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.”

Launched in the summer of 2012 by Tom Lazuka and Christian Eiroa, Asylum Cigars now boasts several lines, including Asylum, Asylum 13 (which is apparently the best-seller), The Ogre, and Schizo. Asylum 13 is a Nicaraguan puro with a clean, oily Habano wrapper. It comes in three sizes including Fifty (5 x 50), which is priced favorably at $5 for a single. The robusto-sized smoke has a full-bodied, aggressively spicy profile of that quickly transitions into a creamier, more balanced flavor of red pepper, dry wood, cashew, and leather. Don’t let the transition fool you, though. In all, the Asylum 13 Fifty packs a big punch. It also packs big quality for the money, making it an easy recommendation.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: 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) As we’ve written for years, the looming threat of regulation of premium cigars by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is the greatest danger facing cigar rights. That danger has “moved into the next phase,” it was reported this week by the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR). “Recently, the proposed rule on regulating cigars has moved from the Department of Health & Human Services to the Office of Management & Budget for review,” says IPCPR. “This agency will analyze the rule and work to determine the economic impact on the industry, before releasing it for public comment… [the rule is expected] to be released before the end of November.” While this may sound like a lot of Washington insider jargon, the bottom line is the federal government is getting closer to regulating cigars. Such regulation is expected to deplete cigar innovation, render limited edition smokes more difficult to produce, stifle cigar advertising, and impose burdensome testing requirements on cigar makers.

2) Inside the Industry: The Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch V has been announced for a December release. A Dominican puro, it will have hand-selected tobaccos from the 2007 crop at La Canela. A single size (6.75 x 52) will be sold for $19 per cigar. Also new from La Flor Dominicana this fall are L-Granú and Mysterioso, both slated for sale starting in November. L-Granú (6 x 64) will retail for $8.50 and be the largest ring gauge LFD has ever produced. Mysterioso (7 x 55) will be a Connecticut-Broadleaf-wrapped perfecto and cost $19.

3) The Cigar Family Charitable Foundation’s annual benefit has changed its name and location. With Saks Fifth Avenue leaving Tampa, the Fuente and Newman charity took up a jazz theme. Previously Saks & Cigars, it is now Sax & Cigars at The Westin. The date is Nov. 21 and the cost is $75. You can get information here.

4) Deal of the Week: Caskers is an email newsletter that finds you quality spirits and gets them delivered to your door (in more states than anywhere else we’ve come across). Sign up here for access to their store and for the latest craft spirit offerings, including hard-to-find single malt and bourbon whiskey.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: FDA

[Editor’s Note: See the end of today’s article to learn how to win a free copy of this book.]

Michael J. McFadden’s new book, TobakkoNacht: The Antismoking Endgame, is an in-depth, carefully documented exploration of how tobacco opponents work. With an Ivy League education and no financial interest in tobacco, McFadden presents technical material in an engaging and understandable format, mixing humor, statistics, anecdote, stories, and surprises. We recently exchanged emails for the following [edited] interview.

Stogie Guys: Can you tell us a little about your background and how you got involved in researching and writing about tobacco?

Michael J. McFadden: The issue of scientific integrity and telling the truth was always important to me. Seeing people unjustly gain at the expense of other people on the basis of lies always angered me, and it’s something I’ve seen throughout the antismoking movement.

My concern with what drives human conflict and allows people to tolerate the suffering or killing of others goes back to my college years and my Peace Studies program. Yes, thermonuclear war is a much more important issue than a smoking ban at the local bar, but they’re both based on people being led to believe lies that lead them to feel it’s OK to attack some other group of people… a dehumanizing of another group.

I first became aware of and concerned about this issue in 1976 when a housemate showed up at our West Philadelphia nonviolence training center with a fistful of leaflets from ASH that were clearly filled with lies and exaggerations. Those lies split our community and helped to eventually destroy our training center altogether, but I didn’t have the background knowledge to be able to fight them effectively. That was really when I began researching the issue.

SG: Your new book, TobakkoNacht, has a somewhat unusual structure. How would you describe it? And how does it differ from your earlier works?

MM: TobakkoNacht is structured to appeal to and benefit several different audiences simultaneously. It has some sections of very serious and fairly complex material, and others of a more relaxed design for quick reading in small units or in environments where one might be distracted during one’s reading.

It’s a book that a less-serious reader can enjoy jumping around in while benefiting a lot along the way, while a more knowledgeable activist or researcher will still find new perspective and knowledge from sections like the extensive “Studies on the Slab.” The opening story sets an emotional tone that is later justified by the explorations of science, and the closing “Endgame” section wraps it all up and provides suggestions for the future. Finally, over four hundred detailed endnote citations thoroughly back up its material while opening the door for further research.

SG: What do you want readers to come away from your the book with?

MM: I hope my readers will come away from the book with several benefits: (1) a greater appreciation of the harms and dangers of the antismoking movement and how they can extend far beyond smokers and far beyond the particular question of smoking; (2) a greater appreciation of how their perceptions, feelings, and behaviors have been consciously manipulated by a strategic distortion of science, language, and statistics; and (3) a better idea of how to fight this sort of misinformation and an appreciation of why it’s important to stand against the special interests that promote it.

SG: Is there a single activity or individual that worries you most in terms of attacking smoking?

MM: I don’t think I could pinpoint any particular person or group as standing out as most “worrisome” in their attacks on smoking. The ones who are the most honest tend to have little money and may be the most effective in educating people about actual smoking hazards and reducing overall numbers of smokers, but I don’t see that sort of honest education as an attack.

The ones living off the mega-millions in grant money may get the biggest microphones and have the most persuasive propaganda broadcast over TV, but they also tend to be the ones telling the biggest lies, and are thus easiest to fight successfully. Free Choice activists are not trying to get more people to smoke, we are trying to ensure that those people who DO decide to smoke are treated fairly and that their decision, and their treatment by society and by people around them, is based upon accurate information and understanding.

SG: What are your own smoking preferences?

MM: My own smoking preferences lean toward smoking about 10 to 15 cigarettes a day, non-filtered, with a preference toward roll-your-own tobaccos.

SG: What actions do you recommend for individuals who want to do something?

MM: As an immediate recommendation I’d point people to my website at TobakkoNacht.com where they can read selections from the book and to the SmokersClubInc.com website where they’ll find a wealth of information and articles throughout 730+ weekly editions of its newsletter. I’d also recommend visiting and reading the material at Forces.org, AntiProhibition.org, TCTactics.org, and the many Free Choice sites and blogs those links will lead to.

I’d also urge readers to get active in local politics whenever questions of smoking bans come up, print out and share copies of my short and superficial, but sharp and free, “Lies Behind The Smoking Bans” (http://tinyurl.com/SmokingBanLies), and to join and support the various groups active in the fight: Big Tobacco is fighting for its own interests, not necessarily ours. We need to fight for ourselves.

TobakkoNacht: The Antismoking Endgame is available through Amazon and other online book sellers. And in an effort to help spread the word, Stogie Guys is going to give away the inscribed copy McFadden sent us. Just comment below and we’ll select a winner at random after a week.

–George E

photo credit: TobakkoNacht.com

Chances are you, like me, are recognized among your friends as somewhat of an expert on cigars. Granted I’m using the word “expert” as a relative term here. And chances are, from time to time, these friends—ranging from occasional smokers to non-smokers—will ask you to recommend cigars for gifts.

This happens to me fairly regularly. The request goes something like this: “Hey, Patrick. You know a lot about cigars. Well I have a [relative, family member, etc.] I want to buy a few smokes for. [He/she] smokes cigars. Can you provide some recommendations?” This request usually comes around Christmas, a birthday, a wedding, a graduation, or the birth of a child. Such timing is a little funny to me because it’s been a long time since I’ve associated cigars with celebrations. I don’t need—and I usually don’t have—a reason to fire up a smoke.

At any rate, I’m always happy to oblige requests like these. Even if, in my head, my first reaction is, “You know I have a website loaded with searchable information, tips, etc., right? Did you happen to look there before asking me?” Of course I never actually say that.

So then I start to pepper this requester with questions. What does this person normally like to smoke? How often do they smoke? Do they own a humidor, or did you just see him/her smoking a cigar at a wedding once? How many cigars did you want to buy? How much are you looking to spend?

As I’m asking these questions, I realize the requester had given no thought to any of this, and has little knowledge of the third party’s perceived interest in cigars. I realize the requester was hoping I’d say, “Go here and buy them this,” and that would be the end of it. And as I think aloud about this, I start to better understand why so many cigar companies are now offering so many pre-packaged gift sets of smokes.

With little knowledge of the third party for whom I’m recommending cigars, and usually working within the confines of a restricted budget, I never suggest a box purchase. I’ll either point to a few legit online samplers of five or ten cigars or, time permitting, I’ll accompany the requester to a local tobacconist and help them select cigars I know almost any cigar smoker will like.

That’s exactly what I did a few days ago when a co-worker asked me to help him pick a few smokes for his stepfather. We strolled over to Iwan Ries & Co., a shop in Chicago’s Loop that’s been open for business since 1857. I actually really enjoyed talking with my co-worker about cigars, answering his questions, and picking out some excellent smokes. I left the shop with the satisfaction of helping someone else—and with a nice little sampler of my own.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Any year now it will be official: Nicaragua will surpass the Dominican Republic as the biggest cigar importer to the United States.

Between January and May this year (the latest published data), 47 million cigars were imported from the Dominican Republic, while just under 43 million were imported from Nicaragua, less than a 10 percent difference. Last year for the same period the Dominican had imported 44.8 million, versus 36 million from Nicaragua, a 20 percent difference.

In other words, the gap is closing, and quickly.

But it isn’t just a matter of numbers. The center of cigar innovation seems to be shifting to Estelí.

For the first time in memory, the top four “hottest brands” (brands retailers report are most in demand) in the Cigar Aficionado retailer survey are all Nicaraguan: Drew Estate, Tatuaje, Padrón, and Flor de Las Antillas.

And the list of new brands coming out of Nicaragua is almost endless. That’s not to say they are all good, but clearly people wanting to bring new cigars to market think Nicaragua gives them the best chance at success with consumers.

Even more telling is that classic Dominican brands are expanding to Nicaragua: La Gloria Cubana, Davidoff, and Romeo y Julieta. Five years ago that would be unthinkable.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikimedia

I confess that when I first got an email about a cigar coming from Roberto Duran I thought it was being put out by the boxing legend, much like those sporting the names of Mike Ditka, Gary Sheffield, and Luis Tiant. It isn’t.

These cigars are from Roberto Pelayo Duran, a Cuban who worked in the industry. His Azan Tobacco has a fascinating history. You can—and should—read it here. The story starts in 1870 when three brothers migrated from China to Cuba. It includes Azan winning the state lottery and him investing the winnings in his tobacco business, only to have the business nationalized by the government during the Cuban Revolution.

The Campana is a torpedo measuring 5.5 inches long with a ring gauge of 52. The wrapper is a beautiful Corojo grown in Ecuador, with filler from Nicaragua and Brazil, and a Nicaraguan binder.

Rolled in Nicaragua, Azan debuted in Hong Kong before being presented at the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas, where it was introduced to the U.S. market. The company sent me three samples for this review.

In addition to the wrapper’s striking appearance, its pre-light aroma is mouth-watering. It makes the White nearly irresistible. Construction and draw are also good, and smoke production is strong. The burn generally is good, but it does get off kilter every once in a while.

The cigar is medium in strength with a bit of spice, a deep tobacco richness, and occasional sweetness. The flavors are nicely balanced and the tobaccos seem well-aged and fermented.

The suggested retail price on this stick—one of three vitolas in the White Premium line—is $7.50, and Azan says they’re making their way into stores now.

Pick one up and give it a try. I think you’ll want to smoke more than one. I award it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys