The Stogie Guys

While smoking cigars is more of an art than a science, over the years we’ve tried to provide you with dozens of Tips to enhance your enjoyment. I hope you’ll take a moment to peruse our archives for everything from fixing an uneven burn and cigar auctions to winning the war on mold and establishing a good light. Many of these lessons are part of our Cigar University.

My quick observations today are far more subjective than the sort of info we usually provide in our tips. I don’t claim to have the answer because, more than likely, there is no one good solution. If anything, I’m hoping to open a dialogue in which I would encourage you all to participate.

The topic, simply stated, is as follows: At what point do you stop smoking a cigar?

I realize this may sound like a silly question. But I ask because I’ve heard and witnessed a variety of different answers. For example, a number of enthusiasts set down a cigar before it reaches the band. Still others practice the polar opposite, resolutely smoking each stick down to the nub. Smokers from the latter school know the best time to quit is a few minutes after your fingers start burning because they’re too close to the encroaching flame.

I, like most cigar enthusiasts, fall somewhere between these two camps, allowing the cigar and the situation to dictate when it’s best for me to set down my cigar. Some cigars, namely those that perform poorly or develop an unpleasant taste in the final third, deserve a premature death. Others merit a long, drawn-out goodbye, especially those that improve as they progress. Obviously, though, if I’m smoking a cigar for a full review or Quick Smoke—rather than for my own pure enjoyment—I’ll burn it down to the end.

While the “play it by year” approach works well for me, only you can determine what’s best for you. So please share your strategy with fellow StogieGuys.com readers and tell us: How low do you go?

–Patrick A

photo credit: Flickr

Last week I attended W. Curtis Draper’s Little Puff, a fantastic event in DC that raises lots of money for good causes. First and foremost, the event highlights the generosity of the cigar community. (After last year’s event, Little Puff had topped $600,000 raised for charity.)

But in addition to charity and generosity, fine cigars, food, and drink are featured. Like many cigar events, attendees are given a card with the names of all the cigar makers in attendance, who then punch the card when you pick up your cigar from their table.

The result is a lot of cigars. Some were new releases: Fratello, La Gloria Serie R Black, CLE Plus, Drew Estate’s Nica Rustica, just to name a few, all of which I’m looking forward to.

But I actually enjoyed some of the other cigars more. It isn’t that they are necessarily better, but these are cigars I don’t normally smoke because, writing for Stogie Guys, I tend to spend a lot of my smoking time trying the latest releases.

I can’t remember the last time I smoked a regular old Padrón Maduro, but lighting one up the next day I was reminded what an excellent cigar it is, especially given the price. It’s a cigar that was a staple in my rotation when I first got into cigars, but now I maybe smoke one a year.

The same goes for the Don Pepin Garcia Blue, La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet, Tatuaje Regios Reserva, Alec Bradley Prensado, Fuente Chateau Sun Grown, Oliva Connecticut, and La Aroma de Cuba (original blend). Cigars I don’t frequently light up, even though each is well made and quite good.

It’s a reminder not to get too focused on the latest and greatest. You’re not buying a smartphone where technology becomes quickly out of date. It’s more like music. Sure there’s some good music coming out today; but sometimes it’s better to tune into the classic rock station for dependable favorites that remind you of good times from the past.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A surefire way to get a heated discussion going is to bring up the issue of aging.

Everything from the basic definition — It’s aging after one year. No, that’s still resting; aging starts after three years. Well, I think two years is when it starts. — to which cigars benefit most from the process is a veritable minefield.

Over the years, I’ve looked quite a bit into aging, including talking with some pre-eminent cigar collectors and reading about it from a scientific standpoint, and, frankly, I’m more convinced than ever that there is no hard and fast answer.

Like most things involving cigars, aging is a matter of personal taste. I do know that most makers of good cigars don’t expect you to age their sticks. They use well-aged and fermented tobaccos and attempt to ship their products so customers get them at their peak.

I’m talking about non-Cubans. There, I don’t believe this was the case some years back when Cuba was scrambling to meet demand and exercising poor judgment about nearly everything, from the tobacco being used to quality control. Nowadays, I think things are better.

If you want to age cigars, feel free. About the only thing I can say with any degree of certainty is that you’ll rarely, if ever, find that time makes a poor cigar, especially one with low-grade, badly fermented, or un-aged tobaccos, anything other than an older, poor cigar.

My advice, for what it’s worth, is that if you want to age by the box if possible. That way, you can sample the cigars periodically to see whether they’re changing and have a good chance of catching them near the peak. It’s also a good idea to keep notes at each stage of the process on cigars you’re aging. You’ll find that helpful not only with the cigars at hand but in selecting future cigars for aging.

At any rate, I suggest smoking rather than fighting.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

With the fourth quarter just around the corner, it seems like a good time to check in on how I’ve been doing with my 2013 cigar goals.

There were three:

1. Concentrate more on the cigar I’m smoking.
2. Check out more limited editions.
3. Smoke more mild and medium-strength cigars.

I’d give myself a “C” on the first one. I think I’ve done better, helped by my efforts at achieving the second goal. But I’m still not where I’d like to be. As for No. 3, I flunked. I’ve had a few more of these, but not many. But I’ve also come to believe that this isn’t a realistic goal when I rarely smoke more than one cigar a day.

It’s goal No. 2 where I made considerable progress. I’m only guessing, since I don’t keep records on what I smoke, but probably a third of my 2013 cigars have been limited editions, including nearly every one I smoke at my local B&M.

I’ve had quite a few cigars I might not have tried otherwise, though I couldn’t bring myself to pull the $30 trigger on the 2013 Fuente Don Carlos Limited Edition 2013.

But others—from the Viaje Satori 2013 that was an unusual mix of spice and low power to La Flor Dominicana Chapter 1, where I found the chisel “cut” worked well for a change—were good experiences. You’ll likely see some here evaluated as “Quick Smokes.”

I haven’t liked them all by any means, but I have appreciated most. Whether the blend is truly limited or unique, for me, the cigars encourage a focus on the individual stick.

A good example is Eddie Ortega’s Wild Bunch series. I’ve had several and liked each one. Perhaps my favorite has been Wild Bill, a six-inch, oily stick with a pigtail cap and a light finish. Is it radically different from many other cigars? No. But does Wild Bill distinguish itself with fine taste and construction that repays attention? Absolutely.

And, after all, isn’t that what cigar smoking is all about?

–George E

photo credit: Ortega Cigars

With new challenges come new opportunities. When it comes to cigars and finding a place to comfortably enjoy a premium cigar, that saying certainly is true.

Smoking bans across the country have booted smokers out of restaurants, bars, and other places that wanted their business. Unpleasant weather, and creeping outdoor bans, compound the problem. The spread of bans means in many places you can only smoke in specialized cigar establishments. And eager business owners are seeking to welcome in cigar smokers.

Cigar shops are adding lounge areas to accommodate cigar smoking customers who have limited options. But cigar shops are often limited in their ability to sell anything other than cigars; food and drink sales are generally prohibited.

Increasingly, it seems, luxurious specialized cigar establishments that combine food, drink, and cigars are seeking to fill the void.

Some, like the Grand Havana Club in DC and Beverly Hills, Club Macanudo in New York, and Shelly’s Backroom in DC have been around for a while. Others like Ashton Lounge in Philadelphia, Civil Cigar in DC, and CXIII Rex in Alexandria, Virginia, are relatively new.

Some are membership-only, others invite the public in if they’re wiling to pay a premium for their offerings. The result is a number of fine establishments in which one can, for a price, smoke a cigar in an exquisite setting.

But the trend has some downsides.

Go to most cigar shops and you’ll find a wide range of people: blue collar workers, civil servants, small business owners, retirees, college students, master of finance-types. Which makes sense when you consider that cigar smoking is an incredibly affordable luxury. Five dollars can provide an enjoyable, casual, relaxed hour.

The appreciation of cigars promotes common ground among people whose paths would never cross outsides a cigar shop. Anti-smokers like to portray cigar smokers as the ultra-rich elite, lighting cigars with dollar bills in wood-paneled rooms, but it simply isn’t true.

Which is why it’s ironic that anti-cigar bans are forcing cigar smokers into smoke-filled, wood-paneled rooms where the entrance requires an exclusive membership, or at least the willingness to spend more than a blue-collar hourly wage.

In other words, to the extent cigar smoking is still viewed as an elitist activity, it’s the fault of the anti-smokers rather than cigar smokers.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Flickr

It’s been almost two months since the IPCPR Trade Show so, with the dust settling, it’s a good time to look back at some industry trends that were on display at the show.

Quality Increasing

It’s my belief that quality is going up across the board in the cigar industry, and smoking plenty of samples only solidifies this opinoin. Obviously these are generalizations and no doubt there are exceptions, but it seems not only are the cigars being produced now better constructed than they were 5-10 years ago, they are better cigars that lack obvious flavor flaws. The result is good for consumers. Whether you buy discounted samplers online, or just pick up what looks interesting at your local cigar shop, odds are you’re going to end up with decent or good cigars.

Expectations on the Rise

When finding a good cigar is easy, consumers expectations are raised. The result can be challenging for cigar companies. Here’s a thought experiment: Take a recent cigar release and imagine how it would have done if it was released five years earlier. Last year, CAO introduced the Concert series, a cigar with sales (I get the sense) that seem to be a little disappointing to CAO’s parent company, General Cigar. I’d suspect that if that same blend at the same price point had been introduced five years earlier (two years before CAO La Traviata) it would have been a smash hit. It is, in my opinion, a classic example of a cigar that would have stood out in 2007 or earlier, but now is just another good cigar in the crowd.

Small Brands Fill Niches

It’s easy to discount cigar brands that don’t own a factory but instead contract someone else to make their cigars. For one thing, there’s an extra level, and that means an additional mark-up before the cigar reaches consumers. The brand owner has to buy cigars then mark them up before they are sold wholesale. Also, people assume that if the blend was so great why didn’t the factory just release and market it themselves? Those are valid points, but there’s also a niche that these small brands can fill. For large companies like General Cigar, Altadis, Davidoff, and Drew Estate, it doesn’t make a ton of economic sense to create a cigar that will sell only 40,000 cigars. But for a small cigar line owned by a single brand owner, that level of volume can be a nice little business, and they can afford to make a cigar that, while it may never be a huge seller, may find a small but dedicated fan base.

Protecting Brick-and-Mortar Shops from Online Discounters

Increasingly, one shop owner concern about bringing in a new cigar is that it will soon be available online for a significant discount. Traditionally, cigar makers have sought to deal with these concerns by protecting prices with a maximum discount (say 10% below MSRP) under which the cigar can’t be sold. But with the increasing number of consumers showrooming (visiting local stores while simultaneously price shopping online), that’s not always enough. The response from cigar makers is bifurcating their lines with some available and marketed to online retailers and others specifically brick and mortar only. The AVO Serenata is an example of a new line strictly for brick and mortar retailers. This has been going on for a while, but it seems to be more prominent recently.

What’s a Flavored Cigar?

With the advent of fire-cured tobacco, the line between traditional and flavored cigars is beginning to blur. Drew Estate’s Kentucky Fire Cured and Sam Leccia’s Black line are the most prominent, but others (Gran Habano) are introducing cigars that use fire-cured tobacco. It’s an interesting development where the line between traditional and flavored (Drew Estate calls them “infused”) is breaking down, because the difference isn’t unnatural chemicals being introduced to the cigar making process, but the traditional process being tweaked using old technology not normally used for handmade cigars. Look for this trend to continue.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

One of the most enjoyable aspects of attending the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show is the opportunity to meet new people in the cigar industry and see the fruits of their labor. Their enthusiasm and passion is infectious.

At this summer’s show, I met lots of people I didn’t know. I was, for example, mightily impressed by the men behind Table 36. Listening to them tell their story with so much zest and spirit was amazing.

Sitting down over a cup of coffee with Gary Griffith of Emilio Cigars was simply a great experience. You don’t get to meet such a genuine, smart, and engaging person—whatever their field of endeavor—very often.

Another new contact was John Staurulakis of Veritas Cigar Co., a Wilmington-based firm that was introducing three blends at this year’s show. No one talked with more zeal about their cigars than John, the company’s national director of sales. He eagerly handed me one to smoke while we talked.

Sitting at the booth, John explained what the company had been up to in the past year. The first thing they did was decide to drop the cigars they had been offering, he said. “We spent the last year blending three new blends to debut here.”

When they got what they wanted, their new Torch line was born. Offered in five sizes, the cigar comes in three variations.

John laid out the details: One sports a sun-grown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan filler from Jalapa and Ometepe; another features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over an Indonesian binder around Jalapa filler; and the Ecuadorian Habano maduro wrapper on the third is matched with a Nicaraguan Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler from Jalapa and Estelí.

John said he got into cigars in school and spent lots of time at a favorite cigar shop before jumping into the business.

At IPCPR, he added, Veritas signed up about 18 new shops and, he emailed me later, “that number just keeps getting larger every day.”

If you spot a Torch, give it a try. One thing I can guarantee: They’re produced with passion.

–George E

photo credit: Veritas Cigar Co.