The Stogie Guys

StogieGuys.com will be featured on the Livin’ Large with Geoff Pinkus radio show on WIND 560 AM in Chicago today. The show runs from 5-7 pm Central (6-8 Eastern) and Patrick S is scheduled to be on around at 6 pm Central (7 Eastern).

Geoff’s show is about “cigars, cars, spirits, wine, beer, restaurants, music, sports, hot chicks, jets, Harleys, guns, bikes, and fishing.” You can even call in at 877-560-WIND to ask a question on the air. If you’re not in the Chicago area, you can listen live here (and if you miss it, a podcast will be available here). You can listen to last week’s appearance here.

–The Stogie Guys

This Sunday ( April 20) Patrick A and Patrick S will be talking cigars on the Livin’ Large with Geoff Pinkus radio show on WIND 560 AM in Chicago. The show runs from 5-7 pm Central (6-8pm Eastern) and we are scheduled to be on at the top of the second hour (after the lovely Chicago Blackhawks Ice Crew girls).

Geoff’s show is about “cigars, cars, spirits, wine, beer, restaurants, music, sports, hot chicks (hot moms), jets, harleys, guns, bikes, and fishing.” You can even call in to ask us a question on the air: 877-560-WIND.

If you’re not in the Chicago area you can listen live here (and if you miss it, a podcast will be available here).

–The Stogie Guys

Now that the 2008 NCAA Tournament is set, we are teaming up with our friends at CigarsDirect.com to offer the best cigar prizes ever for a March Madness bracket challenge. The fantastic prizes, courtesy of CigarsDirect.com, are as follows:

Grand Prize: Padilla 1932 Signature Humidor filled with 45 Padilla cigars ($1,500.00 retail value)

2nd Place: Box of Fuente Fuente Opus X Robusto ($799.95 retail value)

3rd Place: Box of Arturo Fuente Anejo #77 “Shark” ($579.95 retail value)

4th Place: Box of Fuente God of Fire Churchill ($239.95 retail value)

5th Place: Box of Fuente Hemingway Short Story ($139.99 retail value)

As always at StogieGuys.com, entry is 100 percent free. Please fill out your bracket here. You must register with CBS Sportsline, then after you log in with your username and password you will be asked to enter our league password (which is “cigars”).

Rules: Please make sure to enter a valid email address when signing up. CigarsDirect.com will notify all winners via email at the end of the tournament. If you do not respond within two weeks, the prize will go to the player with the next highest point total. All brackets must be filled in by March 20.

Fine Print: The contest is in no way affiliated with CBS Sportsline, and no one will have access to your personal information (except for your email and name). There must be at least 50 entries or else the prizes may change.

Good luck!

[Additionally, CigarsDirect.com is including free shipping on all other orders placed during the NCAA tournament. For free shipping simply enter the code “stogieguys” at checkout.]

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: NCAA

We are pleased to announce an important addition to our StogieGuys.com team. Effective immediately, Jon N will join the StogieGuys.com staff as our Los Angeles Bureau Chief – strengthening our reporting from America’s West Coast.

Despite being 28, Jon smoked his first cigar 15 years ago (do the math) in Las Vegas, as his new bio explains:

Jon Nathanson introduced himself to cigars at the tender of age of 13, when he and some of his enterprising friends procured a fake ID and purchased a box of hand-rolled stogies at a smoke shop on the Las Vegas Strip. Having no clue how to smoke a cigar didn’t deter Jon, and he inhaled a couple of premium sticks. His juvenile curiosity was rewarded with a severe headache, nausea, and a vow not to smoke again for as long as he lived.

Never a man of his word, Jon took up smoking cigars many years later at the age of 25. Since then, he has learned to treat the hobby with the respect, appreciation, and determination it deserves. Now, at 28, Jon considers himself an ardent enthusiast, if not quite a seasoned expert. His personal knowledge of cigars, the cigar lifestyle, and the history of the industry is still a work in progress – but he is learning a great deal more each day.

Jon holds a BA in English and American Studies from Yale University, and he is planning to attend business school in the fall of 2008. He has been working for over five years in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, the city where he was born and raised. When not working hard, or hardly working, Jon enjoys writing, running, fishing, pleasantly inept karaoke, and leisurely smokes on the beach in Malibu (where he is very careful not to start fires).

Jon’s enormous, garish, White House-shaped humidor is the envy of no one in particular. Nevertheless, it is always well stocked with a diverse array of cigars from around the world. Jon’s personal favorites include the Arturo Fuente Hemingway line, the Rocky Patel Vintage series, and most full-bodied maduros.

Jon’s addition to the StogieGuys.com staff will diversify our perspective on reviews, news, commentaries, and tips from the world of cigars. We hope you are as excited to welcome Jon as we are, and we know you will enjoy reading his well-written prose.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

It’s been quite awhile since our last Smoke Out, but now we’re proud to announce that StogieGuys.com is at it again. On Sunday, March 9 we will be hosting a get-together for DC-area readers and friends at Carpool in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. The event will commence at 4 p.m. EST and last until everyone is tired of drinking and smoking.

While we have hosted a few of these fun-filled events in the past (pictured at right), this one promises to be especially memorable. Cuban Crafters – the boutique manufacturer responsible for such highly rated favorites as J.L. Salazar, La Carolina, Cabinet Selection, Don Kiki (both Brown and White), and Cameroon – has graciously agreed to sponsor the event. Thus, a variety of free Cuban Crafters cigars will be available to attendees (while supplies last) and other items will be given away in a free raffle.

In order to ensure that we have enough goodies to hand out and ample space at the bar, all we ask is that you RSVP here as soon as possible.

Of course, Patrick A and Patrick S will be on hand to participate in all the activities that will make this event great: smoking/talking cigars, eating BBQ, playing pool and darts, etc. Conveniently, Carpool is just a stone’s throw away from the Ballston Metro station and parking will also be available. To summarize:

• WHAT: DC Stogie Guys Cigar Smoke Out, sponsored by Cuban Crafters
• WHERE: Carpool in Arlington, VA
• WHEN: Sunday, March 9 at 4 p.m. EST
• WHY: Free Cuban Crafters cigars and great company
• HOW: RSVP today!

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

We had 67 entries in our second annual Stogie Guys Super Bowl Contest, but there could only be two winners. Congratulations are in order to Matt and Dennis, who both picked the New York Giants to win by three. (Four people correctly picked the Giants by three, but Matt and Dennis won because their projection of 45 total points scored put them closer than the other two entries.)

The two lucky winners will receive six cigars from eGars.com. Each will get the Honduran Classic Sampler and the Punch Rothschild Sampler, which contain the following smokes:

• Sancho Panza Caballero – 6.5 x 45
• Excalibur Prensado Oscuro – 6.125 x 48
• Punch Rare Corojo Double Corona – 6.75 x 48
• Punch Rothschild EMS – 4.5 x 50
• Punch Rothschild MM – 4.5 x 50
• Punch Rare Corojo Rothschild – 4.5 x 50

We’ve yet to catch up with Matt, but Dennis did tell us a little about his Super Bowl day. After smoking a Tatuaje Series P and a Carlos Toraño Signature, he watched the game at home with his family where they “pigged out” and had a great time.

When we asked Dennis if he was Giants fan, he responded quite definitively: “Hell No! Please don’t ask me that ever again. I’m a Redskins fan for life! [The pick] was strictly strategy.” Dennis also said that he only started smoking cigars this year, but he already has good taste – citing the Padron 2000 and the Toraño Signature as two of his favorites.

Congratulations again to Dennis and Matt, and a special thanks to eGars.com for sponsoring the contest.

Please note that eGars.com is also running a special deal just for StogieGuys.com readers. Enter “SGVIP” as a promo code when you checkout and receive ten percent off your first order!

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: AP

StogieGuys.com is pleased to announce our second annual Super Bowl contest. You may not be able to land tickets to the big game in Arizona between the NFC champion New York Giants and the AFC champion New England Patriots, but here you do have a chance to win some fantastic cigars courtesy of StogieGuys.com and eGars.com.

This year, eGars.com is providing us with some fantastic prizes so that the two best Super Bowl prognosticators will each receive six top-notch cigars. Our two winners will each receive six cigars from the Honduran Classic Sampler and the Punch Rothschild Sampler (total value $29.90):

• Sancho Panza Caballero – 6.5 x 45
• Excalibur Prensado Oscuro – 6.125 x 48
• Punch Rare Corojo Double Corona – 6.75 x 48
• Punch Rothschild EMS – 4.5 x 50
• Punch Rothschild MM – 4.5 x 50
• Punch Rare Corojo Rothschild – 4.5 x 50

To enter, leave a comment on this article that includes the following predictions: (1) who will win, (2) margin of victory, (3) total points scored, and (4) time on the clock (regardless of quarter) when the first points of the game are scored. Please see the first comment for a sample entry.

The margin of victory, followed by total points, followed by time of the first points, will be used as a tiebreakers to determine the two prize winners. In the event of matching winning guesses, the first to respond is the winner.

Eligibility: Only one entry per person. Participants must be 18 or older (verification may be required) and must live in the continental US. You must enter a valid email so we can contact you for a mailing address.

All entries must be received before 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 3.

Please note that eGars.com is also running a special deal just for StogieGuys.com readers: Enter “SGVIP” as a promo code when you checkout and receive 10 percent off your first order!

Good Luck!

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: NFL