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.”

Part of Smoke Inn’s longstanding Microblend Series—which commissions custom, limited edition blends from top manufacturers—the Pope of Greenwich Village is crafted by Drew Estate exclusively for the Florida-based retailer. The single-vitola (6 x 40) cigar, named for the 1984 black comedy film of the same title, sports a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Connecticut stalk-cut Habano binder, and Brazilian Mata Fina and Nicaraguan fillers. Fans of Undercrown will find familiar flavors, along with a hearty dose of red pepper, espresso, pecan, and dry oak. Construction is exquisite, and the panatela size is as enjoyable as it is refreshing. You can get a ten-pack for $85 or a five-pack for $42.50; I suggest you do so, especiallyif you’re appreciative of the Drew Estate approach to blending and prefer thinner-format smokes.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Old Henry, a house blend made for Holt’s Cigar Company by none other than José “Pepín” García. Holt’s, as you may know, is the Philadelphia tobacconist that launched the Ashton brand in 1985 and today maintains a strong catalog and online presence. That means you don’t have to traipse to 1522 Walnut Street in downtown Philadelphia to get your hands on some Old Henry smokes.

Over the past decade, Old Henry has built a reputation as a cost-conscious way to get a Pepín-made cigar. The seven vitolas range in price from $3 for the Runt (4.5 x 42) to $4.60 for the Champion (6.25 x 56), when purchased by the box of 25. Holt’s describes Old Henry as “a best-selling cigar with an avid cult following.”

It’s probably no surprise, then, that the Old Henry portfolio has grown over the years. Additions have included Gold Label (Connecticut-seed Ecuadorian wrapper), Maduro (Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper), and the subject of today’s review: Pure Breed.

The Pure Breed recipe consists of an oscuro-grade Ecuador Sumatra wrapper around “well-aged, vintage Nicaraguan filler components” with a Nicaraguan binder. It comes in four vitolas—Churchill (7 x 49), Grandshire (5.5 x 60), Robusto (5 x 54), and Toro (6 x 52)—and is marketed as “a unique medium- to full-bodied smoking experience.”

I sampled two Pure Breed Toros for this review, both of which were provided to me by Holt’s. This format costs $6.50 for a single or $93.95 for a box of 25. It boasts a clean, attractive wrapper with tight seams and minimal veins. The pungent pre-light notes are sweet hay and cocoa powder, and the cold draw has a fair amount of resistance.

Once an even light is established, right off the bat you’ll find a hearty dose of red and black pepper with some creamy sweetness and roasted nuts in the background. Marshmallow, dry oak, and dried fruit are apparent through the retrohale. The abundant resting smoke is sweet and aromatic with a mouth-watering chocolaty appeal.

As the Toro progresses, there short spurts when the taste turns light and papery. Just when I think the flavor is fading, though, I’ll happily find a burst of creaminess and sweetness to pique my attention and enjoyment. The finale ushers in a reprise of Pepín’s signature blast of pepper.

Construction is pretty good throughout. Both samples exhibited fairly straight burns that only required a touch-up here and there. The ash holds well. And the draw, while a bit stiff at first, opens almost immediately to provide abundant smoke with easy puffs.

If you’re a Pepín fan, you can’t afford to not give the cigars in the Old Henry portfolio a try. I doubt any of them will knock your socks off with incredible complexity, but the bang-for-your-buck value is tough to beat. My advice is to pick up the Best in Show sampler, which features two Toros from each of the four Old Henry blends for just $29.95 ($3.74 per cigar).

The Pure Breed Toro might be the highlight of the assortment, with its abundant flavor and sweet creaminess. In my book it earns a solid rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

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.”

The last two Halloween-themed Monster Series releases from Tatuaje were The Jekyll (2014) and The Hyde (2015). The former featured a lighter Ecuadorian Sancti Spíritus wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, whereas the latter sported a darker Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. I liked both, and was pleased to recently discover I still have The Hyde (7 x 49) in stock. So I decided to take one for a test drive to see if it had changed since I reviewed it in November. Granted, when it comes to cigar aging, four months isn’t a long time, and I therefore wasn’t expecting a wildly different experience. What I found was very similar to my review (and my memory). The Hyde is a veritable candy bar with medium-bodied notes of sweet cream, chocolate, mint, graham cracker, and a little background pepper. I liked it then, and I like it now.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A couple weeks ago, on February 13, I asked Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac to join me for lunch. We both happened to be in Austin for the weekend (I live in Chicago, he makes his home in Estelí, Nicaragua), and we both happen to enjoy over-eating BBQ.

Our get together—which ended up being almost a whole day—afforded me the opportunity to visit RoMa Craft Tobac’s new headquarters, as well as gather some interesting information about what many consider to be one of the world’s premier boutique tobacco outfits. So today I figured I’d share some highlights from our visit, as well as a few photos.

First off, anyone who follows Skip Martin on social media knows he loves to take pictures of his food almost as much as he loves eating. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to snap a pic of him taking a picture of our mountain of meat at Stiles Switch, a top-notch BBQ joint he recommended. If you have the opportunity, make sure to stop by. I’d especially recommend the beef rib and the jalapeño sausage.

After consuming mass quantities of meat, we took a 20-minute drive north to stop by an office park just off US-183. There, Skip and his business partner Mike Rosales are in the process of transforming a former industrial facility into RoMa Craft Tobac’s headquarters. This destination is expected to be more than just a location to receive shipments from Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño and fulfill orders. The duo is also outfitting the 4,000-square-foot space with a craft beer bar and other cigar-friendly amenities so they can welcome interested tobacconists (by appointment), display their cigar lineup, and entertain.

Nica Sueño, the Estelí factory managed by Martin, is currently manufacturing 1.2 million cigars per year. Most of these cigars are sold to RoMa Craft, which is a separate company. These cigars will arrive in Austin already aged, boxed, and packaged, where they will be housed in a humidified storage room until they are shipped across the country.

Work at the headquarters is still underway, yet it’s certainly a welcoming space to enjoy a cigar or two right now—especially if Martin shares a little of his extensive craft beer collection (I think he said he had over 2,000 bottles on site). We had cigars at this conference table while sampling a few fine beers.

Speaking of beer, Skip assured me no visit to Austin would be complete without a stop at Jester King, a brewery about 40 minutes southwest of RoMa Craft. This place was well worth the drive for several reasons. First, the picturesque grounds struck me as more vineyard than brewery (think Texas hill country), with ample outdoor space to enjoy a cigar while taking in the view. Second, Jester King’s lineup of “wild ales” and “spontaneously fermented beers” is a joy to taste and learn about. And third, Jester King exchanges its rare beers with many other craft breweries, enabling visitors to purchase hard-to-find beers not only from Jester King’s stock, but from breweries all over the world.

While the RoMa Craft headquarters in Austin is not intended for retail or walk-ins, Skip says you should have the chance to check it out at one of the twice-yearly BBQ events he plans to throw starting this summer. These CroMagnon Culture gatherings—which will feature cigars, BBQ, and craft beer—will be ideal for those who want to learn about cigars without making the trip all the way to Nicaragua.

–Patrick A

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.”

While the small Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño in Estelí makes many excellent cigars, the Intemperance BA XXI A.W.S. IV is my absolute favorite. This Arapiraca-wrapped lonsdale (6.5 x 44) is the perfect format to enjoy the outstanding Intemperance blend, which also includes an Indonesian binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. For the very fair price of $7.50, you get a well-balanced profile of red and black pepper along with notes of cocoa, sweet cream, roasted nut, and dry wood. Construction is always impeccable. Consider this Quick Smoke an affirmation of my review two years ago that awarded this cigar our top rating.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

One of my 2016 resolutions is to ensure we update our Question of the Month (found in our right-hand sidebar) monthly. Last year, far too often our reader poll got neglected. So I recently took down January’s question and, as I updated it, noted the results of the voting, which I present to you below:

What do you think is the most likely impact of forthcoming FDA regulations on premium cigars?

A. Large manufacturers will adapt, but boutiques will close down.
B. Blends introduced after 2007 will be recalled.
C. The floor price for a premium cigar will rise to $10.
D. All of the above.
E. The industry will see few impacts.

“All of the above” led the voting with close to 40% followed by—and this was shocking to me—“the industry will see few impacts,” which got a whopping 22% of the vote. I was so struck by the realization that so many of our readers don’t see the FDA as a major threat to premium cigars that I felt compelled to address the topic today.

As you probably know, StogieGuys.com has written about the FDA extensively since at least 2007. Currently, we’re right on the cusp of learning how this will impact the industry. To bring you up to speed:

• FDA regulations would be devastating to the thriving handmade premium cigar industry, even though there is no indication that such regulations would have any impact on youth smoking or public health.

• Currently, the FDA has officially sent the latest version of its deeming rule on cigars to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House for economic review. Now, the OMB is conducting its review of the FDA rule, and will then hand down the final regulations for implementation. This could happen any day, and it’s almost guaranteed to occur before the end of the Obama Administration.

• Cigar Rights of America (CRA) and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) have directed their lobbying efforts to OMB, which is charged with examining the economic impact of proposed FDA rules. The groups will attempt to show the potentially devastating economic impact the proposed regulations would have on cigars, including costing jobs both in the U.S. and abroad.

• In its initial proposed rule, the FDA offered two options for regulating cigars: option 1 (which covers all cigars) and option 2 (which exempts handmade cigars over $10). Although the proposed rules transmitted to the OMB presumably include the agency’s decision on that important issue, it is unlikely the OMB will make public the agency’s intentions on the issue of a possible exemption.

• While the OMB review may seem like a formality, those familiar with the creation of the initial proposed rule say the OMB was critical in advancing the option of an exemption for some cigars. If the OMB feels the FDA’s final version insufficiently addressed its previous concerns, it could request further revisions.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit the whole process is convoluted, drawn-out, and rife with complexities and other undesirables that render this story a difficult (and sad) one to follow. But I’m quite surprised 22% of our readers—folks who, by and large, regularly smoke cigars and love tobacco enough to read industry blogs and online reviews—could think the forthcoming FDA regulations will have few impacts.

Have they forgotten the FDA might wipe out every cigar introduced after February 15, 2007? Or that cigar innovation would likely come to a screeching halt? Or that cigar prices might rise considerably, as cigar options become exponentially more limited?

As far as cigars are concerned, the FDA is the defining issue of our era. Let’s try to keep in mind how important this is. And let’s not lose sight of what’s at stake: a thriving industry that caters exclusively to consenting adults and provides thousands of American jobs.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

BG Meyer is an offshoot from Camacho’s “Board of the Bold,” which is comprised of legendary NFL coach Mike Ditka, jewelry maker Matt Booth, and Hollywood writer and producer Rob Weiss. The trio was assembled in 2013—about five years after Davidoff acquired Camacho—when Camacho’s portfolio of 11 brands was narrowed to 6, and when its reputation for bold smokes was underscored by a new scorpion logo.

Ditka, Booth, and Weiss all have brands that are made and distributed by Camacho, which operates out of Honduras. Weiss, perhaps best known as a writer and producer for the HBO series Entourage, labels his smokes BG Meyer after his dog, Big Meyer. There are currently three BG Meyer blends: Standard Issue, Slackers, and Gigantes.

The latter was introduced last year as homage to the bigger-than-life heroes we admire, hence the name and “amped-up” ring gauges. Gigantes showcases a dark Nicaraguan-grown Habano wrapper from 2007 over a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Four sizes are available: 52 (4 x 52), 54 (5 x 54), 56 (6 x 56), and 60 (7 x 60). They range in price from about $9.50 to $12.50.

The Gigantes 56 is a large, thick, bold-looking smoke accented by dual bands of gold and black. While the firm, well-built cigar is not without a minor aesthetic imperfection here and there, it carries an overall impression of quality. The oily, toothy wrapper leaf has a faint leathery aroma, and the foot has a more complex fragrance of dried apricot, cocoa, and earth.

As soon as an even light is established, I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with my colleague’s First Impression: Gigantes 56 “is dominated by earth and oak, though notes of coffee, bread, clove, and hints of red pepper are also apparent.” Medium- to full-bodied from the get-go, I also find some cherry and creamy cashew—especially on the retrohale. The intensity subsides towards the midway point, then ramps up a bit in the final third, which is also characterized by the addition of black pepper and a heavier dose of coffee beans.

The physical properties performed perfectly across my three samples. When you fire up this cigar, you can expect a straight burn, solid ash, easy draw, and good smoke production.

You have to be weary of any cigar with a celebrity name attached to it; you can end up paying for the name, while important aspects like tobacco, blending, etc. are an afterthought. That shouldn’t be your concern with Gigantes, though. Weiss clearly had expert tobacco people guiding him through the development process.

This fine-tasting smoke has a lot going for it. That said, I wish Gigantes was available in some thinner sizes. The 56 is a big smoke, commanding a significant time commitment. Plus, the flavor changes along the way aren’t terribly significant, which means the cigar runs the risk of overstaying its welcome if you aren’t in love with the core profile. All things considered, I’m scoring the BG Meyer Gigantes 56 three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys