The 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.”

If you’ve been smoking cigars for more than a decade, you might remember Pinar, a brand claiming to use pre-embargo Cuban tobacco. This article from 2005 unquestioningly retells the story. Some of their cigars were puros. The Serie B, however, only claimed to use some Cuban tobacco (supposedly 40 or 50 percent) with the rest Ecuadorian or Dominican, depending on what source you read. I purchased a five-pack in 2006 for just $21 and, over a decade later, I’m lighting up one of two remaining cigars. It features leather and sour notes, with underlying damp cardboard. Despite decent burn and combustion, this is simply a poor-tasting cigar. It’s so bad I put it down less than halfway through, which probably explains why I never finished the five-pack I bought eleven years ago. Fortunately for you, you won’t be able to find a Pinar 1958 Serie B Pre-Embargo Cuban Rothschild to buy.

Verdict = Sell.

–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.”

Not to be confused with the Ezra Zion Tantrum P.A., which my colleague reviewed in November 2014, this is the original Tantrum (4.44 x 44, $9.50), which is presented in a single vitola called Prensado Pequeño. It sports an all-Nicaraguan blend featuring a seven-year-old wrapper. This particular cigar had likely been resting in my humidor since it was introduced in 2013. The profile includes strong cedar, roasted nuts, coffee, and milk chocolate sweetness. It’s well-constructed and enjoyable.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 537th in the series.

1) Alec Bradley has announced two new premium cigars that will debut at the IPCPR Trade Show next month: Prensado Lost Art and Black Market Estelí. Both “are iterations of two of Alec Bradley’s most popular cigar lines.” According to company owner Alan Rubin: “IPCPR is the perfect opportunity to share our latest product innovation with tobacconists from around the world. Lost Art and Estelí have been previously marketed in limited quantities and are now ready for their global release.” Both blends “were created to be compliments to their original lines.” Both cigars will be offered in five sizes and sport dual binders from Nicaragua and Honduras and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and Honduras. Prensado Lost Art has a Honduran wrapper, whereas Black Market Estelí features a Nicaraguan wrapper.

2) In celebration of its fifth anniversary, Nomad is expected to introduce a limited number of “First Run” cigars from 2012 at the IPCPR Trade Show. “The owner of Nomad Cigar Company, Fred Rewey, started Nomad in 2012 with one line,” reads a press release. “The company portfolio has now grown to 14 blends and 51 SKUs.” According to Rewey: “The fact of the matter is that when I started I was not really clear on which sizes would work and which wouldn’t. That led to an overrun of two sizes in particular: a round torpedo and a small perfecto. Recently, I discovered that we had a limited amount from the original run and began smoking them. It seemed only appropriate to share these aged beauties.” Nomad First Run will be available in very limited quantities to existing Nomad retailers.

3) Inside the Industry: Red Sox legend David Ortiz will make an appearance at the IPCPR Trade Show on July 13 for a meet-and-greet with retailers as part of the promotion for his Big Papi cigar. “We are excited to have David come to the show,” states Radhames Rodriguez, President of El Artista Cigars, maker of the cigar. Ortiz is scheduled to be at the El Artista booth for two hours starting at 2 PM on July 13. Afterward, Ortiz will attend a private dinner with select El Artista retailers.

4) From the Archives: If there is any advice we’d like to impart to cigar smokers it is to not rush the process. That’s the point made in this 2007 commentary, and it is still excellent advice ten years later.

5) Deal of the Week: For today only, here are 100 deals including cigars from Fuente, Ashton, Oliva, My Father, Rocky Patel, Cohiba, and more. Free shipping is included on any purchase. If you really want to stock up, add promo code “GBP20D” at checkout to knock $20 off an order of $150 or more.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Alec Bradley

In two weeks the annual International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Trade Show will be in full swing. In more than one ways, this year’s show represents a new era. Here’s why:

New Venue

Although the Trade Show isn’t held every year in Las Vegas, there is little question the Las Vegas Sands Expo Center has been its de facto home for the past decade. The convention was originally set to return there again this year. However, late last year IPCPR announced not only was the show being moved up five days, it was moving up The Strip (and a block off it) to the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC).

While the LVCC is larger than Sands Expo, it is also off The Strip, meaning transportation to and from the venue is more challenging. The Sands Expo is attached to both the Venetian and Palazzo hotels. While the LVCC isn’t attached to a hotel, it is across from the Westgate Resort and Casino (formerly called the Las Vegas Hilton), which is the primary hotel for this year’s event and host to most of the opening day seminars and the breakfast featuring former New York mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. If the new location goes off without a hitch, it could be a win in the long run for IPCPR since they would have two proven locations in Las Vegas.

New Regulations

Last year’s Trade Show took place weeks before the FDA regulations went into effect. Now, even though some enforcement has been delayed, the rules are in effect. The IPCPR has announced that the FDA’s ban on samples for consumers doesn’t effect samples at the convention since the show is only open to the industry and not to the public.

The biggest part of the rules, however, will have a large impact on the event. Usually, numerous new cigars are announced or debuted at the Trade Show, but the FDA rules mean cigars introduced after August 8, 2016, need to go through an FDA approval process before they can legally be sold. It also means cigars introduced since early 2007 will eventually need to either win FDA approval or be removed from the market. One of the interesting things to watch for is how many post-2007 cigars are removed from manufacturers’ offer sheets, especially in light of some hope in the industry that the regulations could be scaled back by the new administration or through litigation.

New Releases

Since any new cigars will need to go through a yet-to-be-defined FDA approval process, there won’t be any new cigars at the Trade Show, right? Not exactly. Since last August, and especially in the past few months, we’ve seen a steady number of “new” cigars announced, with many scheduled to debut at the upcoming show.

Cigar manufacturers knew the regulations were coming and they’ve planned to mitigate the regulations as best they can. One of the ways they’ve done this is though stealth cigar releases prior to the August 2016 deadline. While these cigars may have been sold to a friendly retailer to establish they were on the market in advance of the cutoff date, they haven’t been formally or widely released. This will account for many of the “new” cigars that will be available for the first time at the Trade Show. That said, the number of new releases compared to previous years will be something many observers will be watching closely.

–Patrick S

photo credit: IPCPR

Earlier this month, I reviewed the Padrón Serie 1964 Prototype Natural, the result of an arrangement between Padrón and Smoke Inn whereby the latter has exclusive distribution on one-time release of a vitola that isn’t available elsewhere.

Hermoso is the newest size in the 1964 Anniversary Series, added in 2016. “When Padrón first began toying with their new 1964 Anniversary Hermoso cigar (4 x 56), they first came to us with a more manageable (4 x 50) vitola,” reads the Smoke Inn website, which refers to the 1964 Prototype as “an exclusive pre-release cigar.”

Including Hermoso, Serie 1964 has 12 box-pressed vitolas, each available in either a sun-grown Natural wrapper or a dark Maduro leaf. All of the tobaccos in the Nicaraguan puro are aged for four years. The line was launched in 1994 to commemorate Padrón’s 30th anniversary (there’s also a 1926 Serie that honors the year of José Orlando Padrón’s birth.)

In essence, what the Prototype Maduro offers is the ability to smoke the famed Serie 1964 blend in an otherwise unavailable format (4 x 50). I recently bought a 5-pack for $59.75 ($11.95 per cigar). At the time of this writing, 5-packs and boxes of 20 of both the Natural and Maduro are still available at Smoke Inn.

As you would expect given the pedigree and price, the Prototype Maduro leaves nothing to be desired in terms of appearance. The familiar 1964 double-ring band is very reassuring; it reinforces the only thing that’s “prototype” about this cigar is the format. Everything else—the quality of the tobacco, the craftsmanship of the construction, etc.—should be up to the high Serie 1964 standards.

The exterior leaf is thick and oily with ample tooth and only very thin veins. Once lit, pre-light notes of cocoa and caramel transition to a medium- to full-bodied profile of espresso, dark chocolate, and white pepper spice. The draw is effortless and the smoke production well above average. The flavor might be rich and thick, but the texture is actually light and sweet—almost marshmallow-esque. The sweetness is nicely offset by some salted caramel and cayenne heat, especially in the second half.

Construction is thankfully in line with what we’ve all come to expect from Padrón. Expect a straight burn line that requires no touch-ups and a solid gray ash that holds well off the foot. (In the picture above, I was smoking outside under fairly windy conditions; that said, I smoked five samples for this review, and the other four all burned beautifully.)

As I wrote in my review of the Natural iteration of this cigar, I don’t think I’m going to surprise anyone when I say the Padrón Serie 1964 Prototype Maduro is a terrific smoke. It’s a compact, concentrated iteration of a blend we all know and love that delivers exactly as expected. For my money, I would give the slight edge to the Maduro, which also earns a very impressive rating 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

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 Churchill-sized Taino has always been an underrated vitola in the original Tatuaje Brown Label line. Like the rest of the Broadleaf Collection, this cigar features the same binder and filler but with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. The well-constructed cigar sports a profile of espresso, dark chocolate, and light wood spice. I’ve been surprised by the variation in the Broadleaf Collection (some have been excellent; others less so), but this Taino is excellent.

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.”

The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper on this Crowned Heads offering is so rough and gritty you might think the rollers finished their work with sandpaper. Introduced last year, Le Careme features an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and filler from Nicaragua. (The name, in case you’re wondering, comes from a French chef who pioneered haute cuisine.) It’s a tasty cigar with some sweetness, a bit of spice, and leather. In my hand, the five-inch stick feels smaller than the stated 50-ring gauge, and it tends to burn fast, straight, and with excellent smoke production.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys