The Stogie Guys

Dale and Darcy Cahill’s interest in tobacco sheds grew naturally, from observation and a simple question. When they began dating some years ago, Dale would drive down from Vermont and, along the way to her home in Connecticut, he passed quite a few big barns.

Having an engineering mind and a history of hands-on work, he was curious and asked Darcy what was in them. “I said, ‘I don’t know. Let’s go look,’” Darcy recalled. “Luckily, it happened to be the end of September, October. We walked into one of those places and… it smelled so good. And it was full of tobacco. It was just beautiful. He said, ‘We’ve got to start taking pictures of these.’”

That was the beginning of what’s become a seeming flood of photographs, calendars, note cards, even tobacco leaves themselves—dried, preserved, and mounted on barn board. You can check it all at their website.

Now, the couple is embarking on a new project, courtesy of a Library of Congress Archie Green Fellowship, recording the oral histories of everyone they can find involved in tobacco in the Connecticut River Valley.

Their second book on the valley’s tobacco sheds just came out. It reflects their efforts to document and preserve New England’s tobacco heritage.

Dale estimates there are currently between 5,000 and 7,000 tobacco sheds still being used, whether for tobacco, vehicle storage, or something else. He’s glad to see that because, he explained, Thomas Visser, a professor of historic preservation who Dale considers a mentor, taught him that the first way to preserve things is to keep them in use. “It’s when you quit using them, they fall apart,” Dale said.

And, Dale added, even a few new sheds have gone up in recent years.

As should be obvious, New England’s agricultural heritage in tobacco is important to Dale and Darcy. It’s easy to understand when they talk lovingly about the structures they’ve toured, the people they’ve met, and the work they’ve done.

Their enthusiasm for the subject seems nearly boundless. Last year, for example, they performed—she plays fiddle, he plays guitar and mandolin—at the Luddy/Taylor Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum’s annual cigar barbecue, which includes a farm tour and appearances by cigar company reps. “It’s very small scale,” Darcy said of the event. “It’s very sweet.”

With the Cahills keeping their eyes, and cameras, trained on the landscape, there’s no doubt that the tobacco sheds, old and new, have someone watching over them.

Contest: Win a Free Copy of Dale and Darcy’s New Book

One lucky StogieGuys.com reader will win a free copy of Dale and Darcy’s beautiful new book, Tobacco Sheds: Vanishing Treasures in the Connecticut River Valley. Just submit a comment below and we’ll select a winner at random next week. Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you if you win (we will not publish your email address; just make sure you provide it in the space provided when you submit your comment). Here are all the contest rules. Good luck.

–George E

photo credit: TobaccoSheds.com

This is a new offering from Crux, a boutique brand created by two Minnesota tobacco retailers. Like other Crux cigars, the Passport vitolas feature small ring gauges, modern marketing, and low production figures.

I received two sample Lanceros from Crux, which plans to begin shipping the line at the end of June, along with a Corona (5.5 x 44) and a Toro (6 x 48).

“Only 100 boxes of each size will be released on the first shipment and 500 boxes of each on subsequent shipments,” says to Jeff Haugen, co-owner of both the Crux brand and the Tobacco Grove shop in Minnesota. They’ll follow up in August with 500 boxes each of two additional sizes.

The cigars are rolled at the Plasencia cigar factory in Danli, Honduras, with a blend that Haugen lists as a 2009 Habano Ecuador wrapper, Habano Viso Estelí binder, and Nicaraguan filler. The MSRP is $6.99, and they come in 20-count boxes.

Crux describes Passport’s strength at the low end of full, but I’d consider it more in the medium range.

Construction was fine on both samples, with lots of smoke production and a good draw. As can often be the case with thin ring-gauge cigars, a few relights were necessary as the byproduct of trying to smoke even slower than usual.

The most prominent flavor, for me, was cocoa and a bit of pepper. There was also an earthiness and a touch of leather. I did experience some harshness at a couple of points, particularly in one of the samples, but that may work itself out through the resting process before the line is released.

The company’s website lists only four retailers in three states, so finding your Passport may not be easy. But Crux is the kind of company it’s easy to root for, and I’d urge you to pick up any of their cigars if you spot them.

For me, this Lancero rates three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

To put it simply, this is a terrific book.

Whether you’re interested in history, cigars, preservation, tobacciana, or rural life, you’ll find yourself enchanted and enlightened as you move through this oversize volume just published by Schiffer Publishing for $24.99.

It will also likely sadden you a bit as you learn that these architectural treasures are rapidly vanishing from the landscape. Dale and Darcy Cahill, a pair of enthusiastic writers and photographers who have devoted themselves to documenting the sheds, estimate that more than 1,000 have been destroyed since their first volume on the subject was published in 2009.

This book uses a geographical theme to explore the sheds in words and roughly 250 photographs selected from about 7,000 frames. Beginning in Vermont and traveling the Connecticut River Valley south to Portland, Connecticut, the Cahills take readers on a marvelous journey.

In the book’s preface, cigar industry giant Carlito Fuente writes that “the tobacco barn stands tall, proud, and beautiful.” The Cahills describe it this way: “Whether standing inside or outside of a shed, a tobacco shed’s repetitive lines engage the eye” and the buildings themselves “evoke a sense of timelessness.”

In addition to the structures, Tobacco Sheds provides fascinating introductions to people such as Mrs. Prout in South Windsor, Connecticut, who is said to be “the first person to roll a cigar in the United States,” and artist Erika H. Zekos, who lit a tobacco shed from inside as a public art project in 2009 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Amherst, Massachusetts.

With the growing popularity of tourism to the cigar centers of Latin America, it seems an appropriate time to remember the reach and importance of cigar tobacco in the United States beyond Florida. And to do it not only with annual events, but by recognizing true artifacts.

This book is certainly a good way to do that. You should also check the Cahills’ website for other tobacco shed artwork, as well as their first book, Tobacco Sheds of the Connecticut River Valley. And StogieGuys.com will have more on the subject as well, with a interview of the Cahills and a contest you won’t want to miss.

–George E

photo credit: TobaccoSheds.com

Few cigar companies have undergone as much change in recent years as Nat Sherman. Moving its flagship shop at an impressive new location, hiring flamboyant executive Michael Herklots, bringing new and unexpected cigar lines to market. All contributed to a new image for the New York-centric brand that had often come to be associated more with colorful high-end cigarettes than with premium cigars.

The 1930 Collection, a six-vitola line introduced last year, is a big part of the maker. Using a Dominican wrapper and binder, with long-filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, it boasts a strength level—upper medium—beyond my image of most Nat Shermans.

For this review, I received three Gran Robustos (5.25 x 54) from the company. The stick has an MSRP of $11. Each vitola in the 1930 line comes packaged 24 to a box, except for the Super Lancero (8 x 38), which is in boxes of 10.

The Corojo wrapper makes quite a first impression with a rich and oily appearance. The cigars, rolled at Manuel Quesada’s Dominican factory, are rock hard to the touch but that is, fortunately, no indication of looming problems. Draw and construction are excellent.

The 1930 offers a satisfying smoking experience, an enjoyable cigar that should appeal to nearly any enthusiast. It is not overly complex, though there is some shift in the second half when the spice ramps up a bit. Generally, though, the flavor profile is dark and rich, with leather, coffee beans, and spice.

If the price seems a little steep, bear in mind that the Gran Robusto is quite a bit larger than your typical robusto. Other attractive attributes are tremendous smoke production throughout and a slow, cool burn that results in a lengthy smoke.

I suggest you give the 1930 Collection a try, especially if it has been a while since you smoked a Nat Sherman. It will hold up as an after-dinner cigar or enliven an afternoon. I rate this cigar four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This cigar kicks off like a winner. The Dominican tobaccos create a spicy mix that’s complex and intriguing. The flavors are layered, from fiery peppers to bright clove. It’s a high-flying delight. Only later does it deflate a bit.

In the final third, most of the spice is gone and some burn issues become mildly irritating. But those issues didn’t spoil this smoke, just kept it shy of the pinnacle. Along the way there were numerous other flavors, including cedar, leather, and coffee.

Introduced at last year’s International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Trade Show by La Hoja Cigar Co., I only recently encountered the brand at a local shop. I was a bit hesitant to try it, partly because I’m not a big maduro fan and partly because of Patrick S’s hesitation about an earlier stick from La Hoja. But an enthusiastic recommendation won the day.

My first concern was quickly dispatched. Frankly, I’d never have guessed this cigar was a maduro. I think it’s also considerably different than the line my colleague tried.

The Auténtico Maduro Double Toro, with a price tag of about $12, is a 6.25-inch stick with a ring gauge of 54. It sports a soft box-press with a nice Corojo 2006 maduro wrapper and a “blend of original piloto, ligero, and seco Dominican fillers,” according to the company.

The occasional burn problems were the only construction problems I encountered. It generated a lot of smoke. Strength was in the medium to full range.

This is a cigar well worth picking up, especially if you haven’t tried some of the “new” Dominicans lately. I rate it three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: La Hoja Cigars Instagram

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.”.

After reviewing Dunhill’s new 1907, I was moved to smoke a couple Dunhill Signed Range Toros (MSRP $13.70) that have been in my humidor for quite a while. Now rolled at General Cigar’s Estelí factory, Signed Range has a Nicaraguan wrapper, African Cameroon binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It’s an extraordinarily smooth smoke, mild to medium in strength, with a light, spicy tone over coffee and cocoa. The Toro (6 x 50) burns slowly and is certainly worth a try. Patrick A gave it four stogies back in his 2013 review.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

These days, smokers are more likely to associate the Dunhill name with top-quality pipes (“The White Spot”), long-lamented pipe tobaccos (“Early Morning Pipe”), and high-priced cigarettes (Hunter Thompson’s go-to brand). Among cigars, the trademark name, sliced and diced nowadays to different corporations, is something of a second-place luxury finisher to Davidoff in the U.S. Think Omega vs. Rolex.

Still, a cigar brand with a storied history of more than 100 years and ties to Winston Churchill is one not to be ignored. This new line celebrates that history, named as it is for the year in which Alfred Dunhill opened his first tobacco shop in London.

A limited edition cigar was released seven years ago to mark the centenary. This line, Dunhill’s first since introducing Signed Range in 2001, is “a tribute to the legacy and greatness of this brand rather than the mark of a specific anniversary in time,” General Cigar’s Victoria McKee told me.

She also supplied the three Robustos (5 x 52) I smoked for this review. The cigar costs $8.50. There are three others in the line: Rothschild, Toro, and Churchill, with all four packaged in 18-count boxes.

The 1907 is a varied mix of tobaccos. It sports an oily Honduran Olancho wrapper (a higher priming of the same leaf used on the CAO OSA Sol), a Dominican Olor binder, and what General calls “a proprietary blend of Dominican Ligeros and Brazillian Mata Fina.”

The 1907 starts with a lovely pre-light aroma from the wrapper and the filler. When lit, the first impression comes from a nice blast of pepper that backs down after about a half-inch. At that point, it settles into a rich tobacco taste for a bit. Also fairly prominent in the first half is wood and leather, which I often associate with Honduran tobacco. I’d put the overall strength at about medium.

I encountered a little harshness near the halfway point, but that smoothed out fairly quickly, and some spices moved in and out.

Construction was excellent. The draw was just right on each sample and they burned straight from start to finish.

If you haven’t tried a Dunhill in a while, you might want to give the 1907 a try. I rate it three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys