The Stogie Guys

With only 13 shopping days left before Christmas, consumers across the country are traipsing through crowded malls to find the perfect gifts. Many have cigar enthusiasts on their lists but find shopping for cigars either intimidating or confusing.

Never fear. Cigar smokers need not be a difficult crowd for which to buy presents. Their dedication and passion for the hobby of cigars makes it easy to narrow down gift choices. This holiday season, you can be virtually assured of gift-giving success if you follow some simple rules of thumb.

Only give a box if you’re sure. Some cigar enthusiasts are completely loyal to one brand or one specific blend. If this is the case, you can’t do wrong by buying a box he or she is sure to love. Maybe this isn’t the most original idea—and maybe the box won’t be much of a surprise—but any cigar smoker will tell you that you can never have enough of your favorite smokes.

Samplers offer variety. Many cigar enthusiasts don’t have just one favorite cigar. For these folks, I can’t recommend buying a whole box. Instead, samplers can be terrific presents. When you give a sampler of ten different cigars, it’s like giving ten different gifts. The recipient might not love all ten, but chances are he or she will really enjoy at least a few, and you might even be responsible for turning someone on to his or her new favorite smoke.

Consider cigar accessories. Every cigar enthusiast needs a great table lighter, a travel lighter, a nice cutter, a good ashtray, etc. Instead of buying cigars, think about giving the gift of a cigar accessory. Many accessories can be personalized and, unlike cigars themselves, are likely to last for years to come. My wife gave me a wonderful alligator skin cigar case years ago and I’ve cherished it ever since.

Cigar knowledge is power. Aside from the tremendous knowledge offered by the online cigar community, many books have been written on the subject, and most of these would make an excellent gift. My favorite has to be The Gourmet Guide to Cigars by Paul Garmirian, a solid work that was published in 1990 and is now considered a classic. Other interesting reads include Playboy: The Book of Cigars, The Cigar Lover’s Compendium, and The Cigar Maker (by our very own Mark M).

Don’t forget cigar rights. Most cigar smokers have a fervent passion for defending cigar rights and opposing tobacco taxes and smoking bans. For these folks, a membership to Cigar Rights of America is an excellent gift. Benefits of membership include supporting professional lobbyists who fight for cigar freedoms, discounts at cigar shops, free cigars, and more.

I hope these tips are helpful as you shop for that cigar smoker on your list. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a tip of your own that you’d like to share. And happy holidays.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Flickr

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

This cigar, from CAO’s small batch Escaparate series, is exclusive to the Orlando-based Corona Cigar Company. It features a Costa Rican maduro wrapper, Ecuadorian binder, and Nicaraguan filler from Estelí, Jalapa, and Condega. The Corona Gorda (6.5 x 50) is a very sweet, medium-bodied smoke. It features milk chocolate, clove, subtle leather, and just a hint of spice in the second half. Construction is excellent. This is a very enjoyable smoke that has some unique qualities.

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.”

La Casita Criolla, a new blend Tatuaje creator Pete Johnson launched this summer, is made from 100% Connecticut broadleaf tobacco. But this prototype, exclusively available through the Saints & Sinners club, intermingles that Connecticut leaf with tobaccos from Nicaragua and Mexico. The result is a cigar with a full-bodied profile of earth and coffee with some sweetness on the finish and good construction. I still haven’t tried the final La Casita recipe so I can’t offer a comparison, but if it’s similar to the Proto 2 it’s worth a try.

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) Officially formed last week in papers filed with the Federal Election Commission, “Puro PAC” is a new political action committee (PAC) with the goal of protecting premium cigars from government anti-tobacco measures, and specifically pushing the “Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act.” The committee is formed as a “Super PAC,” which gives it maximum freedom to support candidates directly (subject to legal limits) and to spend as much money as it can raise on independent expenditures. Puro PAC Chairman Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of the Orlando-based Corona Cigar Company, tells StogieGuys.com that although there had been talk of forming a PAC affiliated with Cigar Rights of America, Puro PAC will be a more effective vehicle to push cigar rights since it can raise funds from individuals (not just from CRA members like a traditional affiliated PAC) and from corporations with no contribution limits. Now that the paper work has been filed, his goal is to raise a six-figure war chest that can be deployed to promote pro-cigar politicians and oppose those who advocate more restrictions on adults who choose to enjoy premium cigars.

2) The Economist reports that overall cigar sales in Britain are down about 20% over the past half decade, but small, machine-made smokes are “holding steady,” now comprising about 60% of the market. The publication cites two reasons for the disparity. First, smoking bans have decreased demand for cigars that take 45-minutes or more to smoke. Second, the cost of premium handmade cigars has gone up faster, in part due to the fact that cigars are taxed by weight. “Even firms that hand-roll cigars are responding to these shifts,” says the article. “Sales are rising of short robustos.”

3) Officials in Vancouver unanimously adopted a new law that criminalizes smoking in the city’s parks. Advocates of such outdoor bans typically cite biased secondhand smoke studies as justifications for their regulations, but this law is seemingly devoid of even flawed reasoning because it also bans smokeless tobacco products. The crime is punishable by 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

4) Around the Blogs: Smoking Stogie reviews a God of Fire Serie B. Cigar Brief fires up a Toraño Vault. Nice Tight Ash checks out the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve. Cigar Explorer smokes the MUWAT Bait Fish. Cigar Fan lights up a Drew Estate Undercrown.

5) Deal of the Week: Smoke Inn is featuring a variety of 10-packs on sale for $38-50. When you purchase one, you can also pick up a 50-count humidor for just $25 and take advantage of site-wide free shipping through the holidays.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Wikipedia

Now that we’re in the middle of the Christmas shopping season, many consumers will surely be looking for a good stocking stuffer for that cigar enthusiast on their list. They might want to consider the Ergonomic Torch Lighter from Butane Lighters Wholesale.

Butane Lighters Wholesale is a California distributor of torch lighters, cigar cutter lighters, pipe lighters, table lighters, and other products to meet your flame-related needs. The owner of the outfit, Aaron Torng, was nice enough to send me the Ergonomic Torch Lighter for this review, and I’ve been testing it out for over a month now.

First, the specs on the product. It stands four and a half inches tall with a weight of four ounces. Its unique frame, aside from looking pretty cool, fits well in the hand, and the black rubber grips make the sleek steel surface easy to grasp. Other notable attributes include an adjustable flame (screwdriver required) and a refillable butane tank.

The 45-degree angled head makes toasting the foot of a cigar a little less awkward, but I’m unconvinced it makes much of a difference. What does make a difference is the easily operated thumb slide and the reliable flame. When set to its highest level, you can light a cigar from about three inches away.

Over the past four weeks I’ve used the Ergonomic Torch Lighter extensively. I can say that the flame doesn’t disappoint, and the value is outstanding. At $19.99, this product is superior to many lighters that I’ve owned in terms of performance, and far less expensive. And each butane fill-up seems to last for a respectable time period.

While its larger size and lack of a safety mechanism makes this lighter less than ideal in terms of mobility, I’ve really enjoyed having it on my desk or out on the patio when company is over. I may even pack one of these in my golf bag when the summer rolls around, though I think it was designed to be a table lighter.

Whatever the case, the Ergonomic Torch Lighter is a solid buy for under $20.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This week there was another development in the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) push to regulate cigars. The agency announced it was extending the public comment period on it’s proposed regulation of cigars.

No reason was given for extending the comment period, but the extension gives cigar smokers another chance to register their opposition to FDA regulation. Cigar smokers got a hint at what regulation would mean in a recent Daily Caller article on the subject.

In the article, an FDA spokesperson said that under an FDA regulation regime cigars “would be subject to general controls, such as registration, product listing, ingredient listing, good manufacturing practice requirements, user fees for certain products, and the adulteration and misbranding provisions, as well as to the premarket review requirements for ‘new tobacco products’ and ‘modified risk tobacco products.'”

Such regulation would be devastating to the cigar industry, and in particular to boutique cigars and the creation of new blends. And “user fees” is just a bureaucratic term for more taxes on cigars, which are already at record high rates.

The FDA spokesman’s quote also shows a complete misunderstanding of the handmade artisanal nature of premium cigars.

“Ingredient listing” would be nearly impossible beyond “100% tobacco” since blends are regularly tweaked to provide consistent flavor from one year to the next. Further, even if blends aren’t changed, the chemical composition of tobacco leaves changes from harvest to harvest, meaning any disclosure of “ingredients” beyond tobacco would be either completely stifling or totally meaningless.

Similarly, by forcing new cigars to go through a costly FDA approval process, the now constant stream of new cigar blends would grind to a halt. Suddenly, instead of releasing small batch blends, cigar makers would be forced to focus on large runs that they think would have mass appeal after a time-consuming approval process.

All this should worry everyone who enjoys premium cigars. Fortunately, there are two important actions that can every cigar smoker can take.

If you haven’t yet registered your opposition, or even if you already have, please do so here by submitting a comment. Also write your Senators and Congressman today and ask them to support the “Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011,” which would repeal the FDA’s authority to regulate cigars.

–Patrick S

photo credit: FDA

Twenty miles south of Nashville lies the town of Franklin, home to the Bellaterra Ranch. For the Murphy family, the Tennessee ranch is an idyllic setting for horses, wine, and cigars.

Mike Murphy learned about wine from his grandfather-in-law, an Italian winemaker who taught him the craft 30 years ago. Mike and his wife later took more than 40 trips to Napa and Sonoma to help them develop their own wine, called Bellaterra. These days, they sell their California-made wine from their 30-acre ranch.

They also sell cigars, made by the Toraño family in Nicaragua. The Murphys have five blends that are specifically constructed to pair well with (and not overpower) red wine: La Dolce Vita Reserve, La Dolce Vita, Riserva di Famiglia, Euforia, and Double Deuce.

Riserva di Famiglia carries the title of “our family favorite,” so I decided to sample this Connecticut-wrapped line first. It is comprised of five vitolas that range in price from $11.86 to $13.46: Corona (5.5 x 42), Robusto (5 x 50), Torpedo (6.25 x 52), Churchill (7 x 48), and Double Corona (7 x 50). Only 6,000 of these cigars were made.

The Robusto has a dark, reddish exterior leaf with minimal veins and a nice cap. The foot gives off a rich aroma of earth and cocoa powder. Fairly light and soft in the hand, the pre-light draw is smooth, even with just a punch cut.

After establishing an even light, the Robusto opens with a rounded profile of leather, oak, raisin, marshmallow sweetness, and a bit of black pepper spice on the finish. I would classify the strength towards the mild side of the medium-bodied spectrum.

I have to admit to being thrown off by this cigar. On one hand, it doesn’t look or taste anything like your typical Connecticut-wrapped smoke, which usually has hay, almond, cream and a mild body. On the other, it has both spice and some of the zing that you’d expect from Nicaraguan tobacco, but it’s more subdued than the familiar cigars that come out of that country. I’m further vexed by the fact that the Robusto doesn’t taste like anything else produced by the Toraños.

These perplexities aside, I do like the flavor, and I must give this smoke points for its uniqueness. Construction is good, too, with a burn line that meanders but never requires a touch-up. My only complaint is that the white ash tends to fall off the foot a bit prematurely.

After sampling three Robustos for this review, I’m impressed by the balance and individuality of the taste. Don’t think of the price as too high for a cigar you’ve never heard of; think of it as the cost of smoking a rare Toraño most enthusiasts will never get their hands on, one that’s worthy of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys