Iowa. The grassroots organization is leading the charge to repeal the ban that went into effect on July 1.

3) Around the Blogs: Her Humidor reviews the Arganese Double Wrap Churchill. Cigar Monkey lights up a Alec Bradley Tempus. Stogie Review smokes the VigilantE by Rocky Patel. Keepers of the Flame checks out the Reyes Family Premier. Cigar Jack tries the 5 Vegas Miami.

4) Deal of the Week: Here’s a special deal just for you StogieGuys.com readers: Duque Cigar Company is offering 5% off everything.  Just enter the discount code “stogieguys” at checkout. We’d particularly recommend using the code with this deal on the Oliva Serie G or this one on the Don Pepin “Black” Cuban Classic.

– The Stogie Guys

photo credit: CRA

One of the great things about being a cigar smoker these days is the incredible wealth of information available on the Internet. I couldn’t begin to name all the sticks I’ve enjoyed, and the many more I plan to try, because of something I read on a cigar site.

This 5.5 inch, 42-ring gauge corona is a perfect example. It’s a cigar I almost certainly would never have tried if I hadn’t read a review on Keepers of the Flame earlier this year. Now, their reviews are always interesting, nicely written with top-flight research—with this stick, for instance, they point out a couple of fascinating links to Pepin Garcia—and great insight. After reading what they wrote and discovering that Famous offers a box of 20 for $49.99, free shipping, and a nine-stick house brand sampler thrown in for good measure, I was hooked.

These coronas have been in the humidor about three months, and I’ve probably smoked a half dozen. I’ve found them surprisingly consistent in both taste and performance. Keepers recommends aging and, though I’ve seen no impact from the short period I’ve had them, it seems the blend might benefit from time.

What you get for $2.50 is a spicy, peppery smoke with some leather and even an occasional taste of nuts. It’s neither terribly complex nor a competitor for Cigar of the Year. But it goes well with coffee and can stand up to a heavy meal. I find it ideal for those occasions when I’m looking for a cigar I can enjoy but know I won’t be able to devote the time and attention a top-flight smoke deserves.

With today’s economy, lots of us are looking for an inexpensive cigar, and I can recommend these. Famous offers five-packs, but by the time you pay shipping, it’s probably a far better bargain to buy a box.

And if you’ve had good luck with other low-priced house brands—from Famous or elsewhere—let us know. It’s another way to help keep the golden age golden. For me, the Famous Nicaraguan Corojo Corona gets three and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Smoking a cigar is pretty simple. Ignite. Draw. Exhale. Of course, there’s quite a bit more that can enhance the experience, from pushing smoke through your nostrils to choosing a complementary drink. Here are a few suggestions you might want to explore if you haven’t already given them a try.

Swirl the smoke. First, I recommend you try this one when you’re alone. Otherwise, you’re liable to look a little silly. Fill your mouth with smoke. Swirl it around, expand and collapse your cheeks, force the smoke into every area of your mouth. Hold on to the smoke longer than usual. Engaging the smoke in this manner will almost certainly reveal new flavors. When I did this recently with a cigar I smoke fairly often I got a heavy taste of nuts that I had barely noticed before.

Concentrate on physical. Really examine the cigar from the moment you decide to smoke it. Note everything you can about the wrapper, from veins and color variations to how well it’s twisted and applied. Check the cap. Look at the foot and see if you can tell how the filler leaves were prepared (rolled or folded), whether there’s adequate space for the burn, and varied hues that indicate different tobaccos. As the cigar burns, pay attention to the cone and the ash. A well-rolled cigar is truly something to behold. Concentrating on the aesthetics will increase your appreciation for the extraordinary craft involved in bringing cigars to market.

Look for certain flavors. Read several reviews of a cigar you haven’t smoked and note specifics about flavors the writer encountered. You might want to look for a cigar with a flavor profile unlike those you routinely smoke. Keep your notes handy as you smoke and stay alert for those flavors. You may find them or you may not. But by heightening your awareness at the start you’ll almost certainly get a deeper taste experience.

Try three. Choose a cigar you enjoy and smoke it the next three times you have one. Look for similarities and differences in each one, whether physical or in the taste. Again, this heightens appreciation for the individual nature of hand-rolled cigars and, frankly, the amazing ability to achieve significant consistency in quality sticks. You can also learn by smoking different sizes of the same cigar in succession.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

No self-respecting rum devotee would admit he’s never tried—or worse, never heard of—Rhum Barbancourt, one of the world’s most decorated brands. As the back of each bottle reads, this is “a true sipping rum of unsurpassed quality.”

Barbancourt has amassed an impressive array of 22 medals since the family business was established in Haiti in the 1860s, most recently a Santé Gold Star Award in 2006. Here’s a bit of history from the label’s website:

“In 1862, Dupre Barbancourt, a native of Charente in France, put the finishing touches to a recipe for rum that still bears his name today. Using his homeland’s double distillation method usually reserved for cognacs, he distils a unique product which will regularly be recognized and receive the highest international distinctions.”

That last line is a recurring theme you’ll find again and again when researching the company. Barbancourt repeatedly and proudly boasts that it is not made from molasses like industrial rums, but rather “pot-stilled from fresh sugar cane juice and aged in oak casks in a method similar to the finest cognacs.”

You can appreciate the cognac-like qualities when you pour the Réserve Spéciale Five Star selection into your glass, either neat or on the rocks of course. Aged eight years, the clean, bright golden rum bursts with orange peel, vanilla, and honey. I am told more refined palates can also find notes of green apple, ginger, and caramel.

I find the taste to have a sharp, biting spice followed by a smooth, warm flavor of syrup and hazelnut. The consensus among connoisseurs seems to be this rum is soft and silky with a complexity that ranges from apricot, barley, nougat, and nut.

So, as far as rums go, Barbancourt is pretty delicate. I tried a myriad of cigars with Réserve Spéciale—including a new Arganese ML3 Robusto (review forthcoming)—and predictably found that it pairs best with milder sticks. My recommendations include Ybor City Handmades, an Oliva Serie G Cameroon, a Montecristo Classic, an Isla de Cuba Classic, and a Cuban Crafters Cameroon.

Prices range from $22-35 per 750 ml. bottle (43% alcohol). No matter what you pay for Rhum Barbancourt Réserve Spéciale Five Star in that range, I think you’ll be pleased.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This brand could lay claim to the title of bargain cigar royalty, combining, as it does, the Don Pepin Garcia/Ashton duo with a price tag under $3 per stick. And the Nicaraguan puro isn’t even a bundle cigar. It’s packaged in cedar boxes of 25.

Sure, it’s mixed filler. Sure, the pigtail cap isn’t particularly attractive. Sure, physical characteristics and construction vary some from cigar to cigar. And did I mention it’s less than $3 a stick?

I’ve smoked a few and sampled all four sizes. The Benchmade begins with a little spice and soon settles down to being a tasty, straightforward, medium-strength cigar. You won’t confuse it with one of Pepin’s top-flight creations, but you also won’t mistake it for some bargain-bin castoff either.

I enjoyed the Cazadore most, but that’s primarily because I feel the 46 ring gauge and the 6.5 inch length make for a comfortable smoke. I paid $2.60 for it.

I have been impressed and, frankly, a little surprised at the relative consistency between smokes. One key to making low-priced cigars is looser quality standards for the tobacco. That inevitably leads to greater inconsistency. My guess would be that quite a few sticks were rolled at the same time for Benchmade’s recent introduction. Consequently, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that consistency varies more in the future.

I’ve been told the filler is from cuttings from the San Cristobal made at Pepin’s Nicaraguan factory. I don’t know if that’s true; my guess would be it’s made from leftovers of numerous cigars made at the Tabacalera Cubana S.A.

The cigar is made with a mixture of long- and cut-filler at the foot to limit tobacco falling out and at the head to keep bits of tobacco out of the smoker’s mouth, according to a June Cigar Insider web posting. Again, that’s the kind of effort that makes it difficult to keep prices this low, so I won’t be shocked if I find tobacco on my tongue in the future.

Still, it would be hard to complain too much at these prices. If you’re looking for a value smoke, give the Benchmade a try. Taking everything into consideration, I give it three and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys