The 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. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) A federal court has struck down a New York City ordinance that required tobacco retailers to display graphic anti-tobacco posters. Judge Jed S. Rakoff (pictured) of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan found the ordinance to be “well-intentioned” but ultimately in violation of the law, which places regulations on tobacco warnings and advertisements under the purview of the federal government. Back in November, in his first CRA TV webcast, Cigar Rights of America Executive Director Glynn Loope said that the legal challenge to the ordinance was important not only for New Yorkers, but because a favorable ruling would limit other cities that are considering similar measures.

2) The Cohiba Behike BHK 52, a fat robusto that retails for $75 apiece, was named Cigar Aficionado’s top smoke of 2010. “Cohiba has long been a marquee name in Cuban cigars,” says the magazine. “This new smoke has done what no special release Cohiba has done before: win critical acclaim as well as commercial success.” Although technically a limited production blend, Cuban officials say they plan to make new Behike cigars annually.

3) Inside the Industry: Cubatabaco, Cuba’s government-controlled tobacco monopoly, is suing a U.S. cigar retailer because the retailer’s Michigan shop, Casa de La Habana, is said to be too similar in name to La Casa del Habano. Gurkha plans to release a box of 50 cigars (encased in a pure silver) that will cost $250,000 for a box of 50. To promote its new Single Region cigar, Toraño will be hosting a series of events at stores across the country featuring coffee from PT’s Coffee.

4) Around the Blogs: Smoking Stogie smokes the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill. The Tiki Bar smokes the Zino Classic Embassy Selection 2010. Stogie Review picks their Top 10 of 2010. Nice Tight Ash checks out the San Cristobal Classico. Cigar Fan fires up a Padilla Dominus. Tatuaje Reserva, EO 601, and AVO Heritage are the top cigars at YourCigarRatings.com.

5) Deal of the Week: Check out this Don Pepin Elite Selection sampler. It includes two each from the Tatuaje Havana, 5 Vegas Miami, Cuban Classic, and San Cristobal, all for under $40. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: New York Times

As popular as the Dominican-made La Gloria Cubana line has been for General Cigar, the Cuban incarnation is less visible than most of its Havana brethren. Case in point: Habanos SA, Cuba’s state-owned tobacco monopoly, relegates La Gloria to “local brand” status.

That’s a step below “niche brand” (i.e., Trinidad and San Cristobal), two steps below “multi-local” (i.e., Bolivar and Punch), and a far cry from “global” (i.e., Cohiba and Montecristo). I’m not sure these classifications mean much in the grand scheme of things. Do they indicate production volumes? Quality?

At any rate, La Gloria isn’t as prominent or widespread as the likes of Romeo y Julieta or Hoyo de Monterrey. But this brand is no newcomer. Cigars started being produced under the La Gloria Cubana name 125 years ago. Since then, the brand has weathered three ownership changes and one Cuban revolution. Today, it boasts seven commercially available vitolas, each made at the Partagas Factory using tobaccos from the Vuelta Abajo region.

The Médaille d’Or No. 2 (6.75 x 43) is one of four cigars in La Gloria’s slender Médaille d’Or series. It is a lonsdale-shaped smoke that fetches around $15 apiece. Caramel in color and relatively firm to the touch, it has a lumpy, rough-looking wrapper with a few prominent veins and noticeable seams. Not much to look at.

Once lit, the cigar’s pre-light fragrance of hay and honey transitions to a medium-bodied profile of graham cracker spice, roasted nuts, and sweet cedar. There’s also an aftertaste present that I can only describe as a tang—a unique sensation that can also be found in other smokes like the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill.

At the midway point and thereafter, it becomes clear that the Médaille d’Or No. 2 isn’t going to transition much. I can see some enthusiasts being dismayed by this, especially in a long, slow-burning cigar that requires a significant time commitment. But the flavor’s balance easily keeps me satisfied throughout the smoke despite its consistency.

Do the construction characteristics leave something to be desired? Yes. Like many Cubans these days, the Médaille d’Or No. 2 requires touch-ups to maintain an even burn. And the draw varied somewhat between the three cigars I examined for this review. Notwithstanding its physical faults, however, this La Gloria Cubana is a fine selection if you’re looking for a Cuban that’s outside the mainstream. It earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Cigar smokers interested in the politicized (and often outright phony) “science” that anti-tobacco activists use to fuel their push for expanded smoking bans, higher tobacco taxes, and more burdensome regulation of tobacco products should make Dr. Michael Siegel’s Tobacco Analysis blog a daily read.

Dr. Siegel is a professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health with over 25 years of experience in the field of tobacco control, much of it advocating workplace smoking bans. However, in recent years, Dr. Siegel has spent his time debunking exaggerated claims put forth by anti-tobacco zealots.

As part of his work, Dr. Siegel documented the ten worst lies of 2010. The entire list is well worth a read. Especially noteworthy is the top “lie of the year” by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office:

The Lie: (1) “Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease and could trigger acute cardiac events, such as heart attack.”; (2) “Inhaling even the smallest amount of tobacco smoke can also damage your DNA, which can lead to cancer.”

The Rest of the Story: It is simply not true that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease. Luckily, it takes many years of exposure before the process of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) can occur. Fortunately as well, inhaling the smallest amount of tobacco smoke does not lead to cancer. While the Surgeon General is correct in asserting that the tiniest amount of tobacco smoke can damage your DNA, it simply is not true that someone who inhales the tiniest amount of tobacco smoke may well develop cancer because of it. There is certainly no evidence to support such a statement.

The United States Surgeon General’s Office (part of the U.S. Public Health Service) is funded entirely by taxpayers and is the most prominent advocate for public health in the country. It was this that lead Siegel to conclude that the Surgeon General’s lie was the most egregious: “Given the influence of the Surgeon General’s statements on anti-smoking groups and the prominence of the Surgeon General’s statements in the media, the assertion that even a brief tobacco smoke exposure can cause heart disease and lung cancer is likely to be used successfully by anti-smoking groups to support an ever-increasingly aggressive agenda of banning smoking just about everywhere.”

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikipedia

Robert Levin founded Ashton Cigars in 1985 when he left Holt’s Cigar Company, a Philadelphia retailer his parents founded in the late ’50s. He has since grown Ashton into one of the world’s most respected cigar manufacturers.

Today, in partnership with the Fuente Family, the company’s portfolio extends well beyond the Ashton brand, including San Cristobal, La Aroma de Cuba, and Sosa. The latter rarely shares the limelight with the other two, and it definitely doesn’t command the attention of such Ashton notables as Cabinet Selection, Virgin Sun Grown, and Estate Sun Grown.

But Sosa, made by the Fuentes in the Dominican Republic, is a fine selection if you’re looking for Ashton quality but don’t want to pay Ashton prices.

That’s what you get with the Wavell Natural (5 x 50). It can be found for less than $5, especially if you’re buying by the box. It features an oily, sepia-colored Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder and filler tobaccos, and soft pre-light aromas of honey and cinnamon.

The cinnamon note carries over to the first puff, where it is accompanied by flavors of dry cedar, cashew, and earth. This is a satisfying, albeit familiar, combination that’s toasty and medium in body.

Sweetness, ginger, and graham cracker spice help expand the Wavell’s profile past the first third. Here, the robusto-sized smoke displays a balance that’s lacking from many cigars twice its price. As an added bonus, the resting smoke is fragrant enough to keep my mouth watering between puffs.

Complementing the taste are top-notch physical properties. The band removes easily, the burn progresses evenly without touch-ups, the draw remains consistent and smooth, and the white ash builds solidly off the foot.

Despite short flickers of bitter notes in the final third, the Sosa Wavell Natural is a wonderful value and a strong candidate for a box purchase. I look forward to sampling Ashton’s two other Sosa varieties: the Ecuador Sumatra-wrapped Exclusive Series and the Mexican maduro-wrapped Super Selection. Meanwhile, this affordably priced creation earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In the first 2011 issue of “Random Thoughts from the Humidor” I examine the politics of Santa’s pipe smoking, Mayor Bloomberg’s war on salt, and football:

Santa Smokes

The anti-smokers may have hit a new low. Joseph Banzhaf, head of the militant anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), is politicizing Santa Claus to push his militant anti-tobacco agenda. Banzhaf claims in a press release that St. Nick was quitting his beloved pipe, even though a clay pipe has been associated with Santa Claus for as long as there has been a Santa Clause. In fact, the St. Nicholas Center traces Santa’s pipe smoking back to a book written by Washington Irving in 1809.

Dealing with Whiny Anti-Smokers

As I walked the snow-filled but unplowed streets of New York City after Christmas with a cigar in hand, I got a disappointing (if not unexpected) response from one of my fellow snowed-in New Yorkers. My fellow pedestrian felt the need to comment on how she “couldn’t stand the smell” of my Tatuaje. I thought about explaining to her how if she felt that way she should oppose Mayor Bloomberg’s smoking ban which forced me to take my smoking outside, or retorting that I couldn’t stand the sound of her shrill complaining. Ultimately, though, I just laughed and crossed the street when I was able to find a crosswalk that wasn’t blocked by a mountain of snow.

The Nanny State Doesn’t Just Impact Smokers

Mike Bloomberg hasn’t only declared war on smoking. He has also declared war on salt, soda, and other “unhealthy” foods. I couldn’t help thinking of this war on salt as the streets of New York remained uncleared and unsalted. My sentiment was summed up well in Eric Felton’s Wall Street Journal article, “The War on Good Taste” (worth the full read): “Perhaps if Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent less time keeping salt off our tables and more time getting salt on the streets, New York roads might have been passable this week.”

Cigars at the Ballgame

Yesterday I attended the Giants-Redskins game at FedEx Field outside Washington, DC. People complain about the gameday experience there, but one plus is the Montecristo Lounge, where you can fire up a cigar in the stadium. It amazes me that so few other stadiums have embraced cigar lounges. During this particular game, the lounge was full of ticket-holders drinking $8 beers and buying up cigars. How is this not a win-win for sports teams and their tobacco-enjoying fans?

–Patrick S

photo credit: St. Nicholas Center

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 oak barrel-aged Belicoso (6.25 x 52) at a local tobacconist for about $8. It got off to a good start with a medium-bodied profile of molasses, coffee, and clove. Spice and meaty notes joined in at the midway point. But while the cigar’s flavor featured an interesting interplay between dry wood and sweetness throughout, its physical properties left much to be desired—especially in the second half. The burn required consistent maintenance and the ash was flaky and difficult to control.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys