The Stogie Guys

La Flor Dominicana is best known for ball-busting, full-bodied smokes like the Double Ligero, Airbender, and The Digger. Still, many of La Flor’s cigars don’t fit the big and bold type-casting, inlcluding the Premium line (La Flor’s first line) and the Cameroon Cabinet, the subject of this review.

The Cameroon Cabinet blend was introduced in 2007 and has slowly expanded since. Now it includes four regular production sizes (toro, torpedo, lonsdale, and robusto) plus two limited release sizes (lancero and chisel). Originally, the Cameroon Cabinet cigars were un-banded (as recently as last year) but now many, including the torpedo, use a bronze-colored variation of the classic “LFD” band.

The Cameroon Cabinet features a pale-ish brown Cameroon wrapper with only a few veins and a slight shine. It surrounds a Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos.

Once lit the Cameroon-wrapped torpedo reveals medium-bodied flavors in perfect balance. The cigar features an exquisite blend of cedar, light spice, cream, and coffee flavors.

The only fault with this cigar is in its construction. The draw is excellent and the ash holds firm, but the wrapper is very frail and each sample I smoked suffered many cracks that resulted in an uneven burns.

The fragile wrapper is, I suspect, a tradeoff for the flavors provided by the Cameroon wrapper. And while it’s a significant tradeoff, it’s well worth the payoff for the balanced, complex flavors the cigar produces.

Ultimately, while I think I slightly prefer the No. 1 size, this torpedo reminded me why I so enjoy La Flor’s Cameroon line. It’s balance and depth of flavor make it an excellent choice for a strong cup of coffee in the morning, or an after-dinner whiskey.

At $10 each ($480 for a box of 50) it’s a cigar that delivers. Despite the construction issues, the exquisite flavors of La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet Torpedo earn it four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Gary Mormino and George Pozetta bring us The Immigrant World of Ybor City, one of the best books on Tampa history. And in reading about Tampa, once the cigar-rolling capital of the world, we’re served a little-known slice of cigar history too. Starting with the history of Tampa’s Ybor City, home to more than 250 cigar factories during its peak, the authors take us through a turbulent century of labor disputes, the arrival of Italian, Cuban, and Spanish immigrants, and the rise of one of the world’s great cigar towns.

This excellent read is made for consumers of American history. Highlighting the Spanish-American War and the arrival of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in Tampa, through the city’s immigrant culture we glimpse into a world of American nostalgia and understand why so many who arrived from foreign shores decided to stay. Cigar makers were paid well, and their families had access to libraries, theaters, baseball fields, and affordable healthcare. It was the American dream at its finest. And Mormino and Pozetta have captured it all. From the evolution of Tampa as an urban center to the economic adjustments of the Great Depression. From the establishment of an immigrant culture in to World War Two and beyond.

This book was extensively researched and includes dozens of photographs from the early era of cigar making, from a cigar worker’s neighborhood roots in Italy, to the factory floors of the 1910s. See immigrant women stripping stems from stacks and stacks of tobacco and watch skilled tobacco-selectors grade and pair aged tobacco leaves. Look into the Cuesta Rey factory in 1924 and watch an animated lector shout from an opened newspaper while hundreds of cigar workers listen quietly and roll their product.

What struck me, apart from the vividly detailed history, was the sense of closeness the authors provided. Though many of the anecdotes are from long before the writers were born, they address the day to day activities of the average cigar maker with the familiarity of a man just home from a day at the factory. Their depictions of the local culture—the street-corner orators, the dinging trolley cars, the street vendors—with an intimacy that makes you feel you are watching some tropical Cuban version of The Godfather Part II.

A window into another time, a time when Tampa was the cigar capital of the world. The Immigrant World of Ybor City makes great summer reading for the curious cigar historian.

–Mark M

photo credit: Amazon

As the weather gets warmer, I increasingly find myself pairing my after-dinner cigars with a glass of well-aged rum. Zaya Gran Reserva 12 Year and the Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 are two staples in my liquor cabinet, but recently I picked up a particularly exceptional rum.

Even older and more limited than the Zacapa 23 is the XO. The XO is blended from solera-aged rums ranging from 6 years to 25 years and generally sells for around $90 (though you should shop around because I’ve seen prices range from $60 to $110).

Like the Zacapa 23, the Centenario XO is a blend of rums made from virgin sugar cane juice aged in Zacapa’s “House in the Clouds” distillery 7,000 feet above sea level, in Guatemala. The rum is aged in a combination of American bourbon, sherry, Pedro Ximenez wine, and cognac barrels.

The result is a thoroughly complex, smooth rum that’s dark bronze in color with long legs. The nose is a combination of oak, molasses, citrus, and spice.

But it’s when you take your first taste that you really appreciate what an exceptional spirit the Zacapa XO is. Powdered cocoa, toffee, orange peel, banana, and cinnamon are all apparent in this exquisitely balanced and smooth rum. The finish lingers with plenty of molasses and a touch of spice.

All in all, this is an excellent rum that’s perfect with a fine cigar. (Try it neat or with a maximum of a single ice cube.) Cuban smokes, with their earthy sweetness, go great with Zacapa XO. So do spicier Nicaraguan and Honduran cigars (though really you’d be hard-pressed to find a good cigar that wasn’t an enjoyable pairing).

While I’m not sure the Centenario XO is worth twice the price of the Zacapa 23, it certainly is a fine rum. If you’re a fan of Zacapa 23 or Zaya, you should find a way to try the Ron Zacapa Centenario XO at least once.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The other evening we streamed an old movie to our television and not long into it I got a surprise. One of the actors reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar.

But that wasn’t the surprise. The movie, The Spanish Cape Mystery, was the first Ellery Queen film, and it was released in 1935. In that era, cigar smoking was common. You’d even see photos of Marlene Dietrich sporting a cigar in the 1930s. No, the surprise came as I watched Berton Churchill—not only aptly named for a cigar smoker, but a long-time actor and Screen Actors Guild founder you’d almost certainly recognize if you watch many pre-1940 movies—slide the cigar from a cellophane sleeve. I knew cellophane had been around a long time, but I had no idea it was used on cigars back then.

So I immediately turned to my buddy Doc Stogie, who I always think of as a font of cigar knowledge, from major to minutia. In fact, Doc’s website is so focused on education, he recently changed it from a .com domain to one that ends with .info.

Doc, of course, knew just where to turn for a definitive answer: Tony Hyman, whose National Cigar Museum is an online treasure. (Warning: Don’t go there unless you have time to while away because you’ll be deeply immersed in the fascinating photos, stories, and lore before you know it.)

The cellophane story goes back a ways before the 1930s and isn’t quite straightforward, according to what Doc reported.

“In 1921, domestic cigar makers started making short-filler cigars to better compete in the post-war boom,” he wrote. “Since short-filled dried out more
rapidly, cigar makers employed foil to preserve cigars.”

Then, in 1931, tobacco giant P. Lorillard began using cellophane on its Postmaster cigars, which listed at 2 for 5 cents in boxes of 100, Doc told me.

And the kicker? Well, Doc let me know that in the same year, Cornell University issued a solemn warning against “eating transparent wrappings
(cellophane) of cigars and other articles.”

There you have it. While it doesn’t quite live up to the intrigue of the Spanish Cape Mystery, the Tale of the Cellophane Conundrum is solved.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

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.”

One of many cigars A.J. Fernandez created for online giant Cigars International, Ruination was the full-bodied followup to the original Man O’ War, made with an Ecuadorian Habano ligero wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. The Belicoso (5.7 x 56) features deep, full-bodied flavors, including chewy nut, coffee, cream, leather, earth, and vanilla. It’s a tasty smoke with just a hint of black pepper on the finish. Selling for $6-7 (though discounted below that from time to time), the well-constructed Man O’ War is highly recommended for fans of strong, flavorful cigars.

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.”

Haven’t heard of Los Hermanos? I hadn’t until I got one as a throw-in with an order I placed from Atlantic Cigar, apparently the exclusive provider of this cigar made by Casa Fernandez and Tropical Tobacco. The Toro (6.5 x 52) is a Nicaraguan puro that sells for just under $7. It starts out dry and woody with a slight bitterness. Fortunately, it doesn’t stay that way as the bitterness fades and the cigar shows coffee, leather, and even some black pepper. Los Hermanos may not be complex, but it’s a decent, medium- to full-bodied cigar at a fair price.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

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) Since February, we’ve been covering Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s misguided attempt to boost state coffers by raising his state’s excise tax on cigars from 15% to 70%. There are currently bills before the state Senate and House that would bolster premium cigar taxes, and a joint committee is set to meet to reconcile the two different proposals. “Surrounding jurisdictions such as Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., already tax premium cigars less than Maryland’s current 15 percent levy,” according to the Gaithersburg Gazette. In the same article, Stephen Castro, owner of seven cigar shops in the state, said “the current legislative push…could drive shops such as his out of business.”

2) Officials in Elk Grove were considering a ban on smoking inside private apartments in the Northern California town. They have decided not to pursue the restrictive proposal, for now. “After hearing the comments, the council agreed that the apartment smoking issue seemed to be confined to [one apartment complex] and were reluctant to ban smoking outright at all complexes within the city,” reports the Sacramento Bee.

3) Inside the Industry: General Cigar is launching a new Partagas line called 1845 with an Ecuadorian Habano-seed wrapper, Connecticut binder, and rum barrel-aged filler tobaccos. Manny Ferrero, senior vice president of sales for Ashton Distributors, passed away on Tuesday. Wicked Indie is the first cigar release under the East India Trading Company, a subsidiary of the newly renamed Gurkha Cigar Group, Inc.

4) Around the Blogs: Cigar Fan fires up a Padilla Artemis. Cigar Explorer explores a Patoro Vuelta Abajo Limited. The Tiki Bar kicks back with a 262 Paradigm Lancero. Cigar Inspector inspects a Tatuaje TAA. Half Wheel smokes a Second Growth. Stogie Review reviews an Ashton ESG.

5) Deal of the Week: This weekly special features two top-notch blends for just $30. Included are five Boris 11 Connecticut Perfectos (created in partnership with Avo) and five Nestor Miranda Dominicana Piramides (made by the Garcia family).

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr