The Stogie Guys

Introduced in 2007, the original El Centurion blend was a highly limited release billed as Don José “Pepin” Garcia’s personal blend. It remains one of my favorite Pepin-made cigars: subtle, complex, and well-balanced. (No surprise it earned a rare five out of five rating.)

Building on that legacy and name, My Father Cigars reintroduced the El Centurion brand in 2013 with an entirely new blend. That cigar featured a sun-grown Nicaraguan wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.

This year, My Father Cigars introduced a second regular release El Centurion blend, dubbed the H-2K-CT, after the wrapper. H-2K-CT features a unique Cuban-seed Habano 2000 wrapper grown in Connecticut around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.

The line comes in two box-pressed sizes: Corona (5.5 x 48) and Toro (6 x 52). For this review I smoked three Coronas. This vitola sells for around $7 each. The H-2K-CT wrapper, which is reportedly exclusive to My Father Cigars, is rustic and toothy but also oily.

Once lit, there is some syrup sweetness initially, although it fades as flavors of roasted nuts, leather, and oak dominate this medium-bodied smoke. Towards the final third, some cedar spice emerges along with black coffee notes.

I remember when the Habano 2000 first burst on the scene over a decade ago (the Habano 2000-wrapped Maria Mancini was the first box of cigars I ever bought); the wrapper was well-received for its flavors but suffered from chronic burn issues. Time has solved some of those problems, and this Connecticut-grown variety suffers from none of those issues as the samples I smoked were well-constructed from start to finish.

The H-2K-CT brings a lot to the table. It’s balanced and restrained with a nice combination of both sweetness and spice. Add in excellent construction and a fair price and this is the best El Centurion since the original limited release, which still stands out to me as a particularly special cigar. That earns the My Father El Centurion H-2K-CT Corona a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

“Hopefully I can hang on to a few The Jekyll’s to do a side-by-side comparison next year.” That’s what I wrote back in November 2014 in my review of last year’s Monster Series cigar from Tatuaje. I can actually remember typing the word “hopefully” while knowing it was highly unlikely I’d have the willpower to keep my hands off my box of The Jekyll, a cigar I rated four and a half stogies out of five.

As it turns out, my 10-count box is long gone, and with it my ability to do a suitable side-by-side comparison of this year’s follow-up, The Hyde. Fortunately, my colleague informs me he still has a few The Jekyll’s in stock, and he was also able to recently purchase a box of The Hyde; so I expect a Face-Off from him shortly. After all, comparing the two cigars is only natural. They’re based on similar blends, and both are a nod to the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Thanks to the well-publicized rarity of Monster Series cigars, the success of Tatuaje’s marketing, and the sterling reputation Pete Johnson’s company has amassed over the years, I probably don’t need to remind you that, since 2008, Tatuaje has released an annual Monster Series smoke around Halloween. Each celebrates one of Johnson’s favorite characters from the horror genre, including The Frank, The Drac, The Face, The Wolfman, The Mummy, and The JV13 (Jason).

As is tradition, Johnson produced 666 “dress boxes” of 13 The Hyde cigars, with 13 “unlucky” retailers getting the bulk of the boxes to sell. He also released 4,500 plain 10-count boxes, equating to a total run of just under 54,000 individual sticks.

Like The Jekyll, The Hyde measures 7 inches long with a ring gauge of 49 and has a tapered, rounded cap. Whereas The Jekyll featured a lighter Ecuadorian Sancti Spíritus wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, The Hyde sports a darker Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The Hyde is also distinguished by its green band with write font; The Jekyll had a white band with green font.

The Chuchill-sized smoke is notably oily with a few prominent veins and some imperfect seams. The uneven coloring makes it particularly rustic in appearance, though I find the cap style is quite appealing. At the foot, the pre-light notes are incredibly sweet and chocolatey with a hint of damp earth.

The flavor reminds me of the Frango chocolate mint candies that used to be found at Marshall Field’s in Chicago. Creamy, sweet, chocolaty, minty, and mouth-watering. Background notes include graham cracker, light cedar spice, tea, caramel, herbs, and almond. Smoking too quickly tends to bring out some bitterness, but a paced approach will yield a medium-bodied profile that’s sweet, creamy, and enjoyable.

Throughout, the draw is a little stiffer than I would like, which also limits the smoke production. The burn line—while not necessarily perfect—is well-behaved, and the ash holds well off the foot.

To date, my favorite Monster Series smokes have been The Mummy, The Franc, and last year’s The Jekyll, which is spicier and more bready than The Hyde. That said, The Hyde stacks up quite well to its predecessors. And you have to give a lot of credit to the uniqueness of the flavor (which is what you want from a $13 cigar that will be tough to track down). That’s ultimately what makes this creamy, minty, chocolaty candy bar of a cigar worthy of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Two weeks ago, e-cigarette trade group Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA) said it was in possession of a copy of the the deeming rule sent from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review before publication and implementation. Initially, the group leaked a copy of the table of contents and promised to leak the full document soon after.

Although the documents were never fully authenticated, every indication points to the document being legitimate. The FDA even took the unusual step of issuing a statement acknowledging the leak and stating they had an understanding that no more of the document would be made public.

While TVECA was focused on e-cigarette regulation aspects of the draft, included in the leaked table of contents was a line—”Regulation of Cigars and Selection of Option 1″—that caught the attention of cigar industry groups. The line was a strong indication that the FDA had transmitted to the OMB a deeming rule that included Option 1 for the regulation of cigars with no exemption for premium cigars.

Unlike Option 2, which exempted certain cigars that meet a definition of premium—including that they are handmade and have a retail price of at least $10—Option 1 would subject all cigars introduced after February 15, 2007 to an FDA approval process. It is a nightmare scenario that industry lobbying has been focused against since the FDA started the process of regulating cigars.

The OMB will now decide whether to proceed with the FDA draft of the rule or request more changes. Speculation is that it was the OMB that asked for Option 2 in the earlier stages of the process, so just because the FDA has moved forward with Option 1, that doesn’t guarantee Option 2 won’t be in the finalized rule.

The leak has raised other questions about the FDA process. Anti-tobacco politicians have already called for a probe of the leak, but the reality is the leak raises more fundamental questions about the FDA process.

Assuming they are authentic, the documents TVECA received could only have come from within FDA or OMB, meaning someone in the rulemaking process violated their confidentiality requirements. Contrary to the insinuations by those calling for a probe, it is the leaker who may have violated regulations, not the trade association that was within its rights to share the documents with the public or media. (Curiously, TVECA seems to have agreed not to disclose the full documents now, and has alluded to using what they have as leverage towards changes to the final document.)

If TVECA received the leaked documents others may have as well, and given that people within FDA and OMB tend to be pro-regulation, it is seems likely that anti-tobacco groups or politicians may have received leaked documents too. This might explain why anti-tobacco senators were so quick to call for OMB to accept FDA’s final version of the rule without changes or deliberations.

Either way, what is clear from the leak is at least one person with access to internal FDA documents is willingly disseminating those documents to people outside the agency. It makes you wonder how the agencies can be trusted with regulations that could determine the future of an industry that provides jobs for tens of thousands around the world, when they cannot even be trusted not to leak their own internal documents.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys

No new cigar is as highly anticipated as Sobremesa (at least among the more serious cigar smokers). And it goes without saying that all of the well-deserved buzz can be attributed to Steve Saka. Sobremesa marks Saka’s triumphant return to the industry after a two-year non-compete with Drew Estate—where he played a critical role in growing the company into a Nicaraguan juggernaut.

Sobremesa was announced in July to almost instant excitement as the first line from Saka’s new independent cigar operation, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. And while Saka has always displayed humility and, at times, apprehension over how Sobremesa would be received—I’ve heard him use the phrase “unnerving”—his modesty has done little to subdue the overwhelming enthusiasm. But now, finally, after all the discussion on social media, Sobremesa is hitting retailer shelves.

Chances are Sobremesa will find its way to a tobacconist near you. Retailers were clamoring to place orders with Saka at the IPCPR Trade Show this summer in New Orleans. As a result, as Saka recently told me, “We currently have 108 active accounts, and 126 on an active waiting list. We have inquires by another 19 accounts pending.” That’s a heck of a lot of interest for the debut cigar from a new cigar company, especially when you consider Saka didn’t give away any samples at the convention because he felt the cigars weren’t quite ready.

Sobremesa—an idiom from the Latin world that refers to the leisurely time spent tableside after a meal—features an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper, a Mexican binder, and a filler blend of Pennsylvania Broadleaf Ligero with four different Nicaraguan tobaccos (Gk Condega C-SG Seco, Pueblo Nuevo Criollo Viso, La Joya Estelí C-98 Viso, and ASP Estelí Hybrid Ligero). It is handmade at Joya de Nicaragua. Production is currently capped at 1,000 boxes per month, despite Saka being “grossly oversold,” to maintain quality.

Cervantes Fino (6.25 x 46, $11.45) is one of 6 vitolas, all of which are sold in 25-count boxes. It sports a regal word-less band of gold and mocha, along with a foot band that reads “Sobremesa.” The dark wrapper on the lonsdale is silky and oily, and the pre-light notes remind me of milk chocolate. A punch cut is all that’s needed to reveal an easy cold draw.

To my taste, the profile can best be described as full-bodied, complex, and balanced with loads of rich flavor and a delicate peppery zing. I pick up hints of cocoa, dark cherry, café au lait, baking spices, and creamy caramel. The texture is thick and syrupy. The finish includes a blanket of light pepper across the palate with abundant sweetness. Construction is superb, including a straight burn, intense smoke production, and a solid white ash that hangs on tight.

What stands out about the blend is how approachable it is given the full body. Sobremesa has tons and tons of flavor, yet it’s really easy to smoke and conservative with the spice. Consequently, the Cervantes Fino in particular is the kind of cigar that makes you want to fire up another right away. That’s one of the best compliments I can pay a cigar.

Steve Saka will be the first to tell you nothing ever goes completely to plan in the world of cigars, particularly all the back-end logistics associated with setting out on your own for the first time. But you sure wouldn’t know it to smoke the Sobremesa Cervantes Fino. This is a memorable, expertly blended achievement that’s completely worthy of the price tag. For me, no rating is more appropriate than five stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five stogie-rated cigars can be found here.]

–Patrick A

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.”

When it comes to woody flavors in cigars, the flavors tend to break down into two types of wood: cedar (think Chateu Fuente) tends to be lighter and spicier, while oak tends to be heavier and richer. The San Cristobal (original line) is a blend dominated by the latter. Oak, bread, and black coffee notes make for a robust, medium- to full-bodied cigar that also demonstrates good balance. It’s a smoke that goes equally well with a coffee in the morning or a single malt after dinner.

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.”

In September, six exclusive cigar sizes were announced for the new Drew Estate Lounge at Corona Cigar Co.’s location in Sand Lake, Florida. The sizes are all presented in a toro format (6 x 50), with half featuring a soft-press and half a box-press. The blends include Undercrown, Liga Privada No. 9, Herrera Estelí, Natural, Tabak Especial Dulce, and Tabak Especial Negra. The Liga Privada No. 9 Box Press sports perfect construction, massive smoke production, and flavors reminiscent of dry wood, black pepper spice, espresso, and sweet cocoa. It’s a bit flat compared to the smokes in the regular Liga No. 9 lineup, missing some of the punch and substituting a bready texture for the familiar oily, rich density that, to me at least, is a hallmark of the brand. That said, the Box Press is absolutely a good cigar in its own right if you can light it up without expecting the normal Liga No. 9 experience.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys