The Stogie Guys

A couple months after making history by sending the first cigars into space, Alec Bradley is once again making headlines. This time, though, the Florida-based company is drawing attention not for a unique publicity stunt, but for a crime.

Cigar Aficionado reported yesterday that burglars recently stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Alec Bradley’s humidified storage facility in Hollywood, Florida. The story of how they broke in and made off without getting caught sounds like the plot of a heist movie.

The burglars cut a hole through the roof of the building using a high-powered saw, said Alan Rubin, owner of Alec Bradley, and gained access to the humidified warehouse. Using forklifts, they moved cases of cigars out to a stolen truck and made away with the merchandise, worth approximately $300,000 at wholesale, or nearly $600,000 at the retail level.

The break-in occurred early on the morning of September 7, a Saturday. Rubin initially kept the incident quiet during the search for the criminals, who remain at large. “We didn’t want to say anything because of the investigation,” Rubin told Cigar Aficionado. He changed his mind, he said, when he heard of people in the northeast United States being approached with offers of buying Alec Bradley cigars at a steep discount.

StogieGuys.com has elected to help spread the news about this robbery because the criminals are still at large, and Rubin is calling on cigar consumers for help. If you are offered Alec Bradley cigars at a steep discount, or if you see Alec Bradley cigars for sale in bundles that are always sold in boxes (i.e., Prensado), please report it to the authorities. Stolen cigars included Prensado, Nica Puro, Black Market, and Alec Bradley Connecticut.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Alec Bradley

With new challenges come new opportunities. When it comes to cigars and finding a place to comfortably enjoy a premium cigar, that saying certainly is true.

Smoking bans across the country have booted smokers out of restaurants, bars, and other places that wanted their business. Unpleasant weather, and creeping outdoor bans, compound the problem. The spread of bans means in many places you can only smoke in specialized cigar establishments. And eager business owners are seeking to welcome in cigar smokers.

Cigar shops are adding lounge areas to accommodate cigar smoking customers who have limited options. But cigar shops are often limited in their ability to sell anything other than cigars; food and drink sales are generally prohibited.

Increasingly, it seems, luxurious specialized cigar establishments that combine food, drink, and cigars are seeking to fill the void.

Some, like the Grand Havana Club in DC and Beverly Hills, Club Macanudo in New York, and Shelly’s Backroom in DC have been around for a while. Others like Ashton Lounge in Philadelphia, Civil Cigar in DC, and CXIII Rex in Alexandria, Virginia, are relatively new.

Some are membership-only, others invite the public in if they’re wiling to pay a premium for their offerings. The result is a number of fine establishments in which one can, for a price, smoke a cigar in an exquisite setting.

But the trend has some downsides.

Go to most cigar shops and you’ll find a wide range of people: blue collar workers, civil servants, small business owners, retirees, college students, master of finance-types. Which makes sense when you consider that cigar smoking is an incredibly affordable luxury. Five dollars can provide an enjoyable, casual, relaxed hour.

The appreciation of cigars promotes common ground among people whose paths would never cross outsides a cigar shop. Anti-smokers like to portray cigar smokers as the ultra-rich elite, lighting cigars with dollar bills in wood-paneled rooms, but it simply isn’t true.

Which is why it’s ironic that anti-cigar bans are forcing cigar smokers into smoke-filled, wood-paneled rooms where the entrance requires an exclusive membership, or at least the willingness to spend more than a blue-collar hourly wage.

In other words, to the extent cigar smoking is still viewed as an elitist activity, it’s the fault of the anti-smokers rather than cigar smokers.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Flickr

In 2009, Miami Cigar & Co.created the Nestor Miranda Special Selection “20 Aniversario,” a limited release that celebrated of two decades of producing a Special Selection line named for company founder Nestor Miranda. The Rosado version of that series ended up being one of my favorite smokes of that year. I ended up smoking several boxes.

Aniversario aside, Special Selection is a regular-production brand with five sizes, each offered in either a Nicaraguan Habano Rosado wrapper or an Oscuro one. It joins Grand Reserve, Art Deco, Dominicano, 1989, and Danno in the Nestor Miranda portfolio.

A project conceived by Jason Wood at Miami Cigar and several years in the making, the Special Selection Exclusivo Regional was recently announced. The concept is to eventually have different Special Selection varieties available in different regions of the U.S. For starters, the inaugural Exclusivo Regional is a Midwest-only release. It sports a San Andres wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, and it comes in two formats that cost $8-9: Robusto Extra (5.5 x 54) and Toro Grande (6 x 60).

A box-pressed smoke, the Robusto Extra is a dark, gritty cigar with a wrinkled cap and zero large veins. The foot smells of sweet cocoa and pepper. Clipping the cap reveals a smooth pre-light draw and a little spice on the lips.

After lighting the cigar, the draw opens significantly, and a profile of cream, dark chocolate, and leather emerges. Given the aforementioned spice on the lips and the fact the cigar is predominantly Nicaraguan, I had expected a pepper-forward flavor. But the taste is anything but spicy. The edges are very rounded, so to speak, despite the body trending to the heavier side.

As the medium-bodied Robusto Extra progresses to the midway point and beyond, I do not find major alterations in taste. I also don’t find any of the “dirt” flavor that’s sometimes associated with Mexican tobacco. What I do notice is a smooth creaminess, a moderate nicotine kick, and sweet resting smoke. The physical properties are impeccable—solid ash, straight burn line, easy draw.

The Special Selection Exclusivo Regional is no doubt a fine, well-made cigar, and the idea of a limited regional release is an interesting one. Yet I’m a little skeptical the Robusto Extra is going to utterly captivate the Midwest—age may improve it but, right now, it isn’t terribly complex, and it doesn’t change much from light to nub. That said, it’s a good smoke at a fair price, and one that’s worthy of a  three stogies out of five rating.

[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.”

This isn’t a cigar. It’s a time machine. From the first puff this Nicaraguan stick transported me back to the first Tatuajes I smoked. My taste buds were engulfed in a wonderfully smooth combination of spice, pepper, and warm tobacco flavors. This lovely $10 cigar (5.4 x 52) is simply terrific: strong without being overpowering, complex yet steady, and expertly constructed. I’d call this a must-try if you enjoy cigars from Tatuaje or Don Pepin Garcia.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: N/A

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.”

This is one of the better-looking cigars I’ve smoked in a while, with a flawless Nicaraguan Jalapa Colorado Habano wrapper. The Toro (6 x 52) also has dual Honduran and Nicaraguan (Jalapa) binders and Nicaraguan filler from Jalapa and Condega (2007 crop). The first few draws worried me with a hint of grassiness, but that soon dissipated revealing dry cedar and cinnamon along with flavors of earth, pepper, and savory notes. It’s a well-balanced, medium- to full-bodied cigar that’s both flavorful and rounded. For $9 it’s well work a try.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Could this be the best value in bourbon? At $25 per bottle for a 12-year-old bourbon it certainly has potential, especially considering that similarly aged bourbons seem to be regularly selling for double the price.

W.L. Weller is made by Buffalo Trace, which makes a bevy of my favorite bourbons, including but not limited to Blanton’s, Elmer T. Lee, George T Stagg, Eagle Rare, Pappy Van Winkle, and, of course, Buffalo Trace.

Weller uses a wheated bourbon mash bill. All bourbon uses at least a majority of corn, but a wheated bourbon uses wheat instead of rye as the secondary grain. Along with the 12-year variety, Buffalo Trace produces the Special Reserve, the 107-proof Antique, and the high-end William Larue Weller, all of which are part of the Antique Collection and bottled at barrel-strength.

The nose features lots of sweetness, with vanilla, caramel, and a bit of leather. The 90-proof (45% ABV) spirit is a reddish bronze color. On the palate it has sweetness and wood, but there are also hints of orange marmalade, allspice, and vanilla. The finish is medium and smooth with damp wood and honey.

It’s a bit thin compared to fellow 12-year-old bourbons Elijah Craig (which is similarly priced) and Van Winkle Special Reserve (which is a bit more pricey), but the it has a great combination of balance, wood, and sweetness, especially considering the price.

That combination of sweetness and balance means it will pair with a wide variety of cigars. I can just as easily recommend a mild, woody Dominican as a full-bodied, earthy Nicaraguan. Classic Cuban smokes like Cohiba and Montecristo also go great with the Weller 12.

Whether the plastic-capped W.L. Weller 12 Year is the best value in bourbon is up for debate, though it’s clearly in the conversation. But there’s no doubt it’s an excellent value that should be on any bourbon aficionado’s list, and can be enjoyed with nearly any fine cigar.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys