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.”

If there’s ever an oily-wrapper contest, enter this cigar. The Nicaraguan corojo Habano wrapper glistens so well that you might be afraid it will slide through your fingers. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the rest of this Kristoff offering nearly as enchanting. The touted spice barely made an appearance, and a wavering burn required numerous touch-ups. While by no means a bad cigar, there wasn’t enough complexity or subtleness for a smoke this long to hold my interest.

Verdict = Hold.

–George E

photo credit: N/A

In this segment of Random Thoughts from the Humidor, I look at a rousing success, a continuing failure, and the burning of something other than tobacco.

A True Cigar King

First, some good news. In a recent essay in The Tampa Tribune, King Corona Cigars owner Don Barco explored the comeback in the city’s one-time cigar manufacturing hub, Ybor City. For cigar lovers, the most telling parts came when Barco talked about recent trends at his restaurant/bar/café/cigar shop situated on East Seventh Avenue, the district’s main drag. Barco wrote that 2010 was his best since opening 14 years ago, even better than during the ’90s boom. Then, 2011 beat it in sales, “and as the year ended we had our best week of business since the Super Bowl of 2009.” I’ve never met Barco, but I’m sure I’d enjoy having a cigar with him. His shop is my favorite place to enjoy a smoke in Ybor, and StogieGuys.com has sung the praises of one of his house brands, Ybor City Handmades. It’s great to salute a cigar success.

Cuba: Good and Bad

Last year Cigar Aficionado published a colorful report of Havana’s top tourist spots. For a view of life on the island for those who live there, check the March 24-30 issue of The Economist. Its 10-page report has such startling revelations as the fact that while state farms hold 75% of Cuba’s agricultural land, 45% of it was idle and weed-choked as of 2007; the post office sells email access for $1.50 a minute; and Cuba is the only Latin American country with a declining population, a population whose percentage of those under 15 and those over 60 is about equal.

Where There’s This Smoke, There’s Definitely Fire

If you’re involved in fighting smoking restrictions, you can likely find some interesting facts in an InvestigateWest report on the health dangers of wood smoke. For example, Washington state’s “Ecology Department estimates that sooty pollution from sources including wood smoke and diesel exhaust contributes to 1,100 deaths and $190 million in health costs annually.” And among the hazardous chemicals released by burning wood are the carcinogen benzene and carbon monoxide, linked to heart damage. But not a lot is being done because of the high costs and potential punitive impact on poor people who rely on wood for heat. My point isn’t to argue for more restrictions. I think this kind of information can be used to point out to lawmakers that there are many risks and to question whether it’s fair to focus on tobacco simply because it’s an easy target. If air quality is such a vital concern, shouldn’t it be dealt with in a comprehensive fashion? It might well be asked, when do they plan to take action on fireplaces and wood stoves?

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

Like my colleagues, I’m an unabashed fan of Paul Gamirian’s cigars. I can’t think of one I’ve smoked I didn’t find to be excellent, and I’d heartily agree with Patrick A’s five-stogie review of the Symphony 20th. That cigar would be on my desert island list.

But until recently I’d not only never smoked anything from the PG Artisan’s Passion line, I‘d never seen them. And even though Patrick S reviewed it in 2011, I wanted to sing its praises as well.

This three-cigar line stands out for quite a few reasons. Perhaps most noticeable is the price. The short robusto is $7.60 and each of the others rises by 60 cents. For a manufacturer who specializes in finely crafted, aged cigars blended from top-grade tobaccos, that’s a good price.

Another noticeable factor is a powerful, full-bodied smoke that’s composed of all Dominican tobaccos, still unusual this many years after the introduction of Opus X.

The 52-ring gauge cigar starts with pepper that recedes quickly, overtaken by a pleasant taste of grass and hay. It produces tons of smoke from the start and burns evenly from beginning to end.

At the halfway point of the six-inch stick, there’s a terrific mix of spice and sweetness that carries through for another inch or so. The blend is incredibly smooth and the finish is great.

If you’re lucky enough to find this cigar, light it up. I think you’ll agree that it earns four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I think it was Woody Allen who said 80 percent of life is showing up. Well, I got part of my percent the other day when I won a box of Di Fazio Picoso Torpedos from The Cigar Station last month for what I believe was the electronic equivalent of showing. I registered at the site, which plays music, interviews, and other cigar-related material.

I’ve smoked a couple, and they’re nice cigars—spicy, well-made, and smooth. Di Fazio  is a relatively new company, starting operations in 2008 with headquarters in Miami. The Picoso is made in Honduras, and I wrote a Quick Smoke on the Churchill last year.

I thought I should share my good fortune, so we’ve cooked up another contest to give StogieGuys.com readers a chance to win a Picoso five-pack. The goal of this contest is to support the backbone of our hobby: the cigar shop. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post that includes this sentence:

“I will buy a cigar in person at a cigar shop the next time I get a chance.”

For most of us, that’s a pretty simple promise. Some of you, though, live a long way from a B&M. That’s OK. We trust you. If you say you’ll do it, you’ll do it, whether it’s tomorrow or two years from now. You’re all on the honor system.

Here’s the fine print: Please enter only once. Include an email address so we can contact you to get your mailing address if you win. (If you’re concerned about spammers, feel free to wrinkle it up by spelling “@” or writing .com as “.cXX”. Just don’t make it so clever that we can’t figure it out.) The winner will be chosen at random in a week, and the judges’ decision is final. The rest of the fine print can be read here.

Since Di Fazio was kind enough to supply the cigar, I’d recommend you purchase one from their lines if the shop you visit carries them. But whatever you buy, enjoy it. And tell ’em StogieGuys.com sent you.

–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.”

Boutique manufacturer Viaje has made quite a name for itself in the cigar world with limited run smokes and sharp marketing. The Oro is a Nicaraguan puro with a double binder and a Corojo ’99 wrapper. I smoked the Delicado, a 6-inch stick with a ring gauge of 50. I found it a well-made, enjoyable smoke, though not as full-bodied or complex as advertised. At around $8, it’s not one I’d reach for over and over, but a nice selection every once in awhile.

Verdict = Hold.

–George E

photo credit: N/A

The other evening we streamed an old movie to our television and not long into it I got a surprise. One of the actors reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar.

But that wasn’t the surprise. The movie, The Spanish Cape Mystery, was the first Ellery Queen film, and it was released in 1935. In that era, cigar smoking was common. You’d even see photos of Marlene Dietrich sporting a cigar in the 1930s. No, the surprise came as I watched Berton Churchill—not only aptly named for a cigar smoker, but a long-time actor and Screen Actors Guild founder you’d almost certainly recognize if you watch many pre-1940 movies—slide the cigar from a cellophane sleeve. I knew cellophane had been around a long time, but I had no idea it was used on cigars back then.

So I immediately turned to my buddy Doc Stogie, who I always think of as a font of cigar knowledge, from major to minutia. In fact, Doc’s website is so focused on education, he recently changed it from a .com domain to one that ends with .info.

Doc, of course, knew just where to turn for a definitive answer: Tony Hyman, whose National Cigar Museum is an online treasure. (Warning: Don’t go there unless you have time to while away because you’ll be deeply immersed in the fascinating photos, stories, and lore before you know it.)

The cellophane story goes back a ways before the 1930s and isn’t quite straightforward, according to what Doc reported.

“In 1921, domestic cigar makers started making short-filler cigars to better compete in the post-war boom,” he wrote. “Since short-filled dried out more
rapidly, cigar makers employed foil to preserve cigars.”

Then, in 1931, tobacco giant P. Lorillard began using cellophane on its Postmaster cigars, which listed at 2 for 5 cents in boxes of 100, Doc told me.

And the kicker? Well, Doc let me know that in the same year, Cornell University issued a solemn warning against “eating transparent wrappings
(cellophane) of cigars and other articles.”

There you have it. While it doesn’t quite live up to the intrigue of the Spanish Cape Mystery, the Tale of the Cellophane Conundrum is solved.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

I happened upon this stick at a local shop and couldn’t resist the dark, oily wrapper, the considerable heft, and a price tag around $7.25 a stick. I chose the smaller of the two sizes, a 52-ring gauge smoke that’s 5.5 inches long.

The limited edition did not disappoint. It’s a Dominican puro, but like so many cigars from the Dominican Republic these days, the Oktoberfest has little in common with what many of us think of as the light, toasty, typical smoke from that country.

The flavors are dark, rich, and full. Strength is medium to full, though light on nicotine punch.

From the first, the cigar produces smoke like a three-alarm fire. Quesada—which cleverly incorporated the German flag’s colors in the band along with its trademark tobacco leaf Q—promotes it as a cigar to pair with Oktoberfest-style beer. I’m not much of a beer drinker, so I can’t comment on that. I have smoked mine with coffee, and I can say that is a great match.

The Bavarian is a complex experience with flavors of dark cherry, burnt coffee, and an occasional bitter bite that sets them off well. The last third injects some tobacco sweetness into the mix.

The only negative was the burn. As you might expect, the wrapper didn’t burn as easily as the filler and binder and several touch-ups were necessary along the way.

This cigar strikes me as a good candidate for aging. A few years in the humidor could lead to an even smoother smoke.

If you see the Bavarian, or the larger Uber, and, like me, can’t resist, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It earns four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: @WMThorne