The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Wikipedia

Soon after the new year is when many cigar manufacturers announce price increases, so the spring seems like an appropriate time to consider some ways to stretch your cigar budget.

To that end, here are a few suggestions for ways I’ve gotten more cigars for less without having to cut back on enjoyment.

Go low. Try some of the lower-priced entries from quality manufacturers. But not just any of them. Look for cigars you enjoy that the big online retailers frequently mark down as come-ons. Two that I almost always keep in my humidor are Perdomo’s Lot 23 Robusto and Holt’s Old Henry Robusto, a house brand made by My Father Cigars for the Philadelphia-based retailer. Lot 23 Robustos can almost always be found for around $4.50 each by the box, but 5- and 10-packs show up on sale at considerably less. Holt’s usually offers Old Henry Robustos at $4 apiece by the box of 25. But they almost always have a freebie attached that lowers the per-stick cost even more. Sometimes it’s a sampler pack, though lately it has been a triple-flame torch lighter.

Look for a new look. Keep abreast of manufacturers changing the look of their cigars. A redo in packaging often means big price reductions on the cigars with the old look that are still on tobacconist shelves. Retailers need to move them so they can display the latest incarnation. I got terrific bargains on numerous old Avo vitolas when Davidoff discontinued some and dressed the others in new bands and boxes. A similar situation developed when Davidoff redesigned the Camacho line a couple of years ago.

Back of the pack. If your tobacconist has a discount table or holds periodic sales, be prepared beforehand. You can do this by keeping an eye on what cigars aren’t selling. In other words, don’t look just for what’s new. Look for what’s old. Try one and, if you like it, watch for them to hit the bargain bin. I recently scored a box and a half of La Jugada Habano Double Coronas at half price. I knew I liked La Jugada with some age, and I’d have been willing to keep them for a while. But in this case, I not only got a bargain, but the tobacconist had kindly aged them for me because they’ve been sitting on the shelf for close to two years.

So, what tips and tricks do you have to save money on cigars? Share the wealth so we can all do better.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Years ago, when the literary editor for the Chicago Daily News came across a book he particularly liked, he’d run review after review in the paper. I feel a bit like that with Aging Room’s Bin No. 1, although this is just my second. And I waited more than a year since my previous review.

So, why go back now? Well, I’ve smoked my last cigars from the box and they were just so good I feel like I need to make sure you’re aware of it.

Also, the addition of a Lancero and a limited-edition box-pressed vitola, neither of which I have tried, brought it back to mind.

The B Minor is a tor (6.125 x 52). It sells for about $12 and comes in shiny boxes of 20. If you like larger ring gauges, it is also available in thicker formats (5.25 x 54 and 6.25 x 63). The wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habana over Dominican filler and binder.

The characteristic that stood out after nearly a year and a half in the humidor was smoothness. All that made the Bin No. 1 such an enjoyable smoke seemed to be sanded down just a tad and locked together in a velvety, even experience. I couldn’t help but think of the spice and sweetness as having become intertwined in some sort of cigar smoke double helix.

In the original review, I wrote that because the tobaccos in the Bin No. 1 were already well aged, “these may not be the best candidates for long-term aging because it would be a shame for them to lose the zesty qualities that stand out.”

I’m not sure if my supposition was right or wrong. On the one hand, I certainly found improvement in 16 to 18 months. On the other hand, that amount of time is pretty short for those who are serious about aging cigars.

And my guess is that a year or two is probably all you’d want to wait.

But if you have the patience, I recommend it. What I found was that an excellent cigar got even better, moving the B Minor up to a five-stogie rating.

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

One of two additions (along with the “Big Belly” large torpedo) to the original Toro size, this Short Robusto (4.5 x 50) was introduced last summer. The cigar features a dark, rustic Broadleaf wrapper with plenty of black and brown discoloration. Gritty earth is the dominant flavor, along with oak and pepper, in this full-bodied smoke. Since the Nica Rustica blend yields few flavor changes with each smoking experience, I think the small Short Robusto vitola is the best format for the line to date.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

This limited edition, created by Don José “Pepin” Garcia to expand Ashton’s San Cristobal line, features the seemingly ubiquitous San Andrés wrapper, this one said to be subjected to “an intensive two-and-a-half-year double-fermentation.” Only 66,000 of the cigars—a single size (6.5 x 52)—were rolled. While the wrapper didn’t exhibit the dirty taste I often associate with this Mexican tobacco, it also didn’t seem to mesh well with the filler and binder from the Garcias’ Nicaraguan farms. Not a bad cigar, just not a special one, especially for $15.

Verdict = Hold.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

photo credit: General Cigar Co.

“Boutique” is a word that gets thrown around a lot in marketing, especially cigars. While larger cigar companies fight for big chunks of market share, smaller boutique companies focus on filling the niches.

In many ways PG Cigars, founded in 1990 to coincide with Paul Garmirian’s book A Gourmet Guide to Cigars (which you can steal on Amazon for $4 shipped), could be considered one of the original boutique producers. Over the years, it has developed its niche by bringing well-aged cigars to market, and eschewing the industry norm of introducing a new cigar every year. Walk into the company’s cigar shop and headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and you’ll find numerous cigars for sale with 20 years of age. (I’d venture to guess the small, somewhat cramped stripmall storefront has more cigars for sale that have been aged 20 years or more than anywhere else in the country.)

With 2015 being the 25th anniversary of the company, PG Cigars did what any boutique cigar company would do: release a 25th Anniversary cigar, albeit in PG’s own understated way. The lone announcement for the anniversary smoke came in a pre-Christmas email along with a link to an NPR story about Cuban cigars that quoted Garmirian.

The 25th Anniversary Connoisseur comes in one size, a 6-inch by 52-ring gauge toro. The company hasn’t released details on the blend, but the deep brown, oily wrapper certainly looks similar to the Havana-seed wrapper used on PG’s 20th Anniversary blend.

Each of the four cigars I smoked for this review (provided by PG Cigars, although I walked in intending to buy the samples) featured excellent construction. There wasn’t a soft spot to be found on any of them and the burn and draw were flawless. (I also appreciate that the bands on these were easy to remove without damaging the wrapper, which is a problem I’ve had on other PG smokes.)

Once lit, the Connoisseur starts out with a unique sweet and bready combination  that reminds me of raisin bread. As it progresses, it reveals a combination of oak, cedar, mushroom, bread, and a salty savoriness that especially kicks in towards the second half of the cigar.

More than anything, this is a cigar characterized by restrained strength. You get the distinct sense that if it had been rushed at all the Connoisseur would have had some rough edges, but instead the full-bodied woodiness is tempered by a cornucopia of other subtle flavors.

While $19 is a lot for a cigar, and you’d expect a lot for such a premium price, the PG 25th Anniversary delivers. It demands a slow, speculative pace to be fully appreciated, and each cigar I smoked easily lasted two hours, but the time is well spent.

For now, this is a single-vitola blend, but PG’s 15th and 20th Anniversary blends were later expanded into multiple sizes, and I certainly hope the same happens for the 25th. In my opinion, the 25th Anniversary surpasses PG’s 20th Anniversary blend and is the equal, although a very different cigar, to the 15th Anniversary. That earns the Paul Garmirian 25th Anniversary Connoisseur our highest rating of five stogies out of five.