The Stogie Guys

The non-partisan Tax Foundation has produced an interesting graphic showing what percentage of each states’ revenues comes from tobacco taxes. The data indicates higher tax rates don’t correlate to higher revenues for a particular state.

New Hampshire, with one of the lower tobacco tax rates, leads the country with 4.37% of state revenues being collected from tobacco taxes. New Hampshire has lower taxes than any of its regional neighbors: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

Meanwhile, none of the top 10 states for cigarette taxes (New York, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Washington, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Arizona) are in the top 16 states when it comes to percentage of revenues produced by tobacco taxes.

Not surprisingly for those who follow these things, New Hampshire, with it’s low tax rates, has the lowest rate of cigarette smuggling in the country. New York, with the highest tax in the country, has the most cigarette smuggling.

Cigarettes are more of a pure commodity than cigars, but it’s worth noting higher taxes don’t necessarily mean higher revenues; they do mean more smuggling. These are important facts to raise if your state or locality is proposing to raise tobacco taxes (and cigarette tax rates are highly correlated to cigar tax rates).

The data also begs the question: If higher tobacco taxes don’t actually raise more revenues for the state, why raise tax rates? One possible answer is that politicians are trying to use taxes to control the actions of their citizens and make it unaffordable for adults to choose to smoke (though the data also suggests they are driving citizens to buy smuggled tobacco).

More fundamentally, the fact that tobacco taxes make up such a major part of so many state budgets should (but probably won’t) give anti-tobacco activists pause. After all, is it really wise for the state to be so dependent on tobacco taxes?

–Patrick S

photo credit: Tax Foundation

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 Cameroon wrapper has a few spots, but perhaps that can be overlooked given that this is a wrapper that was grown 33 years ago. The cigar is balanced, creamy, and toasty with a decent bit of wood (more oak than cedar). The medium-bodied smoke is dominated by a sour-sweet-spice combination that’s quintessentially Cameroon, showing that even this old wrapper from 1980 can unload a lot of flavor. The construction is superb. Yes, while $25 each is a lot for any cigar, given how rare it is to smoke a cigar with a wrapper grown before I was born, it’s not outrageous.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

If you were going to name a rum after anyone’s boat, it’d have to be Earnest Hemingway. Hence this new rum, Papa’s Pilar, named after Hemingway’s 38-foot yacht named “Pilar”—inspiration for such literature as The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream.

It’s a new rum (officially launched last month in Washington, DC), but the team behind it is hardly inexperienced. Leading the charge is Jay Maltby, formerly an executive with Bacardi and Cruzan.  He is joined by Lincoln Henderson, longtime master distiller at Brown Forman (Woodford Reserve and Old Forrester) and currently the innovator behind Angel’s Envy, which has gained a loyal following for its bourbon (and now rye) that is finished in a second barrel after traditional aging.

Henderson’s participation is particularly notable since Papa’s Pilar adopts a similar finishing process. Papa’s Pilar Dark is an 86-proof combination of “solera blended” rums (sourced from Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America) up to 24 years old and finished in Spanish sherry casks.  The 84-proof Blonde combines similarly sourced rums aged 3-7 years, also finished in sherry casks.

Papa’s Pilar Blonde is amber-tinted and features a unique nose of grapefruit peel and pineapple. The palate is a smooth and flavorful combination of lemon meringue, cake batter, and grass, reminiscent of agricole-style rhum. With plenty of sweetness and a short finish, it’s a vibrant bit of the tropics that can be enjoyed straight or as the basis for a special cocktail.

Papa’s Pilar Dark is a dark bronze color with a strong nose dominated by molasses, with added hints of sherry and oak. On the palate it has more dark, syrupy sweetness with powdered chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and oak. The finish is long with plenty of sherry-influenced notes.

These are two excellent new rums with plenty of sweetness, each distinct and polished in its own way, not to mention reasonably priced at $30 and $40, respectively. And each calls for a distinct style of cigar.

The Blonde variation pairs well with a mild or medium Connecticut-wrapped smoke (such as the Davidoff Grand Cru, Illusione Epernay, or Cuban Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill). The well-aged Dark rum calls for full-bodied, earthy Nicaraguan cigar (like a Drew Estate Liga Privada Único Serie Velvet Rat, Tatuaje Black, or Padrón Serie 1926).

–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.”

If Jim Carrey’s Riddler from the horrifically campy Batman Forever designed a cigar band, it would look something like this. It’s about as far as you can get from the traditional Trinidad look. Introduced last summer, the 6-inch, 54-ring gauge, box-pressed cigar’s blend—Dominican binder, Nicaraguan filler, and Mexican Criollo ’98 wrapper—is also unusual. The profile has a unique syrupy sweetness, along with hints of coffee and cream. Construction is perfect. This is a unique, pleasant, medium-bodied smoke that may surprise you.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When I visited Drew Estate three months ago it was clear that the My Uzi Weighs a Ton Kentucky Fire Cured (MUWAT KFC) would be released at the (then-upcoming) 2013 IPCPR Trade Show. For the blend called Nica Rustica, the immediate future seemed far less clear.

At the time, I was given a pre-release sample which I described as “gritty, rustic, slightly vegetable, and even a bit grating.” That blend included a unique and nontraditional (for cigars) strain of tobacco that grows wild in Nicaragua. I’m told that tobacco has been eliminated from the final release.

Nica Rustica is being introduced in trunk-like boxes of 48 comprised of two 24-count bundles. Retailers, I was told at the Trade Show, could order full boxes or simply refill bundles of 24. Frankly, this strategy is pretty smart on Drew Estate’s part. Retailers essentially get to sell the cigar in bundle form (I say that in the purely packaging sense) without it actually being a bundle cigar (which, fair or not, carries certain prejudices).

The cigar comes in just one size (at least for now; Liga Privada was also first introduced in just one size): 6 inches with a 52 ring gauge with a pigtail cap  and a closed foot. The cigar’s suggested retail price is $6.95. (I smoked two for this review, both given to me at the Trade Show.)

The cigar uses Connecticut Broadleaf “mediums” for its wrapper, as compared to “No. 1 Darks” for the Liga Privada No. 9. The binder is Mexican San Andres Negro (the same type used as wrapper on the Undercrown) while the fillers are Nicaraguan, from Estelí and Jalapa.

Drew Estate says the strength is medium to full and I’m inclined to agree. It’s full of flavor with dry cocoa, wood, and black pepper, along with a hint of vegetal flavors that grates on the roof of your mouth. As you might expect from the blend, it shares many qualities with both the Liga No. 9 blend and Undercrown. But the flavor isn’t nearly as refined or dense as the Liga No. 9, nor are the flavors as  balanced or sweet as Undercrown.

Construction is absolutely impeccable, something it shares with both the other aforementioned Drew Estate cigars. The draw is flawless (something Jonathan Drew calls critical to Drew Estate’s success) and I’m always amazed at the volume of aromatic smoke Drew Estate’s cigars produce, even when just perched on the side of my ashtray between draws.

Nica Rustica is billed as “rustic, un-polished, un-refined,” and that’s pretty spot-on. It lacks balance and harmony, but attempts to make up for those deficiencies with plenty of strong, dominant flavors. Drew Estate is upfront about this trade-off. The similarity to Drew Estate’s other popular lines, combined with the price, nearly guarantees it will be a hit.

I place high value on balance and nuance, which is what amazes me about Liga Privada, which so flawlessly marries balance and complexity with intensity of flavor and strength. To that end, I’d trade some of Nica Rustica’s forcefulness for a little more balance, but I also know that, for many people, this will be right up their alley. Rustic and formidable, if lacking slightly in balance, Nica Rustica earns three 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.”

I liked the original Casa Miranda quite a bit, but I always got the feeling the cigar didn’t do as well Miami Cigar had hoped. Maybe the wind was taken out of the sails when Willy Herrera, who blended the cigar, left El Titan de Bronze where it’s made in the time between when the cigar was announced and when it hit the market. I was looking forward to this cigar and was pleased to have been given a sample at the recent industry convention. Chapter Two is made at Don Pepin’s factory in Nicaragua and carries a more reasonable suggested price. (The Robusto (4.5 x 50) is $6.35.) I found it to be a well-made, medium- to full-bodied cigar with dry dark chocolate, coffee, and subtle cedar notes. It’s a tasty sequel.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The battle for a space in a cigar shop’s humidor may be more competitive than most people realize. At a certain point, it’s simply impossible to add another blend or an additional size without removing another.

That battle for humidor space is what the annual cigar convention is all about. Cigar makers trying to convince retailers to add more of their products. Retailers trying to decide what will sell best.

Breaking out beyond the humidor is difficult for makers of premium cigars. Proper humidor care is a skill, and it’s not uncommon to see a humidor at a gas station full of dried-out cigars.

To address this, premium cigar makers have begun rolling out new, self-contained, humidified, single cigars. This is a growing trend that culminated at the recent International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show. If it’s successful, expect to see more.

General Cigar, Altadis, and Drew Estate have all rolled out sealed, single-cigar packs. And while most of the sort of cigar smokers who read this site will likely continue purchasing their cigars from cigar specialists, this is all about expanding the locations where premium cigars are sold. The packs claim to keep proper humidity for up to three years.

The idea is this: There are plenty of outlets (gas stations, convenience stores, etc.) where the occasional cigar smoker might pick up a cigar, but won’t because they don’t know if the cigar has been properly humidified. With a completely sealed and humidified bag, that person might pick up a few cigars for the golf course or his friend’s barbeque that he otherwise wouldn’t. Easy access and confidence in the cigar’s care could turn the once- or twice-a-year cigar smoker into someone who lights up more regularly.

Additionally, it can be a point of sale item for cigar shops. Humidor space is valuable and limited, but this way stores can carry additional cigars without having to remove any thing else from the humidor. Further, the cigar maker has a highly visible product that can serve as an advertisement for the entire brand.

General Cigar has rolled these out for their Macanudo, Punch, Partagas and Excalibur lines. Altadis has introduced Romeo y Julieta 1875, H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon, and Saint Luis Rey in “fresh-loc” sealed packaging (usually in a box). Drew Estate has its Acid infused line in “G-Fresh” packs, and discussed putting Undercrown in similar single-serve packs, but has decided against that for now.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Cigar World