Stogie Guys Friday Sampler No. 250

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) Politicians in Augusta are scheming to ban smoking in the Georgia city’s restaurants and bars. But Chris McCalla, legislative director of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Association, capitalized on the powergrab to sound off against anti-tobacco zealots across the country. “There are as many examples across the United States of cities and counties loosening their smoking bans as there are those tightening them. They are finding that legislated smoking bans are unnecessary, they inhibit economic growth, and health issues like secondhand smoke are seriously overstated by the prohibitionists,” he said. “The fact is that smoking bans cost jobs, tax revenues, and economic growth…”

2) The third annual Macanudo Millionaire contest is now underway. Click here to enter to win an all-expense paid, three-day, two-night trip to the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. If you are selected, you’ll go to the Playboy Club at the Palms where you’ll have the opportunity to win $1,000,000 in a round of poker. If you win because we told you, feel free to buy us something nice.

3) Inside the Industry: Crowned Heads, the newly formed company founded by Jon Huber, Mike Conder, and other former CAO employees, has announced its first cigar: “Four Kicks.” It will be made at Tabacalera La Alianza, which is run by Ernesto-Perez Carrillo. Four Kicks will retail for  $6.95-8.65 and debut in four sizes: Corona Gorda (5.6 x 46), Robusto (5 x 50), Sublime (6 x 54), and Piramide (6.1 x 52).

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews a Tatuaje Black Petit Lancero. Smoking Stogie smokes the Tatuaje Avion. Nice Tight Ash checks out a Viaje Oro Reserva EL. The Tiki Bar kicks back with a Tatuaje L’Espirit de Vérité 2009. Your Cigar Ratings is looking for people to review these cigars so they can appear in the next issue of The Cigar Network magazine.

5) Deal of the Week: Here’s a hot deal on some tough-to-find Fuente smokes. $115 gets you two Añejo 48s, two Hemmingway Classics, two Double Chateau Naturals, two Double Chateau Sun Growns, and two Opus X Perfection X cigars.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Macanudo Millionaire