The Stogie Guys

Time and again, whenever I have a special occasion to celebrate – like a birthday or a good friend coming to town – I break out something from Rocky’s Vintage 1992 line. Why? Because no matter how high my expectations get before the first light, I’m never disappointed.

The Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo is a six and ¼ inch by 52 ring gauge slice of heaven. An unblemished, well-textured, ten-year-old Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper engulfs a binder and filler that have been accumulating flavor and character for seven years.

A fresh slice off the head provides the lucky smoker-to-be with a cross-section of cigar rolling mastery. Despite tightly packed tobaccos, the draw is clear and true.

After toasting the foot, I noticed rich earthy notes of oak and almond. Oddly, despite the easy draw, each tasty puff produced relatively small tufts of smoke.

The stogie doesn’t show its true colors, however, until the second third of the smoke. Here, the aforementioned wood and nut flavors mature into notes of dark roasted coffee beans.

It’s at this point that I usually have to audibly remind myself to smoke slower; I find the flavors so enticing that only taking one or two puffs per minute is like asking a child to be patient and not bite into a Tootsie Pop.

As far as physical properties are concerned, my many experiences with these stogies have uncovered no noticeable flaws. If you can’t get an even burn, a firm ash, or an effortless draw, you’re doing something wrong (and you might want to consult our Tips).

Clocking in at about $8.75 apiece, this is obviously no cheap stick. But considering the Vintage 1992 line’s complexity, full-bodied flavors (that hands-down outmatch the Vintage 1990 line), and aging, it’s still a great bargain.

So, keeping in mind the guidelines for StogieGuys.com’s unique ratings system, I’m wholeheartedly giving the Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Torpedo five out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

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

The J.L. Salazar y Hermanos Reserva Especial Torpedo was the first Cuban Crafters house brand I tried. With dark, rich chocolate notes, this full-flavored box-pressed torpedo was quite tasty. The construction was impressive too, with a perfectly even burn and abundant smoke.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

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 a little disappointed with this five inch by 50 ring gauge Robusto from real estate mogul turned cigar manufacturer Paul Garmirian (often just called a PG). The draw is loose, the burn too hot and uneven, and the flavor unreasonably harsh. To top it off, the cigar has a knack for going out – even when you take the requisite number of puffs. With these unwelcome traits, and a retail price of about $9 apiece, I wasn’t terribly pleased, especially since I enjoy so many other PG creations.

Verdict = Sell.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars

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. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) If you look at the top right corner of this week’s Sports Illustrated, you’ll see New York Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado smoking a cigar. We’re pretty sure it’s a La Gloria Cubana Series R because, back in September, we wrote this article about various Mets players celebrating their NL East Title with cigars.

2) Let us be the first to nominate this Conoco gas station for the Best Gas Station in the World Award. Outfitted with sofas, chairs, a 48-inch plasma TV, and a walk-in humidor, this Webster Groves, Missouri business is the first gas station/cigar lounge on the planet.

3) Here’s something new to us: TNT Cigars (a Stogie Guys sponsor) is now offering mobile ordering via text messaging. How it works? We aren’t really sure. But if you do order, don’t forget to claim you free torch lighter by including the code “stogie” at checkout.

4) In October we told you about some crazy guys in Alabama who smoke cigars while running marathons. Well, this weekend they are about to do it again. If you happen to be in the Birmingham, Alabama area stop by the Mercedes Marathon and bring a cigar. You can even contact the “Running Stogies” and join their pit crew.

5) Congrats again to Kevin, the winner of the first annual Stogie Guys Super Bowl Contest, who received the five cigars pictured. And for all you Bears fans, don’t worry: We’ll be back next year!

–The Stogie Guys

One of the fun things about experimenting with different cigars is being pleasantly surprised. I would never have thought a garishly-dressed, cheap maduro in an aluminum tube would be a decent smoke.

In fact, I had previously avoided Helix stogies because I thought – incorrectly – that its wild colors signaled a flavored cigar.

If you’ve never seen the Helix, you should check it out. To give you an idea of the extreme nature of the color scheme, I finally gave up trying to photograph the cigar and tube because I couldn’t come close to reproducing the tints and hues.

I picked one up the other day after hearing (or reading – I can’t recall which) that it was simply a regular, mild smoke. The low price of $2.69 for a six and ½ inch by 44 ring gauge vitola called “Cylinder” was all the added inducement I needed.

Out of the tube, the cigar felt nicely rolled with a good prelight draw. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper was lighter than many maduros and splotchy, as if it might have gotten wet somewhere along the line.

My first taste impression was a nice, mild tobacco taste with a touch of pepper. Smoke production was good, but not extraordinary. The cigar also produced an unusual amount of smoke from the foot. Although the overall burn was fast, the Helix never turned hot or bitter.

The mix of filler tobaccos General Cigar Co. lists for the Helix maduro – Dominican, Brazilian, and Mexican, with a Honduran binder – might lead you to expect more taste than it delivers. But there’s little development or variation from beginning to end. Just a nice, mild, unobtrusive cigar.

If you’re looking for a stick to smoke as an adjunct to another activity like golf or yard work, you should check out the Helix. You certainly won’t lose much if you buy one and don’t like it.

But if it does suit you, discount online box prices are about as low as many bundle smokes, and you’re getting General’s quality, not seconds or apprentice-rolled sticks.

You might, though, want to toss the tubes and remove the bands. Oh, those colors…

I give the Helix Maduro Cylinder a pretty respectable three out of five stogies.

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

–George E

Tags: cigars

Here are a pair of news items that show how seriously dangerous, and at the same time how laughably absurd, smoking bans are.

Smoking Ban Takes a Life

Smoking ban advocates claim that such bans improve health because any minute exposure to second hand smoke could theoretically be the one that causes cancer. (Of course, by that reasoning, so could a sole char-broiled burger, a single glass of chlorinated water, being exposed to the sun’s rays for just a minute, or any one x-ray.)

Still, one thing is for sure: Smoking bans kill people. In the most recent incident, sixty-five year old Murray Miles Patterson caught hypothermia and later died because he was forced out of his long-term care facility in Toronto into sub-zero temperatures by the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.

But Patterson is not the only victim of smoking bans. Since 2001, three Kansas University students have fallen to their deaths while smoking. Kansas has a strict no smoking policy, despite requests from students for specific smoking rooms. And that’s just at Kansas University…

The Stogies Go Marching On

Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, a group of high-ranking military officers and defense officials (including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) defied the district’s smoking ban while holding their traditional “Wallow of the Military Order of the Carabao” annual gala:

Hotel officials “tried to tell” guests “they couldn’t smoke cigars and they said, ‘Nope, you signed the contract before the law’ … so everyone lights up a cigar and the whole room is just thick with smoke,” the source told The Politico’s Amy Doolittle. For the record, we’re told it’s the last time the event will take place at the now smokeless venue.

Which begs the question: Does anyone seriously think these military men are criminals for breaking the smoking ban law? Doubtful.

–Patrick S

Several years ago, José Seijas – the Dominican cigar legend responsible for Montecristo, H. Upmann, and Romeo y Julieta – set out to personally select and stockpile the highest grade wrapper, binder, and filler tobaccos for his new signature stogie: the Montecristo Classic.

Even though these babies are just hitting retailers as we write, we’ve been lucky enough to smoke about eight or nine Robustos apiece to date. And let us tell you they’re terrific.

These five inches by 52 ring gauge cigars come draped in a flawless, caramel-brown Connecticut Shade wrapper. Appearance-wise, the only trait that distinguishes the Classic line from other Montecristos is a gold emblem on the band.

Once lit, the “special blend” of Dominican binders and fillers intermingle to create a mild and cool taste that closely resembles that of a marshmallow – very unique, and very enjoyable. The cigar’s soft, spongy feel ensures an easy draw and abundant smoke with each puff.

Into the second half, the flavor smoothly transitions to a hotter spice, and notes of chocolate and graham come into play. Since the sweet marshmallow taste is retained throughout the duration of the smoke, the new flavor could now be accurately compared to a S’more. Once again, this is different than anything else we’ve tried.

Our only complaint? We noticed some inconsistency in burn from stick to stick, but nothing too egregious. What’s more, any unevenness was easy to correct.

On the whole, this is one of the finest cigars we’ve had the pleasure to review. With an MSRP of $8.50 apiece, they’re certainly not cheap, but easily worth the price if you’re lucky enough to find them. In a quick survey of local DC-area stores only two of six cigar shops we called carried the Classic line (and those two had a limited selection), and our check of the major online retailers came up completely empty.

For complex, unique, and transforming flavors that stay balanced on the palate, we give the Montecristo Classic Robusto four and ½ out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A and Patrick S