The Stogie Guys

Lately I’ve found myself smoking cigars with friends who are very occasional cigar smokers. (By “occasional” I mean barely one cigar per year.) Almost without fail, these fine folks tend to make the same mistakes each time they light up that all-too-rare cigar. In these circumstances I find myself playing the role of teacher.

Without pointing any fingers, and hopefully without coming across as a snobby know-it-all, today I’d like to point out some of the most common cigar mistakes made by newbies for those of us who are seasoned veterans. Why? Because as good cigar smokers, it’s our duty to politely and patiently introduce interested parties to our fine hobby, and that introduction has to include some cigar basics to help our friends get the most out of the experience. So without further ado, here are my top five errors made by infrequent cigar smokers:

Cutting too much cap. The temptation to cut away too much of the cigar is too great for a rookie, especially if you’ve supplied him with a guillotine cutter. Either let him use a V-cutter or, better yet, take the time to show him where the cap should be snipped with a guillotine. Remember to instruct him to position the blade so it will enter the stogie just above the shoulder (where parejo cigars stop being round). If he’s smoking a torpedo or a pyramid, a good rule of thumb is to slice off about a quarter of an inch.

Failing to establish an even light. For starters, make sure he’s using a butane torch or a wooden match. It is inadvisable to light cigars with paper matches, stoves, candles, or lighters that use lighter fluid. Once the proper ignition tool is selected, I find that newbies are really good at lighting the middle of a cigar’s filler, but really bad at toasting its edges thoroughly. This can result in tunneling or uneven burns. So take care to explain that lighting a cigar is a process, almost a ritual, and checking the foot to make sure the cigar is fully lit is a good idea.

Smoking way too quickly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Smoking is not a race, and there’s no prize for finishing first. You may have to say this twice to guys who are accustomed to sucking down cigarettes in a manner of minutes. You can also say that each cigar puff is intended to be savored, not to mention the fact that smoking too quickly can ruin the taste of premium tobacco.

Ashing like a cigarette. Whether your infrequent cigar smoker is a cigarette smoker or not, all rookies tend to ash their cigars like cigarettes. Too often and too carelessly. This over-ashing will only serve to increase a cigar’s heat and harshness, and flicking the cigar to remove the ash may damage the wrapper. On the other hand, leaving the ash on for a while promotes cool smoke because it allows less oxygen to reach the burning tobacco. This is key if you actually want to taste the cigar rather than simply be subjected to its spice and heat.

Assuming cigars are too expensive to smoke more regularly. Time and again my friends are surprised to learn that the cigar I handed them—a cigar they’re really enjoying, no less—costs somewhere in the $6-8 range. This falsehood that cigars are only for the rich is so pervasive that some people think all decent smokes cost upwards of $15 or $20 apiece. These folks are usually pleased to learn that you can buy many, many excellent smokes for less than $10.

Understanding these mistakes and having the proper, patient response ready for those who are seeking knowledge is vital to being an effective representative for the cigar community. Thank you in advance for your service to this noble cause, and feel free to list your own observations in the comments below.

–Patrick A

photo credit: N/A

In my hometown of Washington, the unquestioned top cigar event of the year is Little Puff. Since 1999, the event has been put on by W. Curtis Draper and, while I was unable to attend the main event Friday, I dropped by the After Puff lunch Saturday.

Little Puff Tops $600K Raised for Charity

Since its inception, Little Puff has expanded from one day to a full weekend of events, starting with a Thursday night VIP dinner, followed by the main event on Friday night, and culminating with the After Puff lunch on Saturday.

While ticket prices may be more than many other cigar events, the premium seems worth it because proceeds (including from an auction with one-of-a-kind cigars provided by manufacturers) go to charity. This year at After Puff, it was announced that since its founding, the event has surpassed $600,000 raised for various charities.

New CAO Hurricane Coming

Remember CAO’s Last Stick Standing promotion? Cigar smokers were encouraged to try three blends—”C”, “A” and “O”—and vote on their favorite. The “C” blend (after a few tweaks) turned into the new Concert, which was introduced at the IPCPR Trade Show.

Now Rick Rodriguez and Ed McKenna of CAO (pictured at Little Puff with the Capitol in the background) tell me another blend that originated from Last Stick Standing (this time the “O”) is set to be released. Dubbed the “Hurricane,” the slightly updated version of the “O” blend will come out at the end of Hurricane season in November. A smaller size of the cigar (with a label reading “AP 2012”) was handed out at the CAO-sponsored After Puff event.

–Patrick S

photo credit: @CAOCigars

By now, most of us know that the new Iconic Leaf Cigar Co. was “founded by two very well-known and well respected legends in the cigar industry” who have “chosen to keep their identities private in a pursuit to make the very best premium boutique cigars that can be found anywhere in the world without the influence of their names.”

I’ll resist the temptation to guess the identities of the two individuals behind Iconic Leaf. Rather, I’ll keep this review focused on what we know for sure about the company and its first release, Recluse.

Available in ten box-pressed sizes, Recluse debuted this summer at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show in Orlando. It boasts a Brazilian maduro wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic—all of which go through eight fermentation cycles. Recluse is made under the direction of Don Jose Rafael in the Leyendas Cubanas factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

“Every Recluse is rolled in the old Cuban tradition of tubing, which is taking each filler leaf and rolling it into a tube instead of folding it,” reads the Iconic Leaf website. “Once all the filler leaves are each individually rolled into a tube shape, they are brought together and surrounded with the binder. This is time-consuming but creates an effortless draw and an unparalleled smoking experience. We then box press each cigar to compress the leaf and reduce air space.”

I smoked two Recluse Toros for this review, both of which were sent to me by Iconic Leaf. The Toro size measures 6.25 inches with a ring gauge of 50. It carries an MSRP of $7.80 and has a strikingly mottled wrapper that’s oily and devoid of thick veins. The cigar is soft to the touch with pre-light notes of milk chocolate and damp earth.

Establishing an even light is very easy. Once it’s burning, I can instantly appreciate the time and effort that was put into the tubing of the filler tobaccos, as the result of this painstaking process is a wonderful draw that yields bountiful tufts of thick smoke. The Toro’s other physical properties are also excellent, including a straight burn and a solid ash.

Construction is important, but flavor and texture are paramount. Fortunately, Recluse does very well in these categories as well. The smoke is cool and airy with a powdery mouthfeel. The taste is well-balanced with notes of cocoa, leather, cinnamon spice, and creamy nut. The flavor doesn’t change much from light to nub.

And nub it I did. While Iconic Leaf may have sent me the two Toros to make this review possible, I will definitely be purchasing more in the near future for my own enjoyment. This is one of the most impressive new cigars of 2012 (at least among those I’ve tried to date), worthy of a rare rating of four and half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys