The Stogie Guys

Like the cigar industry, the whiskey industry isn’t one to let an anniversary go unnoticed. And also like the cigar industry, a limited-edition, super-premium product is usually the result.

Wild Turkey released this bourbon last year to celebrate Master Distiller Jimmy Russell’s 60 years with the company. Russell is one those larger-than-life characters that bourbon seems to produce, and Jimmy’s son and co-Master Distiller Eddie Russell (who has been with Wild Turkey for over half of those 60 years) selected the barrels that made up this tribute to his father.

The Diamond Anniversary Bourbon is a blend of bourbons ranging from 13 to 16 years old. It is bottled at 91-proof and sells for the around $125 dollars.

The copper-colored bourbon has a fantastic nose with notes of pecan pie, vanilla, baking spices, and burnt brown sugar. The palate is rich with buttered pie crust, leather, spice box, wood, and dried fruit. It’s simultaneously rich and flavorful but also surprisingly light and balanced. The finish is relatively short and clean, with a light wood that lingers.

While Wild Turkey has a bit of a rough and aggressive reputation, Diamond Anniversary is an entirely more nuanced type of bird, and the more I sipped it the more I appreciated it. Yes, the price is steep, and I wish they could have offered this in the more traditional 101-proof format, but there is still a lot to like.

As for cigar pairings, the Wild Turkey Diamond is extremely versatile. I enjoyed it with both a full-bodied Drew Estate Liga Privada No. 9 and a more mild- to medium-bodied Illusione Epernay, so basically any good cigar will feel right at home with this celebratory bourbon.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

You could be forgiven for not being familiar with Royal Agio Cigars. But while the Netherlands-based company may not be a major player in the U.S. market (at least not yet), Agio has a huge presence internationally and has recently achieved the milestone of over 800 million cigars sold in a single year. That’s a lot of cigars.

Agio, which was founded in 1904 by Jacques Wintermans, has recently partnered with Drew Estate to bring its cigars to the American market. The Agio portfolio includes the Balmoral Añejo 18, which had a successful launch in 2014, limited by the rarity of the 18-year-old Arapiraca wrapper.

This year, Agio introduced Añejo XO, which is made in the Dominican Republic using well-aged tobaccos. The wrapper is Brazilian sun-grown, the binder Dominican, and the filler is a three-country blend from Brazil, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. The new blend was on display at Drew Estate’s elaborate booth at the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans this summer. It is expected to be made available at a couple-hundred tobacconists nationwide.

Añejo XO is offered in three vitolas: Rothschild Masivo ($9.90), Mk52 ($10.95), and Petit Robusto FT ($8.50). The Rothschild Masivo measures 5 inches long with a generous ring gauge of 55. Kudos to Agio for including the name of the vitola on the foot band, though I don’t think there’s any way to confuse the three sizes; the Mk52 is a torpedo, and the “FT” in the Petit Robusto’s name refers to its “flag tail.”

The Rothschild Masivo is an oily specimen with a few prominent veins, a reddish hue, and a nicely applied triple-cap. The foot shows a cross-section of tightly packed tobaccos and exudes pre-light notes of damp wood and leather. The cold draw is stiff with the wrapper imparting a slight sweetness on the lips.

Right from the outset, the Añejo XO boasts a big, bold flavor of earth, raisin, black pepper spice, and rich espresso. The background note reminds me of black cherry. Full-bodied and strong, each puff coats the palate with thick smoke, and the aftertaste is formidable with a considerable concentration of spice on the tip of the tongue. There are few changes in flavor from light to nub.

Construction leaves a little to be desired given the burn line—which requires a few touch-ups along the way to stay even—and the moderately tight draw. But the ash holds firm off the foot and the smoke production is solid.

The Rothschild Masivo is a heavy-handed, blunt-force instrument with plenty of power and an interesting interplay between spice, earthy richness, and fruity sweetness. I’d recommend giving it a try on a full stomach after a large meal with a complementary beverage, preferably a sweet sipping rum. In my book, it earns three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

One cigar I constantly find myself in search of is an inexpensive, small cigar that isn’t small on flavor. It’s a tall order since the small size limits the number of filler leaves and the ratios between them that can be used.

Another challenge small cigars face is that consumers don’t want to pay full price for what they perceive as half a smoke. That poses a challenge since although less filler tobacco is needed, the labor required is nearly identical to a larger cigar.

One savings cigar makers can get when making a smaller cigar like this, is that the wrapper can come from a second cut of each half leaf. Normally, a wrapper leaf (which is by far the most expensive tobacco in the cigar) is de-veined, which splits it in two parts, then each half is used as wrapper for one cigar. However, if the leaf is large enough, there may be enough left after the wrapper is trimmed to roll a second smaller cigar.

Whether that’s what L’Atelier Imports is doing or not, I can’t be certain, but it seems likely that’s taking place in the four small cigars L’Atelier introduced in 2014. Each—L’Atelier, El Suelo, Trocedero, and Surrogates—comes in a 4.5-inch, by 38-ring gauge size, which is then sold in soft 5-packs that retail for $15 each.

The Surrogates version is called Cracker Crumbs, and is a pint-sized version of the large Animal Cracker blend. It features a dark Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.

Once lit, I find oak and bready flavors with a hint of leather. There are also slightly tanic notes that, at times, create a slight sourness, though that largely fades toward the final third.

Construction is notably excellent, especially the ash, which holds for nearly an inch before gently being tapped off. It’s not supremely complex, but there’s enough there to make for an enjoyable 20-30 minutes. (It should be noted that if you smoke slowly this will last far longer, and the flavors benefit when you do.)

That makes the Cracker Crumbs perfect for a variety of times when you don’t have time for a larger smoke, like a short walk or drive, or maybe a lunch break. In terms of value and construction, there’s a lot to like about the Surrogates Cracker Crumbs, and even though the size does limit its complexity, it still earns a solid three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

If you want more cigar news, reviews, and reports, Cigar Rights of America has created a new page to help you out.

The lobbying group’s Cigar Media Center offers links to online sites, audio programs, and advertising partners in print and on TV.

“It kind of puts it all in one spot for cigar enthusiasts,” said CRA executive director J. Glynn Loope.

The organizations represented on the page and the CRA have a symbiotic relationship, one that’s intended to drive online traffic to all involved. Making the selections for those to include, Loope added, was a fairly straightforward task. The online sites have links to CRA, while those under Audio Links and Advertising Partners provide complementary advertising for CRA.

“We didn’t choose them, really they chose us by being supportive of CRA,” Loope said.

The page went up in mid-August and almost immediately attracted attention. Loope said one site that had been overlooked got in touch and was quickly added to the page, as were several others that were intrigued by the concept and wanted in.

One thing the Cigar Media Center highlights is just how many sources there are for cigar news. They range from a slick magazine like Cigar Aficionado and the nationally syndicated Cigar Dave radio show to a Philadelphia area local-access cable television program.

But blogs, podcasts, and online sites comprise by far the largest category on the page. They range from sites like StogieGuys.com and Stogie Review to the Half Ashed podcast and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers’ publication, Smokeshop. More will, undoubtedly, be added.

Check it out. I think almost anyone will find at least a site or two they hadn’t seen before. I know I did.

–George E

photo credit: Cigar Rights of America

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

Even before Ashton transitioned its La Aroma de Cuba blend from Plasencia to Pepin, I felt the line was a bit under-appreciated. That feeling has only been strengthened by the subsequent additions to the line, including the Mi Amor, which uses a Mexican wrapper. The cigar produces thick, rich smoke with dark earth and chocolate flavors in abundance. It is medium- to full-bodied and is expertly constructed. Even as someone who, as a whole, isn’t a big fan of blends featuring Mexican wrappers, I find this to be a very enjoyable smoke.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

First Smoke is a new series of Quick Smoke reviews, each evaluating a single pre-release cigar. Like the Quick Smokes we publish each Saturday and Sunday, each First Smoke is not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

At the Pinar del Rio booth this year at the IPCPR Trade Show, the focus was on this new super-premium offering. I’m a fan of Connecticut Broadleaf, so I’ve seen a lot of them, and in terms of dark, oily wrappers, few are as impressive as this seven-year-old wrapper. It surrounds dual binders from Nicaragua and Ecuador and filler consisting of Dominican Corojo and Nicaraguan Criollo. The cigar comes in four sizes (priced $16-19) and I smoked the Robusto (5 x 52).

The cigar starts off with slightly grassy notes, but soon settles into a more interesting combination of sourdough bread, light spice, and oak. It’s medium-bodied and well-balanced. Construction is excellent from the first draw to the final ash. Given the price, I wouldn’t rush out and buy a box of 15 when it is released later this fall. But fans of cigars with Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers shouldn’t hesitate to pick one up at their local shop.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys