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.”

To be honest, I knew nothing about Cuba Caiman before smoking this Doble Corona (7.5 x 49). According to their website, the cigar features an Ecuadorian habano wrapper, a Honduran binder, and filler from Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras. It includes an interesting combination of toasty notes and a marshmallow sweetness, but also suffers from some less enjoyable sawdust flavors. The medium-bodied smoke is well-constructed with an easy draw, even burn, and sturdy ash.

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

I picked up this corona-sized (5.1 x 42) smoke from my local tobacconist for about $9. It made for a wonderful lunch break, producing a harmony of flavors like leather, milk chocolate, nutmeg, and spice. The burn was perfect. I can see why Illusione creator Dion Giolito calls this his one and only “desert island” cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

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) This week Raúl Castro released a 32-page booklet that outlines Cuba’s new “guidelines for socio-economic policy.” Over the coming years he plans to decriminalize certain forms of self-employment and transition 40% of the workforce off the government payroll. “Raúl Castro takes the view that Cuba can no longer afford the bloated and paternalistic state he inherited from Fidel,” reports The Economist. “There is a small but real place for private enterprise. And stopping small businesses from growing may prove harder than preventing them from being set up at all.”

2) Lawmakers in Australia—a country that already bans tobacco advertising on television, radio, and print—plan to outlaw tobacco advertising on the Internet. “Driven away from newspapers and television by regulation, online tobacco advertising has mushroomed, with more than 1,000 tobacco-themed Facebook groups available to people of all ages, plus YouTube clips and Flickr galleries produced by tobacco company employees,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

3) Inside the Industry: Tatuaje Anarchy, which we revealed in July is being made for Smoke Inn in West Palm Beach, will be available for pre-sale on Black Friday. The cigar is a unique size: a large perfecto featuring a spiral pigtail head wrapped in a black band. 1,500 boxes of 15 cigars are set to ship on December 13. Each box will sell for $150. Photos of the highly anticipated smoke can be found here.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews The Face. Smoking Stogie smokes a 1985 Dunhill. Cigar Inspector inspects the Tatuaje RC 223. Nice Tight Ash checks out the Rocky Patel NRA Valedor. B&B Cigar Club smokes the Guillermo León. Tiki Bar kicks back with a Gurkha Ninja.

5) Deal of the Week: Starting today, Citizen Cigar is holding a site-wide sale that’s well worth checking out. All prices are being reduced by 10% and shipping is free. Hurry and check it out before the the sale ends Monday.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr

Yesterday, my colleague highlighted four excellent cigars that debuted at this year’s International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show. Today I reveal the second half of our series on the best new cigars of 2010.

Narrowing our list proved difficult, so we’ve focused on new lines (excellent extensions, like the Tatuaje 7th don’t qualify). Below are four more of our favorites from the 2010 IPCPR, listed in no particular order.

Avo Heritage: Avo departed from its previous lines with the four-size Heritage. The brand may be known more for its mild and medium-bodied smokes, but Heritage is a full-bodied tour de force, with plenty of leather, cinnamon, pepper, cocoa, and cream. With excellent construction, it’s a welcome new addition to the Avo family.

E.P. Carrillo Core Line: Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, creator of La Gloria Cubana, burst back on the scene in 2009 with the Edición Inaugural, followed in 2010 by the Short Run.  The highly anticipated, six-size “Core Line” was released at the trade show, utilizing an Ecuadorian wrapper around a Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Its well-balanced, medium-bodied profile of cedar, cream, and earth earned positive reviews.

Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor: Made by Don Pepin Garcia at his My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua, this new member of the Aroma de Cuba family features a dark, oily San Andreas wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. With a sharp box press, the $5-8 cigars look like a bar of dark chocolate. And they sort of taste that way, too, with bittersweet chocolate, cream, and nutty notes.

Room 101 Conjura Ltd: Matt Booth, the man behind Room 101, may be known for his flashy style, but his new Conjura blend has plenty of substance. The box-pressed line features a rustic rosado wrapper, a Honduran binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican. It’s a savory smoke, with classic Honduran spice, leather, and a hint of graham sweetness. With excellent construction, fans of complex spice will want to seek out Conjura before the 50,000-cigar run sells out.

So there you have it: our favorite cigars from this year’s IPCPR. Keep in mind that while the StogieGuys.com team has sampled many of this year’s new releases, we haven’t yet had the time to thoroughly examine everything that debuted in 2010. But from what we’ve sampled so far these eight are the top standouts. If you think we’ve missed a new cigar, please let us know in the comments.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In August, StogieGuys.com traveled to New Orleans to report live from the 78th annual International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show—the premier industry convention where cigar makers from around the world showcase their products and debut their new creations.

Dozens and dozens of reviews were published after the trade show concluded as the online cigar community and the mainstream cigar media scrambled to satiate readers’ appetites for information on the newest market entrants. True, over sixty percent of the reviews StogieGuys.com published in the last three months have been of 2010 IPCPR debuts. The dust is finally starting to settle. As it does, we reflect on the trade show and reveal our favorite new releases to date. They are listed below in no particular order.

J. Fuego Origen: While several limited edition Origen vitolas were leaked to the market over the last two years, the full Origen lineup wasn’t officially introduced until this summer. It boasts 100% Cuban-seed corojo tobaccos with a Costa Rican binder, a two-country filler blend from Honduras and Nicaragua, and a toothy Brazilian wrapper. The blend yields excellent combustion qualities and flavors of coffee beans, nuts, dry wood, and sweet caramel. The Lancero ($6-7 apiece) is particularly enjoyable.

La Aurora Guillermo León: This line just keeps getting better the more you smoke it. The blend’s namesake, La Aurora Vice President Guillermo León, says he “wanted something with deep complexity yet also a stronger smoke than most of our offerings.” The result is a dual binder, Ecuadorian habano-wrapped treasure that burns well and sells in the $7-10 range. Flavors range from milk chocolate and spice to earth and syrup. Be on the lookout for this cigar as it starts hitting tobacconist shelves nationwide.

Toraño Single Region Serie Jalapa: To construct this unique offering, the Toraño Family Cigar Company applied a vintner’s approach to cigars, using tobaccos grown on one carefully selected farm. The intention, according to a press release, is to have the blend’s flavor and aroma reflect the influence of a single region’s soil, weather, and topography. The experiment produced a reddish, well-built cigar with a medium-bodied profile of tea, leather, toffee, cream, and nuts. The Single Region’s three traditional sizes sell for less than $7.

San Lotano Habano: A.J. Fernandez’s first solo, nationally distributed project is San Lotano, a revived Cuban brand that’s available in three versions: Connecticut, Maduro, and Habano. The latter is the best, displaying a complex array of flavors like cedar, roast coffee, leather, and caramel. Its Brazilian, Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Dominican tobaccos burn well. The San Lotano Habano may be best in the Toro format, which sells for $8.

While the StogieGuys.com team has sampled many of this year’s new releases, we haven’t yet had the time to thoroughly examine everything that debuted at the 2010 IPCPR Trade Show. So please feel free to let us know if we’ve missed one of your favorites. Meanwhile, check back tomorrow as my colleague reveals the second half of our favorite 2010 releases.

–Patrick A

photo credit: IPCPR

Choosing a drink to accompany your cigar is about as individual a choice as selecting what you’re going to smoke in the first place. The drink choice can also be greatly influenced by where you happen to be smoking. A cigar bar that features only beer and wine obviously isn’t the spot to enjoy a single-malt Scotch, for example, while smoking at home offers nearly endless possibilities.

I’ve never been an alcohol drinker. Though I’ve tried almost everything, I’ve  failed to develop a taste for it. My choice of a drink to pair with a cigar is almost always coffee. Early, late, it doesn’t much matter to me. And while I prefer good coffee, I’ll usually settle for mediocre and, on occasion, choke down a cup of black swill. I drink it without cream or sweetener.

I’ve never truly gotten beyond simply preparing ground coffee at home, these days using a manual Melita drip system. While I think I’d enjoy trying lots of different roasts and regions, I have to admit I’m too lazy to go to the trouble, particularly of roasting my own beans. About as far as I’ve gone is buying beans from some of the country’s top coffee roasters, such as Intelligentsia, and grinding them myself. I do try to sample coffee anytime I see an interesting looking shop. But, nowadays, I usually settle for Starbucks (Charbucks to real coffee aficionados) that I have ground at the shop because it’s so much easier

My biggest coffee move recently has been the purchase of a two-cup Bialetti Brikka stovetop “espresso” pot. I haven’t actually gotten it broken in yet (they recommend at least three trial runs for seasoning and to make sure you’re doing it right), so I can’t comment on how the end product turns out. Hopefully, I’ll enjoy it. Even for me, it looks pretty simple.

I’m guessing that when you ask most cigar smokers what they would light up with a cup of coffee, they’d answer, “a maduro.” The dark richness of that tobacco appears as a natural complement to coffee. I wouldn’t disagree. However, I also find a mild to medium stick with a Connecticut shade wrapper can be an even better fit. Something about that fine, smooth zip in the wrapper sets off the coffee taste exquisitely. Spicy cigars, like many of Don Pepin’s creations, also suit me with coffee. The contrasting tastes and textures react pleasantly on my palate.

If you haven’t had coffee with a cigar, I’d suggest you give it a try. And if you’re already a regular coffee-drinking cigar smoker, please let the rest of us know what you recommend.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last fall, fresh off my trip to New Orleans for the 2009 IPCPR Trade Show, I reviewed the 777 Corojo, a wonderful release from master blender Jesus Fuego. I was impressed and made a commitment to better acquaint myself with the other lines of the relatively young J. Fuego brand.

That brand, J. Fuego by the Miami-based Tabacos S.A. company, was launched in 2006 with the help of the Plasencia family. It now includes the Natural, Gran Reserva, Delirium, 777 Corojo, 777 Zero, Origen, and 777 Maduro. The latter is the subject of today’s review.

Called “triple siete,” 777 Maduro is a Nicaraguan puro complete with a four-year-old criollo maduro wrapper, a corojo binder, and filler tobaccos of the corojo and criollo varieties. It is marketed as a medium- to full-bodied blend that’s satisfying to cigar veterans and approachable to cigar rookies. Five affordable frontmarks are available: Belicoso (5.5 x 54), Corona (5.5 x 46), Grande (6 x 60), Robusto (5 x 50), and Toro (6 x 52).

I picked up a handful of Belicosos at my local tobacconist for $5.75 apiece. This vitola has a sharply pointed cap, a spongy feel, and potent pre-light notes of cocoa and peppermint. Its Jalapa-grown wrapper is dark, textured, and oily.

Upon lighting, the Belicoso displays a hearty profile of leather and espresso. The finish, a long, tingly sensation, has hints of black pepper and syrup. There’s also a smooth, chocolaty creaminess present.

That creaminess comes to the forefront towards the midway point. The spiciness mellows. Here, the Belicoso is at its finest, especially as more sweet notes enter the equation, giving the cigar a classic maduro composition. That’s about where it stays until the finish.

The construction is befitting a cigar twice the price. I noticed a straight burn, a moderate draw, and a solid gray ash.

Ultimately, while the 777 Maduro Belicoso may not have the nuances or complexities of the best maduros on the market, it is a damn fine smoke. It packs a whole lot of enjoyable flavor into a reasonably priced format. Another fine selection from Jesus Fuego, it earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys