The Stogie Guys

Last night I lit up my first cigar in seven days, and I would wager it was at least twice as enjoyable as it would have been had it been my fourth or fifth cigar of the week.

To get back in the swing of things, I fired up a nice 1495 B.M.E. Dominicana on a stormy night here in Chicago. It was everything I was hoping for and more. Cedar, spice, graham cracker, cream…all with a smooth delivery and near perfect construction. I savored every puff of that La Aurora and enjoyed the heck out of it—probably in no small part due to the fact that I had been on a cigar hiatus.

The hiatus was not self-imposed. Last Monday I woke up with a head cold and battled it all week. In typical fashion, it started with a scratchy throat that turned into a sore throat, then my nose got all stuffed up, and then I just started to feel achy and tired. I’ve read that the average adult experiences two to four colds per year, so I guess I was due.

As I’ve written before, I try not to smoke cigars while I have a cold. Not, mind you, because I think cigars may prolong the cold (although doctors say smokers tend to have longer colds—but then again, doctors say a lot of things). No, I choose to abstain from cigars while sick because, quite simply, I can’t really taste cigars when I’ve got clogged sinuses. My nose is the best instrument I have for tasting cigars, which is why I smoke through the nose when I’m trying to get a complete sense of its profile.

Of course, the timing of the cold wasn’t very good (is it ever?). The same day I started to feel sick was the day my smoke kit from the 2012 Saints & Sinners club arrived in the mail. Last year was the debut of the Tatuaje club, which entitles members to exclusive smokes and members-only forums. This year, the kit included 15 handsome cigars from Pete Johnson, including nice extras like a hat, poker chips, and a lighter. Anyways, the point is it didn’t feel good to have beginnings of a cold right as a nice package of Tatuajes arrives—even if it probably makes sense to let the cigars rest after shipment.

Now that I’m back in the game, though, I’m kind of glad I refrained from cigar smoking for a little while. The brief vacation from cigars reminded me just how lucky I am to have cigars in my life. And that first one I lit up was an absolute treat. So if you’re ailing from a head cold—or if you’re a three-cigar-a-day smoker who’s in a rut—you might try giving cigars a rest for a bit. When you come back, it will be all the sweeter.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last Wednesday I posted the below picture on our Facebook page, saying I was camping on the beach. My wife and I drove from Chicago to visit friends in DC, attend a wedding, and camp by ourselves on Assateague Island, a barrier island off the coast of Maryland.

Now I’m not typically what you’d call “outdoorsy.” The camping part of the trip was my wife’s idea. I decided to comply with her request because (1) she always gets her way in the end anyhow and (2) it was high time we got some use out of all the camping gear we received as wedding gifts two years ago. So for three nights we camped in the sand a few hundred feet from the Atlantic Ocean. By and large, it was a lot of fun. It was also a lot of work.

Naturally, I brought along a few cigars to enhance my experience. And while I’m no expert when it comes to camping by any means, I did learn a few things about how best to enjoy premium tobacco when you’re out in the elements. Below are a few tips I’ve compiled.

Bring extra butane. It can be windy out there, especially if you’re camping on a beach. So I brought along a torch, a backup torch, and extra butane. These tools also came in handy for building great fires. (I know some of you die-hard campers will say using a butane torch takes all the fun out of building a campfire, but I guess that depends on your definition of “fun.” I just want to get that fire going.)

Don’t bother with an ashtray. Camping requires you to pack, haul, and set up a ton of gear. So why bother with an ashtray if it’s completely unnecessary? Your fire pit—whether a fire is burning or not—is a fine place to ash or discard a finished cigar. And if you need a place to rest a cigar while you’re smoking it, just improvise based on your surroundings. I typically rested my cigar across the top of the beer can I was drinking. I drank a fair amount of beer.

Keep your stash cool. My wife and I experienced triple-digit temperatures during the day, and that’s no good for cigars. So I kept my stash of smokes in a carefully sealed Ziploc bag, with a humidification pillow, and stored it atop the ice inside our cooler. The bag never had direct contact with ice and never got too cold since I’d rotate the bag between inside the cooler and somewhere else in the shade. This worked pretty well.

Pack short cigars and long cigars. Sometimes I’d want a short cigar, like when I was foraging for kindling before dinner. Other times I’d want a long cigar, like when I was gazing up at the stars at night. I was pleased I brought along an assortment of variously sized smokes to accommodate my different cigar needs. I suggest you do the same.

I’m sure many of you out there are much more experienced when it comes to camping. If you have some tips of your own related to cigars and camping, please feel free to share them in the comments for the benefit of us all.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

No, the title of this article isn’t a reference to some Freudian concept. After all, Freud also said that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” Instead, I want to explore the way ring gauge size (in other words, a cigar’s thickness) impacts a cigar’s flavors.

The size of a cigar affects many things for sure, and not just the time it takes a cigar to burn. There are two main reasons why, as a general rule of thumb, smaller sized cigars (of the same blend) are more flavorful than their larger counterparts, even though many people seem to believe that a larger cigar will produce more and stronger flavors.

Wrapper/Filler Ratio

The most obvious difference between a smaller ring gauge cigar and a larger one is the amount of filler. Even though the smaller cigar will also use slightly less wrapper, as a little math shows, when the cigar gets fatter, the amount of filler gets (literally) exponentially larger.

Take a 60 ring gauge cigar versus a 40 ring gauge smoke. Using some basic middle school geometry, you can see that while about 50% more wrapper is required to go around the 60 ring gauge cigar, it will also use roughly 125% more filler. (I’ve posted the full table of wrapper and filler for common ring gauges in the comments of this article.)

Because wrapper tobacco is generally the most flavorful (and always the most expensive) component, the smaller cigar will impart more wrapper flavor.

Higher Burn Temperature

The second, possibly more important, and certainly more often overlooked reason that smaller ring gauge cigars are fuller flavored is that they tend to burn hotter and more quickly. If you think about a cigar as a straw through which air is pulled, this makes plenty of sense.

Cigar smokers generally take similarly sized draws no matter the thickness of the cigar. This means that air is drawn through the foot of a smaller cigar at a faster rate than through a larger cigar, creating more air flow, more oxygen, and a higher combustion temperature.

Drew Estate President, and encyclopedia of cigar knowledge, Steve Saka estimates the difference in temperature can be 10 degrees or possibly more between a smaller (40 or 42 ring gauge) cigar and a larger one. That’s a significant difference that effects the flavor and creates a stronger and fuller smoke.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Wouldn’t it be nice to have one large humidor in your home, preferably a walk-in, with all the cigars easily accessible, sorted by name, and labeled with received dates? It would make aging simpler, humidification easier to monitor, and your whole stash more organized.

Sometimes I think those of us who regularly visit the online cigar community, or those of us who write for it, automatically assume every reader has one elaborate cigar storage setup that costs thousands of dollars. I’m sure some do. But I don’t. And chances are you don’t, either. That said, I want to be clear that I’m not complaining. As I’ve written before, I’m fortunate to have a wonderful cigar den that allows ample room for my humidors, as well as nice space for indoor smoking during those cold Chicago winters. While I may not have a walk-in teeming with the world’s rarest and most expensive smokes, I’m certainly happy and thankful for what I have.

All this isn’t to say that my setup doesn’t present some challenges. It does, and I think many of the challenges apply to the average cigar consumer. So I figured I’d outline my top two challenges—and the solutions I’ve concocted to confront them—so the information can help others (or with hopes that you have comments and suggestions about how I might improve my own setup).

First, let me say that at any given time I have anywhere from five to seven humidors. The variance is explained by the fact that, depending on inventory, I sometimes outfit two large Tupperware containers with humidification beads and Spanish cedar to store spillover smokes. In a perfect world I would only have one very large humidor to worry about, not a handful of medium- to small-sized humidors. But because the five traditional wooden humidors all carry sentimental value (i.e., the one I got for my wedding that’s engraved with the wedding date) I can’t bring myself to consolidate. Plus, given the space I have in our condo in Chicago, one very large humidor would be a lot tougher to make space for.

One challenge with this setup is monitoring the humidification levels of each individual humidor. Each humidor seems to hold onto humidity differently, and that can make proper maintenance difficult. My solution? Once every so often (more often in the winter, when the natural air humidity is lower) I examine and rotate the cigars in each humidor. I also check to see if the humidification device in each humidor needs to be “recharged.”

The second challenge—especially with all the rotation—is keeping track of which cigars are stored where. I combat this by keeping brands together (i.e., Tatuaje with Tatuaje, PDR with PDR, etc.) and then noting in a spreadsheet which brands are in which humidor. This isn’t perfect because it requires me to reference a document if I’m looking for something in particular. But I’ve found it helpful. I’m considering doing something similar but, instead of organizing the cigars by brand, organizing them by type (i.e., cigars that need to be reviewed, golf course smokes, special cigars for special occasions, etc.).

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on how to improve my setup. Or, if you have a completely different setup/strategy, please feel free to share in the comments below as well.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Memorial Day. Veterans Day. Independence Day. Christmas. Thanksgiving. These are the days of the year when many Americans focus their thoughts and generosity on the men and women who are bravely serving in the armed forces overseas.

No matter what your opinion of U.S. foreign policy, one thing that shouldn’t be divisive is supporting our troops. And you needn’t wait for a holiday to do your part. Year round, men and women who are serving in dangerous conditions would appreciate any spare cigars you can send their way.

Last summer, the StogieGuys.com team took inventory of our personal humidors and sent some cigars to the Kandahar Koughers, a group that has gotten much well-deserved publicity for its efforts. The Koughers, according to their Facebook page, smoke donated cigars “under adverse conditions” to increase morale, relieve stress, and build camaraderie. Feel free to send cigars of your own to the Koughers at the following address:

MAJ David Luttrell/Randy Sauers
c/o Kandahar Koughers
KAF RCC, BLDG 232
APO AE 09355

The Koughers are worthy recipients of your generosity, but they aren’t the only cigar club made up of overseas military personnel. Another is the Tali-banned Cigar Aficionado Club (TCAC), a group of U.S. and coalition soldiers that provides fellowship and complimentary cigars to members. Today the StogieGuys.com team is sending a nice package of cigars to the club’s chapter in Kabul. We encourage you to do the same at the following address:

Chris Mino
NTMA/CSTC-A
Attn: MTAG
APO AE 09356

If you haven’t done it before, mailing cigars to troops really couldn’t be simpler. Just use a free USPS flat rate Priority Mail box and fill out a brief customs form. The postage is the same to an APO box as it is for domestic shipping. Delivery will take a bit longer, though, so be sure to provide adequate humidification to keep the sticks from drying out.

But whether you send cigars to the Koughers, TCAC, another group, or an individual, I urge you to make a contribution. In addition to those sticks you’ll never miss, toss in a few special cigars. As my colleague George recently wrote, “I bet you’ll get more from donating them than you would from lighting them up.”

–Patrick A

photo credit: TCAC

Ask a cigar smoker why a cigar tastes the way it does and you’ll surely hear about the tobacco used and the proportions in which they are blended. Maybe they’ll mention the time of day the cigar is smoked or what drink, if any, they accompany the cigar with. But largely forgotten is one of the most important variables: time.

Tobacco is organic matter, which means that chemically it will change with time. During a cigar’s life, the tobacco changes, and that impacts the flavor. Today I’m breaking down aging into three basic categories:

Factory Aging

Some change, like curing and fermenting in tobacco barns or at the cigar factory, takes place relatively quickly. Other critical aging time, like time spent aging tobacco before it is rolled, or the time the rolled cigars are spent in an aging room before being boxed and shipped, can take place over weeks, months, or years. If you’ve ever smoked a cigar fresh off a rolling table you’ll remember how different that cigar would taste from the finished product, even though the difference may only be 15 of 60 days before the cigars go in the box. Obviously, unless you make your own cigars, you have no control over the factory aging process.

Short-Term Aging

Most critically (and often over-looked) is short-term aging or resting. Most people do this without even realizing it. The most obvious way is letting the cigars settle from shipping, often for a week or two, particularly when it’s extremely hot or cold out, and if your cigars may have been sitting a hot delivery truck for a few days.

Another common form of short-term aging is to let cigars get past what is often called the “sick period,” where the cigar emits ammonia and can be downright unpleasant to smoke. Cubans are known to get “sick” far more than non-Cubans, so often a six-month or more resting period is needed.

Long-Term Aging

The most discussed type of aging is long-term aging, where cigars can be aged for years or even decades. A few non-Cuban cigar makers put dates on their boxes, and all Cuban cigars have box dates, making it easier to precisely age your cigars.

Cuban cigars are notorious for benefiting from (some would say needing) time to age, often a year or more. And while most of the focus with long-term aging is on Cuban cigars, non-Cubans will also change, sometimes for the better, with months or years. Just remember that aging a bad cigar will only leave you with an old bad cigar.

Prime candidates for cigars to age are ones with full flavors that need some smoothing around the edges. Like fine wine, cigars tend to smooth out and add complexity and balance over time, trading fuller body for subtleties, though eventually cigars (like wine) lose too much flavor. So be sure to try your cigars every so often to make sure that time is making them better, not worse.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

We know it gets harder all the time to find spots where you can enjoy a cigar outside a shop or your personal smoking space. But that doesn’t mean it is impossible.

I’m starting a campaign to share venues that are cigar-cordial and likely not on the typical list of such places. Hopefully it can be a resource for everyone, from those traveling to an unfamiliar location to folks seeking a new experience right around home. I’ll kick it off with two places in my general area (Tampa Bay) where I’ve enjoyed cigars in a friendly atmosphere.

Skipper’s Smokehouse. This amazing restaurant and concert venue is a Tampa institution, presenting music ranging from Americana to Zydeco. The stage is outside—fans in the summer, heaters in the winter—with chairs, picnic tables, and benches around the dance “floor.” The only comments I’ve had when smoking were inquiries about whether you could buy a cigar there. Alas, no, but it‘s also only a few miles from two large shops, Tampa Humidor and Cigar Castle. So you can stock up on stogies before hitting Skipper’s for a dinner and a show.

Miss Vicki’s. A quintessential Florida burger joint, Miss Vicki’s consists of a covered bar, open-air tables, and a small stage that often features local musicians. But the star of the show is the restaurant’s extraordinary waterside location where the Anclote River enters the Gulf. You’re only yards from the water and facing west for beautiful sunsets. Who could resist lighting up in a setting like this in a place called Holiday? One caution and one hint: Seating is limited and it’s often packed; try the Key Lime pie.

Now it’s your turn. Add your suggestions. Let’s keep this going and create a resource that will make cigar smoking even more enjoyable.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr