The Stogie Guys

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is now seeking comments on its deeming document to regulate cigars under the Tobacco Control Act. Comments are due by July 9 and can be submitted here. (We’ll be putting together some suggested issues to raise in your comments as we get closer to the deadline.)

But as I thought about putting together my comments, I realized there are many significant issues that are almost impossible on which to comment. There are so many questions raised in the deeming document about what the proposal would even look like if implemented. It’s just one of the reasons the FDA should grant the Cigar Association of America extension.

To that end, here are just a few questions the FDA should answer so the public can submit informed comments about the proposal, not just ones based on an overly vague proposal.

What counts as a new cigar?

Under the FDA proposal, new cigars (or, under Option 2, new cigars that don’t meet the definition of a “premium cigar”) must receive the approval of the FDA before they can be sold. Is a new line of five sizes of the same blend one new product or five? Is an annual release of a cigar a new product, or just the same as a previous one? What if the factory where a cigar is made changes, or the sources of tobacco change? Does that make a cigar new?

Does the FDA even have the capacity to regulate cigars?

So far the FDA has approved or denied only 34 out of roughly 4,000 pending applications for new products. Given its current budget constraints, does the FDA have the capacity to rule on the hundreds or thousands (depending on the definition of a new cigar) of new cigars that are released in a given year?

What would be necessary to list the ingredients of a cigar?

One of the rules cigars would have to meet is a “required submission of ingredient listing” to the FDA. Is 100% tobacco leaf adequate? Would manufacturers be required to list the types of tobacco and where they were grown?

What constitutes the “distribution of free samples”?

The proposal includes a “prohibition on the distribution of free samples,” but would that include only samples to consumers? What about free samples at a trade show, or to professional reviewers? Would a buy-one-get-one-free promotion violate this prohibition? Would this only apply to manufacturers, or also to professional tobacconists who might want to give a favorite customer a new cigar to try for free?

What qualifies a cigar as containing “primarily long-filler tobacco”?

The FDA proposal states that under its option for a premium cigar exemption a cigar could qualify if it “contains primarily long-filler tobacco.” Would a Liga Privada Papas Fritas count? It uses clippings from the $10+ Liga Privada No. 9 cigar, but also some long-filler. Would 51% be adequate and, if so, how is that measured?

What do you mean by “characterizing flavor”?

The FDA proposal states that under its option for a premium cigar exemption a cigar would only qualify if it “does not have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco.” Would using tobacco aged in rum barrels (a common practice) be a violation? Would using betunes with wine or curing with aromatic woods like maple, hickory, or oak be a “characterizing flavor”? What about aging a finished cigar in cedar? (The FDA has been asked before about cedar aging and has refused to answer.)

Where did the $10 price floor come from in your option for a premium cigar exemption and how is it applied?

We’ve already covered the problems with the $10 number before. Did this number come from any government or scientific sources, or is it completely random? Also, how is “a retail price (after any discounts or coupons) of no less than $10 per cigar” determined? If the suggested retail price is $10 but it is sold by one retailer for less, is that a violation? And, if so, who violated the rule: the manufacturer or the retailer?

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys

Nicholas Melillo, popularly known as “Nick R. Agua” on Facebook and Twitter, is leaving his role at Drew Estate, where he served for 11 years with responsibilities ranging from tobacco purchasing and fermentation to quality control and shipment planning.

According to a press release issued midday on Friday by Drew Estate, “Melillo mastered the blending of some of the company’s top-selling brands, including Liga Privada No. 9, T52, Dirty Rat, Flying Pig, UF-13, L40, Undercrown, Nirvana, Kahlua, Java, and Nica Rustica, He also worked alongside Willy Herrera on Herrera Estelí.”

When Melillo joined Drew Estate in 2003, the company was nowhere near its current levels of production (about 100,000 cigars per day with 1,500 employees—the largest cigar operation in Nicaragua). The Connecticut native played an integral role in the company’s success, according to Jonathan Drew. “Melillo has been a major asset in bringing our company to our current level of expertise and quality,” reads the press release. “He has been instrumental in creating blends to categorically change the traditional cigar market.”

Melillo, who got his start at a cigar shop near New Haven, Connecticut, was formerly Executive Vice President of International Operations for Drew Estate. In January, he left to become a consultant on tobacco purchasing and cigar blending under his company, Melillo International. The next step in Melillo’s premium cigar career is not yet known—though it is clear he does not plan to leave the industry for good.

Who Will Fill the Void?

As I was visiting Drew Estate in Estelí last month, Jonathan Drew was candid about the fact that he was grappling with the reality that his role is to make business decisions for the company. He is more of a corporate executive than a cigar blender or tobacco man. Nicholas Melillo was filling the roll of blending, monitoring fermentation, and attempting to maintain quality control in the face of increased production.

These roles used to be shared between Melillo and Steve Saka, the CEO of Drew Estate who retired in July 2013. Saka has a non-compete agreement in place until the summer of 2015 (Drew Estate repurchased his interests in the company when he left), whereas Melillo remains a partner in Drew Estate.

On the heels of Melillo and Saka leaving, the obvious question is: Who will step up to the plate for Drew Estate’s growing tobacco purchasing, fermentation, blending, quality control, etc. needs? My colleagues and I will keep you apprised as details emerge.

–Patrick A

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.”

When I first tried this Robusto (5.25 x 52) back in 2010 (it was introduced in late 2009), I found its profile of spice, pepper, dry wood, and espresso to be a little monotone. Either my tastes have changed, which is entirely possible, or this cigar is much better. I picked it up at a local shop for $7.50 and was impressed with its chalky texture and tastes of spice and dry cocoa. It smoked perfectly, and the draw was notably smooth with tons of smoke production. My experience is a testament to the strategy of revisiting cigars.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I’ve smoked a number of these over several months and found them to be amazingly consistent in both flavor, strength, and performance. The beautiful, light honey-brown Habano wrapper, grown in Brazil, is topped with a perfectly applied cap. The burn line is truly razor sharp, the draw near ideal.

The excellent construction and consistency are a testament to the care and attention to detail by both La Palina brand owner Bill Paley and factory owner Abe Flores in the Dominican Republic.

With medium strength and body, La Palina Classic features an Ecuadorian binder with filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican. It begins with a bready, yeasty tone that’s quickly augmented by a little pepper. That pepper ramps up as you smoke through the six-inch Toro, and some sweetness emerges as a presence as well about a third of the way down.

I get light chocolate on the finish, and the earthy aroma from the smoke is both noticeable and pleasant.

This is not so much a complex cigar that takes off in different directions, but one that begins with a harmonious blend and makes subtle riffs on the dominant themes.

At $7.75 per stick, this 50-ring gauge vitola fits comfortably with the Classic’s aim of being a more affordable line that maintains La Palina’s quality. My colleague Patrick S gave the Robusto high marks about a year ago. A few months later, in a Quick Smoke, he praised the Corona.

This cigar is one I would recommend to anyone, from newcomer to old-timer. For me, the La Palina Classic Toro earns four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I’ve had the privilege to blend three different cigars in the past few years, all thanks to my participation in Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari. In each case I chose a different wrapper. I chronicled the results of my Connecticut Ecuador and Brazilian Mata Fina blends here, and I anticipate writing about my latest, Cameroon-wrapped attempt shortly. (Spoiler alert: The Cameroon smoke is quite good, if I do say so myself.)

Each time I’ve blended a cigar, the process has been similar. I’m presented with a menu of pre-selected, pre-fermented, aged tobaccos. They are organized by filler, binder, and wrapper. Based on the vitola format of my choosing, I’m told how many filler leaves I’ll need. And while barber poles and double-binders are certainly on the market these days, I’m instructed to select just one wrapper and one binder.

Besides a few general rules of thumb (don’t overstuff with Ligero to avoid intensity and burn problems, pick a combination of sweet and spicy tobaccos, etc.), every time I’m stabbing in the dark. For me, the process is all trial and error. I’ll walk around the tobaccos, select some filler leaves, crudely stuff them in a binder, get some wrapper in there, and light the whole bunch on fire to get a sense of the general profile. Extinguish. Re-blend. Repeat.

Usually about 60 minutes is allotted for this exercise. I’d love to have a whole day to do this. Maybe a whole week. But even then it wouldn’t be nearly enough time. When the hour comes to an end, I jot my recipe down and hand it in. Several days later I receive about ten cigars. Thankfully, the folks at Drew Estate don’t make us roll the smokes ourselves; my creations would be unsmokably poor-constructed.

Even if my result doesn’t taste positively top-notch, smoking a cigar you’ve blended is thrilling. I keep my ego in check, though. Remember that Drew Estate had already done all the hard work before I made any decisions. They sourced and selected the tobacco. They cared for it, fermented it, and aged it. And they gave me paragraphs of info on each type of tobacco so even a novice like me can yield something decent.

Going through this exercise several times got me thinking: What exactly is meant by cigar blending? What does someone like Willy Herrera do when he’s hired at Drew Estate before the Herrera Estelí line is launched? What did José Blanco do when he was crafting CyB?

Despite the photos in advertisements and the pictures on boxes, surely the great cigar men are not wandering sun-drenched tobacco fields all day with fedoras and white, button-up shirts with breast pockets brimming with cigars. These strike me as mere photo-ops. What really happens when the rubber meets the road in blending?

I’d imagine the answer varies by company and by individual. But folks I’d consider cigar blenders seem to be engaged at various levels of the process—from seed to smoke, if you will. And their activities (meeting with suppliers, checking tobacco that’s fermenting, producing test blends in various sizes, providing instruction to the buncheros and rolleros, etc.) are differentiated from the business aspects of cigar making (payroll, strategic direction of the company, marketing, budgets, etc.).

Perhaps the best understanding of cigar blending was shared with me by Skip Martin when I visited his RoMa Craft operation in Estelí. At the back of his small factory, he had a table full of cigars that were made 100% with one type of tobacco. Martin says he’s constantly smoking these sticks—some of which are not completely enjoyable on their own, mind you—so he instantly knows what the various tobaccos taste like on their own. He stores these mental snapshots so, as he’s creating test blends and finding areas for improvement, he knows exactly which tobaccos to add and which to remove.

In this fashion, true cigar blenders know what the tobaccos they work with taste like—just like you and I know what peanut butter tastes like without having eaten peanut butter recently. This is what it takes to be a cigar blender. Everyone else, myself included, is simply engaging in trial and error. We lack the skills to add the level of targeted refinement that’s required to yield an excellent cigar.

This realization only adds to my enjoyment of a balanced, harmonious smoke. I hope it does so for you as well.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys