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.”

Fed up with big fat cigars? Then Crux is your company. This 7-inch perfecto rolls in at a modest 33 ring gauge. I smoked two supplied by Crux, a venture from two suburban Minneapolis tobacco retailers, and found it a nice medium cigar with some pepper, nuts, and floral notes. As is always the case with such thin cigars, getting the draw right can be tricky. And though both had some dicey spots, they were generally OK. Crux lists the blend as a Habano Jalapa wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Viso Estelí filler. The MSRP is $5.99. Production runs are small, so if you want to try one, grab it when you see it.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This is an oldie that remains a goodie.

I’ve long been an Oliva cigar smoker, but in the past couple of years that’s tended to focus on the Serie V, especially the Melanio extension. Frankly, I couldn’t remember the last time I lit up a Serie O. I reviewed the Toro back in 2008, knocking it down a bit for performance problems.

The four Serie O Robustos—in the typical 5-inch, 50 ring gauge format—I smoked for this review had none of those. In fact, the burn, draw, ash, and smoke production were all excellent.

It’s a tasty Nicaraguan puro with a sun-grown Habano wrapper, and Habano filler from several regions of the country.

The Robusto is fairly complex, shifting gears along the way as it produces notes of spice, cedar, and earthiness. It’s never harsh, and the finish is delicately pleasing. Through the years, both Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Journal have awarded the Serie O vitolas high marks.

I think the Robusto is just about ideal for this blend. It’s big enough to supply the various tastes, but not so much cigar that it devolves a sense of sameness. You put it down wanting more, not wishing there had been less. And we can’t ignore the price. Coming in at only a shade over $100 for a box of 20, the Robusto Serie O is a genuine bargain.

If you, like me, haven’t smoked one in a while, I highly recommend you give it a try. I’ve enjoyed these so much I plan to check some of the other Oliva lines I haven’t had in years.

As for the Serie O Robusto, 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

I’ve smoked a number of these over several months and found them to be amazingly consistent in both flavor, strength, and performance. The beautiful, light honey-brown Habano wrapper, grown in Brazil, is topped with a perfectly applied cap. The burn line is truly razor sharp, the draw near ideal.

The excellent construction and consistency are a testament to the care and attention to detail by both La Palina brand owner Bill Paley and factory owner Abe Flores in the Dominican Republic.

With medium strength and body, La Palina Classic features an Ecuadorian binder with filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican. It begins with a bready, yeasty tone that’s quickly augmented by a little pepper. That pepper ramps up as you smoke through the six-inch Toro, and some sweetness emerges as a presence as well about a third of the way down.

I get light chocolate on the finish, and the earthy aroma from the smoke is both noticeable and pleasant.

This is not so much a complex cigar that takes off in different directions, but one that begins with a harmonious blend and makes subtle riffs on the dominant themes.

At $7.75 per stick, this 50-ring gauge vitola fits comfortably with the Classic’s aim of being a more affordable line that maintains La Palina’s quality. My colleague Patrick S gave the Robusto high marks about a year ago. A few months later, in a Quick Smoke, he praised the Corona.

This cigar is one I would recommend to anyone, from newcomer to old-timer. For me, the La Palina Classic Toro earns four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

These days, many of you probably have one eye on the rising thermometer and the other on those Churchills and 60-ring gauge behemoths that have been resting in your humidor through the frigid winter months. What, after all, is more pleasant than a long, sunny afternoon relaxing with a fine, good-sized smoke?

But that doesn’t mean you should forget all about smaller cigars. The need for a quicker smoke can crop up any time. Be prepared. So here are three suggestions for cigars that offer smoking satisfaction in small packages. They’re a testament to the fact that smaller smokes don’t have to be lesser creations. Each of these lines is consistent, excellently constructed, widely available, and reasonably priced.

Partagas 1845 Corona Extra. A 4.5-inch beauty that showcases an oily, reddish Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that’s highlighted by a 46-ring gauge. The Dominican and Nicaraguan filler is aged in rum barrels. It’s power-packed and not quite as smooth as its larger brethren.

Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story: Everyone’s favorite diminutive perfecto. Whether you’re smoking the sweet and spicy Cameroon wrapper version or the more difficult-to-find maduro, the 4-inch Short Story is a guaranteed pleaser. If you have a little more time, try the Between the Lines or Best Seller vitolas.

Aging Room F55 Stretto: The 4.5-inch, 46-ring gauge stick’s big brother was Cigar Aficionado’s top non-Cuban of 2013. This one’s nearly as good, though it can become a bit harsh if not smoked very slowly. As you might expect from a vitola with a musical name, this is one harmonious blend, setting off the aged Indonesian Sumatra wrapper and Dominican filler.

So, select your favorites and keep a supply on hand. Don’t get caught up short. And let us know what some of your preferred short smokes are in the comments.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Recently, Jeff and Sara Mouttet, owners of Riverside Cigar Shop and Lounge in Jeffersonville, Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville, sent us a couple of samples of their new House Blend.

I always find the story of a new cigar intriguing, so I posed some questions about this venture to Jeff via email. And, indeed, it turns out to be an interesting story.

Stogie Guys: Your website shows a very extensive selection of top boutique cigars. What made you decide you needed to add your own line?

Jeff Mouttet: There were several factors that led us to the decision, but first and foremost, we always wanted our own blend and always planned on doing one as soon as the time was right. Additionally, we’ve made good friends with many outstanding boutique cigar makers (Skip Martin and Mike Rosales, Sean Williams, Gary Griffith, Chris Kelly, Enrique Sanchez, Noel Rojas, Sam Leccia, etc.) and we wanted to work with them to do something for us. Lastly, it’s a good business move. We’ve been fortunate to build a loyal clientele over the last three years, and it’s surprising how many people ask if we have our own cigars. Well, now we do.

SG: Walk us briefly through the process of going from idea to cigars on the shelf.

JM: It’s kind of funny, because I had Manny Iriarte design the band over two years ago, but the cigar just now happened. Noel Rojas came through the store on a trip through the area and House of Emilio asked if we minded if he stopped by for a night and did a quick rolling demonstration and, being up for most anything, we said yes. So during the course of the night, after everybody raved about how good Noel’s cigars were, Noel and I sat down and talked numbers, blends, volumes, etc., and we decided right then and there to go ahead and do it. As far as the process, I leaned pretty heavily on Noel’s expertise. I’m a cigar smoker—have been for 30 years—but I’m no blender. Not even close. Maybe one day, but at this point, we left most of that to Noel, and I’ve got to say, I’m glad we did, because he did a fantastic job.

SG: Did you have a specific profile in mind from the start, or did you explore a variety of blends until you found one you liked?

JM: We did have a specific strength profile in mind, not so much a flavor profile. We tried several blends, and ended up with the Ecuador Habano with Nica filler and binder.

SG: What has been the most difficult part? The biggest surprise?

JM: Waiting, shipping, customs, and “Central American Time” have been the most difficult parts of the equation. Well, those, and getting the bands to Nicaragua. The biggest surprise has been the reception of the cigar. We’ve sold nearly 1,500 cigars (all we had made for the first run) in a little less than a month, and that’s just on-premise sales.

SG: Do you have a plan to produce more cigars, maybe distribute them, or will this be it?

JM: Our goal over the next 2 years is to introduce at least two more cigars to the market. We’ve talked to both RoMa Craft and Tesa Cigars about an ongoing manufacturing relationship and both are receptive to the idea. Ideally, we’d like to have “house blends,” or Riverside exclusive blends, make up around 30-40% of our boutique line sales. Distribution is a little trickier if we keep the Riverside name on the cigars, but that may be something we address in the future. I know I would have trouble justifying somebody else’s store name in my humidor, so let’s just say we’re sensitive to that issue. At the same time, I think the quality of the cigars we’re making merits distribution, so we’ll explore that when it looks more feasible.

SG: Are you doing any mail-order or telephone sales for those outside your area who want to try the Riverside House Blend?

JM: Yes. You can call 812-284-6198 or email me at jeff@riversidecigars.com and we’ll be glad to ship. Given all the recent credit card issues we can only take Visa over the phone, but we do have a PayPal account for the store, too, so we have a couple of ways you can pay.

–George E

photo credit: Riverside Cigar Shop

A path to prominence in the cigar business can follow any of a number of routes. Consider for a minute the divergent ways that big players—people like Rocky Patel, Don Pepín García, Ernesto-Perez Carrillo, Dion Giolito, Sam Lecia, just to name a few—earned their reputations.

A.J. Fernandez rode a wave of catalog/online sales to cigar stardom. With Mayimbe, Spanish for “big shot,” he’s making another move.

This high-dollar cigar is a big ring gauge line (all 56) to compete with the likes of top Tatuajes and Fuentes. To my taste, Fernandez succeeded. He created a cigar with power and flavor that stands apart from most others in the humidor.

Mayimbe is described as a limited edition, packaged in boxes of 10 with a run of 2,500 boxes in each of four vitolas. The five-inch Robusto runs a bit over $14 per stick. Rolled at Fernandez’s Nicaraguan factory, the cigar features a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and a Jamastran Honduran filler blended with Nicaraguan tobaccos and what’s called “AJF Privatio,” which I assume is a strain grown on the Ferandez farm.

The line sports a very large band as well as a foot wrap with the AJF logo. I’ve smoked two, supplied by the manufacturer in a sampler that included other Fernandez cigars.

Mayimbe is a tasty, complex cigar that’s up on the strength scale. The primary flavors are cedar and pepper, which ebb and flow throughout the length of the stick. Along the way, I also get some leather, which I often associate with Honduran tobacco, an interesting floral note, and an occasional nuttiness. This is a cigar that commands—and repays—careful attention. With its extra two inches, I can’t help but wonder what the fat Churchill would be like.

Construction and burn are excellent, as is smoke production. Strength is in the medium- to full-bodied range with a nice finish.

If you’re a Fernandez fan from his catalog productions like Man O’War or his widely available San Lotano smokes, you may find Mayimbe a bit of a surprise. For those who’ve never tried a Fernandez stick, Mayimbe could be a fine introduction. It earns a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–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.”

Each year, it seems, the hoopla and accoutrements surrounding Avo Uvezian’s birthday cigar just keep growing. The 2014 offering—a Dominican puro belicoso (6 x 52)—is no different. The name reflects his 88th birthday, the number of piano keys, and total production (8,888 boxes of 16). I was intrigued with the cigar’s start, a nice hot pepper with grassy undertones that nearly reversed after an inch or so, attended by a syrupy sweetness. Tons of smoke, good burn, flaky ash. About halfway through, however, the grassiness became dominant and mowed down my enjoyment. If you can afford a box ($256) for aging, my guess is that after a few years it’ll be a great smoke. But at this point I can’t recommend spending $16 for one.

Verdict = Hold.

–George E

photo credit: Avo Cigars