The Stogie Guys

Since people who want to tell us where, when, and if we can smoke seem to be a dime a dozen these days, we spend considerable time covering smoking bans and the health fascists who want to impose them on us.

Often, in the course of that coverage, we call the people pushing such bans “do-gooders” – along with other less flattering names – in reference to the fact that while wrong, we generally think that these are sane people who are well-intentioned. That characterization – which in no way is an excuse for their attempts to impose their misguided values on others – was challenged by the video below.

In the clip a group called Bureaucrash organized a peaceful smoke-in outside the doors of the 13th World Conference on Tobacco while wearing T-shirts that said “Smoking is Healthier than Fascism” in an effort to engage in constructive debate and conversation. (As you probably suspect, despite the cool name, the World Conference on Tobacco is not a big party for smokers, but a dry gathering full of doom and gloom about “tobacco control” – the euphemism of choice for deciding how to stop people from being allowed to choose to smoke.)

Without spoiling the ending, lets just say that one conference attendee took issue with the notion that smoking is healthier than fascism. Enjoy.

Click here to watch the video.

-Patrick S

Election Day is right around the corner and now, more than ever, your right to light up a cigar may be at stake when you cast your ballot.

The Tobacco Merchants Association and Retail Tobacco Dealers of America have identified 14 tobacco-related ballot initiatives (pdf) and over 40 proposed bills that may affect where you smoke, what you smoke, and how much your smoke costs.

We highly recommend (1) reading up on the initiatives and (2) calling the candidates to find out where they stand on laws that would diminish smokers’ rights. If you are not voting for a candidate because of their position on such laws, then you should let them know it was their anti-smoker position that turned you off. Politicians need to know that many people are making decisions about who to vote for based on candidates’ positions on smoking issues.

Finally, since the two biggest issues facing Stogie Guys this election are smoking bans and tobacco taxes, here are our positions on these important issues:

Smoking Bans

Health Nazis tell us that smoking bans are necessary to protect people from the dangers of tobacco smoke, both first- and second-hand, but the truth is everyone – employees, patrons, and owners – has a choice about being exposed to smoke. If people truly demand smoke-free establishments, then places will open to meet that demand, rendering government-imposed regulation unnecessary.

We believe that people are smart enough to choose for themselves and take responsibility for their actions. Therefore, smoking bans are nothing but ugly paternalism that must be opposed.

Tobacco Taxes

Proposals to spend taxpayers’ money on government projects that small groups of people claim are for the common good should always be examined skeptically. However, even if you think that a particular project meets your standard for a “good use of government power” (whatever that may be), you should still oppose taxes on tobacco that target the small minority of people who are smokers.

As we’ve said before, if politicians cannot convince citizens that taxes to fund their pet projects should be spread broadly across the tax base, they should reevaluate the necessity of the program – not look for a more vulnerable group with which to saddle the burden. Tobacco taxes are nothing more than the bullying of an oppressed minority by well-funded “activists,” and they should always be opposed.

On Tuesday, November 7, go out and vote like your cigar depends on it – It just might!

–Patrick S

Still trying to throw together that last-minute Halloween costume before you head out drinking or (God forbid) harassing your neighbors for candy? Want to be able to smoke a cigar? Well, you’re in luck.

As you can see to the right, being the huge Chicago Bears fan that I am, this weekend I decided to hit the town as a Superfan. It was great because I was able to satisfy my urges for cigars and salted meats while in character.

But I realize not all of you are fans of Da (undefeated) Bears. So we here at StogieGuys.com have come up with a pretty decent list (in no particular order) of great stogie-wielding costume ideas. This is by no means comprehensive, but feel free to leave further suggestions as comments.

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whether you’re going as The Governator or one of his gun-toting movie characters, a big cigar won’t look out of place.

2. Michael Jordan. Now in retirement, the greatest basketball player ever never hits the links without a Macanudo.

3. Groucho Marx. Sure, it’s a little dated, but this American icon loved his stogies.

4. Ulysses S. Grant. Some historians say the super-sized prez smoked around 20 cigars a day. Greatest president ever?

5. Kramer. Just try not to burn down Suzan’s log cabin.

6. Scarface. He was Tony Montana. The world will remember him by another name…

7. Bill Clinton and/or Monica Lewinsky. This costume is great for couples. Just remember that cigars are for smoking.

8. Sigmund Freud. Do you think the cigar-smoking neurologist was into cigars because he was envious of his father’s you-know-what?

9. Jesse Ventura. I’d recommend going as his Blain character from Predator. (Note: Jesse is the second future governor from this cast. Did someone say Carl Weathers in 2006?)

10. Hot cigar girl. Enough said.

11. Winston Churchill. Leading (and smoking) England through World War II, this prime minister is by far the manliest British dude ever. By far.

12. Mark Twain. He made it a rule “never to smoke more than one cigar at a time.”

13. Clint Eastwood. Step one: Grab a six-shooter, a cowboy hat, and a Backwoods cigar. Step two: Go kill some Indians.

14. A dictator. Any Pinko Commie like Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Il, or Che Guevara will do.

15. A cigar store Indian. Watch out for Clint Eastwoods.

–Patrick A

Think cops have a little too much time on their hands in your neck of the woods? If so, chances are you haven’t heard about the utterly ridiculous policy Omaha officials are enacting to enforce their new anti-smoking ordinance.

In a draconian move that eerily harks back to Orwell’s 1984, the Nebraska city’s bureaucrats and police departments are actually urging citizens who witness smoking ban infractions to call 9-1-1 (that’s right, the emergency call system). The city, which banned all public smoking on October 2, apparently wants anyone caught lighting up to be immediately confronted by its gun-toting men in blue and slapped with a $100 fine for the first offense.

In case you’re wondering, it’s $200 for the second offense and $500 for the third. The fourth? Death by firing squad. (Well, that’s not necessarily true, but would you be surprised?)

The government-imposed, Nazi-backed ban also applies to bars that serve food and those that don’t have so-called “keno” licenses (which are – you guessed it – permits you have to pay the city for). So, in other words, if you bribe the government, you can keep their secret police out of your private bar.

Now, if you’re like me you’re probably asking yourself, “Is there really anything else for Omaha police to do? I mean, c’mon, it’s Nebraska.” If that were the case, the solution would not be to transform the populace into a bunch of whistle-blowing tattle-tales. The city should instead cut the police department’s budget and let taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

A quick look at Omaha’s crime statistics, however, suggests there are plenty of serious offenses for its cops to deal with. The city’s overall crime index ranks well below the national average. In 2004 alone, there were 20 murders, 187 rapes, 824 armed robberies, and over 1,500 aggravated assaults – a lot of crime for a city with less than 400,000 citizens. Clearly, these offenses are a bit more serious than smoking tobacco.

I think columnist Joseph Farah hit the nail on the head when he wrote, “This kind of insanity, this kind of tyranny, this kind of misguided political correctness is going to be the death of our great country if we’re not careful.” Amen to that.

While I never had the urge to visit Omaha before (after all, they ship their steaks by mail), I certainly don’t have one now. But you have to wonder: Given the speed and ferocity with which anti-smoking zealots’ bans are sweeping the nation, is a fellow citizen calling the cops on you for smoking in your hometown really so inconceivable?

–Patrick A

[Editor’s note: We’re excited to announce that George Edmonson, winner of our Cigar Artisans 2006 reader contest, has permanently joined the StogieGuys.com team as our Tampa Bureau Chief.]

While traveling recently, I visited Churchill Cigars, a warm, friendly neighborhood shop in Virginia Beach. Lucky for me, there was a Punch event underway. In addition to the fine Punch Double Maduro I was given, I received a package of three little cigars and notes put together by General Cigar to help smokers enhance their palates and tobacco knowledge.

Each little “fuma” was made entirely from one of three grades of long filler tobacco: ligero, seco, or volado. I wanted to be able to pay attention while I smoked these little sticks, so I waited a while before smoking them. Here’s what I found:

Volado
The Punch rep said I should smoke this one first. The notes describe it as having excellent burning qualities and being lighter in texture, color, and strength than the others. I found it initially to have a light, toasty tobacco taste with almost no finish or aroma. After a few puffs it developed what I think of as the metallic taste I often find in lower end cigars.

Seco
This tobacco was described as medium in strength and, like ligero, aged at least three years. It had a nice aroma and a longer finish than the volado. The taste was somewhat earthy and it burned very slowly.

Ligero
The notes said ligero is always rolled in the middle of the cigar because it burns slowly. My stick barely burned at all. But when it was lit, it produced by far the most smoke of the three. The taste was thick and heavy, with the longest finish of the trio.

After puffing on all three, I couldn’t help but marvel at how incredibly difficult it must be to successfully blend tobaccos – and to do it consistently with thousands, even millions, of cigars. The top blenders and rollers truly are artisans.

I highly recommend you stop by when one of the Punch Ambassadors visits a shop in your area. And let me know what you think about the three little sticks.

–George E

While the Internet certainly helps disseminate tips, reviews, and news about stogies to interested parties – and there are a number of great websites (including this one) that do so – cigars are still a convoluted topic for your average Joe. This is unacceptable.

I say this because I know (and I’m guessing you do too) many people who enjoy cigars but have very little knowledge about their makeup, construction, and qualities. They prefer certain brands or types or sizes to others, but can’t put into words why.

In a lot of ways, this naiveté is OK. Smoking is about personal enjoyment and, as long as you’re enjoying yourself, more power to you. But I have a feeling more people would take pleasure in cigars more often if they had the capacity to appreciate them better.

I believe cigar manufacturers and enthusiasts both have a vested interest in an educated stogie populace. On the supply side, the more people know about cigars, the more they are likely to appreciate and purchase them – generating bigger revenue for cigar companies and more jobs in the Third World countries that produce cigars.

For consumers, while this increased demand does result in higher prices, it also breeds better quality, as manufacturers seek to satisfy the public’s thirst for better tobacco, and more choice, as manufacturers implement creative product and marketing strategies to increase their share of the market.

True, the cigar boom of the 1990s resulted in higher prices and decreased quality (because new manufacturers were rushing bad products to market to meet high demand), but almost all of those operations were short-lived. As my colleague mentioned in last Wednesday’s post:

It doesn’t take an economist to figure out that consumers are going to be turned off by a combination of declining product quality coupled with increased prices. So by 1999, cigar consumption dropped almost by half. Thankfully, this meant that many of the fly-by-night operations responsible for the worst cigars of the cigar boom closed their doors.

Most importantly, increased knowledge of cigars allows individuals to find the best cigar for them at the best price. In fact, that’s the main reason we started StogieGuys.com in the first place.

So, since you’re into cigars (if you’ve read this far you pretty much have to be), get your hands on the best information available and absorb as much as possible. And encourage your friends to do the same. We’ll all be better off.

–Patrick A

Last Friday, we noted the Associated Press article on the resurgence of the cigar industry. Since that article has now run in hundreds of publications, we thought it was time to recap the lessons learned from the nineties so that history doesn’t repeat itself.

At the height of the boom in 1997, Americans were smoking 417.8 million premium cigars – a fivefold increase from 1993. That dramatic shock meant that cigar manufacturers rushed cigars to market causing a decline in quality at the same time prices soared.

It doesn’t take an economist to figure out that consumers are going to be turned off by a combination of declining product quality coupled with increased prices. So by 1999 cigar consumption dropped almost by half. Thankfully, this meant that many of the fly-by-night operations responsible for the worst cigars of the cigar boom closed their doors.

These shoddy operations catered to the trendy smokers of the mid-nineties, who saw smoking more as an act of conspicuous consumption than an appreciation of the time and talent that go into producing a handmade cigar. Theses are the smokers that, as the story goes, would ask what you were smoking, but before giving you the opportunity to answer, they would say “Hecho a Mano, I’ve had that brand.” (Hecho a mano is Spanish for “made by hand.”)

After the boom, the cigar smokers who remained were the people who – whether they smoked only a few times a year or every day – smoked for the right reason… because they enjoyed it. And for these remaining smokers the real boom is happening long after the peak production years of the nineties, as producers now focus on quality.

Currently, producers are so concerned with quality that Cigar producer Charlie Torano told Stogie Guys Special Correspondent George Edmonson that there is big competition between producers to stock pile the best tobacco. When asked about the mid-nineties, Torano said “I think we’ve learned our lesson.”

And it seems that cigar retailers are learning same thing. Upon discovering that a local cigar shop didn’t carry a well-known national brand, I asked the owner why and his response was distinctly post-cigar boom. He said he thought the quality had fallen and that for the same price there were other similar tasting cigars that were better.

With both producers and retailers showing such concern for the quality of cigars, we agree that the industry probably has learned its lesson. But, if as the AP article suggests there is a new boom – or at least a renaissance – for cigars, here’s another suggestion to make sure that this new boom doesn’t become a bust. (In 2005, almost 320 million premium handmade cigars were imported.)

Cigar producers should focus on educating their customers about what a quality cigar really is. While the 90’s cigar boom may have been fueled by glitzy Cigar Aficionado ads, smoking celebrities, and conspicuous consumption, the new boom should be driven by an increasingly educated cigar smoking public that appreciates quality.

If the cigar industry is truly serious about its commitment to quality, then creating a discerning public that appreciates quality handmade cigars and shuns poor quality is the best way to ensure sustained growth.

–Patrick S