The Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

I was fortunate to have this six inch by 54 ring gauge-sized stick in a rare cigar bar in Santa Barbara, California. The draw was a bit tight, but the burn was very even. The dense smoke was medium-flavored and woody, with pleasant notes of spice and fruit.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and reader-friendly as possible, each Friday we’ll post a selection of quick cigar news and stogie-related snippets. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) In September we told you about one devastating effect of the statewide smoking ban Colorado legislators passed last summer: Many bars lost up to 80 percent of their income. But special interest groups in the Rocky Mountain State are still not satisfied. Now anti-tobacco fascists like the American Cancer Society have the law’s exemption for cigar bars in their sights. If regular bars in Colorado lost four fifths of their revenue, what will happen to the establishments whose primary draw is smoking?

2) If you’re in the market for a new house, you might want to consider the $20 million Tampa Bay area mansion that former NBA player Matt Geiger has up for sale. Forget the helipad he wants to install, or the hot tubs and pizza oven already in the 28,000 square foot home. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Geiger’s place has a cigar room. No word yet on what’s in his humidor.

3) To celebrate Independence Day, CAO is announcing the introduction of the CAO America. These new cigars follow the highly successful Italia and Brazilia lines, and each one features a Connecticut wrapper, a Brazilian binder, and a filler blending Nicaraguan, American, Italian, and Dominican tobaccos.

4) Around the Blogs: Cigar Jack smokes a Oliva Serie V Figurado. Stogie Review reviews the Famous Dominican 2000. Keepers of the Flame lights up a La Aurora Preferidos Robusto. Other cigar bloggers were too busy smoking cigars to review anything.

5) Deal of the Week: July 4 may have come and passed, but Tinderbox’s Independence Day Sampler is still going strong. Featuring 20 cigars for $50, this deal has tough-to-find stogies like the box-pressed 601 Don Pepin Garcia, as well as other fine cigars from Leon Jimenes, La Aurora, and La Fontana. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

Five months ago, I wrote an unflattering Quick Smoke of the Paul Garmirian (PG) Reserva Exclusiva. The honest critique – which was based on four or five Robustos – received some interesting comments from loyal readers, a fourth grade English teacher, and someone claiming to be from PG.

With no hard feelings, I decided it was about time to try a different PG line: the Artisan’s Selection. Launched ten years ago, these cigars come in nine vitolas and are advertised as consistent, smooth, and reasonably priced. With costs ranging from $6.40 to $4.70 apiece, however, the PG website makes it clear that “these are not seconds or rejects, but an offering of a great cigar at a very affordable price.”

Over the last few weeks, I’ve carefully smoked several five and ½ inch by 52 ring gauge No. 4s. As you can see by the picture, these are gorgeous sticks with smooth and seamless Colorado shade wrappers. The red and cream colored band is consistent with other PG smokes.

You’d expect a cigar this innocent-looking to start off with a whimper and not a bang, but that’s not the case. As soon as I lit the foot with a few matches, I received heavy notes of sharp spice and salt. Not terribly pleasing.

Then, after a few minutes, those flavors were pushed to the background by delicious, mild tastes of creamy butter, hazelnut, and ginger. This is the flavor I was hoping for, and it fortunately stuck around for the vast majority of the 60 minute smoke. (If you’re having trouble picking up all of these flavors, try smoking through the nose.)

In an interesting twist, the spicy notes actually dissipate into the final third. I don’t know about you, but most of the cigars I’m used to tend to get hotter and harsher at the very end. Even so, this is a prime example of a stogie that smokes best when you take your time.

I was very impressed with the quality and consistency of the physical properties of the No. 4s. With the slightest resistance, the draw is just right. The ash is fairly firm and the burn is as straight as they come.

The only drawback is that the delicate wrapper tends to tear a bit when the band is removed. Each time this occurred, though, I was able to quickly remedy the dilemma with a dab of saliva.

Overall, I think the $5.80 suggested retail price is very fair. This is a tasty, well-constructed cigar that is perfect for an early round of golf. I give the Artisan’s Selection No. 4 by Paul Garmirian three out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

On this date 231 years ago, 56 liberty-loving patriots declared the U.S. free from the tyrannical policies of Great Britain by affixing their names to the bottom of the Declaration of Independence. They effectively laid the foundation for a new country to become the world’s shinning beacon of liberty, equality, and hope.

It’s only appropriate, therefore, that we celebrate with beer, BBQ, baseball, and colorful explosions in the sky. As such, the StogieGuys.com team is taking the day off to enjoy all things American, and perhaps even a cigar or three.

–The Stogie Guys

We often rail against smoking bans via abstract concepts like liberty, personal responsibility, property rights, and freedom, but sometimes an anecdote does an even better job of highlighting the absurdity of such Draconian laws.

I’m writing to you from California, home of one of the first statewide smoking bans for bars and restaurants. During a visit to one of the Golden State’s many bars, a friend lit up a cigarette in violation of the ban.

All the other patrons (there were only three not in our party) were fine with her smoking. But when the bartender (the only employee at the time) saw her smoking he ran over, grabbed the cigarette, and put it outside.

Did he not want to be exposed to second hand smoke or was he trying to protect the other patrons (all of whom approved of the smoking in their presence) from the cigarette smoke? No, that was not his objection at all.

When I asked him later he said he didn’t mind the smoking, but that he was scared if the police saw someone smoking in the bar he would get a $6,000 fine.

So there you have it. Every single person in the bar – all adults over 21 – consented to the smoking. Only the bartender objected, but only because he was scared of the government bursting though the door.Can there be any justification for police handing out excessive fines when there is no one to protect?

Of course not. But in California, and the many states and cities with senseless smoking bans, this type of scene plays out everyday. And when you see it firsthand it reminds you that the harm done by smoking bans isn’t solely abstract.

–Patrick S

Tags: Cigars

When I worked at USA Today, one of the principles about which we had no doubt was that people like lists. They’re succinct, accessible, and often entertaining.

So, in that spirit, here’s a list of five “Don’ts” for cigar smokers.

1. Don’t buy a box too quickly. This is particularly true for new releases. Smoke a few over time to make sure the quality is consistent. It’s better to miss some “great deals” than to be stuck with boxes of cigars you don’t like.

2. Don’t confuse aging with magic. Keeping a lousy cigar in your humidor is just going to turn it into an older, lousy cigar. Unfortunately, Spanish cedar isn’t the philosopher’s stone.

3. Don’t pay attention to sales hype. Ignore it all, particularly when retailers tout some incredible buy or neglected stash they stumbled across in a factory. Do you honestly think cigar manufacturers don’t know how to run their businesses? Or that appropriating the name of an ancient Cuban brand makes any difference?

4. Don’t forget what you like and dislike. It’s not necessary to become an expert in the world’s tobaccos. But if, for example, you’ve really enjoyed several Cameroon-wrapped cigars, you’ll increase your chances for success with a new stick if you look for another Cameroon.

5. Don’t rush your smoke. In our speed-obsessed culture, cigars provide a rare opportunity to slow down. In the end, you’re probably better to skip a smoke than to try to squeeze one in when you can’t give it sufficient time.

Feel free to share your own cigar “Don’ts” with StogieGuys.com readers as comments below.

–George E

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

Switzerland-based Avo makes some fine cigars, but this isn’t one of them. While the burn, draw, and ash are solid, the Connecticut wrapper and Dominican filler tobaccos leave much to be desired in the flavor department. What taste this mild $6 stick does produce is largely unpleasant: heavy traces of salt and chemical notes. I’ll be staying away from these in the future, and I suggest you do the same.

Verdict = Sell.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars