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) Illinois may become one of the first states to weaken its statewide smoking ban. Enacted in 2008, the current law criminalizes smoking in most indoor “public” places and workplaces, including bars, restaurants, private clubs, and gaming facilities. But, on Wednesday, a House committee approved proposals that “would allow smoking in segregated, ventilated rooms in licensed casinos” and “give local liquor control commissions the power to issue licenses.” The Illinois Casino Gaming Commission reports that casino revenues have dropped over 30% since the implementation of the statewide ban.

2) Xikar, the Kansas City-based outfit best known for manufacturing lighters and cutters, announced a price cut this week on its HC Series of cigars, dropping them an average of 18% per stick to put them in the $6-8 price range. Scott Almsberger, company vice president of product development, said there will be no changes in quality standards of tobacco blends.

3) Inside the Industry: Even though they likely won’t be available until 2014, General Cigar is so pleased with the 2010 Connecticut wrappers that the company plans to use them in a Macanudo Vintage line, which it only does for the best years. Meanwhile, the Quesada España is being introduced to the Spanish market.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews a Cain FF. Nice Tight Ash checks out a Tatuaje Havana VI. Cigar Fan fires up a Nacionales W. Smoking Stogie compares the Viaje WLP Candela to the Illusione Candela. The Barclay Rex 100th Anniversary Tatuaje broke into the top 10 at Your Cigar Ratings.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: public domain

I’ve written before that bold, rich beers can be a great pairing for a fine cigar. I’m not talking about your generic, mass-produced Bud, Coors, or Miller product; I’m talking about craft brews made with an abundance of flavorful hops and malt.

The Delaware-based Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is an example of a company that takes flavorful beers seriously. I’ve long been a fan of their 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs, which are (as you might have guessed) continuously hopped for 60 and 90 minutes, respectively.

My enjoyment of Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA is one reason why I was excited to try the Dogfish Head Squall IPA. At one of Dogfish Head’s “Alehouses,” Squall was described to me as the traditional 90 Minute Imperial Pale Ale bottled unfiltered and bottle-aged.

The result is an aromatic brew with a deep, slightly cloudy copper color. The nose is hoppy with an inviting grapefruit tinge.

Squall reveals many classic flavors from Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA: rich, sweet maltiness, dried fruit, and pine. Added to the mix is a creaminess that the standard 90 Minute lacks.

This is a rich beer with both power and finesse. It goes great with cigars that are similarly powerful yet refined. The Nicaraguan spice in the Tatuaje Black, Illusione, and Padilla 1932 fit the bill.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Long before the 107, Broadway, and Guillermo León blends were released, the 1495 Series was a top seller for La Aurora, the Dominican’s oldest cigar maker.

“This edition of La Aurora pays tribute to the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, the Dominican land of cigar, founded in 1495 by Christopher Columbus in the heart of El Cibao,” according to La Aurora’s website. Originally released in 2005, and still in production with four vitolas, 1495 is comprised of a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper, a corojo binder, and a filler blend of Peruvian ligero, corojo, Nicaraguan, and piloto cubano tobacco.

The new 1495 B.M.E. is a spinoff of the original 1495, pairing this same binder and filler recipe with new wrappers. The “Dominicana” version, for instance, sports a clean Dominican corojo wrapper, a moderately firm feel, and faint pre-light notes of caramel and raisin. The blend’s only size sells for around $10 and measures 5.75 inches long with a ring gauge of 54. It was named 25th on Cigar Aficionado’s list of the top 25 smokes of 2010.

Once lit, the flavor gets off to a fast start with a cedary, medium-bodied profile. Dry, woodsy spice is prevalent with background notes of cocoa and graham cracker. The aftertaste is a mixture of citrus, black pepper, and peanut. Flavors as varied as these yield outstanding balance and a fine aroma. As a bonus—while the taste doesn’t change much from light to nub, aside from settling at the midway point and then intensifying towards the end—the intricacy of the profile keeps things very interesting. Never does the Dominicana become boring or monotonous.

Near-perfect construction only enhances the experience. All of the samples I smoked for this review displayed straight burn lines, clear draws, and solid ashes that held firm for more than an inch.

I’m highly recommending this incarnation of the original 1495 Series. If you’d like to try the Dominicana yourself, don’t expect to find it online or in a catalogue. B.M.E., after all, stands for “Brick and Mortar Exclusive,” so you’ll have to check with your local tobacconist if you’re interested in the Dominicana or one of the other B.M.E. varieties (Brazilian, Ecuadorian, or Nicaraguan). Your efforts will reward you with an outstanding medium-bodied cigar, one that’s worthy of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Florida is the cultural, historical, and economic center for the U.S. cigar industry. That makes the Sunshine State’s legal climate for cigar smokers worth watching.

Unfortunately, smokers’ rights are once again under attack in Florida. Kathleen C. Passidomo, a state representative from Naples, has introduced House Bill 211, which would amend the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act. A companion bill has also been introduced in the State Senate by Alan Hays. Part of the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act is a preemption by the state in the area of smoking regulation. What this means is that unlike California, where municipalities can pass anti-smoking regulations that are stricter than the state statute, local governments in Florida cannot pass their own local anti-smoking regulations.

The proposed bills would change the language in the preemption section from “this part expressly preempts regulation of smoking to the state and supersedes any municipal or county ordinance on the subject” to “this part expressly preempts regulation of indoor smoking to the state and supersedes any municipal or county ordinance on the subject.” Adding “indoor” makes a huge difference because it would allow local municipalities the unfettered right to create legislation that bans smoking in outdoor areas such as sidewalks, beaches, and public parks.

Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of the Orlando-based Corona Cigar Co. and board member of IPCPR and CRA, summed up the importance of this legislation. “In 2002, when the Florida Clean Air Act was passed with a 71% majority, it was clearly understood that the law would ban indoor smoking in restaurants and workplaces. Back then, no one even imagined that smoking could be banned outdoors.”

“It was clearly the intent of the voters that outdoor bans were not part of the deal and that the government’s powers to further expand smoking bans would be limited by the preemption clause,” Borysiewicz continued. “Even today, public polls show that 65% of the public do not support outdoor smoking bans even though less than 20% of the adult population smoke.  Why?  Because most people believe that Americans should still have the freedom to make adult choices without ‘Big Brother’ telling them how to live their lives.”

Florida smokers should take note and work toward stopping passage of this bill, or they may find the number of places they are allowed to smoke significantly reduced. Unlike many places, Florida has struck somewhat of a balance between the “rights” of non-smokers to be free of secondhand smoke and the rights of smokers to be able to go out and enjoy a cigar in public.

If either of these bills are allowed to pass, that balance will suddenly end. Florida smokers should to visit the Cigar Rights petition page and take the steps listed to help prevent the bill’s passage and protect their right to smoke in outdoor places around the state.

“If you can’t smoke a cigar inside, and the government wants to ban smoking outside, where the heck are you supposed to be able to smoke? Enjoying a cigar should not be a crime,” Borysiewicz told us. “Let’s speak up and let our elected officials hear from us that enough is enough. Cigars are still a legal product and America is supposed to be ‘the Land of the Free.’ It’s our patriotic duty to fight to keep it that way.”

–Patrick S & Patrick M

photo credit: public domain

Since their debut in 2003, Tatuaje cigars have been highly acclaimed. Created by Pete Johnson, then buyer for the exclusive Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills, Tatuaje was named the most in-demand cigar of 2009 by Cigar Aficionado.

These days, Johnson has expanded his cigar line, and in addition to several Tatuaje blends, he now produces Cabaiguan, La Riqueza, Ambos Mundos, La Verite, and El Triunfador. The latter, Spanish for “triumphant,” is marketed as an “Old World, medium-bodied, Cuban-style cigar” and sold in seven vitolas.

Back when the line was introduced in 2008, though, El Triunfador only came in one size: a Lancero. It also had a different blend, consisting of a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper.

The new El Triunfador debuted in March 2010. It features a Habano Ecuador wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, as well as a new band. The Lonsdale (6.5 x 42), which retails for around $7, has a rugged, oily wrapper, a beautiful triple cap, a slight box press, and a pre-light aroma of oak and honey.

I was expecting this cigar to start off fairly mild and then settle in to the medium-bodied range around the midway point. That’s what I had heard and read, anyways. But the Lonsdale caught me off guard when it kicked off with a bold, spicy profile of dark coffee, dry cedar, pepper, and leather.

After a half inch or so, the taste mellows to include more sweetness and more balance. While I wouldn’t describe El Triunfador as mild by any means, I can see how some cigar enthusiasts would find the Lonsdale to be less aggressive than the smokes in their normal repertoire. Regardless of your perspective, though, this is a delicious, harmonious specimen with a taste and an aroma befitting a cigar in this price range.

The combustion qualities are likewise impressive, with a fairly solid white ash and a straight burn line. The draw is effortless despite the Lonsdale’s narrow ring gauge and well-packed tobaccos.

I don’t think I’ll surprise anyone when I say that this is a fine cigar. El Triunfador Lonsdale exemplifies the quality many of us have come to expect from Pete Johnson’s creations, making it worthy of four 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.”

Last year, P.G. Cigars celebrated it’s 20th anniversary and introduced the limited edition Symphony to commemorate the occasion. Originally introduced in a Toro, the blend will soon be expanded to include a Short Robusto and this large Salomones size that will sell for around $20. Wrapped in an oily, medium brown wrapper, the Salomones has an elegant presentation. Roasted earthy notes dominate and are complemented by a subtle combination of oak, molasses sweetness, and wine-like tannins. The expertly constructed blend bounces around from full-bodied to medium and back, making for an entertaining two hours.

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.”

This thin, six-inch cigar with a pigtail cap, labeled a “Corona Especial” by Pete Johnson, puts the “V” in Havana for the eight-vitola Tatuaje “Red Label” line. And it’s a particularly tasty one, producing thick smoke, spice, and hits of coffee and licorice. At a 38 ring gauge, the Habano Ecuador wrapper mixes wonderfully with the Nicaraguan filler and binder.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Tatuaje Cigars