The Stogie Guys

I’m a long-time Xikar enthusiast, having bought my first cutter at a local shop nearly a decade ago. It’s a Xi2 Malachite Green model with the German Solingen blades. I’ve cut hundreds of cigars with it, including the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial I’m enjoying as I type.

The blades appear every bit as sharp as they were the first time I used it. But lately I had begun to notice that the clipping action wasn’t as smooth as before. I wiped it down, blew in it, tapped it gently on my palm. Nothing seemed to have an effect. The stickiness was more of a mild annoyance than a real impediment, and I would promptly forget after I’d used it.

The other day, though, I remembered it for some reason as I was sitting at my computer. I looked on Xikar’s site and found the contact form. I knew that with Xikar’s warranty they would make it right, but I wanted first to be sure that if I sent it in I could get my cutter back and not risk receiving a replacement for my old friend.

Within a day, I heard back from a Xikar employee. She attached a form for returning the Xi and said I should note clearly that I wanted the cutter returned rather than replaced should repair be impossible.

The next part of her email, however, was what really got my attention. She suggested that a bit of do-it-yourself maintenance might solve the problem:

“We recommend that you periodically clean and lubricate the locking/opening mechanism on XI cutters and knives. Simply place a couple of drops of a quality graphite lubricant (such as Tuf Glide or Lock Ease) in the mechanism, and operate the unit for deep penetration. Wipe away excess lubricant when finished. The locking mechanism of XI cutters can be accessed through the hole that appears above the release button when the cutter is open.” (I have to confess that if I’d been just a bit sharper myself I could have checked the FAQ page on the site and found the helpful hint.)

I dug out a little squeeze bottle of Lock Ease I’ve had forever and applied a couple of drops as directed, then wiped it off and set it aside for a while to allow the graphite odor to dissipate.

Bingo! When I picked it up and pushed the button the wings virtually flew open. They closed just as smoothly. My old Xikar is as good as new.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

With the holidays cutting into the budget for discretionary spending, it seems a good time to consider some enjoyable cigars that can help you stretch your dollars. Here are three I’ve enjoyed and found consistent through several smokes.

Red Witch: This three-vitola line from Gurkha’s East India Trading Co. is a box-pressed bargain. I prefer the Toro (6 x 54) that runs about $5. It’s a slow-burning, tasty treat with an Ecuadorian Rosado wrapper, Dominican binder, and Nicaraguan filler. It starts with a peppery blast, downshifts to a medium-strength earthy flavor, and picks up some spice in the final half.

Asylum 13: At $5, the Robusto (5 x 50) in this Nicaraguan puro line from Christian Eiroa is a natural for anyone who enjoys a strong, spicy cigar. It’s also more complex than you have a right to expect at that price. And if you’re a fan of big ring gauges, Asylum 13 has you covered with a 6 x 60 and a 7 x 70 at $6 and $7, respectively.

Partagas 1845: A line extension of General Cigar’s standard Partagas cigars, the 1845 sports tobacco from several countries including filler aged in rum barrels and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper in place of the standard Partagas Cameroon. The Double Corona (7.25 x 54) is under $5, with the Robusto (5.5 x 49) even less. As you’d expect from the cigar giant, these are consistent with first-rate construction. A tasty, medium-strength stick that will likely surprise you if you haven’t had one.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

Here’s a cigar suggestion you might not have heard: change your toothpaste.

Chances are you’re using a conventional toothpaste in a tube that contains a sodium-based chemical known as a surfactant. It’s the ingredient that makes toothpaste—and a host of other products from detergents to surfboard wax—spread better and helps create toothpaste’s foam.

I don’t know of anything wrong with these chemicals or any potential danger from using them. But they can mess up your taste buds, sometimes reducing the ability to experience sweetness and making bitterness more intense. How intense the disruption is, and how long it lasts, seem to vary among individuals and use.

Let me confess that my knowledge is based mainly on reading and my own experience, and I’m surely no expert. So I need to add a disclaimer. I’m not a dentist or a doctor and have never even played one on TV. So, before you do anything, you might want to consult with your health professional.

