The Stogie Guys

Without getting into too much history here, there are many cigar brand names that transcend their “country of origin.” Due to an uneasy legal environment and the U.S. trade embargo against Castro’s communist regime, you can find Cuban and non-Cuban versions of, among others, Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, Hoyo de Monterrey, and – most notably – Cohiba.

In that spirit, U.S.-based General Cigar Co. introduced a premium stogie called “Cohiba” to the American market in the 1990s, despite a precarious feud with Fidel’s state-owned tobacco company, Cubatabaco, over trademark rights.

A few days ago I sat down with a five inches by 49 ring gauge Cohiba Robusto. This handsome cigar, which retails in the expensive $8 to $13 range, sports a Mexican binder, a Dominican filler, and a flawless Cameroon wrapper (like I said, there’s nothing Cuban about it).

One of the most noticeable characteristics of the stick is its tight, firm feel. After clipping the head with my double guillotine cutter, I was barely able to make out the pockets of space between the cramped tobacco leaves.

After the cigar was carefully lit, the first thing I noticed – aside from the perfect burn – were mild notes of creamy coffee and light honey. A shiny mascara indicated the tobacco leaves were fully matured when cultivated.

The flavor remained subtle and airy throughout the hour and ½ smoke, living up to its light- to medium-bodied billing. As such, this is the sort of stogie I would recommend pairing not with hard liquor, but with beer or wine (I chose pinot noir).

Fortunately, the perfect burn I noticed after lighting remained fabulously even right down to the very end. And while the ash held nicely off the foot for up to an inch and ½, the draw was a bit difficult, surely due to the cigar’s tight packing.

Overall, this is a fine cigar – especially if you’re looking for something light – but it doesn’t live up to the expectations it sets in price. So while I wouldn’t rush out to your local B&M to stock up on these, I also think they can be a nice change of pace every now and again.

I give the Cohiba (Dominican) Robusto three and ½ 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.

When I’m looking for a fairly quick smoke, I often turn to the 4 1/2 inch (by 30/60 ring gauge) Champion. I find the shape — resembling a python swallowing a pig — intriguing. I would call it a medium strength, flavorful cigar. I find hints of cedar, pepper, even vanilla. I have had occasional burn problems with Champions, though this one ran straight and true.

Verdict= Buy.

–George E

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

Last weekend I sampled my first Avo cigar, a Maduro Robusto, while waiting for a movie. Needless to say, the stogie – not the motion picture – was the highlight of the evening. This five inches by 50 ring gauge Dominican sported excellent construction and woody flavors of oak and cedar. I was, however, disappointed by the lack of balance on the palate; the prevalent salty notes left me yearning for a cool drink.

Verdict = Hold.

–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. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) In the interest of seeing who actually supports and who opposes smoking restrictions, we further looked into that Bangor, Maine City Council vote to ban smoking in vehicles with children. You’ll remember this story from last week’s sampler. According to the Bangor paper, the vote was 6-3. Now, the council is nominally nonpartisan, but, naturally, most members are politically affiliated. The three who opposed the measure were one Democrat, one Republican, and one politician who emailed to say that he has “not been enrolled in any party for many years.”

2) Tuesday’s commentary noted the article by Professor Thomas Lambert titled “The Case Against Smoking Bans” from the winter issue of Regulation Magazine. At the time that issue wasn’t yet online, but now it is (we’re so far ahead of the curve). You can download the article for yourself here (warning pdf).

3) Here’s a tip: Wanna sound Presidential? Smoke! That’s what this article from Slate says is part of Barack Obama’s charm. The story also says that smoking helped Johnny Cash maintain his iconic sound.

4) Sometimes it’s easy to get down with the enactment of so many smoking bans. Fortunately, if history tells us anything, it’s that these smoking bans don’t usually last. As Abigail Cutler notes in this article from the Atlantic Monthly, since Pope Urban VIII in 1624, people have tried to ban smoking. And, as she further notes, each smoking ban seems to end up in the ashtray of history.

5) A few months ago we told you about this fantastic deal from Thompson where you get eight cigars for just ten dollars. Since then ours arrived in the mail and we were reminded just what a great deal it is, with top brands like CAO, Toraño, Cusano, Ghurka, Padron, and La Gloria Cubana. Order yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

La Aurora is the oldest cigar manufacturer in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1903, the company makes cigarettes, beer (such as Presidente), and, naturally, handmade cigars.

But the 1495 Series isn’t just a Dominican; La Aurora combined tobacco from four different countries to create this classic-sized five inch by 50 ring gauge robusto.

The medium brown Sun Grown Ecuadorian wrapper has a lovely sheen and hardly any veins. Pre-light, the tobacco revealed earthy notes with hints of chocolate.

After lighting the stick with some wooden matches, the cigar initially gave off some bitter flavors, but this disappeared after only four or five puffs. After the bitterness faded, notes of earth and nut came in clearly, making for a balanced, medium-bodied smoke. At about the halfway point, some subtle spice added to the complex flavor profile.

The draw was easy and the stogie provided abundant aromatic smoke. Another sign of the excellent construction was a perfectly even burn and a gray ash that held for a full inch and a half.

Cigars like the Aurora 1495 show the skill that goes into proper blending. With five different types of tobaccos representing Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic (which is the source for the binder as well as one of the filler tobaccos), it is no surprise that the cigar is complex, but what is most impressive is the balance that this complex blend maintains.

Overall, with its combination of a flavorful, balanced taste and nearly flawless construction, the La Aurora 1495 Robusto earns the notable rating of four out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick S

Back in August we told you about Fidel Castro’s “imminent death” and the possibility for Cuban reform. While his passing was obviously not as imminent as everyone thought (because he’s still alive), his failing health is once again making headlines the world over.

On Tuesday, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that “a grave infection in the large intestine, at least three failed operations, and various complications have left…Castro laid up with a very grave prognosis.” The Associated Press reports that such infections carry a mortality rate “as high as 90 percent” for the elderly.

Cuba has released very little about the ruthless communist dictator’s condition, and a diplomat in Madrid even went so far as to say that the leak is “a lie” and “if anyone has to talk about Castro’s illness, it’s Havana.”

Since the evening of July 31, 2006, Castro’s brother, Raúl, has held the reins of the island nation’s overbearing government.

I thought yesterday’s news of Castro’s worsening condition would be an excellent opportunity to revisit this post and remind you that while it’s true we can’t expect major reform from Raúl anytime soon, many foreign policy experts believe he is more pragmatic than Fidel, and therefore more open to economic reforms.

Economic reforms that could, in time, end America’s hypocritical embargo on Cuban goods – like cigars.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars

Yesterday the country honored Martin Luther King for his promotion of equality under the law and his dedication to ending racial discrimination. Thankfully, we have certainly made much progress towards those goals, in no small part because of King, since his assassination in 1968.

But as Tampa Tribune editorial writer Joseph Brown noted in a recent column, while racial equality under the law has increasingly become a reality in the decades since King’s death, in the same period it has become acceptable to discriminate against another group:

Since King’s assassination nearly 40 years ago, however, one group of Americans has increasingly become a target for legal discrimination. They are barred from many public places – and even bleeding-heart liberals go along with it. Additionally, they are taxed unfairly.

The group: smokers.

Brown points out correctly what many smokers acutely notice regularly, that unlike almost any other segment of the population, discrimination – and particularly legal discrimination – is accepted against smokers where elsewhere it is condemned.

Meanwhile, in an article in the winter issue of Regulation Magazine, which is on the shelves now (unfortunately the article isn’t online, but an edited version is available on the Washington Post website), University of Missouri Law School Professor Thomas Lambert explores the reasons anti-tobacco activists give for that discrimination. Specifically, he looks at the most drastic anti-smoking measure – the smoking ban – and ultimately finds that these justifications just don’t cut it:

Contrary to ban advocates’ claims, the costs of smoking’s externalities are ultimately borne by the owners of smoking-allowed establishments who, as a group, have incentives to efficiently accommodate smokers and nonsmokers. Efforts to shape people’s preferences regarding smoking run into individual choice issues and may be counterproductive. Scientific evidence on the risk of ETS (“environmental tobacco smoke” – more commonly called second-hand smoke) may be overstated and never addresses the important point that some people are willing to take that risk.

A better approach would be a hands-off policy permitting business owners to set their own smoking policies. Motivated by the pursuit of profits, the owners would have the proper incentive to maximize social welfare. The market would be far more likely than government regulation to accommodate the various preferences of nonsmokers and smokers alike.

Lambert’s analysis is a bit dry and academic, but it is also thorough and quite convincing.

StogieGuys.com readers should take the time to read these articles. This way, the next time some anti-smoking zealot tries to tell you why your state or city should ban smoking, you’ll be ready to explain to them just how wrong they are.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars