The Stogie Guys

Between smoking bans, sky-high taxes, and pending FDA regulation, cigars are seemingly always under siege. But two Massachusetts towns are proposing a new attack  on cigars.

The local health boards of Saugus and Bedford are considering tobacco regulation ordinances that include two provisions that would be specifically devastating to local B&M cigar shops. The proposed regulations would require cigars to be sold in packages of four or more, and would set minimum wholesale and retail prices.

If approved, the tradition of walking into your local shop and buying one cigar to try before buying more would be eliminated. The provisions stem from a Massachusetts law that gives local boards of health power to consider this kind of restriction.

The law would also set minimum prices for cigars. Ironically, if cigar companies got together to establish minimum prices it would be a clear violation of anti-trust laws.

According to research conducted by the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), while the state of Massachusetts has a minimum cigarette pricing law, there is no similar law in the state setting the minimum price of other tobacco products such as cigars.

NATO is challenging the laws on the basis that the Massachusetts legislature has not passed a statute authorizing local boards of health to set minimum prices for cigars. According to the group, there is no mention of statutory authority for local Massachusetts boards of health having the power to ban the sale of legal cigar products in certain package sizes or set minimum cigar prices.

It’s easy to dismiss this new effort as an isolated incident, but nearly all anti-cigar schemes started in states with anti-tobacco track records, including New York, Massachusetts, and California. Cigar smokers everywhere have good reason to oppose this new attack on cigars and cigar shops before the scheme spreads across the nation.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikipedia

It’s hard to think of a cigar maker currently on as long of a streak of widely-praised cigars as Ernesto Perez-Carrillo. Ever since founding the EPC Cigar Co., Ernesto has seemingly produced hit after hit.

The Short Run is no exception. So far, the line has resulted in one release per year, although when it was first introduced we were told there might be two Short Run releases per year. The concept is pretty simple: Make a limited run of a blend utilizing tobacco that isn’t available in enough quantities to become a full blend.

The original Short Run, introduced in 2010, featured an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper around Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos. The 2011 edition featured an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around similar binder and filler tobaccos. Personally, I preferred the original 2010 edition, but I’ve talked to plenty of people who preferred the 2011 Shot Run.

The 2012 edition is a slightly different animal. It features the Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper from the New Wave Connecticut around binder and filler tobaccos from the Core Line Maduro (Ecuadorian binder with Dominican and Nicaraguan filler). Unlike the others, in theory they should be able to continue making this cigar (if EPC choses to), since all the components come from regular production lines.

The Short Run 2012 comes in three sizes: Exquisitos (4.9 x 50,) Invictos (5.9 x 52), and the Reinados—which apparently also going by the name Nitidos—(6.25 x 60). The cost ranges from $6.30 to $8.60 with only 1,000 boxes of 24 of each vitola made. I smoked three Invictos for this review. The Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper is slightly splotchy, but it has a bit of oily shine. The cigar is well-constructed. It is firm with an even burn, easy draw, and sturdy ash.

The flavors are perfectly balanced. The profile has lots of cedar, graham spice, and hints of straw, cream, and honey. There’s not much variation from start to finish, but the flavors are pleasant. The cigar is very similar to the original regular New Wave Connecticut, which isn’t a bad thing. But it punches up the body just a bit from medium-bodied to medium-full and adds some extra complexity.

It’s a cigar Connecticut fans will love and non-fans will like. The balanced flavors and solid construction earn the Short Run 2012 Invictos a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

According to an announcement by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the Senate Appropriations Committee added language to the 2013 appropriations bill for the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies that encourages the FDA to regulate cigars and ban “flavored” cigars.

The move came just as cigar enthusiasts passed the 25,000 signature threshold on a petition asking the White House to order the FDA not to expand its authority to include premium cigars. By reaching 25,000 signatures, the petition will now receive an official response from the Obama Administration.

The FDA appropriations bill, including the language pushing regulation of cigars, now moves to the Senate floor to be scheduled for a full vote. So far there is no indication that similar language will be included in the House version of the bill.

As in most anti-tobacco efforts, the senators cite “children” as the impetus for more regulation, despite the fact that it will exclusively be the legal choices of adults that will limited by FDA regulation of cigars. “The emergence of flavored cigars is a transparent effort by Big Tobacco to work around the new tobacco control law,” claimed Durbin (pictured), even though handmade premium cigars by companies like CAO, Rocky Patel, and Drew Estate are likely to be included in a “flavored cigar” ban.

Durbin and Lautenberg assert, without citing any evidence, that “cigars with candy-like [sic] flavorings such as strawberry, watermelon, vanilla, and chocolate are marketed to young people, and get them hooked on this deadly and addictive habit at a young age.” Nowhere do the Senators explain why or how these flavors are “candy-like” (considering that fruits and other flavors like chocolate and vanilla were in existence for centuries before they were used in candy) nor do they address the fact that they are primarily enjoyed by adults.

Regulation of cigars by the FDA could be devastating to the premium cigar industry, which helps provide 85,000 jobs in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands in Latin America. Ingredient disclosure, testing, and marketing restrictions would stifle the development of new cigar blends and eliminate events where cigar makers pass out free samples to cigar shop patrons.

Concerned cigar smokers may want to contact members of the House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies, especially subcommittee Chair Jack Kingston (R-GA), to add language opposing the Senate’s push to have the FDA regulate cigars. They also should contact their senators to oppose the passage of the bill with the anti-cigar language and follow the IPCPR and CRA for updates.

–Patrick S

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.”

La Palina’s El Diario is the first blend from La Palina that wasn’t made by Graycliff. El Diario, made at the Raices Cubana factory with oversight and blending assistance from Alec Bradley’s Alan Rubin, it’s a full-bodied smoke consisting of Nicaraguan and some Honduran tobacco. Earthy and rich, this well-constructed Toro is a perfect cigar to smoke with Knob Creek Single Barrel. While ultimately I slightly prefer the smaller KB “Kill Bill” size, I can certainly recommend the Toro (6 x 50).

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

First, let me acknowledge that a steak is not a “spirit” according to any reasonable definition of the word. Still, steak accompanies a cigar in such an excellent way that I feel perfectly comfortable including steak in our Spirits category with scotches, bourbons, and rums.

While I don’t usually smoke a cigar while eating a steak, a well-cooked steak and a glass of wine are pretty much always the prelude to a cigar. Something about the savory nature of a steak and a glass of wine (a good Rhone, Bordeaux, or California cabernet) just begs for a good cigar.

To that end, I’ve been cooking steaks for a while now and I have a few tricks that make my steaks extra tasty (and worthy of an after-dinner cigar). What follows are my personal tips.

Most important is picking the right steak. While filet mignon is a great cut of meat (especially at a steakhouse), when I’m cooking I prefer a ribeye or strip steak, both of which have more fat (and thus more flavor). Steaks are graded on their marbling, and while Prime are the best cuts (and the most expensive), Choice cuts offer excellent quality for the price (the next level down is Select). A good Choice cut at least one inch thick is perfect.

Next, season your steak with salt and pepper. Let it get to room temperature before you cook it (this is important), then liberally apply course salt and pepper just before cooking.

Forgo the grill and instead use a combination of a cast iron skillet on the stovetop and the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and simultaneously heat up a cast iron skillet, the hotter the better. Brown each side of the steak for a few minutes (until it begins to blacken) in the dry, hot skillet (without butter or oil). Then finish it in the oven until it firms up (only a few minutes is needed if you like your steaks medium-rare like I do).

Pull it out of the oven quickly then let it sit for five minutes. It will continue to cook while you wait. The result is an excellent, tender, flavorful steak that’s blackened on the edges while still rare and juicy in the middle.

Accompanied with a nice glass of fine wine, there is no better prelude to a good cigar. Cooked right, it’s as good as any steak you’ll have at an expensive steakhouse and it’s the perfect introduction to a fine medium- or full-bodied cigar with a scotch or bourbon.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Certain cigars just look like they’re going to taste good, and the Pinar del Rio Small Batch Reserve Maduro fits that bill. It features a deep brown, oily wrapper, firm construction, and a triple-cap, all framed by a simple but classic-looking white band. Even before I tasted my first, at least visually, it reminded me of one of my favorites, the Liga Privada No. 9.

Pinar del Rio has been making cigars out of its Don Leoncio factory in Tamboril in the Dominican Republic, but the new Small Batch line is the first (along with the upcoming Flores y Rodriguez) to come out of their new PDR Cigars factory, which is also in the Dominican.

Like the Small Batch Reserve Habano, the Maduro utilizes the entubar bunching technique to combine corojo-seed viso, seco, and ligero tobaccos from Estelí and the Dominican Republic as the filler with a Dominican criollo ’98 binder. Three sizes are available: Gran Toro (6 x 54), Robusto (5 x 52), and Torpedo (6.5 x 52) in both the Habano and the Maduro. The latter has a dark Brazilian ligero leaf with an appetizing sheen.

Once lit, the Small Batch Rserve Maduro shows a nice combination of cocoa, molasses, and a slight woodiness. It’s medium-bodied to start but the flavors build to become fuller by the final third.

The flavors are balanced and savory. It’s a great combination of the best of Nicaragua and the Dominican, with earth, woodiness, dried fruit, and a touch of spice. The solid white ash looks like a thick piece of chalk. Flawless construction and a perfectly straight burn are maintained throughout the hour-plus smoke.

I smoked two PDR Small Batch Maduros (which I received as pre-release samples) and I can only conclude that I will be purchasing more soon, especially at a reasonable price of around $7 each. It’s not hard to see that both of the new Small Batch cigars by Pinar del Rio will be hits, but I think the Pinar del Rio Small Batch Reserve Maduro is even better than the Habano, which is why the Maduro earns a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

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.”

Named after Pete Johnson’s middle name, Hassell is one of the exclusive blends that came in the initial welcome pack for Saints & Sinners, an online club for Tatuaje fans that includes access to some rare blends. Hassell takes the binder and filler from the 2008 L’Esprit de Vérité (100% Habano criollo tobacco from Pepin’s La Estrella farm in Nicaragua). But instead of the same criollo wrapper, Hassell uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. The result of the change is a cigar that’s very distinct from the 2008 L’Esprit de Vérité. The broadleaf wrapper adds earth and chocolate notes to oak, cedar, and dry spice. It’s a tasty, well-constructed blend worth smoking if you ever have the chance.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys