The 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) Tuesday’s outcome at the polls had decidedly mixed results for the plan to bar the Food & Drug Administration from regulating premium cigars. First, the good news. The sponsors, both Floridians, were reelected: Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and Rep. Bill Posey (R). And only one Senate cosponsor was lost: Nebraska’s Ben Nelson retired. But that’s tempered by the fact that, even with him, the bill had only 14 supporters. In the House of Representatives, where cosponsors constituted more than a majority, the hit was far more substantial. What this likely means is a long fight ahead. Consider that only a tiny fraction of bills introduced in the House get enacted, and that Congress faces large, contentious issues. So it’s hard to not be discouraged about the prospects for targeted legislation like protecting premium cigars, even with strong bipartisan support.

2) This week an appellate court upheld a St. Louis suburb’s outdoor smoking ban. A citizen of Clayton, Missouri, had “asked the federal courts to recognize smoking as a fundamental right and argued that any law restricting tobacco use deserves the utmost scrutiny from judges,” according to the Wall Street Journal. But the court decided it “need not determine whether outdoor secondhand smoke exposure actually causes harm. Because the City reasonably could believe this to be true, the Ordinance survives.”

3) Inside the Industry: Over two years ago we exclusively reported the introduction of the Tatuaje Anarchy, a Tatuaje cigar made only for the Smoke Inn stores in the Palm Beach area. Now, Smoke Inn and Tatuaje are following up that release with the Tatuaje Apocalypse. While Anarchy featured an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, the Apocalypse features a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. Pre-orders begin Thanksgiving Day and the cigar, which retails for $8.95 or $134.25 for a box of 15, will officially be released on December 14th.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews a Rocky Patel Burn. Cigar Fan fires up a T.L. Johnson Tempio Extreme Box Press. Cigar Brief checks out the J. Fuego Edición de Familia. Cigar Inspector inspects a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño. A Cigar Smoker smokes the Alec Bradley Fine and Rare 2012.

5) Deal of the Week: You may only have hours to grab this “Kitchen Sink Sampler” with 50 cigars for just $90. Highlights including CAO Gold, Griffin Maduro, San Cristobal Maestro, Cabaiguan Guapos Maduro, Avo Signature, CAO LX2, Casa Miranda, Tatuaje Hav VI Artistas, and Zino Platinum.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: FDA

Much of what I smoke is driven by the needs of StogieGuys.com: what we haven’t yet reviewed, what readers are asking us to review, what’s new, etc. This requires a ton of variety. (I know it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it). When I’m just smoking for sheer enjoyment, though, I find myself favoring a few select blends at any given time.

Over the past few days I’ve been smoking more for enjoyment and less for this site. If you follow us on Facebook, you’ll note that I recently took a brief vacation to Florida—a trip that afforded me the luxury of firing up whatever I wanted. I think it’s telling of my taste to look at the cigars I decided to take to Florida.

Tesa Gran Cru Limited Edition. This one-size, box-pressed cigar is all about balance. Anyone can put together a spicy, heavy-handed powerhouse, but few can construct a medium-bodied blend with such equilibrium as Tesa’s Chris Kelly. This torpedo’s Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, criollo ’98 binder from Jalapa, and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos combine to yield a woodsy flavor with notes of cream, salty peanut, and coffee. You can bet I’ll be all over this smoke again as soon as more become available at Kelly’s Chicago shop.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve. Remember this cigar? It was released in the summer of 2011 and then, as far as I can tell, sort of forgotten. But I’ve been impressed by the single size, a torpedo (6.1 x 52) with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The flavor has a dry spice with earth, coffee, and caramel. Normally priced around $12, my local shop put the Grand Reserve on special for $9.50 earlier this year, and I decided to stock up. I’m glad I did as it’s currently a favorite.

God of Fire Serie B Double Robusto 2011. I know I reviewed this cigar very recently. I know Prometheus is one of our advertisers. Ever since I tried the Serie B Double Robusto 2011, though, I’ve seriously been hooked. And for good reason. The Double Robusto (5.75 x 52) has an Ecuadorian sun-grown wrapper and a great profile of pepper, raisin, dark chocolate, and espresso. It also smokes like a champ, as it should for $22. I can’t afford to smoke this cigar too frequently, but my vacation was a nice excuse to burn a few of these.

Pinar del Rio Small Batch Reserve Habano Gran Toro. No, not everything on my list has to be expensive. While recently I’ve been reaching for a fair number of super-premiums, I realize this isn’t sustainable. So I’ve also been smoking a few more modestly priced smokes, like the Small Batch Reserve Habano Gran Toro from Pinar del Rio, which packs a flavor of sweet wood for about $6. It also boasts the excellent construction I’ve come to expect from Abe Flores’ brand.

Now these aren’t the same cigars I chose to smoke for pure enjoyment a few months ago, and they probably won’t be the same cigars I’ll choose months from now. My tastes tend to be somewhat seasonal. Just like I prefer rum in the summer and bourbon in the winter, I tend towards milder, creamier smokes in the summer and heartier, spicier cigars in the winter.

In addition, no matter how good a cigar is, I find the principle of diminishing marginal utility starts to apply if I fire up the same stick over and over. So it makes sense for me to rotate my favorites, even as they get interspersed with the cigars I smoke for this website.

In any event, I figured it might be interesting for me to share what cigars I’ve been selecting from my stash lately. Feel free to share your current favorites in the comments below.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Yesterday, voters in North Dakota and Missouri decided on ballot questions that will impact cigar rights in those states. While Missouri voters rejected the anti-tobacco “Prop B,” voters in North Dakota approved Measure 4.

North Dakota’s Measure 4, a statewide smoking ban to criminalize indoor smoking in virtually all “public” places including cigar shops, overwhelmingly passed 66% to 34%. The law calls for violators of the restrictive ban to be fined $50, and for a bar proprietor who allowed smoking in spite of the ban to have his or her liquor and tobacco sales licenses revoked. Arguments made by cigar smokers and the hospitality industry that the blanket smoking ban would infringe on property rights, harm small businesses, and unfairly restrict personal choices to smoke were not enough to overcome intense lobbying by anti-tobacco groups.

Prop. B in Missouri would have increased the state tax on cigars by 15% if passed, but the move appears to have failed by a slim margin. The latest numbers show “no” with 50.8% and “yes” with 40.2%, with a 42,000 vote difference out of nearly 2.7 million votes cast.

Any revenue from the tax increase was to be earmarked in equal proportions for education and smoking cessation programs, but critics point out that politicians regularly and easily raid such funds, so there was no guarantee of any net funding increase in the designated areas. Further, some people cautioned that raising the tobacco tax would just drive cigarette sales to neighboring states, and presumably would drive cigar sales to online retailers.

It’s not clear if the margin of defeat for Proposition B is enough to avoid a lengthy recount process. In early June voters in California narrowly rejected a 73% tobacco tax increase but, due to an extended recount and certification process, the result wasn’t finalized until a little over a month ago.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Sometimes those of us who devote lots of time and energy to cigars forget that there are many, many smokers who enjoy them but aren’t nearly as involved. They may not have the time or the inclination—or both—to delve deeply into such topics as the differences in Nicaraguan tobaccos grown in various regions of the country, or a comparison of the relative merits of entubar and accordion bunching.

No problem. After all, cigar smoking should be about enjoyment. For some, that means acquiring and evaluating lots of information. For others, it means just lighting up. But in reading various cigar forums, I know there are always newcomers confused by some of the basics. Here are a few explanations that I hope will help.

Wrapper. This is the leaf that covers the cigar, the tobacco that you see. The varieties and origins can seem nearly infinite. Despite what you may hear, a darker wrapper does not automatically mean a stronger cigar. Maduro (Spanish for ripe or mature) wrappers darken as they’re processed and often have a sweeter characteristic.

Filler. This tobacco comprises the majority of the cigar and forms the inner component. Premium cigars are nearly always long-filler, meaning the tobacco runs the length of the cigar. Chopped, cut, or sandwich filler is usually found in less expensive cigars, and it usually consists of clippings from long-filler cigars.

Construction. There are many ways to make cigars, but the most basic categories are machine-made and handmade. Most machine-made cigars use homogenized tobacco, paper, and other components and, for my taste, these bear about as much resemblance to premium cigars as does chalk to cheese. (You can read more of my thoughts on them here.) Premium cigars are almost always hand-rolled, though that includes the use of some tools, even mechanical ones such as the Lieberman machine. Premium cigars are 100% tobacco.

Resources. Well, you’re already at the best one, right? Explore the categories at the top of this page and use the search function for whatever is on your mind. If you need more, try our Cigar University or Tobacconist University. And for those interested in history, nothing comes close to the extraordinary National Cigar Museum.

And if you have other questions about cigar basics or more advanced curiosities, please let us know in the comments below.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Tomorrow, millions of Americans will head to the polls to decide which politicians will make the laws that, for better or worse, we will live under in the coming years. While there are many reasons to vote and many issues to consider, we hope you’ll keep your cigar rights in mind when you decide who to support.

Unfortunately, enjoying a cigar is under attack from legislation and regulation at all levels of government. Who is elected tomorrow could well make the difference when it comes to which cigars we enjoy, and where we are free to enjoy them in the future.

When it comes to presidential candidates, the stances of the major candidates on cigars comes down to a known and an unknown. One of President Obama’s first acts in office was signing into law the largest tax increase on cigars in American history. Not long later he signed into law the bill to regulate tobacco under the FDA, which includes authorization for the FDA to regulate cigars without any further act from Congress, a bill which could in the long run be far more damaging to the cigar industry and the choices cigar smokers have. When cigar smokers petitioned the White House for an official answer about its plans to regulate cigars under the FDA, their calls were answered with a deafening silence.

Obama’s Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, doesn’t have much of a record on theses issues. But considering Obama’s positions and that Romney has been attacked for his criticisms of SCHIP (the tax hike on cigars that Obama signed into law), it’s hard to think he could be much worse. If you’re having trouble pulling the lever for either major party candidate, you also might consider Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, whose philosophical beliefs make him the most likely to keep government’s hands off cigars, even if he has zero chance of getting elected.

But while most of the attention is likely to be paid to the top of the ticket, the races further down the ticket are more likely to have an impact on cigar rights in the years to come. After all, it is Congress that makes the laws, and only Congress has the power to fully repeal the FDA’s authority to regulate cigars.

When it comes to House and Senate races, Cigar Rights of America has a voter guide that every cigar smoker should take a look at before heading to the polls. In a few races, like the Florida and Nevada Senate races, both candidates are co-sponsors of the bill to stop the FDA from regulating (and devastating) the cigar industry. In most races, only one candidate is on record in favor of cigar rights. (In a few races, like Arizona Senate candidate Jeff Flake vs. former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, CRA has gone out of its way to endorse the pro-cigar candidate. In that race, it’s Flake.)

When it comes to local and state races, you’ll need to do your own investigations. But please take the time to do so, since when it comes to smoking bans and state tax rates, these local races make all the difference. And, of course, know if there are referendums on your ballot that would increase taxes or smoking bans.

Ultimately, we’re not going to tell you how to vote because we think you’re smart enough to make that decision for yourself. Just remember that the decisions you make in the voting booth have consequences, and the future of cigar rights (smoking bans, taxes, and anti-cigar regulations) could depend on who is elected tomorrow.

–The Stogie Guys

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.”

The size of this monster of a cigar (5 x 62) makes me skeptical, but knowing the other fantastic cigars made by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, I had to try it. The large ring gauge format features an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It’s very earthy and full-bodied with dark chocolate and a little spice. The fat cigar features excellent construction and produces loads of thick smoke. I picked this cigar up from Emerson’s (where you can pickup a four-cigar sampler of the line for $35) and despite the unwieldy size I’m pleasantly surprised.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

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.”

Boutique Blends Cigars, a company formerly known as Oliveros, released the SWAG SoBe blend this summer to honor (in both name and style) the Miami neighborhood of South Beach. It is comprised completely of ligero Habano tobacco from the Dominican Republic. But with a medium-bodied profile of black pepper, dry wood, and a fair amount of spice, the VIP (4.5 x 48), as advertised, has a more powerful stature than you might expect from a Dominican puro. Construction is excellent. And the price of about $6 for a single is more than fair, making this an easy recommendation.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys