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.”

This petite corona is one of five blends in RoMa Craft Tobac’s El Catador de Las Petite Coronas sampler box (featuring two each of the company’s five core blends in a four-inch, 46-ring gauge format). The cigar also sells by itself in boxes of 30. Made with an Ecuadorian wrapper, Indonesian binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, it is a rich, medium-bodied smoke that goes well with a strong cup of coffee. Cedar, cream, toast, and light pepper spice dominate the 30-minute smoke. With excellent construction and balanced flavors, it’s easy to recommend.

Verdict = Buy.

– Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When it comes to variety of styles, rum gives whiskey a run for its money. Dark rum, aged rum, spiced rum, overproof rum, flavored rum… Besides being distilled from sugarcane or sugarcane derivatives, there are few rules when it comes to rum.

The downside is many rums, even higher-end rums, take advantage of the lax rules to add sugar or caramel color. This creates a sweetness many identify with premium rum. Such rums may be enjoyable to sip, but they’re hardly the only style of premium rum.

Foursquare Distillery’s Richard Seale is on a mission to clear up some of the confusion inherent in the category and give rum drinkers a better way to determine what exactly they are sipping. He’s even proposed new sub-categories of rum to achieve it.

Meanwhile, Seale makes some excellent rums, all free of any additives; he only employs rum and barrel time. He’s also not shy about revealing the details of exactly what’s in the rum and what types of barrels were used to make it. While some premium rums obfuscate about how long they were aged or how much sugar has been added, his approach is a breath of fresh air.

Today I look at two rums I recently picked up from the Barbados Foursquare Distillery. Both are barrel-proof and, while not impossible to find, will take some searching to locate.

Foursquare 2004 Single Blended Rum (Exceptional Cask Selection, Mark III)

As the label makes clear, this rum was distilled in 2004 in both pot and column stills then aged in used bourbon barrels for eleven years before being bottled at a hearty 59% alcohol by volume. Foursquare also makes a port cask- and zinfandel cask-finished version of the 2004 vintage rum. So, if you buy it, be sure to differentiate between them. Expect to pay between $60 and $80 for this bottle.

The nose of this amber-hued rum is surprisingly restrained with wood, vanilla, and molasses notes. On the palate, it’s a bold combination of tropical fruit, cocoa, leather, candied almonds, and butterscotch. The finish shows off more vanilla and fruit along with some barrel char.

Foursquare Triptych Single Blended Rum

Foursquare’s Triptych blends 2004 rum aged in used bourbon casks (presumably the same as in the 2004 Exceptional Cask) with 2005 distilled rum aged in ex-Madeira casks and 2007 rum aged in virgin oak. The use of virgin oak is unusual for rum, and the combination, once blended, is bottled without dilution at 56% alcohol by volume. Expect to pay $120 or more for this rum, which is limited to just 5,400 total bottles.

The result is a deep copper-colored rum with a lively nose of vanilla, wood spice, and just a bit of sulfur. On the palate, it features powdered cocoa, roasted cashew, bananas foster, leather, and molasses. The finish lingers with charred oak and more molasses.

Each is an excellent rum and a testimony to how flavorful, complex, and smooth rum can be without any added sugars. Also remarkable is how sippable they are neat despite the high proof. The prices aren’t cheap, especially the Triptych, but if you enjoy rum neat these are must-tries.

Good rum always pairs nicely with cigars, and these are no exception. The high proof and full flavor lend themselves to an earthy, full-bodied cigar like the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu, Sobremesa, or Intemperance BA.

– 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.”

It’s hard to believe how much the La Palina brand has grown since I attended the launch party in June 2010. From the debut single vitola blend, La Palina now features a dozen blends, most with multiple sizes. Illumination an features Ecuadorian wrapper and binder around Dominican and Nicaraguan filler. The cigar is made at the El Titan de Bronze factory, same as La Palina’s better-known Goldie. The corona gorda-sized Illumination Colonial (5.25 x 44, $10.50) showcases medium-bodied bread, cedar, hay, and coffee notes. Flavors are pleasant enough, though hardly in the same class as Goldie. The biggest flaw, however, is a burn that goes out for no apparent reason and requires several relights.

Verdict = Hold.

– Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last week I noted a concrete reason for hope in the ongoing battle against overbearing FDA cigar regulations. Just over two days later, the FDA announced a “new comprehensive plan” for tobacco regulations, including cigars.

As part of the rollout, the FDA delayed pending deadlines for cigars to be submitted to the agency for the agency’s approval. Critically, the agency noted that cigars with a pending application can be marketed and sold while waiting for the agency’s response. Motions to stay two legal challenges were quickly filed in court supported by attorneys representing the FDA.

The new deadline for pre-market approval is August 2021. So far, other deadlines (for example, warning labels) haven’t been changed as a result of the announcement. However, they still could be changed or delayed in the coming months.

Here are three important takeaways from the announcement:

FDA’s New Approach to Tobacco Regulation Could Benefit Cigars

Premium handmade cigars may have never been the primary target of FDA regulation, but they certainly were collateral damage. By targeting new tobacco products and making them run the gauntlet of the approval process, the FDA would make it exceedingly difficult and costly to introduce new products.

Because the market for cigars (unlike cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products) is vibrant and competitive with hundreds of new products introduced every year, cigars were hardest hit by the requirement for approval of new products. A new policy focused on “harm reduction” could mean major changes for cigarettes. But for handmade cigars, which have never been particularly attractive to youth and are used by adults in moderation, it could mean less regulation.

In the past, while communicating with the FDA, agency officials repeatedly insisted their position is all tobacco is harmful. Further, they insisted they wouldn’t acknowledge (even though everyone knew it) that some tobacco products are significantly less harmful than others. Any doctor not on the FDA payroll would tell you you’re far better off being the average cigar smoker than the average cigarette smoker. But the prior FDA regime refused to utter this truth.

On the other hand, the new focus on harm reduction would be a more scientific approach, which, if followed through, would greatly benefit handmade cigars. It will take a long process, including rule making, to see the ramifications of this new focus, but cigar smokers should welcome it.

Only Congress Can Fix This For Good

While a change in direction at the FDA is certainly welcome, don’t think for a second it is a permanent solution. Even if the FDA does everything the cigar industry hopes, a new administration or head of the FDA could start rule making and undo it all within a year.

Congress gave the FDA the power to regulate the cigar industry to a standstill, and ultimately only Congress can undo it. A bill to repeal to FDA’s jurisdiction over cigars is still needed. The only downside of the current rules being delayed and likely rolled back is that it gives Congress a reason to delay fixing the problem it created, since the worst consequences seem further down the road.

The FDA Leaks to Anti-Tobacco Groups

It may seem small and unsurprising, but it’s worth noting: The move by anti-tobacco groups preceded the FDA’s announcement by just days, which almost certainly happened because news of the upcoming announcement was leaked by insiders to the groups. This is a reminder that while the leadership at FDA may be embracing a new approach, many mid-level and lower FDA officials may not be on board with scrapping the old approach and delaying their enforcement.

This bureaucratic resistance (and their leaks to anti-tobacco advocacy groups) versus the new, more scientific approach of FDA Director Gottlieb will be something worth watching. You can be sure many people in the agency aren’t happy that their focus and work over the past few years has been scrapped, even though their new boss has initiated a new direction for the FDA’s regulation of tobacco.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys

For the first time in a while, there is reason for real optimism about the fight to overturn the onerous FDA cigar regulations. Living and working in Washington, I’ve learned to take optimistic reports from advocates about forthcoming progress on an issue with a grain of salt, since people often mistake their own enthusiasm and passion for confidence in the impact they are having.

Frequently, a better measure of progress is what those on the other side of the issue are saying and, most critically, doing. That’s why the actions of a group of anti-tobacco organizations this week should give those opposed to the FDA rules some hope.

On Monday, six so-called “public health” organizations filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit filed by the Cigar Association of America (CAA), International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR), and Cigar Rights of America (CRA) challenging the FDA’s rules that cover cigars.

The cigar groups’ lawsuit, filed in the DC Circuit Court a year ago, challenges the rules on various grounds that the regulations were enacted improperly and exceed the authority granted to the FDA by Congress when it passed the Tobacco Control Act in 2009. A similar lawsuit was filed weeks earlier by cigar-specializing Florida attorney Frank Herrera on behalf of Global Premium Cigars, maker of the the 1502 cigar line.

According to attorneys who have been on both ends of such challenges to agency regulations—both challenging government regulations and defending them on behalf of government agencies—the uphill battle the cigar industry faces in its lawsuits is that courts generally give agencies deference when it comes to exercising rulemaking authority. Under a controversial judicial doctrine known as “Chevron deference” (established in a 1984 Supreme Court decision), judges give administrative agencies a wide berth to interpret the scope of the authority granted to them by Congress.

The reason the anti-tobacco groups motion to intervene can be seen as good news is the groups cite the FDA’s delays and apparent reluctance to defend the rule in court as reasons they should be allowed to become a party in the case. They want to join the lawsuit to defend the rule because they don’t think the new Trump-appointed leadership at the FDA will vigorously do so.

If the FDA does eventually tell the court to hold proceedings while they contemplate new rulemaking to pare back the regulations, suddenly the challenge of administrative deference becomes a strength for cigar groups opposed to the rules. The fact that the Tobacco Control Act gave the FDA the option, but not the obligation, to regulate cigars and other tobacco products (beyond cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) would suddenly be the biggest weapon against anti-tobacco groups seeking to keep the rule in place.

So while Monday’s motion to intervene isn’t proof the FDA is going to reconsider the FDA rule, and ultimately only an act of Congress can provide more definitive protection for the industry against overbearing regulations, it is surely a good sign. Let’s hope theses anti-tobacco zealots are correct, and the FDA is preparing to roll back FDA regulations that threaten the innovation, competition, and creativity that makes handmade cigars so interesting and enjoyable.

–Patrick S

photo credits: 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.”

In 2012, Illusione’s Dion Giolito introduced this cigar as a small batch exclusive to his Fumare store in Reno, Nevada. In 2013, a second La Grand Classe Rex debuted. This year, the cigar is back as an Illusione-branded line in a petit corona format with a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Today, I’m smoking my last cigar from an original box of the 2012 release. The un-banded cigars came in a cardboard box with simple stickers for the logo and seal. La Grand Classe 2012 (5.5 x 52, $5.99) features a dark Mexican wrapper with some notable water stains around Nicaraguan tobaccos. The medium- to full-bodied cigar burns flawlessly with charred oak and earthy flavors with ginger and pepper spice. I wasn’t a huge fan of these when they were first introduced, probably in part due to my general aversion to Mexican wrapper leaf, but age has made me appreciate this cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

– Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In 2014, Robert Caldwell, Jaclyn Sears, and Tony Bellatto announced Impromptu, a line of limited release cigars sourced from the aging rooms of various factories. Later, the enterprise would be renamed Lost & Found Cigars.

According to Robert Caldwell: “Over several months I have been traveling all over the world spending a lot of time in the Caribbean and Central America in many tobacco fields and factories. Along the way I stumbled upon certain cigars that really left an impression on me. My friends suggest we share them with our friends and customers. These are very special cigars, made with rare tobaccos that have been aged to a point seldom enjoyed by most of us. I cannot take credit with making these beauties, nor for bringing them to you—just for discovering them.”

As I’ve noted before, the line’s popularity is a testament to the difference marketing can make; after all, someone else couldn’t sell the cigars in a previous form. The well-aged cigars are released in small batches emphasizing their limited availability, under a catchy, off-beat name with corresponding art.

Two recent releases were Suavesito (rolled in 2010) and Backdoor Bambi (5.5 x 46). Rolled in 2008, Backdoor Bambi uses Corojo, Habano, and Negrito tobaccos, but no other details about the blend are disclosed, including where the cigar was made. Unlike Suavesito, which is a new addition to Lost & Found, Backdoor Bambi was one of the first releases back when the enterprise was still called Impromptu. While the original release came in a metal jar, the 2017 edition comes in boxes of 12 with each cigar carrying a suggested price of $12.

The cigar features a leathery medium brown wrapper. Once lit, I find bready spice, dried fruit (think cinnamon raisin bread), plus sweet Cuban coffee.

It’s a medium- to full-bodied cigar with lots of leather and spice, especially towards the second half. Construction is perfect, with an open draw, even burn, and a sturdy gray ash.

Although the price is a bit high, this is a well-made spice-forward smoke that probably has benefited greatly from almost a decade of age. (It’s also far better than the Suavesito.) That earns the Lost & Found Backdoor Bambi a rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys