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.”

Tatuaje’s Monster Series is a highly sought-after release around Halloween every year. Last year, Tatuaje released a sampler of Pudgy Monsters, which are shorter versions of the same blends, all in a relatively thick format. The JV13, the 2013 Monster release, became the pudgy monster known as Jason. The blend uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler. The result is a very full-flavored cigar with classic Broadleaf flavors: earth, chocolate, grittiness with a slight sweetness. Construction is excellent. You can still pick up Tatuaje Pudgy Monsters at some retailers, and I highly recommend picking one up so you can try some of the more limited blends from Pete Johnson.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

April marks the end of scotch season for me. (I’m a seasonal drinker: Single malts and the occasional cognac in the colder months, rum and tequila/mezcal when it warms up. Bourbon and rye year-round, of course.) So lets wrap up the season with with this Glenfarclas 17-year-old single malt whisky.

Glanfarclas is an independent distillery, owned by the same family for 150 years. It’s a Speyside distillery that makes a range of single malts, with 10-year and 17-year the most readily available, at least here in the States. They also bottle a 105 cask-strength variety, of which I’m a big fan.

The Glenfarclas 17 is bottled at 86-proof and sells for around $100 a bottle. It’s a light golden color. (Note that because single malts can have caramel coloring added, color doesn’t mean as much for scotch as it does for straight bourbon or rye, and a light color may only mean coloring wasn’t used.

The nose with sweet toffee and pear serves as a preview of the subtle, classic style of this whiskey. The Glenfarclas 17 coats the palate with a rich combination of creaminess, sherried fruit, orange peel, toffee, and clove. There’s a bit of smokiness and just a wisp of peat. The finish is light with oak and brown sugar.

I’m just guessing here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a combination of sherry cask and bourbon cask whisky, as the sherry is evident, but subtle. The whisky seems to grow in complexity as you drink it. It’s hard to suggest that Glenfarclas 17 is anything but delicious, subtle, and approachable.

For a cigar pairing, you’ll want a cigar that’s not so overpowering as to overwhelm the delicate aspects of this single malt. Go with a Fuente Chateau, Tatuaje Black, Illusione Epernay, or a well-aged Cuban Trinidad.

I’m not one to recommend turning a bourbon drinker into a scotch drinker, as you’ll always find better value in American whiskey, but for bourbon drinkers branching out into single malt, Glenfarclas is an excellent place to start. That said, before you buy this, try the 10-year, which is also excellent but only half the price. But if you like the 10-year and want to see the complexity that additional age can add, I very much recommend Glenfarclas 17, even if my own preference is slightly for the cask-strength 105 variety.

I’ve written a few times about how 2014 was a year of significant cigar anniversaries, and thus also plenty of anniversary cigars. E.P. Carrillo celebrated its fifth year, for example, and the Padrón’s celebrated a half century in the business.

La Flor Dominicana had an anniversary, although not a significant one for the La Flor Dominicana brand. Still, 2014 marked 20 years since Litto Gomez started his cigar venture in 1994 (the La Flor Dominicana line wasn’t founded until two years later).

To celebrate, Gomez and La Flor Dominicana introduced a blend simply called 1994. The line comes in five sizes, including a special Toro (6 x 54) that comes in a very cool-looking beer stein. (I got a look at one in person at a local shop recently.)

The beer stein was delayed until early 2015, but the other sizes (Conga (5 x 52), Aldaba (6 x 58), Rumba (6.5 x 52), and Mambo (7 x 54)) were released in 2014. I smoked four of the robusto-sized Congas (MSRP $7.50) for this review.

In addition to the beer stein packaging, all the sizes feature a sharp-looking band. It’s a nice combination of the classic LFD bands with a more ornate touch worthy of a celebratory, anniversary cigar.

The cigar uses a dark San Andrés wrapper. Binder and filler are all Dominican from La Flor’s Dominican farms.

Once lit the cigar features lots of woody spice, leather, and charred steak. It starts out very full, but quickly dials back. There’s dry cinnamon, a slight sourness, and plenty of grittiness on the palate, but it’s a slightly superficial strength. Construction is excellent from first draw to the final ash.

The one drawback I found was a persistent sour, sometimes bitter edge that settles on the back corners of the tongue. Those flavors are frequently embraced when found in beer, like you might pour in a La Flor 1994 beer stein, but it doesn’t work quite as well in a cigar. Perhaps extended aging will see those flaws fade away.

Despite that, it’s still a solid, well-constructed smoke full of interesting flavors. It’s enough to earn La Flor Dominicana 1994 Conga three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

At this point there isn’t much doubt that we are seeing a new era in relations between Cuba and the United States. I was reminded of this when I received the latest issue of Cigar Aficionado featuring “Welcome to Cuba” on the cover, and a nearly 40-page guide (not including the over 20 pages of ads) written for Americans visiting Cuba.

After President Obama’s recent executive order making legal travel to Cuba easier (and making it legal for visitors to import $100 worth of Cuban cigars), he attended the Organization of American States meeting last week and even had a photo-op and chat with Raúl Castro. Obama’s handshake meeting with the head of the Cuban regime was followed up this week with a recommendation to Congress that Cuba be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Despite Cuban cigars not being legal in the United States for half a century, Cuba’s influence on American cigar culture is indisputable. It is impossible to smoke a premium cigar today sold in the United States that doesn’t have a direct or indirect connection to a Cuban.

Make no mistake, much of that influence is because many Cubans had to flee the brutal communist revolution during and after which many lost virtually all of what they had and found themselves having to start over in a foreign country. Out of that, the premium cigar industry began to grow independent of Cuba, but under the deep influence of Cubans living abroad.

So how do we reconcile that history with an evolving relationship with an island country just 90 miles from Florida?

My own view is there is nothing wrong with embracing a new era of Cuban-American relations. The embargo hasn’t succeeded in toppling the most repressive aspects of the Castro regime. Maybe a new policy can have better results.

But we should not move forward with a blind spot about the deep flaws of the Cuban government. Nor should we pretend those flaws are just a thing of the past. (Read this article from last year for a picture of what Cuba is like for most Cubans.)

It may be time to normalize relations with Cuba, just like we have with many other governments that have poor records when it comes to human rights, and we should hope more interactions with Americans will lead to more freedom for the Cuban people. We just shouldn’t do so naively thinking that the new era has come because the Cuban government has fundamentally changed, but rather with hope that someday soon change will come to Cuba.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Whitehouse.gov

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.”

 

I’ve had this small format (4.375 x 40) Cuban cigar in my humidor for at least five years. Cubans often require extended aging before they show their best, so my hope was this was ready to shine. Once lit, I found a subtle, mild cigar. Hay, honey, and light cedar are the primary flavors, but there’s also a slight creaminess and some spice. Cubans are also known for construction issues, but there were none to be found here with an easy draw and a sturdy stack-of-dimes ash. While I find myself often underwhelmed by non-super premium Cuban lines, this well-aged Trinidad Reyes hit the spot.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last evening was the finals of the NCAA tournament (a good game, too; I’m watching while I finalize this article). But that wasn’t the sporting event of the day that I was most looking forward to. For me, yesterday was about Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Like much of America, I like watching my sports teams (New York Mets, Rangers, and Giants). I also, obviously, enjoy smoking cigars. So I naturally pair the two frequently.

We’ve written before about the wonderful pairing of baseball and cigars. We’ve interviewed legendary Cuban pitcher and cigar smoker Luis Tiant. My colleague and I even petitioned to allow cigar smoking in the old Nationals RFK Stadium.

At the time of our petition, there were frequently completely empty sections in the upper deck of the huge multi-purpose stadium. So why not allow cigar smoking in one of them for just one night? What would be the harm? We even got a local cigar shop to provide cigars for a giveaway. As you might have guessed, the Nationals disagreed.

A few Major League ballparks do allow cigar smoking in special cigar bars. Comerica Park in Detroit has the Asylum Cigar Bar. Tropicana Field in Tampa has the Cuesta Rey Cigar Bar. Pittsburgh’s PNC Park used to have a cigar section.

But a few cigar bars in the ballpark aren’t why baseball and cigars are a natural pairing. I have two theories for the connection. First, baseball season is also cigar season. Running April to October, it’s prime cigar smoking time, in a way that no other major sports season is. Opening Day signals spring is officially here and summer isn’t far off either. Some days may be uncomfortably hot, depending on where you are, but the cooler evenings, when most MLB games are played, are prime cigar time.

The other aspect of baseball that’s so perfect for cigars is the pace. Some people complain that baseball is too slow. When you’re following a game you care about, though, it isn’t slow or boring. Just deliberate. Take a draw between batters or pitches, then sit back, exhale, and watch the action. Need to freshen your drink, check your email, or use the facilities? Put your cigar down and take care of business. Your cigar will still be lit when you get back for the first pitch of the next half inning.

So here’s to another baseball (and cigar) season, full of lots of wins and fine smokes.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Tampa Baseball Museum

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.”

Papas Fritas, the little (4.5 x 44) cigar that uses the cuttings of the Liga Privada No. 9 blend, just got some new packaging. Instead of a metal tin with a four cigars, they will be sold in boxes of 50, and the price per cigar dropped from $6.40 to $5.25. Like its bigger brothers, Papas Fritas produces copious amounts of smoke and chocolate, earth, and rich wood spice. There are valid complaints about a petit corona-sized, mixed-filler cigar that costs over five dollars (though the price cut helps a little), but that doesn’t change the fact that it is an enjoyable smoke.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys