The Stogie Guys

With its extremely sharp press, this cigar makes a strong first impression that’s enhanced by a strong pre-light aroma from the Habano ’98 wrapper.

I smoked three of these, supplied recently by Flex Assouline Cigars, with whom we failed to personally connect at the IPCPR Trade Show this summer in Las Vegas. The Blaze is 6 inches long with a ring gauge of 54, an MSRP of $7, and an international composition. The binder is Indonesian and the filler comprises Nicaraguan and Honduran tobacco.

Overall, Havana Sunrise is an enjoyable cigar, with balanced flavors that are medium in strength. The finish is a bit harsh at the start, though that soon rounds out.

But I did encounter some negatives, mainly with the burn. The worst came in the second sample, when a tunnel developed about half way down, airing out the smoke and creating a terrible off-kilter burn I tried vainly to correct again and again.

I wasn’t particularly concerned since I was smoking outdoors with the attendant hazards of errant breezes and still-high Florida humidity. And the first Blaze I smoked outdoors burned just fine, produced thick smoke like a forest fire, and had an excellent draw.

Unfortunately, the third cigar also had a tunnel, though less severe. There was also a problem shared with the earlier stick: a rock-hard ash as the tunnel developed, which can be indicative of problem tobacco.

According to the Flex Assouline website, distribution is limited. So you might not see these cigars at your local shop. If you do, though, I’d recommend giving them a try. It’s the kind of cigar a lot of smokers will enjoy. Unfortunately, the performance issues were a drawback. I rate it three stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In my opinion, not only is bourbon an excellent spirit to pair with cigars, but I’m constantly impressed by the value it offers at all price points.

While good single malt seems to start at $50 (if you disagree, please leave suggestions in the comments), good bourbon can be had for quite a bit less. If you’re willing to spend $50 or more there there are some really special bourbons available (take a look at my recent Guide to Bourbon series for some recommendations), but it isn’t necessary to spend that much.

The $25-30 range offers excellent bourbons that can be enjoyed by connoisseurs, and it’s also an great starting place for someone just exploring all that bourbon has to offer. To that end, here are some of my favorite offerings available in most places for under $30:

Elmer T. Lee – Elmer T. Lee created Blanton’s ($45-50), the highly acclaimed nine-year-old original single barrel bourbon. Later he created his own single barrel bourbon, which sells for $30. Sadly, Elmer isn’t around anymore – though he hand-selected the barrels for his bourbon until his passing – but this is still an excellent spirit. Basically just Blanton’s but a few years younger, it’s full of sweetness with body and balance provided by dried fruit and just enough woody spice.

Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage – Evan Williams took Single Barrel bourbon to a new level with it’s vintage release, bottled every year after nine years of barrel aging. Each year has its own character, but they have in common a butterscotch characteristic with oak and a bit of spice. The 2003 is out now.

W.L. Weller 12 Year – The oldest sub-$30 bourbon I know, this uses wheat instead of rye as a secondary grain, and the result is a delicious combination of sweetness and woodiness. These are the same characteristics that make Pappy Van Winkle one of the most sought-after bourbons, but it’s only a small fraction of the price.

John E. Fitzgerald Larceny Bourbon – A new offering made by Heaven Hill, which also makes Evan Williams, Larceny (like Weller) is a wheat bourbon, which means it has plenty of sweetness. There’s also a lively combination of toffee, cinnamon, and fruit. It’s 92-proof and around $28.

Eagle Rare Single Barrel 10 Year – Were I required to select only one of these, I’d have no problem selecting Eagle Rare 10 Year Single Barrel. Made by Buffalo Trace from the same juice that makes up George T. Stagg, it has lots of char, oak, caramel, and guts. It’s the perfect combination of balance, nuance, and power.

Honorable Mention: Bulleit Rye – Not actually a bourbon (rye is the majority grain as opposed to corn), this is my favorite value in rye. It uses a 95% rye mashbill and has a flavor of red fruit, minty spice, and just the right amount of oak and syrupy sweetness. If you want to discover the difference between bourbon and rye, this is a tasty first step.

Still getting into bourbon? This is a list that will give you a crash course in all the most American spirit can offer. And it will show you that excellent bourbon can be had at a very reasonable price.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Officially launched in January, but formalized at last year’s convention, Sindicato is a new company founded by a group of veteran retailers. The group starts with a customer base that’s the envy of any new cigar company.

Heading up this “syndicate” is Abe Dababneh of Smoke Inn. He is joined by Dan Jenuwine (of Quality Fresh Cigars in Michigan), Gary Pesh (of Old Virginia Tobacco in Virginia), Robert Roth (of Nice Ash Cigars in New York and Pennsylvania), and Jeff Borysiewicz (Corona Cigar Company in Orlando). Their stores alone would be top targets for any new cigar line looking for quality retailers.

Three brands comprise the Sindicato lineup. Casa Bella is a “premium bundle” smoke from the Dominican Republic with prices around $2 per cigar. Hex, my favorite, is sold as “a refined medium- to full-bodied cigar”. And Affinity is an Ecuadorian Connecticut-wrapped blend with a mild profile. (StogieGuys.com was also told an eponymous “Sindicato” cigar is currently in the works.)

Affinity comes in six formats: Churchill, Gran Toro, Belicoso, Toro, Corona, and Robusto. The Belicoso measures 6.1 inches long with a ring gauge of 52 and a price of about $7. It’s a pale cigar with a clean, delicate wrapper that’s prone to tiny cracks if you aren’t careful. The sharply pointed cap clips uneventfully to reveal a smooth draw, and the foot boasts pre-light notes of sweet hay and caramel.

Setting an even light across the wrapper, the Nicaraguan binder, and the blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler tobaccos, a buttery profile of cream and nut emerges. The finish is short, tangy, and just a little spicy with a slight bitterness. Each puff coats the palate with silky, oily smoke. The body is decidedly in the mild spectrum.

I won’t call the flavor “papery,” though some may find the Belicoso to be too mellow. I’ve always enjoyed milder smokes as long as they back up their lack of power with creaminess and complexity. To be blunt, while Affinity may have character, the samples I smoked for this review were on the verge of being too mild for my personal taste.

That said, the Sindicato Affinity Belicoso brings a decent flavor to the table along with perfect combustion qualities—straight burn, solid ash, good smoke production, and consistently easy draw. Fans of mild-bodied cigars will find it to be a solid buy. In my book, it earns three stogies out of five.

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

–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.”

CAO’s newest offering is much more than a marketing scheme focused on muscle cars and pinup girls. Combining a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with a Habano Connecticut binder and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos, Flathead is a wonderful, balanced blend that has plenty of body yet little spice. The result is a rounded profile of cocoa, leather, and cream, and the physical properties are excellent. If you haven’t gotten around to trying Flathead yet, you’re missing out. The V554 Camshaft (5.5 x 54) is well worth the asking price of $7-8.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

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) Inspired by the Jason Voorhees character from the Friday the 13th franchise, this year’s Monster Series release from Tatuaje is called JV13. It will come in one large format (7.5 x 52), retail for $13, and feature a broadleaf wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Only 666 special coffin boxes of 13 cigars will be shipped to 13 “unlucky” retailers, all of which were announced this week: Buttheads Tobacco Emporium, Danbury, CT; Prime Cigar and Wine Bar, Boca Raton, FL; Town & Country Cigar Bar, Euless, TX; Havana House, Akron, OH; Fine Ash Cigars, Avondale, AZ; Union Cigar Society, Seattle, WA; Liberty Tobacco, San Diego, CA; Atlantic Cigar Co., Folcroft, PA; Don Francisco Cigars, East Brunswick, NJ; Humidor Pipe Shop, Huntsville, AL; Tobacco Shoppe of Midland, Midland, MI; Cigar Masters, Boston, MA; and Leesburg Cigar and Pipe, Leesburg, VA. JV13 is the sixth Monster Series cigar (hence the “6” on the box). It is preceded by The Frank, The Drac, The Face, The Wolfman, and The Mummy.

2) October 1 marked the beginning of Arkansas’ tax cap on cigars. “In March, Arkansas passed a bill that caps the state’s excise tax on premium cigars at 50 cents per stick, down from the previous tax of 68% of the manufacturer’s price,” according to CS Decisions. “[The Cigar Association of America] noted that this cap will be good for retailers and consumers, and should encourage the in-state purchase of tobacco products.”

3) Inside the Industry: My Father Cigars is shipping a limited edition to its popular Flor de las Antillas line. Called the MAM 15, the cigar (6 x 48) is being sent to a a group of stores in the South and Southeast.

4) Deal of the Week: Corona Cigar has tweaked its Stogie Guys Sampler. Now $29.95 (normally $55) gets you an Avo Lounge, a Davidoff, plus five house blends from Corona Cigar. You also get free shipping on your entire order.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Tatuaje Cigars

Last week I attended W. Curtis Draper’s Little Puff, a fantastic event in DC that raises lots of money for good causes. First and foremost, the event highlights the generosity of the cigar community. (After last year’s event, Little Puff had topped $600,000 raised for charity.)

But in addition to charity and generosity, fine cigars, food, and drink are featured. Like many cigar events, attendees are given a card with the names of all the cigar makers in attendance, who then punch the card when you pick up your cigar from their table.

The result is a lot of cigars. Some were new releases: Fratello, La Gloria Serie R Black, CLE Plus, Drew Estate’s Nica Rustica, just to name a few, all of which I’m looking forward to.

But I actually enjoyed some of the other cigars more. It isn’t that they are necessarily better, but these are cigars I don’t normally smoke because, writing for Stogie Guys, I tend to spend a lot of my smoking time trying the latest releases.

I can’t remember the last time I smoked a regular old Padrón Maduro, but lighting one up the next day I was reminded what an excellent cigar it is, especially given the price. It’s a cigar that was a staple in my rotation when I first got into cigars, but now I maybe smoke one a year.

The same goes for the Don Pepin Garcia Blue, La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet, Tatuaje Regios Reserva, Alec Bradley Prensado, Fuente Chateau Sun Grown, Oliva Connecticut, and La Aroma de Cuba (original blend). Cigars I don’t frequently light up, even though each is well made and quite good.

It’s a reminder not to get too focused on the latest and greatest. You’re not buying a smartphone where technology becomes quickly out of date. It’s more like music. Sure there’s some good music coming out today; but sometimes it’s better to tune into the classic rock station for dependable favorites that remind you of good times from the past.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys