The Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Recently named the best smoke of 2009 by Cigar Aficionado, this new Nicaraguan puro commemorates the 45th anniversary of Padrón Cigars. It exhibits good construction, a slight box press, and a full, balanced profile of coffee, cocoa, and spice. I’d certainly agree with my colleague’s choice of words when he called it “decadent” in a November review. But with a price tag of $25 for a single, I’ll have to save the Padrón Family Reserve No. 45 Maduro for rare occasions.

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 verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

This dark blend is a beautiful creation that, as my colleague wrote of the Salomon, is rolled in memory of the Toraño family’s 50-year exile from Cuba. Typical of Toraño’s propensity for multi-nation blends, it sports a Brazilian arapiraca sungrown wrapper, a binder from Honduras, and Nicaraguan filler from Estelí and Pueblo Nuevo. I’m a little surprised the wrapper doesn’t create more spice. In the Torpedo (5.5 x 52), leather is the dominant taste, highlighted by some cocoa and toast. I’d rank it below the Silver—my favorite Toraño—but recommend a spot for the Exodus 50 Years Blend Torpedo on your to-try list.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) In a development that may set the tone for future battles, a judge this week dismissed portions of a new federal law that grants the FDA regulation over tobacco. The ruling, from a federal district court in Kentucky, says the FDA can’t prevent tobacco companies from using color or graphics in ads. Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. “also struck down a provision that bars tobacco companies and others from implying that a tobacco product is safer because it is regulated by the FDA,” reports the Wall Street Journal. He did, however, uphold new warning label requirements and new bans on tobacco sponsorship of “athletic, social, or cultural events.” While many still view the FDA’s newfound authority over tobacco as a cigarette issue, cigar makers, retailers, and consumers have started to recognize the immediate threat the bureaucracy’s oversight poses to premium cigars.

2) If you haven’t already signed up for our Free Email Newsletter, now is a great time. We’ll soon be sending out our list of the Top Ten Cigars We Reviewed in 2009, as well s our Top Five New Cigars of 2009. These rankings are exclusive to our newsletter subscribers. Signing up will also automatically enter you to win spectacular prizes like boxes of top brands and cigar accessories.

3) Inside the Industry: Jameson Cigars is giving away a beautiful handmade humidor from Vanderburgh Humidors along with a box of its new Declaration Iniquity cigars. CAO is looking for a regular smoker to star in its “CAO Real” ad campaign and will bestow a year worth of cigars on the winner. La Flor Dominicana is debuting a new full-flavored smoke called the “Air Bender” with a habano wrapper and Dominican binder and filler tobaccos.

4) Around the Blogs: Keepers of the Flame reviews the Romeo y Julieta Museum Edition. The Cigar Haus examines the Camacho Triple Maduro. At Stogie Review, Lindsay Heller looks at cigar and spirit pairings. Toasted Foot gives away a box of the new Exile Maduros. Nice Tight Ash lights up a Special Selection Coffee Break.

5) Deal of the Week: Cuban Crafters is having an unpublicized sale on some of our favorite smokes. Included are the Cupido Tuxedo, Cubano Claro, Medina Miami 1959, and two sharp humidors, all for well below normal prices. The best buy is a box of 20 Limited Edition Don Kiki  White Labels (Harvest of 2001) for just $55. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr

Master blender Don Pepin Garcia is, without question, prolific. Aside from producing his own eponymous brand, this Cuban-born entrepreneur currently crafts cigars for such clients as United Tobacco, 5 Vegas, and Tatuaje, among others, from his perch at El Rey de Los Habanos in Miami. It goes without saying that much of his work is highly acclaimed.

Before he became a major commercial success, Ashton hired Garcia in 2007 to make a new line of cigars called San Cristobal (he also makes La Aroma de Cuba and Benchmade for Ashton). Constructed entirely from Nicaraguan tobacco, the blend consists of eight sizes. My colleague awarded the torpedo-shaped Fabuloso four stogies for its complexity and profile of earth, spice, and bitter chocolate.

Still going strong with Ashton, this summer Garcia introduced a San Cristobal offshoot at the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans. It is called “Selección del Sol” (Spanish for “Selection of the Sun”) in honor of the sungrown wrapper that surrounds this three-vitola line of Nicaraguan puros.

The leaf is worthy of distinction because it is from Garcia’s Estrella farm in Estelí. “Estrella sits on a picturesque plot of land surrounded by green hills, where sunlight abounds and the soil is as thick and as dark as coal,” says Ashton’s website. “Pepin and his son, Jaime, hand-selected these beautiful wrappers from the first crop of tobaccos harvested from Estrella explicitly for this cigar.”

“Beautiful” may not be the best word to describe Selección del Sol. Once you remove both flamboyant bands, you’re left with a dry, somewhat listless leaf, a rough cap, and prominent veins and seams. But beauty does not a good cigar make.

To determine this cigar’s real value, I smoked three Robustos, each of which cost $6.50 at my local tobacconist. These five inch by 52 ring gauge sticks start with pre-light notes of cocoa and coffee creamer. After lighting, they yield a profile of dry cedar, honey, and an undertone of spice. The overall effect is one of a mild- to medium-bodied smoke that’s more traditional-tasting than the bold cigars for which Garcia is known.

Rather than being disappointed, though, I’m pleasantly surprised. And the physical properties—including a solid white ash, a perfect burn, and an effortless draw—make the Selección del Sol even easier to like. The delightful aroma of the resting smoke is an added bonus.

So even though this Robusto bears little resemblance to other Garcia smokes (or other sungrown-wrapped cigars, for that matter), count me as a fan. I’m going to pick up more of these to stash in my humidor. For its sweet and enticing flavor and excellent construction, I’m happy to award the new Selección del Sol Robusto four stogies of out five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

It’s been a few months since the StogieGuys.com team published a new list of Gold Star Smokes. As you might recall, this special designation celebrates cigars that we feel are worthy of strong recommendations. They don’t necessarily have to be five stogie-rated—just commendable smokes we turn to time and again.

Co-Founder & Editor in Chief Patrick A

One smoke that I can’t recommend enough is the new Entubar by Berger & Argenti. If you’re the kind of cigar enthusiast who enjoys balanced, traditional-tasting tobacco and brilliant combustion qualities, you can’t afford to pass up this outstanding experience.

Co-Founder & Publisher Patrick S

Frankly, I’d be shocked if the new CAO La Traviata isn’t featured in Cigar Aficionado‘s top 25 list. It certainly makes my list of top cigars in 2009. This Ecuadorian habano-wrapped stick is medium-bodied and thick with leather, cedar, and roasted flavors. Best of all, in these tight economic times, all of the La Traviata’s three vitolas are available for less than $6 apiece.

Tampa Bureau Chief George E

I suggest you pick up one of Pete Johnson’s Cabaiguans. They’re pricey, but I find them terrific medium-strength smokes. The Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut shade wrapper mixes with the Nicaraguan filler to create a thick, rich experience.

Contributing Reviewer Patrick M

In 2009 I probably smoked at least two boxes of the Tatuaje Havana VI Angeles. With consistently great construction and combustion, this corona-sized cigar is a great value at about $5 per stick when purchased by the box. Featuring flavors of leather, earth, and cedar with a good amount of peppery spice, the Angeles has good complexity and balance. For all of these reasons this cigar will continue to be in heavy rotation for me and I suggest you try one or a dozen for yourself.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

There are many options when it comes to deciding how to store your cigars. You can choose from coolers, Tupperware, wine refrigerators, desktop humidors, cabinet humidors, etc. What you choose will surely depend on your needs and means. Living in Florida, I was looking for a storage option that would help me control the temperature during the summer months without breaking the bank.

I had two choices: a temperature-controlled unit from a humidor company such as this unit from Avallo, or a converted thermoelectric wine cooler. Due to a limited budget, I could not afford the estimated $1,500-$2,500 for a humidor like the Avallo. So I decided on the wine cooler option. After looking around for awhile I was able to find this 28-bottle unit from Edgestar for $199 shipped.

After doing some research, here’s how I converted this wine cooler into a humidor:

1. The first thing I did was get rid of the plastic smell on the inside. My unit had a very distinct plastic smell when I took it out of the box. I wiped the inside down with some warm water with a little bit of baking soda. Then I let the unit air out for a couple of days. There was still a faint smell, so I closed the unit and let it run for a couple of days with just a box of baking soda in it. After that, the smell was gone and I started to work on the customizations.

2. The unit comes with an S-shaped drain to collect condensation that forms inside the unit. I wanted to run some wires through the drain hole, so I drilled straight down out the bottom to give me a straight shot to run the wires.

3. Then I ran the wires for an electronic temperature controller and a computer fan through the hole I just drilled.

a. The electronic temperature controller allows me to keep the temperature in the unit between exactly 66 and 68 degrees. The unit came with an analog temperature controller and I wanted more precision than that would provide. I have the analog control set just below medium so that the unit cools at a slow rate when it is on. This helps minimize humidity swings related to the cooling. An electronic temperature controller is not necessary for units with a digital temperature control or if you don’t care to be that precise.

b. The computer fan runs on a timer and is used to circulate air in the unit when it is not running. Again, this step is not mandatory, but I felt it was a good addition in my situation. To power the computer fan you will also need a 4-pin to AC converter.

4. Next, I needed to seal the drain hole to prevent cold air and humidity from leaking out. I used an odorless clear silicone to seal the hole around the wires. The silicone sets up in about 2 hours but takes about 24 hours to completely cure so I left the unit open overnight.

5. Since I plugged the drain, I needed to come up with a way to collect any condensation that formed in the unit. I used a piece of clear vinyl affixed under the fan (where the condensation was forming) and laid the bottom in a small plastic bin. If any condensation forms it runs down the vinyl and collects in the bin.

6. Then I put several tubs of distilled water, some empty boxes, and 2 pounds of 65% humidity beads in the unit to get the humidity to the level where it needs to be to store cigars. After a day, the humidity was spot-on.

7. Finally, I was ready to start putting my cigars in the unit. While you can juse the shelves that come with the unit, many people prefer to have some cedar drawers or shelves. I had some custom drawers made by Chasidor. The drawers are oak but lined with cedar and have glass tops. I also added two cedar shelves to the unit.

After all that work, my cigars now have a nice, custom-looking, temperature-controlled home for a fraction of the cost of the Avallo unit. The temperature stays between 66 and 68 degrees all the time and the humidity is right at 65%. About once every two months I have to put a dish with a little distilled water in the unit to recharge the beads. Other than that, it’s maintenance-free.

–Patrick M

photo credits: Stogie Guys

“And crowned of thorns. No explanation here is really needed. 2 is the son of God doing battle against evil, the enlightened one, the soul-saver, all forgiving.”

That’s the explanation Illusione creator Dion Giolito gives on his website about the name of this belicoso-sized cigar. Each of the 12 vitolas in the original Illusione lineup have unique names—including cg4, 888, and hl—and each refers to either Giolito’s faith, a significant year in his life, or his favorite numbers at the craps table in his native Las Vegas. The Illusione name itself is a nod to conspiracy culture.

Whether you’re enchanted or annoyed by The Da Vinci Code-esque nature of Illusione, odds are you’re a fan of the cigars themselves. I rarely hear such universal praise for a brand from tobacconists, reviewers, and cigar enthusiasts alike. That accounts for the buzz surrounding the company since it was founded a few years ago.

In an interview conducted almost two years ago, Giolito told us he established Illusione to replicate the flavor of pre-Sandinista Nicaraguan cigars. “Nicaraguan tobacco has always had my attention from the beginning,” he said. “Joya de Nicaragua was, and still is, one of my favorite cigars, particularly the original blends.”

To recreate that flavor—and, as Giolito put it, “to be able to look someone in the eye when they ask me what my favorite cigar is and tell them it’s the one I make”—he built a Nicaraguan puro. The tobacco is grown from first-generation criollo ’98 and corojo ’99 seeds and wrapped in a reddish Colorado leaf. It is manufactured in Honduras.

The Illusione 2 (5.25 x 52) is mottled and oily with a fair amount of large veins and noticeable seams. It features a sweet pre-light aroma of milk chocolate, a firm feel, and a carefully crafted triple cap.

Once lit, it becomes immediately clear that this cigar is a Nicaraguan puro. The first half inch is characterized by a heavy black pepper taste with plenty of spice. Smoking slowly alleviates some of the strength, but the profile is definitely full-bodied.

The remainder of the cigar, to its credit, is more subdued. Flavors include roasted nuts, coffee, leather, and a hint of sweetness. Well-balanced and creamy.

In the final third, notes of charred steak occasionally overpower the Illusione’s complexity. Still, there’s no mystery why this blend has such a fervent following. With decent construction, and with limited production, the biggest drawback is lack of availability. So don’t think twice if you have the chance to grab an Illusione 2 for its asking price of $6.50-9 apiece. Delicious and savory, it earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys