The 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.”

First, it’s necessary to get past the gimmicky wrapped-in-a-cigar-leaf packaging. Fortunately, that’s not difficult. Just tear it off and, voilà, there’s a cigar. What I found was a nice-looking Honduran puro with typical toro dimensions (6 x 50). Billed as mild to medium in strength, the Leaf by Oscar Corojo brimmed with the leather and earth often associated with Honduran tobacco. Smoke production was excellent, as were the draw and burn. It’s not a flavor profile I’d want to smoke routinely, but a stick to reach for when something a little different would fill the bill.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Leaf by Oscar

If the cigar industry needed any more bad news, it could be found recently in a couple of unrelated developments that involve sugar rather than tobacco.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen turned down a request by the powerful American Beverage Association for a temporary injunction against San Francisco’s requirement that some soft drink advertising include warnings about the dangers of consuming drinks with added sugar.

An abridgment of freedom of speech? No. A potentially fatal and unfair blow to the industry? No. Regulation in the public interest? Yes.

Then the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its new nutrition facts food label with an additional category: added sugars.

Now, to be clear, there is a world of difference between these actions involving sugar and the FDA’s tobacco restrictions. And there is sure to be more court action on the soft drink front, as there will be against the FDA’s tobacco rules.

But I believe the moves on sugar are indicative of the legal trajectory.

Here’s why I think the cigar fight against the FDA is, sadly, doomed. (Remember, this is just my view. No one else’s from this site.)

First, despite the outcry that government regulations are taking away our rights, there’s little doubt that there is no “right” to smoke tobacco, and certainly not one that can’t be curtailed. Legal challenges to smoking prohibitions based on a recognized constitutional right (be it privacy, property, or equal protection) have generally failed.

Additionally, the legality of a product doesn’t shield it from restrictions or a ban. Just ask those who live in one of the United States’ remaining dry counties. Up until 1914, cocaine was legal. Caffeinated alcohol drinks were legally sold a few years ago until the government decided they shouldn’t be.

Examples are endless.

Then there is the frequent complaint of a “war on tobacco.” There isn’t a war. There was a war. Tobacco lost. We’re now in the aftermath.

Petitions underway in the cigar community seem, to me, unlikely to accomplish anything. One, urging the White House to act, may garner enough signatures, though I doubt it. But even if successful, it will induce only reconsideration, not action. A reversal or exemption would require a monumental change. The chances of that are slim and none, and, as they say, Slim already left town.

(By the way, are you looking to the future? It’s hard to distinguish which presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, dislikes tobacco more.)

Demanding congressional action also appears dubious. Congress didn’t approve an exemption in the past when it would have been much easier. Why expect it to do so now?

Cutting off funding for enforcement, as has been proposed, seems to me little more than a replay of the earlier Congressional move to include an exemption in its funding bill: a bargaining chip to be traded for something else. And even if a funding halt were to be approved, the FDA could likely go right back to work with new funding in the future.

I think the most likely outcome to the FDA regulations is legal action that slows, but doesn’t stop, the process.

Perhaps my years in Washington made me too cynical. Maybe I am just too negative in general.

I hope so. I can’t think of anything that would bring me more joy than writing another piece with the headline: I Was Wrong.

–George E

photo credit: N/A

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.”

As a longtime fan of La Palina, I was looking forward to trying the Red Label, a line introduced in 2015. I knew it was a lighter complement to the fuller-strength Black Label. It wasn’t the lack of strength that made the biggest impression, though. It was the lack of flavor. For the Toro’s full six inches, about the only thing I experienced was an overwhelming hot, dry, grassy rawness. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Ecuadorian binder, and Nicaraguan and Dominican filler blend just didn’t suit my palate. Construction, burn, and draw were fine. Overall, however, I found the Red Label to be more of a red flag.

Verdict = Sell.

–George E

photo credit: La Palina

Uncertainty. Apprehension. Determination.

These seem to sum up the feelings of some of the smaller players in the cigar world. Small players whose business will be greatly impacted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new tobacco regulations. In statements both on and off the record, those who create and market boutique cigar expressed both anger and resolve to StogieGuys.com.

“You have to play the hand the best you can with what you have,” said Jeff Haugen, co-owner of Crux Cigars. “We’re going to have to adapt.”

While some were reluctant to openly discuss the potential impact or their plans, others were blunt.

“It’s a mess,” said Sandra Cobas, owner of the highly regarded cigar manufacturer El Titan de Bronze, located in Miami’s Little Havana since 1997. Cobas is confident she’ll be able to remain in business, but “it won’t be the same.”

Particularly troubling for her is the Feb. 15, 2007, grandfather date on which cigars had to be on the market to qualify for an exemption from regulation. While El Titan’s four lines should qualify, many of the smokes she produces for other brands will not. And that means her current level of eight to twelve employees will almost certainly shrink. “These are working people,” she said. “It’s very upsetting. Very upsetting.”

The economic impact will be widespread, she added, ticking off those impacted, from tobacco growers to box makers, cigar band lithographers to glue manufacturers.

“How about in Estelí? How about in the Dominican?” where cigar-making has boomed in recent years, she said. “They think they’ve got an immigration problem now? They don’t know what they’ll have.”

Mel Shah realizes his MBombay cigars will also face the full thrust of the regulations because they came to market only a couple years ago. Just what the FDA’s approval process will be, or how much it will cost, however, remains uncertain.

“Everything that we hear right now… it’s all speculation,” said Shah. “They’re going to charge this, they’re not going to charge this. The whole nine yards. There is nothing… in black and white as to how much it’s going to cost us. Once we have that, then it will be a more definitive strategy.”

Shah’s position as owner of both a cigar brand and a cigar shop (Fame Wine & Cigar Lounge in Palm Springs, California) provides a well-rounded perspective.

As a measure of what lies ahead, he noted that about 70 percent of the cigars on retailers’ shelves these days were introduced after 2007.

The FDA regulations, scheduled to go into effect this summer, offer a small window for cigars that aren’t grandfathered. Those on the market before Aug. 8 can remain on sale until Aug. 8, 2018, before having to apply for approval.

That’s led to conjecture that brand owners will rush cigars to market in order to take advantage. But Haugen, and others, said that’s not their plan.

“We’re certainly not going to knee-jerk any reactions of which way we’re going to move,” Haugen said, noting that all Crux lines are post-2007. “I’m not interested in just jamming a bunch of brands out there to get something going.”

One point of agreement was that, while it’s too soon to know the full impact, they will survive.

Most, in fact, echoed the sentiment of Ernesto Perez Carrillo in his response to the FDA: “We are here to stay.”

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Spectacular.

That is the only word I can think of to adequately describe this large-format, colorful book that explores every imaginable facet of cigars.

The Cigar: Moments of Pleasure is a book that could come only from someone who loves cigars, or, in this case, two people who love cigars. Morten Ehrhorn (writer) and Justin Hummerston (photographer) spent five years traveling the world to explore cigars, tobacco, and those who love them. Interestingly, the pair is based in Denmark, known in the tobacco world far more for its relationship to pipes than to cigars.

But you’d have a difficult time finding a book with more or better cigar information. Far too many coffee-table books of all kinds are heavy on photographs and light on written material; far too many cigar books offer little more than a rehash of accepted wisdom and twice-told tales. Not so with The Cigar.

The book is truly an exhaustive and extensive presentation. Sure, we’re all familiar with photos of fields in Pinar del Río, say, but how about a look at tobacco curing houses in Indonesia? In another spot, you’ll find six pages devoted to soil. Then there’s a meticulous exploration of the effects of nicotine on the brain, not to mention all the interesting tidbits throughout. Did you know, for example, that Cuban cigars are packaged in the box with the darker wrappers on the left side?

In fact, I can’t think of any aspect of cigars that Enrhorn and Hummerston missed. The book is, literally, 312 pages of fascination.

For a cigar lover, simply opening the book is to be captivated, drawn in, and captured.

The Cigar: Moments of Pleasure is published by the award-winning Copenhagen firm Forlaget Enrhorn Hummerston and can be purchased on Amazon, as well as at online retailer Cigars International.

You’ll also have a chance to win the review copy we received from the publisher in the coming weeks. Be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for details on that and other giveaways.

–George E

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.”

This cigar opens with a blast of jalapeño pepper before settling down with some sweetness, earth, and rich tobacco. Rolled by Oliva for GMD Group (which supplied my samples), the double-banded Toro (6 x 50) is sharply box-pressed and exquisitely constructed. It burns perfectly, produces lots of smoke, and has an excellent draw. The wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano with Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. One drawback is the price, which lists at $14, though I’ve seen it advertised online for as low as $9. If you’re a fan of Nicaraguan tobacco, it’s one to try.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

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.”

Released to celebrate J.C. Newman’s founder, this Diamond Crown extension is a medium-strength, tasty cigar. Few details are released—the smooth, oily wrapper is labeled Ecuadorian Havana-seed and the other tobaccos called simply Central American. My guess—based on spices reminiscent of some Opus smokes—is a high proportion of Dominican filler. Like all Diamond Crowns, the Julius Caeser carries a high price tag. The Pyramid (6.5 x 52) retails between $16 and $20. I thoroughly enjoyed it with one caveat: The draw was a bit constricted and smoke production a little limited. But I would say this is one to consider when you want a celebratory stick.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys