The Stogie Guys

As cigar podcasting pioneers, Bob McDuffee and Dale Roush caused quite a stir when they announced last month that they’ll cease regular programs of DogWatch Cigar Radio at the end of the year. With more than 400 shows, the podcast has explored just about every aspect of cigars and expanded to a wide-ranging website, CigarMedia.tv. They’ve also introduced numerous smokers, retailers, manufacturers, products, and cigars to a world-wide audience.

I’ve been a listener since the show’s debut back in 2005 when it wasn’t quite so cigar-centric. I finally met Bob and Dale, as well as Bob’s wife, Liz, earlier this year when they held a DogWatch Herf across the state from me in Melbourne, Florida. So, when I heard the announcement I decided to follow up by email with Bob.

Stogie Guys: First, I understand Dale recently suffered a mild heart attack. How is he doing?

Bob McDuffee: Dale is well. The issue was minor, although he is looking ahead to surgery. For now he is resting at home and doing well.

SG: What are your cigar plans after the show ends?

BM: My plans are open-ended. After almost eight years of being on the show every Friday night (there were two shows I missed), it feels strange. Kind of like retiring and having lots of time on your hands. There have been several requests to continue the show in some format, and I am considering those. I hope to do more writing on the site as Cigar Curmudgeon and perhaps do short video/audio segments for release as well, but on an irregular schedule. I also have some comedy video ideas in my head that I cannot seem to get out. I recently began riding a bicycle again and have an idea for making your bicycle smoker friendly. Also, Google+ has become my micro-blog and it pushes out to Facebook as well as Twitter.

SG: You and Dale built up quite a following through the years. Are you planning to keep in touch through other ventures?

BM: Cigar Curmudgeon has always been a vehicle that I wanted to do more with, since writing is an activity I enjoy. Liz and I are planning to attend more events now that we have some free time. I think that after a short hiatus I will be longing for ways to reconnect. We have made so very many friends over the years, and I want to stay in touch with all of them. I will miss getting to talk with so many wonderful people from all over the globe. We have listeners in France, Great Britain, and the Middle East that we have never met in person but feel like they are part of the DogWatch family.

SG: Any idea how many weekly listeners you have?

BM: Our most recent statistics indicate about 20,000 downloads per month.

SG: What’s your biggest takeaway from DogWatch? What things have made the biggest impression on you?

BM: DogWatch opened the door for Liz and I to become certified through Tobacconist University, meet many friends, and be a part of a wonderful industry. It is difficult to name one single takeaway, but if I had to I would sum it up as the people. Manufacturers, retailers, and cigar passionados all made the effort worthwhile. Dale has been a great partner in this, and I will miss our weekly get-togethers.

SG: A lot of cigar podcasts have come and gone since you and Dale started. What’s the secret of your longevity, and what advice would you offer someone who wants to start?

BM: My advice would be don’t underestimate the time and work required. It helps if you have no social life, and you must have the support of the significant people in your life. Without the support of Liz all these years I could not have given up so many weekend trips, Friday nights, and money to make this happen. You have to really enjoy what you are doing to make it last. We have sincerely enjoyed DogWatch and the people involved in it. Life takes its own direction sometimes. Over the course of this show Dale and I have changed and grown in so many personal ways. Since starting DogWatch in 2005, I have lost my mother, one brother, grandfather, both in-laws, and been blessed with six grandchildren. I have smoked thousands of good cigars and a few not so good cigars. DogWatch has forever made an imprint on my life.

StogieGuys.com would like to thank Bob for taking the time to talk with us, and we wish Dale all the best for a speedy recovery.

–George E

photo credit: CigarMedia.tv

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.”

I have no idea how I ended up with these smokes, though I’m not surprised one sat in my humidor for two years. I don’t smoke many Rocky Patel cigars, and I have no idea how I ended up with this one, though I imagine it was in some giveaway or other. It’s a cheap smoke: $55 for 20 from Cigars International, which seems to be its home. With a corojo wrapper and Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos, you’d expect some flavor. You’d be wrong. While not unpleasant, the R4 is monochromatic and, at this size in particular (7.5 x 52) boring. Burn, draw, and smoke production were all fine. Just not much taste. I also didn’t notice significant difference in the aged version and the younger one I smoked.

Verdict = Sell.

–George E

photo credit: N/A

In this latest segment of Random Thoughts from the Humidor, I ponder newspaper names, one of my favorite new cigars, fancy humidors, and pre-light aromas.

Just What this Country Needs

As a retired journalist, I’m always interested in newspapers. Recently I came across the first mention I’d seen of a college paper that’s my new favorite: The Good 5¢ Cigar. It’s the student paper at the University of Rhode Island. According to Wikipedia, the paper was born after an earlier paper printed in 1971 a blank edition with only the words: “This is what you deserve.” That paper was shuttered and the new one got its name when editors recast Vice President Thomas Marshall’s famous line to “All this campus needs is a good five-cent cigar.”

Magnificent Melanio

It’s nice to have your opinions validated, and I felt that way when flipping through the latest issue of Cigar Snob magazine. Leading off the coverage of the summer’s industry trade show was its choice of the best new cigar. They chose Oliva’s Melanio. Although I didn’t get an opportunity to visit Oliva when I was at the show, I’ve been most enthusiastic since encountering Melanio.

High-End Humidors

I don’t remember how I came to view the Website for JR-Quality, woodworkers extraordinaire. The two Austrian artists, based in Chicago, do restoration as well as create an array of items from furniture to cigar humidors. Although they may be beyond the price range of most of us, their humidors are wonderful creations. Take a look. That way you’ll be ready when you win the lottery.

Appreciating the Fragrance

One of the most satisfying and, I fear, least indulged aspects of cigar appreciation is the pre-light aroma of the wrapper. “Barnyard” seems to be the most frequent description, a wonderful bouquet but by no means the only one. I thought about this recently when I ran a San Cristobal under my nose and was knocked out by the sweet mixture of fragrances. A CyB produced similar delight with an altogether rich and different experience. I find some cigars have most distinctive wrapper aroma. The Padrón 1000s series, for example, always reminds me of nuts. Before you light up again, take a moment to appreciate the olfactory properties.

–George E

photo credit: Wikipedia

The next step in the conflict over the FDA’s plan to regulate premium cigars is likely to come from the agency rather than Congress. An FDA spokeswoman told me that there’s no date set for issuing a proposed rule, which it first broached in the spring of 2011. “Sometime in the future,” was as close as she said she could come on the timing.

When the rule is published in the Federal Register, there will be a period for public comment, likely at least 45 days. To make sure you know what’s going on and have an opportunity to register your view when the FDA begins action, sign up for an email subscription to “This Week in CTP.”

Recent elections had an impact on the legislative efforts to stop the FDA, which we touched on earlier this month. The effects were stronger in the House of Representatives, where the bill to protect cigars (HR 1639) had bipartisan support from more than half the members. The bill’s author, Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), won re-election and remains committed to it. I talked to George Cecala in his office, and he told me they’re continuing to educate members and to build support.

I have a call in to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) who introduced the Senate version, and I’ll let you know what I hear from them.

As you’re no doubt aware by now, the likelihood of FDA regulation devastating the cigar industry is very real. I believe the efforts of cigar smokers helped build support for the legislation, and if you haven’t gotten in touch with your elected officials, there’s no time like now. Just search “1639” on Stogie Guys and you’ll find everything you need to know.

This is no time to let up. Every cigar smoker needs to stay involved and help win this fight.

–George E

photo credit: FDA

I was stunned when I learned about North Dakota voting for an extremely restrictive smoking ban. I lived for a couple of years in the Great Plains, and it isn’t the area I think would take such action. In fact, an oft-repeated joke was, “People say Midwesterners don’t question things. But that’s not true. They question everything. The question they ask is, ‘Why would we want to do that?’”

If you’re not familiar with North Dakota, here are a few random facts from my research to provide a little prospective. The population is under 700,000, putting it above only Vermont and Wyoming. Republicans have a near-lock on statewide political offices. It has the lowest state unemployment rate (3%), ranks 24th in percentage of cigarette smokers, is home to three of the nation’s 100 poorest counties, and ranks 41st in per capita income. Among its attractions are Salem Sue, the world’s largest cow (six tons of fiberglass); the geographic center of North America in Rugby; the Roger Maris Baseball Museum; and numerous wildlife refuges and parks.

Other November referendums were to repeal a poll tax on the books for more than 100 years (approved) and to strengthen what have been described as extraordinarily lax animal cruelty laws (defeated).

“I thought we would be one of the last places this would happen,” said Todd Pryor in Minot, North Dakota, home to a noted Air Force base. “You know, cowboys…” For Pryor, with whom I spoke by phone, this isn’t a philosophical discussion. It’s business, pure and simple. Or, perhaps more accurately, lack of business.

Pryor is the owner of the Great Plains Smoke Shop in Minot, one of the few traditional tobacco shops in the state. His shop is also coupled with a cigar bar, where smoking had been permitted. Under the new law, that’s forbidden. And Pryor can’t simply open a smoking lounge in the shop portion because the law bans that, too.

Before the election, Pryor said, there was little, if any, opposition activity from tobacco companies, smoking rights groups, or even electronic cigarette organizations, whose non-tobacco devices fall under the law as well. The only news coverage I could find on the potential impact focused exclusively on cigarette smoking, and a reporter who covered the issue in Fargo, North Dakota’s largest city, told me she hadn’t written about cigars.

When the law goes into effect, probably next month, Pryor’s only smoking option will be to set up a patio area at least 20 feet from the shop’s door, with just a roof or fence allowed as structures. Even with heaters and thermal underwear, outdoor smoking in Minot—where the average high doesn’t even hit 60 degrees seven months of the year and rests below freezing in December, January, and February—is at best a sometimes thing.

Pryor said he doesn’t know yet what the impact of the ban will be on his seven-year-old shop. He’s not sure he’ll be able to keep the bar going. And how do his customers feel about all this? “They’re pissed as hell,” Pryor said.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

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 new line from Joya de Nicaragua, originally named Cuenca y Blanco, marks the debut blend from José Blanco after he left La Aurora. He’s the B; Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca is the C. They’ve put together a cigar that boasts a wide range of tobaccos: filler from Nicaragua and Peru, a Dominican binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper with a marvelous pre-light aroma. It’s a tasty, balanced cigar that isn’t as high-powered as the typical Joya de Nicaragua production. Weighing in at 6.25 inches long with a ring gauge of 52, the Torpedo Especial has a sharp head and excellent construction. At about $10, it’s a bit expensive, but well worth a try.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Sometimes those of us who devote lots of time and energy to cigars forget that there are many, many smokers who enjoy them but aren’t nearly as involved. They may not have the time or the inclination—or both—to delve deeply into such topics as the differences in Nicaraguan tobaccos grown in various regions of the country, or a comparison of the relative merits of entubar and accordion bunching.

No problem. After all, cigar smoking should be about enjoyment. For some, that means acquiring and evaluating lots of information. For others, it means just lighting up. But in reading various cigar forums, I know there are always newcomers confused by some of the basics. Here are a few explanations that I hope will help.

Wrapper. This is the leaf that covers the cigar, the tobacco that you see. The varieties and origins can seem nearly infinite. Despite what you may hear, a darker wrapper does not automatically mean a stronger cigar. Maduro (Spanish for ripe or mature) wrappers darken as they’re processed and often have a sweeter characteristic.

Filler. This tobacco comprises the majority of the cigar and forms the inner component. Premium cigars are nearly always long-filler, meaning the tobacco runs the length of the cigar. Chopped, cut, or sandwich filler is usually found in less expensive cigars, and it usually consists of clippings from long-filler cigars.

Construction. There are many ways to make cigars, but the most basic categories are machine-made and handmade. Most machine-made cigars use homogenized tobacco, paper, and other components and, for my taste, these bear about as much resemblance to premium cigars as does chalk to cheese. (You can read more of my thoughts on them here.) Premium cigars are almost always hand-rolled, though that includes the use of some tools, even mechanical ones such as the Lieberman machine. Premium cigars are 100% tobacco.

Resources. Well, you’re already at the best one, right? Explore the categories at the top of this page and use the search function for whatever is on your mind. If you need more, try our Cigar University or Tobacconist University. And for those interested in history, nothing comes close to the extraordinary National Cigar Museum.

And if you have other questions about cigar basics or more advanced curiosities, please let us know in the comments below.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys