The Stogie Guys

[Editor’s Note: For Columbus Day we’re republishing an article first published five years ago about Columbus’ historical impact on tobacco and cigars.]

Today is Columbus Day, which means government employees and a few lucky others get a day off. The holiday celebrates Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas, which happens to be an important date for cigar fans.

That’s because Columbus is widely credited with introducing the tobacco plant to Europe, which set in motion a series of events that culminated in the cigar industry we see today. It was during Columbus’ voyages to the new world that Europeans first encountered the tobacco plant.

According to history, it was two of Columbus’ crew members who were most responsible for bringing tobacco to Europe. Both, Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, took a liking to tobacco after seeing native Americans smoking the leaf.

After arriving in Cuba in November 1492, which Columbus thought was the Asian coast, Columbus sent Torres and de Jerez inland to explore the country and to contact its ruler. The two men were received in an Indian village where they saw the native custom of drying leaves, inserting them in cane pipes, burning them, and inhaling the smoke.

Upon his return to Spain, Jerez continued smoking and introduced his habit to his home town of Ayamonte. The smoke reportedly frightened some of his neighbors, resulting in the Spanish Inquisition imprisoning him for his use of the “devil’s weed”—making Jerez the first victim of anti-tobacco laws. He spent seven years in prison for his “sin,” only to be released as smoking was becoming an accepted activity in Spain.

One legend has Torres being threatened with prison in Spain for smoking tobacco, but in all likelihood such stories are confusing him with his fellow sailor. The more accepted history says that Torres was killed while settling Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Internal conflict wiped out the settlement party when Torres, a Jew who became Catholic under threat from the same Spanish Inquisition that later imprisoned Jerez, took issue with attempts to convert the native people to Catholicism.

Whatever the exact truth, there’s no denying that Columbus and his crew were pivotal in the history of cigars. And that is reason enough to light up a fine cigar this Columbus Day.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikipedia

October. Playoff baseball. NFL in full swing. Hockey is starting. Leaves changing colors… It’s now clear summer is in the rearview mirror and winter is coming.

Fall is an exciting time for cigars and bourbon, and it’s also a good time to do some housekeeping in preparation for the colder months to come. So here are four things to put on your to-do list:

Prep Your Humidor for the Winter

People seem to know that the heat of summer can make maintaining proper humidity a challenge, but the truth is winter can do the same. The combination of dry air and artificial heat can lower your humidity in a hurry if you aren’t careful. So if you use Boveda packs or humidification beads, now is a good time to swap in some new ones. If you rely on distilled water/humidor solution to keep proper humidity, now is a good time to do the salt calibration test to make sure you are getting the proper readings from your hygrometer.

Check Out the New Cigars

Summer is a flood of announcements of new cigars, but by now people have actually had a chance to smoke them. Frankly, there are too many for one person to have smoked already. There are lots of reviews of new cigars online, including quite a few here at StogieGuys.com. So find a reviewer you trust and read up to see what sounds good.

Visit Your Local Cigar Shop

Many people buy their boxes online to save a few bucks. However, with so many new releases now on the shelf of your local cigar shop, now is a great time to visit. For all those reviews you just read (see above) find the handful or so that sound most intriguing and pick up one or two each. A week or two later, once you’ve smoked through them, you may have found a new favorite.

Try to Hunt Down Some Rare Bourbon

Right now is prime time for finding rare, limited release bourbons. Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (George T Stagg, William Larue Weller, Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17, and Tomas H. Handy), Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, and Parker’s Heritage have all either just begun arriving at stores or will be in the next month. Finding them at close to retail price (all sell for under $100, except for the 20 and 23 year Pappy which are $150 and $250, respectively) is always tough. But now is the best chance you’ll have. (Here are two tips: Either get to know a local shop owner or look for out-of-the-way shops.) And if you strike out on these hard-to-find whiskies, you can always check out our list of best bourbons under $30.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Flickr

First Smoke is a new series of Quick Smoke reviews, each evaluating a single pre-release cigar. Like the Quick Smokes we publish each Saturday and Sunday, each First Smoke is not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

According to Jason Wood of Miami Cigar & Co. (La Aurora’s partner and distributor), after the last year’s release of Untamed—La Aurora’s strongest cigar to date—a few people started asking for an even more full-bodied smoke from the esteemed Dominican producer that’s better known for more subtle smokes. So master blender Manuel Inoa went to work on a “more extreme” blend. The result is Untamed Extreme, which comes in three sizes: Robusto, Toro, and an oversized Behemoth (7 x 60).

The cigar features dark charred oak flavors, earth, and woody spice. There’s a slight sourness, but overall it’s a truly full-bodied smoke with a big nicotine kick to boot. Construction is excellent. I’ll admit I prefer the more classic profile from La Aurora (the serially overlooked Fernando León Family Reserve, for example), but ultimately the Untamed Extreme delivers what it promises: full flavor, full body, and full strength. If that’s what you’re looking for you’re unlikely to be disappointed.

Verdict = Buy.

–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.”

A recent trip to Las Vegas meant another opportunity to visit Casa Fuente to smoke their Casa Fuente house smoke, which is believed to be the Opus X blend but with a Cameroon wrapper (think a cross between Opus X and a Don Carlos).  The cigar features medium-bodied flavors with clove, coffee, cream, and cedar spice that really shows off the Cameroon wrapper. It is well-balanced and the construction is impressive. If you’re in Vegas I’d strongly suggest dropping by Casa Fuente for a cigar and one of their signature caipirinhas or margaritas.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last week news broke that, starting in January, FedEx would no longer be shipping tobacco. The company cited the “complex regulatory environment” as part of the reason for its decision to cease shipments.

While consumers are unlikely to notice the change, since FedEx is used mostly by manufacturers and distributors to ship cigars to retailers, the change is part of a larger trend that is making it harder for legal businesses that sell tobacco products. (Currently, UPS and USPS are used for most consumer shipments of tobacco sales.)

But almost certainly the same “regulatory environment” that led FedEx to stop shipments will spread. FedEx faced a massive lawsuit from the state of New York for shipping untaxed cigarettes into the state even though the company has no way of knowing the contents of the millions of packages it transports every day. UPS is currently facing a similar lawsuit.

And the ability to ship products is only one way in which legal tobacco sales are under pressure. Tobacco retailers’ access to banking services, which are critical for running any business, are also under attack.

Starting in 2013, the Department of Justice began an initiative called Operation Choke Point with the goal of cutting off financial services to “high risk businesses” for fraud. But critics have said Choke Point has been used by the Justice Department to target many legal businesses deemed undesirable by the current administration.

Multiple cigar retailers have already been dropped by their credit card processors or banks, according to IPCPR. And a Department of Justice list, since taken down from its website, lists “tobacco sales” as one of the targeted businesses.

First Smoke is a new series of Quick Smoke reviews, each evaluating a single pre-release cigar. Like the Quick Smokes we publish each Saturday and Sunday, each First Smoke is not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

BG Meyer is an offshoot of the re-branded Camacho line and a project of Hollywood writer and producer Rob Weiss, a member of Camacho’s “Board of the Bold” (along with Matt Booth and Mike Ditka). The recently introduced BG Meyer Gigantes line is the third BG Meyer release, and it showcases a seven-year-old Nicaraguan-grown Habano wrapper. Underneath is a six-year-old Brazilian Mata Fina binder and six-year-old filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The line comes in four sizes. For this assessment, I’m smoking the 56 (5 x 56). (The Gigantes name, by the way, isn’t about the sizes in the line, but rather a reference to giant personalities and influences.)

The cigar is dominated by earth and oak, though notes of coffee, bread, clove, and hints of red pepper are also apparent. Davidoff (which owns Camacho) has been emphasizing Nicaragua lately in its releases, but Gigantes may be the most quintessentially Nicaraguan smoke in its entire catalog. The cigar, which sells for around $12, is nicely balanced, medium- to full-bodied, and well-constructed.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last week I found myself in Belgium on duty for StogieGuys.com (more on that in the coming days). When my return flight was delayed, I had time to visit the duty free shop. Despite some claims that it’s the biggest scam in retail you can get some good whiskey deals there, including a number of “travel retail exclusive” offerings.

These days scotch whiskey producers are creating lots of whiskies just for travel retail, many of which don’t carry an age statement. Balvenie, however, decided to introduce a range of three single malt whiskies it calls “triple cask.”

According to the Speyside distillery, “The three expressions in The Balvenie Triple Cask series have been matured in three kinds of wood—‘traditional refill casks’ to mature and mellow the spirit, but not dominate its flavour; ‘first-fill ex-bourbon barrels,’ which add vanilla and coconut to the flavour; and ‘first-fill Oloroso sherry butts,’ which typically impart rich dried fruits and spice to the spirit.” It comes in 12, 16, and 25 year expressions. I selected the 16 year, which cost 72 Euros ($81).

Bottled at 80-proof, the color is a dark straw. The nose is pleasant although light with a little oak, honey, and apple.

On the palate, Balvenie Triple Cask is a bit thin. There are cereal grains, honey, vanilla, and slightly bitter oak. There’s also a surprising amount of raw alcohol that makes the whiskey taste far younger than 16 years old. The finish is light and sweet with honey and pear.

For a cigar pairing, you’re going to want to choose a mild smoke so as not to overwhelm the soft and mild flavors of the Balvenie Triple Cask 16. I’d go with something like an Ashton Classic, Illusione Epernay, Paul Garmirian Gourmet, or Fuente Chateau Fuente.

I’ll admit I was quite disappointed with this single malt. Balvenie’s style tends to be very light and smooth, which can be excellent, complex, and delicate, but this was smooth to the point of being a bit dull, plus it had a rough grain edge that is uncharacteristic for a 16 year old whisky. I’d much prefer the standard Balvenie Doublewood, 12 Year Single Barrel, or Caribbean Cask 14 Year to this, especially at the price.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys