The Stogie Guys

A couple times each week 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 don’t think I’ve smoked this blend from La Flor Dominicana since it was called the Premium line. (That was two names ago; it was briefly renamed “La Flor Dominicana Light” in 2012.) Long associated with fuller-bodied, ligero-heavy offerings, the truth is Litto Gomez and La Flor Dominicana started off with milder offerings, including this cigar, which features a pale golden Connecticut Shade wrapper and Dominican filler tobaccos. This robusto emphasizes balance and mildness, though it does have honey sweetness with cream, subtle cut grass, and light cedar. It’s not my preferred flavor profile, but it’s a flawlessly constructed example of a premium, mild-bodied cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last year Diesel debuted Whiskey Row, an A.J. Fernandez-made cigar featuring tobaccos aged in bourbon barrels from the Rabbit Hole Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky. This month the follow-up collaboration arrived: Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask.

Like the original, the binder has been aged in Rabbit Hole’s barrels. But this time the casks has been used to age Pedro Ximenez Sherry before being filled with bourbon for a brief finishing period to make Rabbit Hole PX Sherry Cask Finished Straight Bourbon Whiskey. (Look for an upcoming Cigar Spirits article on this bourbon.) Unlike the Mexican San Andrés binder used in last year’s Whiskey Row, this cigar uses an Arapiraca barrel-aged binder from Central Brazil’s Alagoas region.

Like the original Diesel Whiskey Row, the filler is all Nicaraguan. (No word on whether it uses the same three-region combination.) The most visible change from last year’s line is a dark, oily Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper.

Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask comes in three sizes priced from $8.49 to $9.49: the Robusto (5 x 52) I smoked, plus a Toro (6 x 50) and a Gigante (6 x 58). Construction on the three pre-release samples I smoked was outstanding with an even burn, sturdy ash, and flawless draw that had just the right amount of resistance.

Pre-light you can pick up the hints of the barrel-aged tobacco with deep char notes with caramel and dried fruit. Once lit, the charred notes remain and combine with classic earthy Nicaraguan flavors, light pepper, and lots of chocolate and espresso.

As the cigar progresses, there isn’t a whole lot of variation, though some dried fruit notes come and go. The cigar has a finish that lingers on the roof of the mouth, and has a notably cool smoke that seems to temper those full flavors just slightly.

It’s impressive to think how far the Diesel brand has come along: from a catalog house brand (albeit a notably well-reviewed one) to a full line of cigars now with multiple blends in regular distribution. (Read the original Diesel Whiskey Row review for more on that history.) Without a doubt, handing the reins to the prolific and talented A.J. Fernandez is a large factor in that success.

There’s little reason to believe Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask won’t be another success for the blend. Priced fairly, well-constructed, and with deep, rich flavors the Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask Robusto earns an impressive 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

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Some cigars sit in your humidor for years unsmoked. In this case, it’s because I rarely have time to smoke an ‘A’ size, which is generally 8-9 inches long with a ring gauge of 50. Thanks to my email account, I can see that I picked up a “Rocky Patel Limited Edition 2008 ‘A’ Sampler” (16 cigars) back in April 2009 for about $5 a cigar, though I’m sure the suggested retail price was quite a bit more. The decade of age hasn’t mellowed this full-bodied smoke, which was subsequently cancelled only to be brought back in 2018. The cigar features an especially oily (age may be a factor here) Honduran Corojo wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler. The flavors are heavy in leather and oak with light spice.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Today we’re looking at two 12-year-old Bajan rums that, on their face, are quite similar. Doorly’s 12 Year and The Real McCoy 12 Year are both distilled at the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados and aged for a dozen years.

Foursquare has produced some classic rums, both high-end limited offerings and more widely available rums. The brand is known for its straightforward style that rejects additives and embraces honesty with its consumers, including when it comes to age statements (e.g., the rum in these bottles has been aged a minimum of 12 years, whereas many other rums market the age of the oldest distillate in the bottle).

So given that they are both produced at Foursquare, what exactly is the difference between Doorly’s and The Real McCoy (beside the price; the Doorly’s costs under $30, The Real McCoy costs around $50)?

Well, for one thing, Doorly’s discloses on its label that it is made at Foursquare, along with the fact that Doorly’s rum has been made on Barbados since 1908. Meanwhile, The Real McCoy traces its name back to prohibition, but the brand isn’t nearly that old, and the distillery name is nowhere to be found (even though The Real McCoy is distilled in Barbados and widely linked with Foursquare). They are undoubtedly similar rums, but each features its own twist.

Doorly’s 12 features notes of ginger, lighter oak, ripe fruit, and green banana. The finish is long but not overly sweet, with more dried fruit notes (apricots and dates).

The Real McCoy 12 is woodier with heavier spice, figs, vanilla, cigar box, and orange peel. It has a long and woody finish with a silky mouthfeel.

Both are fantastically flavorful (but not overly sweet) rums that are in the classic Bajan style. I have a slight preference for The Real McCoy, but factoring price into consideration I suppose they are equally impressive, especially as a pairing with a cigar.

The full flavors of The Real McCoy call for a medium- to full-bodied cigar, while Doorly’s balance suggests something more mild- to medium-bodied. Either way, both are exceptional rums to sip neat, paired with a cigar or otherwise.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

After recently reviewing the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua favorably, I went back and tried the one of the original Aging Room Quattro (F55) that helped put the line on the map. (The “F55” was recently dropped, but the robusto I smoked is from before last year’s line revamp.) The cigar is made with an aged Indonesian Sumatra wrapper, the type often used on machine-made cigars, and Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. It shows surprising depth of flavor with roast coffee, cedar spice, and toasted brown bread. Medium-bodied, balanced, and well-constructed, it’s still an impressive cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

If you need a reminder that anti-tobacco efforts are often a bipartisan affair, look no further than legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA). The bill would raise the nationwide age for purchasing tobacco to 21.

The federal minimum age for purchasing tobacco products is 18, although state and local governments can set the minimum age higher (14 states have set the age at 21, along with 470 municipalities). Obviously, raising the minimum age above 18 raises questions about why adults who can vote and serve in the military cannot choose whether or not to enjoy a cigar.

The issue of members of the military who are under 21, even if they are deployed overseas, being banned from choosing use tobacco products was previously a hold-up in the proposed legislation. While originally McConnell expressed reservations about such a law applying to service members, he seems to have relented.

The largest cigarette company, Altria, has backed legislation raising the minimum age for tobacco purchases to 21. Notably, both McConnell and Kaine ares senators from states traditionally known for growing cigarette tobacco.

Analysis

In a political climate that increasingly purports to respect tolerance of personal choice, the double-standard when it comes to tobacco and adults is glaring. As many have observed before, there is no way to reconcile giving 18-year-olds the right to vote and the right (and, theoretically, through draft registration, the obligation) to serve in the military, but not the ability to choose whether or not to enjoy tobacco products.

Although tobacco companies may back the legislation, there is little reason to think that the “T21” movement was spreading to all 50 states. Further, to the extent T21 was spreading, it wasn’t likely to be extended anytime soon above age 21, which is also when the law limits adults from purchasing alcohol.

Ultimately, given the profile of most purchasers of handmade cigars, raising the minimum age for purchasing tobacco is unlikely to have a significant effect on cigar-specific retailers, despite the obvious aforementioned hypocrisy of simultaneously permitting 18-year-olds to both vote and serve in the military. That said, there is the possibility that raising the age for the purchase of tobacco to 21 could slow down efforts to regulate tobacco by the FDA.

As the Tobacco Control Act (which gives the FDA the authority to regulate premium cigars) specifically refers to limiting tobacco usage by minors under the age of 18, there is an argument that a federal tobacco age changed to 21 should result in a reset of FDA regulations. Specifically, for handmade cigars (which were always less likely to be used by minors) there is even less logic for the FDA to regulate cigars on the grounds that it is necessary to prevent youth usage if all tobacco is illegal for those under 21.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys