The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) We’re always looking for ways to improve your StogieGuys.com experience. And to that end we recently added a “Recommended Reading” page that has a running list of regularly updated articles on cigars and life recommended by the Stogie Guys. To see the latest updates, click the Recommended Reading link found on the top left of every page, and if you have an article you think we should include, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

2) We mentioned it in last week’s sampler, but it’s so big we had to say it again. Tomorrow in Tampa’s Ybor city,Wally Reyes will attempt to wrestle the Guinness Book of World Records “world’s largest cigar” record away from Cuba by rolling a 100 foot long cigar – surpassing the 67 foot Havanan-rolled giant by 50 percent. And we thought that this six foot Davidoff cigar was gigantic!

3) We’ve written articles before on the dangers and advantages of using online cigar auction sites. Now we’ve found a special unadvertised “private auction” over at Cigar Bid so you can test your skills. We haven’t tried the Gurkha Regents yet, so we can’t really recommend them, but we do hear good things. Have at it here.

4) For some reason this weekend seems like a busy time for cigar events. In our area we’ve noticed events from Zino, CAO, and La Aurora. Since Stogie Guys are all across the country, we don’t have the space to list all the fantastic events that are coming up, but we can point you to the most complete list we’ve found. We strongly recommend attending such events where you can meet fellow stogie smokers, learn about your favorite brands, and score free cigars.

5) Finally, we’ve got another special deal you probably won’t find anywhere else. For just ten bucks ($9.95 to be exact), you get eight cigars including six premium cigars from C.A.O., Toraño, Cusano, Ghurka, Padron, and La Gloria Cubana. Even if you just throw away the two Thompson brand cigars this is a great deal (of course, we haven’t tried them yet, so they may just be fantastic too). To take advantage of this special offer, click the following link: Powerhouse Super 8.

–The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Tampa celebrates its past with the eighth annual Cigar Heritage Festival November 18 in Ybor City, the community once known as the “Cigar Capital of the World.” The day-long street party attracts thousands of visitors and features entertainment, a beer garden, food vendors, displays, and lots of cigars for sale. You can get complete information and check out pictures from last year’s party at the Ybor City Museum website. Admission to the festival is free, with a donation suggested to support the museum. And the night before you can attend the Cigars & Stars II party presented by Cigar City Magazine – a local publication devoted to the area’s history that’s celebrating its second anniversary – and Fuente’s Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Co. While this one isn’t free, the $100 admission tab includes food, drink, entertainment, an auction, and Fuente cigars.

2) Meanwhile, the cigar world is concerned that Daniel Ortega’s return to power could once again lead to the destruction of Nicuragua’s cigar industry which in 2005 was responsible for importing over 5 million cigars into the U.S. Ortega is probably the man most responsible for the demise of Nicaraguan cigars in the 1980s. But before you run out and stock up on a decades worth of your Nicaraguan favorites like Padron and Joya De Nicaragua, you should know that there is hope this time Ortega’s rule will be different. One promising sign is that Ortega’s running mate is a former Contra. (In the 80s, U.S.-backed Contras fought a bitter civil war against Ortega’s Sandinistas.) In response to Ortega’s return, Charles Toraño, president of Toraño Cigars, expressed cautious optimism: “The truth is they’re saying all the right things, but at this point it’s a wait-and-see approach.”

3) Speaking of Marxist dictators, Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela may be the next up-and-coming cigar country. Currently the South American nation accounts for only a tiny fraction of cigars imported into the U.S., and even many of America’s most serious cigar enthusiasts probably have not tried a Venezuelan cigar. This may soon change. Despite heated words between Chavez and the U.S., there is no tobacco embargo and, according importer Michael DeLisa – who is also the author of the book “Cinderella Man,” which was turned into a movie starring Russell Crowe – Venezuelan output should crank up to one million cigars a day in the coming months.

4) In last week’s Friday Sampler, we passed along a fantastic eight premium cigars for ten bucks deal. But due to some technical problems beyond our control, some of you might have had trouble finding it. So now that we’ve got everything worked out – we even tested it out by ordering some ourselves – we’re reminding you again. To take advantage of this steal of a deal, click here: 8 Cigar Sampler # 1, Pack Of 8, (Limited Qty).

5) Finally, because one deal just isn’t enough, we want to pass on another bargain. On the back of the current issue of the political magazine National Review, we found an offer for four Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real cigars (the No. 2, Toro, Robusto, and Churchill) for just $7.95 including shipping. To take advantage of this, offer click here.

–The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) The State of New Jersey fined the owner of a Roxbury go-go/cigar bar $35,000 this week for violating the Garden State’s ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. Usually fines of this nature are reserved for serious offenses where there are clear-cut victims. But who are the victims in this case? The bar patrons who chose to smoke? The employees who have jobs selling cigars and catering to smokers?

2) Back in June we told you about this deal from Thompson where you get 8 cigars for ten bucks. At this point we’ve reviewed four of the eight cigars included in the deal (the latest was this week’s review of the Toraño Exodus Silver) and they’ve averaged a very impressive four out of five stogies. Order yours by clicking the picture below:

3) Our readers may be interested to learn more about Signature Stogies, a company that will engrave logos, names, or anything else onto a cigar. The process uses – you guessed it – lasers to remove dark pigments from tobacco leaves. Rest assured, the company claims cigars are not harmed or altered in any way.

4) In another sad example of the dangerous effects of government-imposed smoking bans, Mecca Bingo – Britain’s largest bingo chain – recently announced it will be laying off 200 employees. The company’s profits sank 20 percent after Scotland outlawed lighting up in March.

–The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) We want to point out a generous offer made in the comments section of Tuesday’s review of the Alonso Menendez Robusto. Paul Arneson, the Mid-Atlantic rep for Brazil Cigars, is offering StogieGuys.com readers a free Alonso Menendez! As long as you live in the Mid-Atlantic region (DC, MD, VA, DE, PA, or WV), you can email Paul for a free stick. What’s the catch? Paul simply asks that, if you like it, please ask your local cigar shop to carry the line. Sounds reasonable to us! Click here for details and Paul’s email address.

2) In yesterday’s news item about the surprising and sad support that Americans have for federal tobacco prohibition, we noted that such a policy would “force smoking into ‘tobacco speakeasies’ and the criminal underworld, like alcohol during prohibition.” In a column today, Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the group that sponsored the survey, fleshes out what such a prohibition would look like. It isn’t pretty:

Big tobacco wouldn’t disappear; it would just change hands and go underground, discarding its high priced lobbyists in favor of people more skilled in violence and intimidation… “Tobacco-related murders” would increase dramatically as criminal organizations competed with one another for turf and markets, and ordinary crime would skyrocket as millions of tobacco junkies sought ways to feed their costly addiction. Smoking would become an act of youthful rebellion… And just imagine the government’s “war on tobacco”

3) Many people forget that, when it comes to producing top-grade cigar wrappers, US-grown Connecticut Shade tobacco (grown in the Connecticut River Valley) can go toe-to-toe with anything from the great cigar producing countries of Latin America. In this Hartford Courant story, we meet the Brown Family, owners of a 500-acre farm who are struggling to produce tobacco when many other families have sold their farms to developers.

4) Finally, we get word from Cigar Aficionado that Padron is preparing a special line for its 80th Anniversary that includes a six and ¾ inches by 54 ring gauge perfecto, the first Padron perfecto ever. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until next year. But, if you’re particularly impatient, you can get your Padron fix from a new eight cigar sampler that includes selections from the 1964 Anniversary and Series 1926 Padron lines. It’s shipping to stores this Month.

–The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Three weeks ago we reported that a “public safety committee” in Houston was pushing to expand the city’s smoking ban to stand-alone bars. Well, on Wednesday the Space City fascists got their way. According to the Houston Chronicle this morning, the law does include an array of exemptions for places such as tobacco shops, cigar bars, and hotel rooms – exemptions SmokeFree Educational Services, the zealous do-gooders who pushed for the ban, would like to clear up with, you guessed it, more government regulation.

2) Altadis introduced the world’s most expensive cigar yesterday in Spain. The “Behike” – a limited edition of the Cuban Cohiba – will retail for $420 each in commemoration of the brand’s 40th anniversary. Fun fact of the day: Behike means sorcerer or doctor to the pre-Columbian Tiano tribe (but you knew that already). Only 4,000 were made, each at the hands of veteran Norma Fernandez at the famed El Laguito factory in Havana. So how do they taste? Nobody outside of Cohiba’s pre-launch tasting panel has had the balls to light one up yet. Contact us if you want to do a guest review. Of course, you’ll have to buy the stick yourself.

3) There’s a couple of special deals over at Thompson Cigar that I’d like to call your attention to. In one (which is absolutely free), you can register to win a dinner at the restaurant of your choice (value of $2,500) and a cigar and humidor package that retails for $2,500. If I win, I’m going to get a six-month supply of Sliders at White Castle. Thompson also has a pretty sweet High Roller sampler (featuring, among others, Macanudo and Cohiba) and a 125-cout humidor with 100 cigars for only $125. You can find all of these deals under “Popular Items” on Thompson’s homepage.

–The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Habanos announced the 2006 Limitada line is hitting stores across the globe (except in the US). This year the annual limited release includes Cohiba Piramides (6 1/8 inches by 52 ring), Montecristo Robustos (4 7/8 inches by 50 ring) and Partagas No.3’s (5 5/8 inches by 46 ring).

2) We’ve mentioned California’s odious Prop 86 before – and we’ll have more as election day gets closer – but for now you should check in with California Association of Liberty and Choice (Wow, we really like that name!), a group of associated cigar companies who are cooperating to stop the proposed 135 percent tax increase on cigars.

3) Meanwhile, across the pond, Great Britain is considering allowing localities to ban smoking in all public places, including on the street! Proponents of this new ban feel it is necessary because – get this – smokers forced outside by the indoor smoking bans are “potentially noisy, abusive, or anti-social.” Wait, we thought these bans were about protecting the health of non smokers? In a telling quote, one councilman in favor of the new ban accidentally spilled the beans when he said, “This is the only sensible solution to the problem besides removing the draconian ban.” Just so we’re clear, in that one sentence he admits that the indoor ban is “draconian” and acknowledges that removing it is a “sensible solution.” Well, get to work!

4) Finally, on a sad note, the cigar community lost another family member this week when Alfons Mayer passed away at 79 following a battle with brain cancer. Mayer was a longtime tobacco buyer for General Cigar who worked his way from the fields of Cuba to having his own line of cigars.

–The Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a sampler of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets to tide you over for the weekend. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) The Associated Press is running a story about the resurgence of handmade cigars and asking if another cigar boom is upon us. Just last week StogieGuys.com special correspondent George Edmonson discussed that possibility with a famed cigar maker, Charlie Torano, who told George, “I think we’ve learned our lesson” from the last boom. Torano says instead of rushing cigars to market like in the mid-90s, the remaining producers are competing for the best tobacco to make sure that quality doesn’t suffer this time around.

2) Our article on the two latest, and most unlikely, victims of smoking bans – 007 and the French – prompted a post over at Reason Magazine’s Hit & Run blog wondering if the vodka martini would soon be replaced with a Shirley Temple. The post also unearthed other examples of censorship of smoking such as a US Postage Stamp of Jackson Pollock and a photo of the author of the children’s book Good Night Moon – both of which had cigarettes airbrushed out by anti-smoking zealots.

3) Meanwhile, a smoking ban in Suffolk County, Long Island is so restrictive it even bans smoking in cigar bars! This prompts the question: Who exactly is being protected by banning smoking in a cigar bar? The workers who chose to work in a cigar bar? The patrons who chose to go there? Oh, right! Smoking bans aren’t about protecting people…They’re about imposing the will of anti-smokers on others and eliminating individuals’ choices.

4) The Pittsburgh Pirates just announced they are promoting to vice president the man responsible for creating and marketing the Montecristo Club at PNC Ballpark. Cigars and baseball…Why didn’t we think of that?

5) Finally, the award for obvious headline of the week goes to KDKA in Pittsburgh, who came up this gem: “Not Everyone Agrees With Smoking Ban.” No shit.

–The Stogie Guys