The Stogie Guys

In the previous segment last week, I laid out some ideas to help you increase the likelihood that you’ll enjoy the new smokes you try. Here are a few more thoughts to tuck in the back of your mind as you scan the humidor shelves and light up.

1. Price typically has meaning. Sure, some manufacturers tack a high price tag on a mediocre cigar hoping to convince potential customers it must be good. Conversely, the belief that smart people can find great bargains is also widely held. The truth is that good tobacco, talented workers, and proper production usually cost more and result in better cigars. Now, this doesn’t mean there aren’t fine bargain cigars to be had or that you‘ll necessarily like a high-priced smoke. But if you continually search in the low, low end you’ll find disappointment.

2. Remember that your tastes will change over time. A favorite cigar from a year ago may not now seem so good, just as one that didn’t quite hit the bull’s eye could prove a winner. When you smoke a cigar you don’t enjoy, ask yourself a few questions: Is it well-constructed? Was it too strong or too light? Were the flavors unpleasant or just not what you wanted? Depending on your answers, this could be a stick to revisit.

3. Pay attention to construction and burn. These can be key indicators of care and quality. Of course, one example isn’t enough to make a sweeping determination, but keeping track of how a manufacturer’s cigars perform is worthwhile.

4. Don’t rush to buy a box or a bundle. Sure, the cigars are individually cheaper that way, but you don’t want to be pennywise and pound foolish. Smoke a few sticks first, and try them with different beverages and at different times. Make sure you really want to smoke 20 or 25 of them.

5. When you find a cigar you like, try it in different lengths and ring gauges. Sometimes, you’ll find little or no difference. But sometimes you’ll discover a vitola that’s better.

Again, I hope you’ll add your tips and thoughts.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

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 band-less torpedo (6 x 54) isn’t much to look at, but it may be my favorite Cameroon-wrapped cigar. It features a pale Cameroon wrapper around Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler. It’s a perfectly balanced smoke with a medium-bodied combination of cedar, spice, and cafe-au-lait. Construction is excellent, except for a few cracks in the delicate wrapper that develop towards the end. While I think I prefer the No. 1 size, this torpedo only affirmed my enjoyment of La Flor’s Cameroon line. Particularly impressive is this $10 smoke’s versatility: It goes well with a cup of coffee in the morning, and also with a glass of scotch at the end of the night.

Verdict = Buy.

–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.”

Looking for a good way to spend $5? It’s hard to think of a better buy than the 1878 Cubano Especial Capa Natural Robusto from Pinar del Rio. This Abe Flores creation has a mixture of Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican tobaccos that combines to produce an outstanding profile of dry oak, grass, nuts, and cream. With excellent construction, this five-inch cigar is an easy recommendation. Try it with a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: 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) Forget the ribbons, grow a mustache. That’s the idea behind Movember, which designates November as the month to raise awareness for prostate cancer and other men’s health issues. Angel’s Envy bourbon is supporting Movember with its Mustache envy promotion. “Mo Bros” who help raise awareness and funds for men’s health will be invited to take part in special Angel’s Envy tasting events, galas, and promotions throughout the month.

2) On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon granted an injunction that prevents the FDA from putting graphic warning labels on tobacco products. “We certainly agree with this judge and his interpretation of constitutional law,” said Bill Spann, chief executive officer of the IPCPR. “Today it’s cigarette packaging and tomorrow it could be artisan cigar boxes. When does all this over-regulation end? Businesses as well as people have rights that are too often disregarded because of someone else’s prohibitionist agenda.”

3) If you liked The Cigar Maker by StogieGuys.com’s very own Mark McGinty, then you’ll want to check out Germ Warfare, a new comic book anthology written by him and an army of talented Twin Cities cartoonists and drawn and inked by his wife Lupi. No, this humorous story about germs battling against their generous human hosts has nothing to do with cigars, but it’s definitely worth checking out at Amazon.

4) Inside the Industry: Officials confiscated over 3,000 counterfeit Cohiba cigars from seven tobacconists in Key West this week. General Cigar, which owns the Cohiba trademark in the U.S., issued a press release on Thursday, explaining that the counterfeit smokes were being sold for about $20 each and “the approximate street value of goods seized was more than $60,000.” Dan Carr, president of General Cigar, said, “The seizure of counterfeit Cohiba cigars represents a clear victory in General Cigar’s fight to protect our cigar bands from counterfeiters and trademark infringers. We look forward to continuing to cooperate with federal and state law enforcement officials in Florida and have offered to assist in any prosecutions and future investigations.”

5) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews a Tortuga Edición Limitada 2011. Smoking Stogie smokes an Open X Robusto Maduro. Stogie Fresh lights up a Buena Vista Reserva. Nice Tight Ash checks out the Kristoff Sumatra. Cigar Explorer explores the Quesada Octoberfest. Cigar Fan fires up a JML 1902 Torpedo.

6) Deal of the Week: Crowned Heads Four Kick’s is the new cigar by former CAO marketing director Jon Huber made by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. It’s now in stock at Emerson’s Cigars (including the sampler with one of each size).

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Angel’s Envy

You’ve got to hand it to Pete Johnson, the creator and owner of the Tatuaje cigar brand: The annual Halloween cigar release is marketing genius. Each year Tatuaje fans seek out the Halloween limited release with many buying an entire box before smoking a single one.

Cigar Aficionado even wrote an article about the “distribution nightmare” that the Halloween release has become. With 666 numbered “dress boxes” going out to 13 “unlucky retailers” (plus another 1,500 plain boxes of ten), there is still more demand than supply. But it’s hard to feel to sorry for Johnson for having too many people wanting his annual Halloween cigar.

Wrapper leaf generally is judged by two key attributes: taste and appearance. A testament to that marketing genius, by making ugly “scary” cigars cool, the Halloween release is free to use wrapper that while plenty tasty, would normally be far too rustic in appearance for most $13 cigars. Indeed, the Sumatra wrapper, while oily, is two-toned with reddish brown and plenty of black veins.

Inside the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is binder and filler based on the Tatuaje Cojonu. The cigar is a large (7.5″ x 52) box-pressed torpedo with an unfinished foot that is exposed for half an inch before the wrapper starts.

Once lit, the unfinished foot creates an unbalanced start. When the wrapper kicks in, though, you get a full-bodied, complete smoke. The Wolfman has a notable dried fruit sweetness, combined with leather and a hint of woodiness. There’s also a little sourness that comes and goes.

The flavors change only slightly as the long smoke moves past the halfway point. Some cedary spice develops and the dried fruit notes continue. The medium- to full-bodied profile reminds me an awful lot of the NHC Capa Especial, another box-pressed, Sumatra-wrapped Tatuaje.

Despite a somewhat loose draw, construction is excellent. The burn is even and, except for the unfinished foot, the ash holds steady for over an inch.

In the end, the newest Halloween is much like its predecessors: a little different and a little quirky, but ultimately pretty good (and yes, the dress box is pretty cool too). It’s not the best Tatuaje I’ve ever smoked, but ultimately it’s enjoyable and worthy of a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

“We are the cigar for the majority cigar smoker, not the…corporate exec sitting in his big leather chair smoking a $20 cigar…You, the majority cigar smoker, are who we labor for.”

That’s the idea behind C&C Cigars, a new outfit that announced itself at the IPCPR Trade Show in July. Reading through the company’s website, you get the idea that C&C intends to position itself as a purveyor of premium cigars that won’t break the bank, and it hopes to win over cigar veterans who are looking for a solid values.

You’ll remember C&C’s owner, Joe Chiusano, as the former president of Cusano, a brand that ended up getting purchased by Davidoff in 2009. He and his team of former Cusano/Davidoff employees—including Jeff Aronson, Maurice Tisseur, and Shane Hays—have cooked up three premium lines that are handmade in the Dominican Republic: Corojo, Maduro, and Connecticut.

The Connecticut will ship towards the end of the month, and the Maduro and Corojo started hitting retailers in late October. Each blend is available in three sizes of 18-count boxes: Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52), and Churchill (7 x 50). In keeping with C&C’s goal of value, the MSRPs on these cigars all fall in the $3.99 to $4.49 range.

The Corojo Robusto certainly doesn’t look like a smoke that costs less than $4. The samples I examined for this review each had clean, moderately oily Ecuadorian wrappers and nice triple caps. Underneath, the Dominican binder and filler tobaccos are packed in well enough to create a heavy, firm feel in the hand, yet carefully enough to yield a smooth draw. The pre-light aroma is earthy.

The first few lit puffs give off a smooth, oaky character with virtually none of the spice that I associate with corojo tobacco. After a half inch, though, a richer profile emerges. Notes include molasses, toast, graham, and a soft spiciness that lingers in the finish. As C&C says, “the spice sneaks up on you.” I’d have to agree.

While the flavors don’t really change from the first inch to the nub, they do tend to slowly increase in intensity throughout the smoke. Despite this amplification, the Corojo Robusto remains toward the lighter end of the medium-bodied range.

With these characteristics and outstanding physical properties, the C&C Corojo Robusto is a very good choice if you’re looking for a milder corojo that won’t break the bank. No, you won’t find a ton of complexity here. But even discerning smokers will agree that, for the money, this is a welcome addition to the market, one worthy of three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Discovering an enjoyable cigar is one of the highlights of the hobby. But, as in most things, there’s a yang to the yin: picking up a stick for the first time and finding it not to your liking.

I don’t believe there’s a way to eliminate that possibility, but you can certainly increase your odds for success. Here are some things you might want try. Just remember that none of my suggestions are ironclad, and no doubt you’ll sometimes want to strike out on your own.

1. Figure out what tobacco you don’t like. With so many variations, this can be tough. But if you look at some of the less common tobaccos, it can be easier. My list, for example, begins with Mexican tobacco. Now that doesn’t mean I’ll never try a cigar that uses it, and there are a few I like. But when I see Mexican on the list of ingredients, whether wrapper, binder or filler, my antennae goes up and my interest goes down.

2. Similarly, note who makes cigars you like. This isn’t always easy to discern and isn’t always disclosed. And just because you fancied one cigar from Don Pepin or Dion Giolito doesn’t mean you’ll like their others. But it does tilt the edge in your favor.

3. Have some ideas about what you’re seeking before you go to the shop. Rarely will you find any details about a cigar’s makeup on the box. Reviews, advertisements, and personal recommendations can be informative and helpful. It’s also good to have several cigars in mind, since it seems that invariably the one you want won’t be on the shelf.

4. Maybe you’re one of those individuals who totes a cigar journal along or taps your smoking thoughts into a smartphone or computer. If you, however, are among those of us who lack the discipline to consistently take extensive notes, worry not. Jotting a couple of key points on a scrap of paper and tucking it into your shirt pocket can fill the bill. Just make sure to include the cigar’s name so you’ll recall what it was you smoked.

5. Remember, a cigar doesn’t have to be new to the market to be new to you. Now, more than ever, attention is focused on newcomers. But there’s a reason some cigars have been around for decades: people like, and buy, them. Look the humidor over carefully and note how many you have and have not smoked.

As always, this will be better and more useful if you share your thoughts and suggestions. Part II will be coming up soon.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr