The Stogie Guys

One of the most difficult distinctions in judging a cigar is separating the cigar from the cigar experience.

For example, the other day I spent several hours on the phone with an insurance company trying to straighten out my Medicare application. I was smoking a cigar but I can’t even recall what it was. But I assure you it could have been a $500 Davidoff Oro Blanco and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it.

On the other hand, I’m confident most of us can recall a smoke in a great environment that seemed wonderful, only to disappoint when returned to less stellar conditions.

That is one reason why, when reviewing a cigar, we smoke more than one, and why we often remark on the circumstances if they’re anything out of the ordinary.

Speaking of our reviews, you’ll find an explanation of the StogieGuys.com system here and an archive of those cigars we’ve judged to be the best here.

When assessing a cigar, one of the most difficult things to do is to recognize your personal preferences. Not eliminate them, because that’s impossible. But you need to be aware of them.

The poster child for this is, of course, Macanudo. There’s no shortage of smokers who’ll tell you what a lousy cigar Macanudo is. Of course, it’s nothing of the sort. You may not enjoy it—you may not be able to stand it—but it’s by no stretch of the imagination a bad cigar. It’s a mild stick with remarkable consistency, excellent construction, and a nearly unparalleled sales record.

Since cigars are an object of pleasure and enjoyment, there’s no standardized scale on which they can be measured. Everyone’s tastes are different, and most people’s tastes evolve and change as they continue to smoke cigars. Cigars I once thought extraordinary I now find quite ordinary; if you’ve been smoking a while, I imagine that’s true for you as well.

A truly great cigar, for me, creates an almost transcendent experience, one where you are nearly lost in the act of smoking. I know that sounds pretty highfalutin for burning a bunch of rolled up leaves, but I can feel it when it happens.

But that isn’t all it takes. To be great, a cigar must perform that way consistently. Cigar people will tell you making one great stick isn’t nearly as tough as making them that way again and again and again.

Construction plays a role, too. The draw must be right, the burn even and complete.

Personally, I don’t assign a lot of importance to aesthetics, though they are usually good when the cigar is top-flight. But I wouldn’t let an ugly band—or no band—weigh heavily, just as the choice of a glossy, lacquered box or simple cardboard makes little impression.

When I’m reviewing cigars my goal is simple: provide information and impressions to help you make choices.

I prefer smoking and writing about good cigars far more than dissing bad ones. And when I come across a great one, it’s even more fun. I’m eager to spread the good news. Fortunately, there are more and more opportunities to do just that.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

Who among us does not relish a great cigar? But, then again, who among us can agree on just what makes a cigar great? I started thinking about this several weeks ago, and I’ve been turning it over in my mind ever since.

It started when I lit an Oliva Serie V Toro, a one-time favorite I hadn’t smoked in ages. Less than an inch into it, I thought, “Wow, this is a great cigar. Why haven’t I been smoking more of these?”

As I continued burning it, my enjoyment didn’t diminish. But my assessment did.

Why? Well, I reflected on the circumstances. The Serie V came in the wake of cigars I had smoked the previous two days that I found disappointing. By comparison, the Oliva was wonderful. But trying to approach it a little more objectively, I had to admit that, while the Serie V is a very good cigar, it failed to attain the elite status of great. While the stick’s flavors and performance were excellent, it came up a tad short in complexity and smoothness.

That led me to begin examining what qualities make for a great cigar, what accounts for a bad or mediocre cigar, and which attributes don’t really matter in any judgment.

It is fairly easy, I think, to agree on things that make for a lousy cigar. Descriptions like harsh, plugged, tasteless, bitter, and wildly inconsistent come quickly to mind. Mediocrity is a little tougher to judge, since one man’s bland can be another’s tasty.

Generally, I think, mediocre cigars are those that have nothing special, nothing that stands out. They’re not bad, they’re just not that good.

Judgments also can be clouded by considerations that I would classify as personal preference. These sometimes enter into the discussion, though I believe they often should not.

Size, usually ring gauge, is one of the most common. While many ardent smokers disdain today’s massive ring gauges, there is certainly nothing that makes them inherently bad cigars. Personally, I find myself drawn more and more to smaller sticks these days, both in ring gauge and length. Again, though, that is preference, not a standard by which to establish quality.

Another factor can be price. Too often, I believe, some smokers equate high prices with hype and nothing else. As in, “No cigar is worth (fill in your own price tag).”

Sure, that’s true sometimes. But far from always. Growing tobacco is a costly and risky enterprise, but one that can help ensure high quality and consistency, as well as stimulate creativity. Aging and stockpiling tobacco is an expensive investment, but a necessary one for those who wish to create extraordinary blends. Quality control can boost operational costs without an immediately visible effect on the bottom line. Talented workers command higher wages.

Conversely, it is extremely difficult to produce a great cigar at bundle cigar prices.

There are two common cigar-smoking mantras: “Smoke what you like, like what you smoke” and “If you like it, then it’s a good cigar.” Who could argue with either sentiment? On the other hand, can anyone honestly contend that a Ron Mexico, say, is equal to a Padrón Family Reserve, regardless of personal preferences?

The truth is, in our current Era of Magnificent Cigars we encounter a lot fewer lousy sticks than there were years ago. There are also a lot more good and very good cigars on the shelves, too.

In the second part of this commentary (tomorrow), I’ll discuss what I think makes for a great cigar.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

The most obvious characteristic of this cigar is size. At only 3.5 inches long with a ring gauge of 46, it obviously isn’t very big. Judged by flavor and performance, though, this opera-inspired La Bohème vitola brings down the house.

As a full-blown fan of cigars coming from Rafael Nodal and Hank Bischoff, I always expect good things when I light a cigar from their Boutique Blends. So it was no surprise that I liked La Bohème, even though I was a bit unsure of what to expect from the small Mimi. After all, even Nodal has said he wasn’t too sure about it at first.

But, lighting this up, it was immediately apparent I was smoking something special.

Rich spices and red pepper lead off and continue throughout. As the Mimi progresses, those flavors are joined by cedar and wood, with nutty overtones. And nearer the foot, there’s a warm sweetness that weaves its way in.

Construction, burn, and draw are top-notch. While it’s necessary to smoke such a small cigar slowly, none of mine got hot as the burn approached the head. The ash is nearly porcelain white and hangs on as if it were glued to the foot.

The wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano, with Dominican binder and filler. Its large band is artistically striking, coming from a nineteenth century Cuban brand, according to Nodal.

La Bohème is available in three other sizes, each named after a character in the Puccini opera. So far, Mimi is the only one I’ve seen. It retails for about $6.50, which might seem high considering the size. But with Mimi you’re purchasing 45 minutes to an hour of wonderful smoking. And it would also translate to about $13 for a Churchill.

All in all, La Bohème Mimi is another virtuoso performance for Boutique Blends. I rate it four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

I picked up this smoke based solely on Ben Lee’s praise in his Stogie Review posting a few weeks back. It’s a fat robusto, coming in at the typical five-inch length but with a ring gauge of 56. The line is rolled from tobacco grown on Perdomo’s Nicaraguan farms, with the wrapper leaf aged 14 months in bourbon barrels. The result: a tasty, spicy smoke that satisfies from start to finish, with a good draw and even burn.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Perdomo Cigars

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. Below is our latest Friday Sampler.

1) Punch Rare Corojo will be back at tobacconists starting February 16, including two new vitolas. The first, El Diablo (6.5 x 66), will be a permanent addition to the annual release. The second, Rare Lapiz (6.75 x 56), will only be available this year, and only to select retailers. “Punch Rare Corojo started the trend of seasonal cigars, and each year we’re pleased with the response to this annual collection,” said Ed McKenna, senior brand manager for Punch. “Given the range of frontmarks and the addition of Rare Lapiz to this year’s lineup, we are confident that Punch Rare Corojo will sell out quickly.” The Rare Corojo blend includes an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a filler blend of Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican tobaccos.

2) “Less than a week after New Orleans passed a local law to ban smoking in bars and casinos, some Baton Rouge medical professionals and local leaders are pushing the capital city to strike while the iron’s still hot,” according to The Advocate. The director or Tobacco Free Living, an organization that lobbied for the ban in New Orleans, is on record saying Baton Rouge should be next. Baton Rouge’s mayor is thus far publicly undecided.

3) Inside the Industry: José Blanco’s Señorial announced a distribution deal with House of Horvath to distribute the brand in Canada. Cuban cigar distribution company Habanos recently announced the introduction of Añejados, a limited series of cigars that have already been aged for 5-8 years.

4) Deal of the Week: Have fun with these coupon codes at Cigar Place to score some excellent deals. Our favorites include 20% off Undercrown and Oliva, 15% off Drew Estate MUWAT, and 10% off Ashton VSG. You can also use the promo to score 5% off Tatuaje cigars.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: General Cigar

The cigar smokers of Nebraska are coming together with national cigar organizations to fix the cigar bar issue in Nebraska. A new bill is moving forward that should address the state law that led a court to eliminate the exemption for cigar bars.

The Nebraska Supreme Court found the exemptions violated the state’s prohibition on special legislation, or laws that are not equally applied in pursuit of the law’s stated goal. The court found that since the law’s goal was to protect employees from secondhand smoke, there was no reason why it shouldn’t also “protect” cigar bar employees.

Now common sense says cigar bar employees are fully aware that they would be working around cigar smoke, plus their job won’t exist very long if a cigar bar can’t let patrons smoke. So it certainly will be a good thing when the Nebraska legislature amends their law so their intention to exempt cigar bars will survive any legal challenges.

Still, I can’t help but feeling that there are lessons to be learned from this episode.

While the result—banning smoking in cigar bars—may have seemed odd, the court wasn’t totally wrong when it said if the only goal of the ban was to protect employees from second hand smoke, then there is no reason for any exemptions. In fact, there’s a level of consistency to a blunt, across-the-board ban.

Once you’ve conceded the premise that government should be protecting workers from making their own decision about whether to work in a place that allows smoke, there isn’t a logical reason for that paternalism to stop when it comes to places whose business model is catering to cigar smokers. If restaurants and bars are included, why not cigar lounges? Why not cigar shops?

It’s important to make a principled stand against smoking bans. After all, they strip adults from making the choice to be around tobacco, which is after all a 100% legal product. If the owner of a furniture store wants to allow smoking, and consumers and workers choose to be there, that should be their right. If that sounds like a dumb idea to you, well that’s what the free market is for: to allow businesses to succeed or fail based on their ability to attract customers.

None of which is to say that exemptions for cigar shops, cigar bars, and other places aren’t important; those exemptions limit the damage done by smoking bans, which can destroy businesses and jobs. But when a smoking ban passes with certain exemptions, remember it isn’t a victory for cigar rights—just slightly less of a defeat.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I’ve written before about aging whiskey in small barrels and the theories behind it. Some say it’s a shortcut to make a young whiskey taste like fine, well-aged whiskey, while others say it only makes lousy whiskey. As I’ve stated before, my feeling is the practice mostly produces a different kind of whiskey, very different but not necessarily lesser.

Tuthilltown Distillery, which makes the Hudson line, is certainly a believer in the mini-barrel aging method, as all their products are stored in 3-10 gallon barrels for “less than four years,” though they don’t disclose how much less. (I wrote about their Baby Bourbon and Four Grain Bourbon years ago.) Interestingly, the increasingly common practice of labeling young whiskey “less than four years old” will no longer fly under new federal labeling guidelines, meaning that an actual affirmative age statement will soon be necessary.

For this “limited edition” rye (word is it will become an annual release), Tuthilltown took its Hudson Manhattan Rye and finished it in casks that had previously been used to age maple syrup. The result is a 92-proof finished rye that sells for around $55 for a 375 ml. bottle (half the size of a traditional bottle).

Whether it’s the maple or the mini casks, the Hudson Maple Rye features an inviting rich copper color. The nose definitely has a added hint of maple on top of oak and wood spice.

But on the palate the youth shows. The woodiness is an astringent oak flavor that overwhelms more inviting notes of maple, maltiness, pear, and cocoa. The finish shows more young oak and maple.

I think a Mexican-wrapped cigar is ideal for this rye, as it has a similar quality of full flavor with a slightly harsh edge. The Illusione *R* Rothchildes is an excellent choice, especially with its value price.

Ultimately, it’s hard to recommend Hudson Maple Cask Rye to all but the most committed collector, mostly because the price and the harshness due to its youth. Still, one thing I really appreciate about this whiskey is the natural way Hudson handled adding a maple flavor, at a time when more sketchy, artificial methods of flavoring are becoming increasingly common.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys