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.”

Despite their relatively expensive price, I’ve always considered the cigars in the Ashton Classic lineup to be of excellent value. The robusto-sized Magnum (5 x 50) is no exception. I purchased this one at my local tobacconist for $7 and was rewarded with great construction and subtle flavors of nuts, cream, citrus, hay, and pepper. The Magnum is a must-try, even for those who rarely smoke Connecticut shade cigars.

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.”

It’s been a while since I lit up a Tatuaje Cajonu 2003 (though I’ve got a box of the Gran Cojonus stashed away in a cigar locker somewhere). It’s a great looking cigar, with a dark, oily wrapper framed by twin bands. The cigar produces a dense smoke with tons of earthy notes and a dark chocolate finish. The full-bodied smoke stays the same from beginning to end and sports flawless construction. Still, I  found it to be a touch one-dimensional. Given the high price and all the other great Pete Johnson smokes, I’d conclude that it’s a good cigar but hardly Tatuaje’s finest.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. Below is our latest Friday Sampler.

1) A bill that would have expanded California’s statewide smoking ban to include cigar shops and private clubs, after passing in the Senate, this week died in the Assembly in Sacramento. “By all appearances, one of the worst smoking ban expansion proposals in the nation has been defeated,” read a press release from Cigar Rights of America (CRA). “This victory sends a message to not only California, but the country. However, it is California. The opposition will be back, and CRA will continue to diligently monitor the state legislature for any attempt to revisit this issue—and they will.”

2) The bill to prevent the FDA from regulating premium cigars continues to slowly gain support in Congress. It now has 30 cosponsors, and includes a bit of bipartisan support, with four Democrats on board. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to write your representative and ask him or her to become a cosponsor.

3) In June’s “Question of the Month,” we asked readers, “What is your biggest cigar pet peeve?” Smoking bans and/or tobacco taxes came in tops with 37% of the vote, followed by expensive cigars with poor construction (31%), a band that tears the wrapper (15%), inconsistency within a brand or blend (14%), and insufficient information on manufacturer websites (3%). Be sure to weigh in on this month’s question by voting in the sidebar to the right. And feel free to contact us if you’ve got a suggestion for a future month’s poll.

4) Inside the Industry: Undercrown, a new Drew Estate line that we first reported on over a year ago, is set to be released in five sizes at the trade show later this month. Also set for the show, Gran Habano will release “Zulu Zulu” (originally a private blend for George Rico) featuring an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Meanwhile, General Cigar has announced that the name of its new CAO line will be “OSA Sol” (OSA stands for Olancho, San Agustin, where the blend’s wrapper is grown). (more…)

We’re pleased to announce a new contributor to StogieGuys.com: Mark Carlos McGinty, author of the award-winning novel The Cigar Maker. “Mark M” adds unique expertise to our site, focusing on the rich history of the cigar industry and examining the intricacies of the cigar industry today.

Regular readers will recall that Mark has contributed to the site a few times already. In May, he wrote an article on the complex legal issues that will arise when the Cuban embargo finally ends. More recently, he wrote about the history of the Cuesta-Rey brand and the two revolutionaries who started it in the 1890s. (Both articles are well worth reading, if you haven’t already seen them.) As Mark’s bio notes, cigars and Cuban culture run in his family:

Mark Carlos McGinty is a descendant of Cuban cigar makers and the award-winning author of The Cigar Maker. You can read an excerpt of his book here. His work has appeared in Maybourne Magazine, Cigar City Magazine, Yahoo! Entertainment, and La Gaceta. Mark grew up in Minnesota but spent a good part of his childhood with his Cuban relatives in West Tampa eating ropa vieja and Cuban sandwiches, drinking café con leche and fresh-squeezed orange juice from his grandfather’s tree. His great-aunt rolled cigars for Arturo Fuente so, of course, his favorite cigar is the Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8.

Mark spent seven years writing The Cigar Maker, a time when he ate a lot of Cuban food and smoked way too many cigars. Most of those seven years were spent researching the history of Cuba, Tampa, and the cigar industry during the period of 1850–1910. A labor of love with dozens of family anecdotes woven into the story, The Cigar Maker was a finalist at the Indie Excellence Book Awards in 2011, won the Bronze Medal at the Independent Publisher Awards, and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine’s 2010 Book of the Year. Visit the book’s official website to learn more: www.TheCigarMaker.net.

Mark’s first novel, Elvis and the Blue Moon Conspiracy (Beaver’s Pond Press, 2003), won an Eric Hoffer Book Award Honorable Mention for General Fiction. He graduated from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and obtained his master’s degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati. Mark lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughter and pays close attention to the Minnesota Twins, a subject that could one day warrant its own book.

Please welcome Mark to the site in the comments below. And as a bonus, we’ll select one commenter to win a signed copy of The Cigar Maker.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This weekend, my local tobacconist had a special on the Guillermo León blend by La Aurora, a cigar I have been enjoying regularly since it debuted last summer. The entire Guillermo León lineup was on sale for about $4—far below the standard MSRP of $7-9 per cigar.

I was pretty thrilled about this special and made sure to stock up on (what I consider to be) a fantastic smoke. The whole experience got me thinking about the most productive ways to save money on cigar purchases. So here are five tips to help you get the most out of your cigar budget:

Try your hand at cigar auctions. Instead of ordering cigars from retailers with fixed prices, many people turn to cigar auctions to buy cigars in eBay-style markets. While not every item is going to offer substantial savings, if you look patiently and don’t get caught up in bidding wars you can find some real bargains on good cigars. Just be sure not to pay more than the fixed price. (more…)

Last year, with considerable mystery, a website for Tatuaje Anarchy sprung up. As we first revealed, the cigar was an exclusive cigar made for the West Palm Beach-based Smoke Inn chain of cigar shops. That cigar (reviewed here) was the first exclusive made to celebrate Smoke Inn’s 15th Anniversary.

Proprietor Abe Dababneh has since followed up the Tatuaje Anarchy with more exclusive blends. Currently available is the Padrón Anniversary 1964 SI-15 blend, a thick toro size of the popular Padrón Anniversary line available with both natural and maduro wrappers. Coming in August is the My Father El Hijo, produced at Don Pepin Garcia’s My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. (A final release, by Fuente, is due this Fall.) (more…)

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 cigar by Casa Fernandez came in the sampler pack sold by Cigar Rights of America to support their fight against anti-tobacco laws. The Nicaraguan smoke features a flawless dark wrapper with just a bit of shine. The blend is the same as the original Casa Fernandez line, but the size is new. The cigar tastes of roasted coffee, cedar, and a distinctive spicy finish that focuses on the tip of the tongue. Complex and full-bodied with superb construction, it’s great with a pour of Zaya rum.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys