The Stogie Guys

In Monday’s post, I told you how Mike Copperman of Bethesda Tobacco welcomed us into his fine store for a private cigar tasting. I also told you a little about one of the extraordinary smokes he shared with us that afternoon, the elegant Davidoff Gand Cru No. 3. Since it was one of the finest stogies I had ever enjoyed, I thought it merited its own review.

This five inch by 43 ring gauge Dominican is a medium to mild-bodied smoke with a smooth, attractive, caramel-colored wrapper. While most (even premium) cigars use two pieces of tobacco to connect the wrapper to the cap, the entire outer surface of this Davidoff is hand-made from one contiguous tobacco leaf – a skill most rollers cannot achieve.

With that in mind, instead of whipping out a double guillotine and slicing off too much premium tobacco, I used my fingernails to puncture a small hole in the cap and expose the cigar’s filler (a method that I highly recommend if you have a terrific cigar). I subsequently slowly and meticulously lit the foot with a wooden match.

What followed was an explosion of delicate toasty notes, particularly hints of sweet hay. And when I took the first puff, I could tell this was truly a match made in heaven. The delicate blend of salty Olor, acidic San Vicente, and peppery Piloto Cubano tobaccos yielded a unique harmonious flavor pleasing to the whole palate. This symphony of tastes remained fairly constant throughout the smoke, and the cigar maintained a true pull and an even burn to the end.

This stogie’s only drawback is that it’s quite expensive (you can expect to pay about $13 apiece). But you really get your money’s worth: Davidoff’s 72-point inspections are unparalleled in the industry. Also, keep in mind this is not for you if you’re looking for something to knock you on your ass. Despite its plethora of complex flavors, it’s still a very smooth, graceful, and mild smoke.

I therefore enthusiastically give the Davidoff Grand Cru No. 3 a perfect five out of five stogies, a first for StogieGuys.com.

-Patrick A

Tags: cigars

So you’re enjoying a cigar, maybe a bit distracted, and suddenly you notice it has an uneven burn. This happens to everyone, but what’s a Stogie Guy to do?

The following tips should help you fix an uneven burn (also called a canoe), but remember that the best thing to do is to avoid an uneven burn in the first place. A proper light is a good way to start an even burn. Also, in most cases, step one alone will be adequate if you catch an uneven burn soon enough:

First, you can start by rotating the cigar so the slow burning part is at the bottom of the cigar. Because a fire needs oxygen to burn, the bottom of the cigar will burn faster (as it has access to more oxygen) than the top. This is also why you should rotate your cigar as you smoke.

Second, if placing the long end on the bottom doesn’t work, we recommend touching up the fast burning part of the wrapper by applying moisture to the wrapper to slow down the burn. Usually saliva will get the job done, but remember you just want to add a little moisture to the wrapper…you don’t want a wet stogie.

If the aforementioned two techniques don’t work, you should get you lighter or matches back out and burn off the section(s) that’s burning too fast. However, don’t rush to quickly take a puff afterwards: the ash is likely unstable and may fall on you. Wait until the burnt wrapper turns black and then burns off completely.

Finally, once you’ve rid your stogie of the uneven burn, monitor it carefully to avoid further predicaments. Happy smoking!

[Thanks to Tristan and longashes from ClubStogie for the pictures.]

-Patrick S

In a bombshell development that yielded both subdued prayers and massive celebrations, Fidel Castro handed the reins of the Cuban government to his brother, Raúl, to cope with “an intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding” that required “complicated surgery,” according to a letter read Monday night on Cuban television.

As a cigar connoisseur who has no sympathy for the ruthless dictator who has held Cubans’ freedom hostage since he took control of the island in 1959, the first question I asked myself was, “Is this the beginning of the end of the trade embargo?” Sure, the world’s longest-reigning dictator might be on his deathbed, but – more importantly – when can I legally purchase Cuban cigars?

It’s true that we can’t expect major reform from Raúl – who has been at his brother’s side from the beginning – anytime soon, but many foreign policy experts believe he is more pragmatic than Fidel, and therefore more open to economic reforms.

Coincidentally, just three weeks ago, the Bush administration commissioned a report detailing what the U.S. government would do to foster democracy on the island in the event of Castro’s death. The multi-agency paper cited humanitarian aid and help organizing free and fair elections as cornerstones of post-Fidel American-Cuban relations.

Any political novice could tell you not to hold your breath waiting for the trade embargo – which was signed by JFK in 1962 – to end, but if Raúl is open to economic and political reforms, the legality of Cuban stogies in the U.S. is a possibility in the next decade or so.

For now, just keep smoking them illegally.

-Patrick A

For those of you who haven’t yet been lucky enough to meet him, Mike Copperman is a cigar god amongst men. This pleasant and approachable tobacconist at Bethesda Tobacco has more passion and knowledge about stogies in his little finger than I have in my entire body. On Saturday morning, he was generous enough to invite Patrick and me to his store for a private Davidoff tasting.

As expected, we got some wonderful cigars and tons of invaluable knowledge out of the experience…But we also got so much more.

After four cups of coffee, one bagel, and a sixty minute commute, Patrick and I rolled into Bethesda Tobacco at 10:30 AM on Saturday. The building is a tiny, two-story dwelling that is as unassuming as it is charismatic. The front patio is dotted with deck furniture sitting in the shade of tropical banana trees. A lone neon sign glowing through the main window simply reads, “Cigars”.

Mike welcomed us with a smile and led us to a lounge on the second floor. This small stogie haven – complete with leather chairs, a television, a huge humidor, and jaded windows fogged by decades of smoke – would be our refuge for the next two hours.

The session consisted of us tasting three different Davidoff cigars, each one comprised entirely of one tobacco blend – Olor, San Vicente, and Piloto Cubano. After each sampling, Patrick and I gave the cigar a rating based on sweetness, saltiness, acidity, and bitterness. With a lot of help from Mike, and a trusty palate diagram of the human tongue, we correctly identified the Olor blend as mostly salty (removes saliva from the mouth), the San Vicente blend as mostly acidic (adds saliva to the mouth), and the Piloto Cubano blend as bitter and sweet.

It’s amazing how refined your palate can be if you (1) pay attention to the geography of your tongue, (2) smoke through the nose (no, it’s not inhaling, Stogie Tip forthcoming), and (3) have a human cigar encyclopedia at your disposal.

Next, Mike presented us with the fourth cigar – the highly acclaimed Davidoff Gran Cru No. 3. This robust smoke is a special blend of the three aforementioned stogies we had just sampled. The five inch by 43 ring gauge smoke is a noble cigar: smooth and well-refined with a wonderful flavor curve that balances evenly amongst the palate.

While we smoked, Mike was nice enough to share some fantastic tips with us. For example, did you know that in order to get maximum flavor out of each cigar you should only take about two puffs per minute?

You see, tobacco leaves are harvested to create starch so the leaf can produce sugar. When you smoke a cigar, the sugar is caramelized. Much like a master chef cooks a soufflé, you must “cook” the cigar at the right temperature. Taking about two puffs a minute will keep the foot at 494° F, the optimum temperature for experiencing maximum flavors.

But the best tip Mike shared with us is much less technical. He explained that the greatest sense one needs in order to enjoy cigars is not on the tongue or in the nose…It’s between the ears. In other words, the more you know about tobacco and cigar composition, the better tools you have with which to appreciate each smoke.

Overall, the whole tasting was a tremendous experience. I will remember the morning of Saturday, July 29 for many years to come.

I highly recommend Stogie Guys in the DC area make the trip to Bethesda when they can (a Thursday, August 3 Ashton BBQ would be a great introductory event). Take some time to peruse their selection, mingle with friendly regulars (who always come out in good numbers), and – of course – meet Mike Copperman.

Also, for those DC Stogie Guys who are interested in setting up a private tasting of your own with Mike, visit Bethesda Tobacco online and contact Mike.

-Patrick A

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

1) Over the past few months, we’ve been getting emails inquiring about the long-awaited release of the Ashton Estate Sun Grown, or ESG. Well, the wait is over. We have received word that a 7 inches by 49 ring gauge parejo called the Ashton ESG 20 Year Salute is hitting retailers near you today. With a suggested retail price of $18, this line is the first in a series of ESGs that will be released over the course of the next five years – culminating in Ashton’s 25th anniversary in 2010.

2) We don’t really like politicians, but any candidate who makes this entrance gets some serious respect from the Stogie Guys:

[Kinky Friedman] digs into his vest pocket, which is stuffed with Cuban cigars—fat Montecristo No. 2’s, the same kind Fidel used to smoke. “It’s gonna be a long day, so I came prepared,” Friedman declares and lights up, oblivious to the barrage of no smoking signs plastered on the nearby fuel tanks.

3) Thanks to it’s well-aged 1977 Cameroon wrapper, you may recall the release of Partagas 150 ten years ago. I don’t – I was 13. But I will remember this: In August, Partagas is releasing its 160 line. Made from the same batch of wrappers (now 29 years old), the cigars will sell for $18 to $30 each.

4) Finally, you can chalk one up for the good guys! It may be Fitchburg, Wisconsin (you haven’t heard of it either?), but it’s still good to see that common sense prevailed. The city council overwhelmingly sent a proposed smoking ban up in smoke.

-The Stogie Guys

In our last Friday Sampler we told you about a deal that included eight name-brand cigars and a humidor for just $15. Never ones to talk the talk without walking the walk, today’s Stogie Review is the Gurkha Gurkha Connecticut Reserve Robusto #4, one of the eight cigars included in that heavily discounted deal.

Having never had a Gurkha before, I was looking forward to this review based on the excellent reputation that Gurkha has built up. Unfortunately I would be a little disappointed by this toro shaped “robusto” (6″ x 50 ring gauge).

The cigar had an attractive Connecticut wrapper, except for two strange black blemishes. I clipped it with the double guillotine and gave it a proper light with some wooden matches.

After a few nice puffs I decided that, given I was smoking on my front porch, I saw no need for the band, which would only get in the way once I got to the very end of the cigar. (For more on removing the band see here.) This proved to be a big mistake.

Almost instantly after removing the band, this thin shade grown Connecticut wrapper curled up exposing the grayish-brown binder. I repaired the wrapper as best I could using the magical glue-like powers of saliva, but the result was very crude: Part of the wrapper had fallen off completely while other parts were out of place, leaving binder exposed. Likely due to these construction issues, multiple touch-ups were required.

Aside from these major problems, I very much enjoyed the cigar. It had a mild to medium creamy caramel flavor with slight nutty tastes. It reminded me a little of the Romeo y Julieta Vintage (a stogie that’s rated very highly). The flavor was consistent all the way through, and the Gurkha had a nice easy draw.

Unfortunately, the awful construction cast a dark shadow over all of this cigar’s positive characteristics. (I’m hopeful that the other one of these that I have in my humidor proves this poor construction is an abberation.) Had the cigar held together it could have been a three and 1/2 or even a four stogie cigar. Instead, it only gets two out of five stogies.

[Attention DC Area Stogie Guys: Bethesda Tobacco is having a La Flor Dominicana event today from 5-9. We won’t might will be in attendance, but so feel free to let us know how the event was join us. Also, we’ve confirmed what Jerry from Stogie Review told us, that free BBQ and drinks will be provided, and there is a buy three get one free special!]

-Patrick S

As any Stogie Guy should know, when it comes to cigars, thicker isn’t necessarily better. Each year, nonetheless, stogies get fatter and fatter…and this alarming trend towards quantity from quality is taking root in the cigar world with lightning speed.

Not a decade ago, a 60 ring gauge cigar (that’s 60/64 of an inch in diameter) was a tobacconist’s anomaly. Up until the cigar boom of the 1990s, America’s most popular size was the manageable and elegant 42 ring gauge lonsdale (or vitola). Wrote Jordan Russin of Cigar Aficionado in 2002:

American smokers moved away from traditionally popular sizes in search of thicker cigars with more complexity and cooler smoke. By the early 1990s, the robusto was the country’s most popular size, and thinner cigars had begun to be relegated to the back of the cigar-smoking consciousness.

Today, thick cigars are even more popular. Cigar Aficionado’s RTDA Blog Day 3 reports that this year’s convention is inundated with fat sticks. The Maxx by Alec Bradley has a new 60 ring smoke called The Freak. And CAO has one of the thickest ever made – a 96 ring Brazilia-Italia (they cut it down from a 137 ring gauge). That’s just obscene! Couple these introductions with Lars Tetens’ new 60 ring Gorilla Fingers, and you could argue 60 is the new 54.

But before we jump headfirst on the thicker-is-better bandwagon, let’s not forget some oft-overlooked vital facts. Fat cigars are awkward in the hand and tragically uncomfortable in the mouth. And these mammoths tend to burn so cool they are often difficult to keep lit. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, their behemoth size actually tempers most of their flavors.

Case in point: Remember that the best tobacco on any cigar is the wrapper. By choosing thinner cigars (like the 40-46 ring gauged coronas, lonsdales, and Cuban corona gordas), you get more wrapper in relation to filler. While these cigars typically burn a bit hotter than their fat counterparts, you get richer, fuller, and more pronounced flavors. Simply put, a smaller smoke can deliver a taste experience that is often lost in the girth of larger cigars. Also, thin cigars peak much quicker, delivering their flavor without the long wait that many thick stogies require.

So while the entire cigar world plunges into a trendy fascination with fatness, I’m encouraging Stogie Guys Nation to plunge with caution. Like Pogs, it’s only a phase. Much like women, thick ones can be a lot of fun from time to time, but let’s not forget how flavorful and classically-beautiful a thin one can be.

-Patrick A

Tags: cigars