The Stogie Guys

Patrick A and Patrick S are too busy drinking to post a Quick Smoke today. So we suggest you grab some green beer – and maybe even a green cigar – and go celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style.

–The Stogie Guys

Wanna have some fun and go up against fellow StogieGuys.com readers in an NCAA March Madness pool? Wanna win some free cigars? If you answered is “Yes” and “Hell yeah!” then the 2007 Stogie Guys NCAA Final Four Challenge is for you.

The winner gets a “Final Four” pack of premium and super-premium smokes that will include a Montecristo Classic, a Cohiba (Dominican), a Gurkha Regent, and a mystery cigar to be named at a later date.

To sign up for free, click this link and select “Join a Group” (you’ll need a Yahoo ID). Our league number is 112474, and the password is “stogie.” Also, be sure not to hide your email so we can contact you if you win.

Contest fine print: To be eligible to win the cigars, you must be 21 or older and must live in the Continental U.S. (sorry Hawaii, Alaska, and foreigners). Proof of age may be required. One entry per person, not per email. The winner will be contacted via email the week following the Championship game. Scoring is determined by Yahoo.

Sign up is closed by Yahoo just before the first game starts on Thursday, so get your entry in ASAP.

Feel free to discuss your Final Four picks below. And for some information on Basketball’s greatest cigar smoker, see this article on the passing of “Red” Auerbach, the inventor of the victory cigar.

–The Stogie Guys

Tags: cigars

If you take a look through our archives, you’ll find dozens of tips from stogie basics (like cutting and lighting a cigar) to tips on choosing a drink and advanced smoking techniques.

But there’s still probably something about cigars that you want to know…and we’re here to help! Soon we’re launching a regular series where we’ll answer all of your cigar-related questions.

And while we know a good deal about cigars, we certainly don’t know everything. So, when necessary, we’ll be getting experts from the cigar industry to chime in as well.

Here’s your chance: What do you really want to know about cigars? What have you always wanted to ask a cigar industry insider about cigars?

Let us know today (either in the comments or by emailing us) so we can have your question answered in a future “Ask a Cigar Insider” article.

–The Stogie Guys

Tags: cigars

Despite the resentment of resident Bears superfan Patrick A, today we are crowning the champion of our first annual StogieGuys.com Super Bowl Cigar Contest. Congrats to Kevin from Arlington, Virginia whose entry won, and thanks to all who entered.

Nobody had the Colts by 12, but Kevin guessed Colts by 11 which proved the closest entry. Fortunately for Kevin, his guess of 65 total points scored was not needed as a tiebreaker.

For his skilled (or maybe just lucky) prognosticating, Kevin will receive five fantastic stogies: a Gurkha Class Regent Torpedo, a Macanudo Robust Rothschild, a 5 Vegas Series “A” Alpha, a Puros Indios “Special-Aged” Piramide, and a CAO Criollo Pato. Only the Gurkha, Macanudo and CAO have have been rated by Stogie Guys and they all received impressive four out of five stogie ratings.

Special mention goes to runner up Marc Kassin, whose prediction of a 14-point Colts victory (and 45 total points scored – only one off) would have won were it not spoiled by a missed extra point and missed chip shot field goal by Adam “used to be a sure thing” Vinatieri. Not including StogieGuys.com writers, your predictions were split evenly between the Colts and Bears.

–Patrick S

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the new and improved StogieGuys.com. As you can undoubtedly see, we (well, actually, Semmens) were hard at work this weekend renovating your go-to website for daily cigar news, reviews, and commentary on the average guys’ search for the next great smoke.

The most noticeable of the changes is the new look. While we decided to keep many features from the old design, I think you’ll agree that the new style is sharper, more up-to-date, and – hopefully – more user friendly.

You’ll also notice we added a “Categories” section to our sidebar that allows readers to browse past articles by topic. So if you’re in the mood for some cigar tips, Friday Samplers, stogie reviews, news, or our off-the-beaten-path commentary, this feature should make your life a lot easier.

Bear in mind, however, that the process of switching over from Blogger software to WordPress is not yet 100 percent complete. Every single post we’ve published since establishing StogieGuys.com in May 2006 needs to be individually re-formatted for the new website. So some things – like pictures and category tags – will require extra work. Please excuse these technical inevitabilities; we hope to have each and every one corrected by the end of the week.

That said, I think you’ll find many of the old features that you’ve come to know and love in their old places. For instance, you can still access our Archived Reviews Page, browse our “Hot Topics,” and visit our ever-important “Recommended Retailers” (who made this website renovation possible) from the sidebar.

Most importantly, I hope you will keep in mind that we made these improvements for you, our readers. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay at StogieGuys.com more enjoyable, please let us know.

–Patrick A

Our many loyal readers will notice some minor changes to StogieGuys.com today. For instance, there are a few (well, to be exact, four) small advertisements on our front page, and another ad scattered elsewhere throughout the site.

This is not a hallucination. Do not be alarmed, and do not adjust your monitors.

It’s just that the two guys who bring you the daily news, reviews, and commentary from the world of cigars you’ve come to love have decided it’s about time to start breaking even.

You see, October marks the six month anniversary of StogieGuys.com. And, looking back, we have much to be proud of: We sent a proposal to the Washington Nationals to create a cigar-friendly seating section; published tips ranging from lighting a cigar to proper etiquette; harped on the evils of senseless smoking bans; sent a lucky reader to Cigar Artisans 2006 in Tampa; and have reviewed dozens of cigars – just to name a few accomplishments.

Above all, I am most proud of the fact that we have published something new every single weekday for the past six months, and our content has never suffered. For our countless hours of work, our loyal readers have rewarded us with exponential growth in traffic, and I can’t express how grateful I am to you for that.

But I believe we’ve reached a point where it’s appropriate to start reaping some tangible rewards from the hard work, time, and money that goes into a great daily website – especially since there are planned improvements that will cost money.

That’s why I’m encouraging you to please click on our ads for all of your online cigar, coffee, and (coming soon) wine needs.

If, for some reason, you’re not currently in the market, there are other ways you can support the site, such as: purchasing gear from the Official Stogie Guys Store (we now have a cigar journal for sale); buying items from our Amazon store; or, if you prefer, direct donations (please click the button below).

Uh oh…Did I come off too needy? No worries – the best way to support the site is still to read it.

Please leave comments if you have any questions, concerns, or complaints. StogieGuys.com always values your input, and we look forward to bringing you more great daily content for years to come.

–Patrick A

As you know, StogieGuys.com gave two cigars a heralded five out of five stogies in recent reviews: the Davidoff Grand Cru No. 3 and the Cuban Cohiba Siglo V. These reviews generated a windstorm response from Stogie Guys Nation in the form of comments and emails—even lengthy discussions (or, rather, debates) on other websites.

So we thought it would be worthwhile to refute the notion that the prized five out of five stogies rating should be reserved only for sticks which have already received elite status in the cigar community.

First of all, it’s worth repeating that our reviews are measured by a much different ratings system than those of other leading cigar reviewers. We believe an individual’s cigar preference cannot and should not be measured by exact numbers, and therefore decided to implement a much simpler metric. You can read all about this on the About Our Ratings System page.

There, we describe what various ratings are supposed to mean in straightforward, sans-jargon terms. You will see we denote five out of five stogies as such:

These cigars are truly an occasion. We recommend you give these babies your full and undivided attention. If not, you’d better be at a wedding or some other significant celebration.

So, you see, five out of five stogies doesn’t necessarily mean the cigar is perfect. It just means we found the stick so enjoyable, we recommend you save it for special events. After all, you can go to any cigar magazine or any other cigar website on the planet to find an exact number rating (if that’s really what you seek) for any given cigar.

Finally, one of the main criticisms we received is that readers just didn’t think the aforementioned cigars were worthy of five out of five status. If you had these cigars (or any others we review) and came to different conclusions, that’s fine. Leave us a comment or contact us and explain why. We love this feedback; it’s one of the reasons we started the site in the first place.

But please don’t tell us just because a certain cigar hasn’t received elite notoriety amongst cigar aficionados that it isn’t worthy of our praise. One of the other main reasons we started this site was to offer well-formulated rebuttal to the status quo.

That said, thank you, Stogie Guys Nation, for your feedback. We appreciate your loyal readership and value your varied opinions.

One final note: Remember that the best cigar is the cigar you like the best.

–Patrick A