Finding a toothpaste or powder without surfactants, the most common of which in toothpaste go by the abbreviations SLS and SLES, is pretty simple. Just do a Google search and by the time you type “toothpaste without” you’ll start to see responses.

I switched a while back to Dr. Christopher’s Herbal Tooth & Gum Powder at the suggestion of my dental hygienist. It’s an all-natural product, and I should note that while I like it, some dislike the taste. Perhaps the most widely known toothpaste without SLS is sold under the Tom’s of Maine label.

I’ve never thought I had a particularly good set of taste buds—or olfactory receptors, for that matter. I think switching to Christopher’s Powder has helped, though I couldn’t say how much. See what switching does for you.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

With football on the TV, turkey in your stomach, and family gathered, Thanksgiving is a great day to enjoy a fine cigar (or several). So, as we have for the previous six years, today the StogieGuys.com team tells you what cigars we’ll be firing up after our big meals.

Patrick A: In year’s past, my Thanksgiving selection has often been a cigar that came out in the same year—and 2013 is no exception. Tomorrow, my plan is to fire up a Leccia Tobacco White 650 and a cup of black coffee after the big meal. Hopefully that combination will rescue me from what’s sure to be an epic food coma. The toro (6 x 50) should cap off the afternoon nicely with a plethora of medium-bodied holiday flavors, including coffee, nuts, milk chocolate, and cream.

Patrick S: Like my colleague, I’m a fan of the new Joya de Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco. Created to celebrate 45 years of Joya Cigars, the large box-pressed toro is a hearty, full-flavored cigar, which is just what I’ll want after a large Thanksgiving meal. It has plenty of flavorful ligero, but also a balanced, rounded profile with sweetness and complexity. It will go great with a strong cup of coffee.

George E: I’ve smoked several more Eiroa Toros since I first tried the blend in October, and thoroughly enjoyed each one. A full-bodied, beautiful smoke, this Honduran puro is guaranteed to cut through the most extravagant Thanksgiving meal. At about $10, the 6-inch, 54-ring gauge stick might seem a little pricey, but it’s worth every penny, especially for a holiday treat.

Previous cigars the StogieGuys.com team designated as Thanksgiving smokes include:

Not a bad list, eh? If you’re so inclined, feel free to let us know what you’ll be smoking tomorrow in the comments below. And be sure to have a safe and joyous Thanksgiving.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: N/A

Like it or not, Halloween is just two days away. Looking to pull together a last-minute costume? Want to smoke a cigar while you hand out candy to trick-or-treaters? (This is acceptable if you offer their dad a cigar.) We’re here to help. In an effort to make trick-or-treating a lot more tolerable, we’ve updated a list we first put out in 2007 of costume ideas, each that will let you smoke a cigar as part of the costume:

1. Winston Churchill. One time when informed by his host, the King of Saudi Arabia, that drinks would not be offered because of his religion, Churchill responded: “My religion prescribed as an absolute sacred ritual smoking cigars and drinking alcohol before, after, and, if need be, during all meals and the intervals between them.” Plus he beat the Nazis in World War II.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s no longer The Governator, but his movie characters always made better costumes anyway, and many of his famous characters smoked cigars. (Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer of Predator is highly recommended if you have the guns to pull it off.)

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

4. Mark Twain. America’s cigar-smoking author.

5. Scarface. Say hello to my little friend.

6. Bill Clinton. The president who got into trouble with cigars.

7. Mike Ditka. Da Coach. See photo of Patrick A from a few years ago. (Also, Grill Class doesn’t exist on any airline yet… Why?)

8. Ernest Hemingway. The famous author loved his cigars. And his rum. (No doubt he’s a world famous boozer.)

9. A cigar-chomping communist Cuban. Fidel Castro or his murderous sidekick Che Guevara will do.

12. Al Capone. Capone was known for his enjoyment of cigars, booze, and women. Just don’t get syphilis.

Got a costume idea that we missed? Let us know in the comments.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

We often get questions from people who read our reviews and say something along the lines of, “But I can’t taste flavor X, Y, or Z; my palate isn’t developed enough.” And they’re probably right, most people just smoke and enjoy cigars, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

There’s obviously a good deal of personal preference when it comes to reviewing cigars, but when reviewers frequently notice the same flavors in the same cigars, it’s evidence that there’s also quite a bit of science to tasting cigars. In my experience, it’s mostly a question of training yourself to observe all the complexities that a cigar can demonstrate. To that end, for those who want to develop their palate and become better at cigar tasting, here are five suggestions:

Take Notes – If observation is step one then documentation is 1A. Not only will writing down your observations help you remember what you noticed while smoking a particular cigar, but putting pen to paper will force you to think about the descriptions you use and make sure they are evocative and precise so they will be useful later.

Re-taste – There’s a good reason why we make a point of sampling multiple cigars (usually at least three) before writing a full review. Not only can one particular cigar be off, or just different, but the situation in which it is smoked can make all the difference. Taste the same cigar more than once and you’ll start to realize what is the cigar and what is you, and the more you taste a cigar the more easily you’ll be able to pinpoint the defining characteristics.

Clean Your Palate – While I love pairing cigars with a fine spirit or a good cup of coffee, I find the best way to really focus on the cigar is absent a flavorful pairing. Spring water is good. The best is room temperature or slightly-chilled club soda. The bubbles clean the palate while making sure it isn’t too cold will prevent your taste buds from being dulled.

Smoke Two – I’ve written before that one of the best ways to develop your palate is to smoke two cigars at once. It’s like that game you did at a kid where you had to pick out the differences between two seemingly identical pictures. If you smoke two similar cigars side-by-side, you’ll be forced to notice the contrasts and complexities that you wouldn’t smoking one alone. (Not to mention, most people smoke cigars too quickly, so alternating between the two will force you to slow down.)

Retrohale – It’s said that 90% of what you taste is smell, or more precisely that only 10-20% of taste is through the tongue. That’s why smoking through the nose, also known as retrohaling, is an excellent way to observe flavors you’d otherwise miss. My colleague wrote an excellent description of how to retrohale here.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I’ve never been the type to own fancy cigar accessories. It’s not that I don’t appreciate them, it’s just that I’d rather spend my cigar budget on cigars than fancy humidors and lighters. That’s why I have two coolidors that functionally hold most of my cigars at a perfect humidity, and why my most used lighter is a three-dollar Ronson Jetlite.

So when Tampa Fuego asked me if I’d like to try out their cigar cases, I wasn’t sure I was the right person. The various cases I normally use (a five-count travel case, an aluminum 20-count case, a three-finger leather case) have all been throw-ins for cigars I’ve bought or events I’ve attended. Still, I agreed and have been using the cigar cases they provided (one made from Stingray skin, another in a tan “natural” smooth leather) for the past month.

Tampa Fuego makes their cases in America from a variety of exotic skins and leathers. They are handcrafted at their Largo, Florida, factory. In addition to their cigar cases, Tampa Fuego makes cases designed to fit Xikar cutters and a standard torch lighter. They are all sold individually or as a matching trio.

The quality of the products is obvious. They have a heft that is more significant than leather cigar cases I’ve owned, and the detail of the stitching suggests they would outlast any particular owner.

From a functional standpoint, I appreciate the large size of these cases. They can easily protect three double corona size cigars. I even put an “A” size cigar in one and it had ample protection. Other similar two-part leather cases I’ve had fail to hold a cigar much larger than a toro.

The prices of these make it clear these are luxury items. The stingray case sells for $350, while the leather cases go for $45. But that’s sort of the point: There are cheaper ways to protect and carry around your cigars, but these are eye-catching, luxury accessories.

They come in such exotic options as crocodile, alligator, python, lizard, beaver tail, and stingray, and they’re designed to turn heads. I certainly got more than a few comments and compliments about my cases over the past month, especially the black stingray case. Which is why I think they’d make particularly excellent gifts.

If you’re in the market for a luxury cigar gift, or something special for yourself, check out all of Tampa Fuego’s offerings here. Tampa Fuego has also offered StogieGuys.com readers 20% off through the end of October by using the code “STOGIE” at checkout.

In addition, make sure you’re signed up for our free email newsletter to be entered to win one of the cases I received from Tampa Fuego to write this review.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys