The Stogie Guys

A friend recently mentioned that he planned to significantly narrow the scope of his cigar purchases. Taking the “life’s too short for bad cigars” approach, he intended to select only a handful of specific blends and smoke little else.

My gut reaction was that he was making a mistake. To each his own, I thought. But trying new cigars is more of a journey than an objective. Part of the fun of the cigar hobby is discovering what’s out there, deciding what you like, and then comparing, contrasting, and experimenting with variables like age.

Besides, as illustrated by this year’s IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans, talented cigar makers are constantly turning out new blends. The industry’s greatest strength is its abundance of innovation and the wherewithal to put new ideas into practice. While not all new cigars are good cigars, why would any enthusiast deprive himself of fresh creations?

But then I got to thinking: Maybe my friend is on to something. There are, after all, some noteworthy advantages of narrowing the scope of your cigar intake. One would be the certainty of knowing that every cigar you light up is going to be outstanding—assuming you carefully selected your favorites. Another would be the elimination of the risk of spending good money on cigars that disappoint.

Perhaps my own cigar routines would be drastically different if not for this website. Much of what I smoke is driven by our cigar review needs: what we haven’t yet reviewed, what readers are asking us to review, what’s new, etc. This requires a ton of variety. When I’m just smoking for sheer enjoyment, though, I often find myself turning to the same dozen blends.

Truth be told, I wish I could afford a little less variety and a little more loyalty in my cigar rotation. Whereas I currently smoke my favorite blends only about 10% of the time, I’d like to bump that up to around 50%. I doubt that’s possible.

But don’t get me wrong: I certainly don’t resent StogieGuys.com for the variety it imposes on my cigar intake. I consider this web magazine a great joy, a terrific journey that I have the privilege to share with my colleagues and our readers. And I must concede that I may not have discovered my favorite blends if not for the website’s requirement of me to venture beyond my comfort zone.

How often do you venture beyond yours?

–Patrick A

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.”

I received this Room 101 Conjura “Harsh! LTD” at the Twitter Brothers of the Leaf event held during the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans. The slightly veiny rosado wrapper isn’t much to look at, but the box-pressed smoke is highly aromatic with strong barnyard notes. Once lit, the Conjura reveals a spicy blend with cinnamon and a creamy core. Meaty flavors are also prevalent, especially in the second half. This is a full-bodied smoke, but not with the knock-your-socks-off strength I thought I might be in for.

Verdict = Buy.

–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. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Michigan bar owners aren’t taking their state’s smoking ban sitting down. With hopes of changing the law, they formed a 3,000-member group called “Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan – Amend Michigan Smoking Ban” and plan to hire a lobbyist. The group claims bar and restaurant liquor sales are down almost $2 billion since they law was enacted on May 1, a troubling trend given the Wolverine State’s abysmal unemployment rate of 13%.

2) The Ryder Cup, a biennial golf competition between the United States and Europe, kicks off today. It promises to be a cigar-filled event for one of Team Europe’s golfers. Miguel Angel Jimenez, a 46-year-old from Spain who loves working on his red Ferrari and smoking premium tobacco, recently said, “I don’t know if the number [of cigars] is going to increase or not, but I will enjoy, anyway. Today as soon as I finish, I’m going to start another one.”

3) Inside the Industry: Many of the new cigars from the 2010 IPCPR Trade Show will begin to appear on store shelves this month, including the Art Deco, La Aurora Guillermo León, Macanudo Cru Royale, and Room 101 Conjura LTD.

4) Around the Blogs:  Stogie Review reviews a Casa Gomez Maduro. Tiki Bar kicks back with a La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Chisel. Smoking Stogie fires up a Viaje Satori. Nice Tight Ash checks out an Avo Heritage. Cigar Fan smokes the Esencia.

5) Deal of the Week:  This special sale from Cuban Crafters features great deals on the Don Kiki White Label. Boxes of 20 are available in four different sizes for only $50-60. Grab yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr

In the latest issue of our “Random Thoughts from the Humidor” series, I ruminate about the end of a partnership, the cigar community’s support of charities, and a new way cigar makers are helping cigar shops hit hard by taxes:

A Collaboration Ends

It’s sad to see Nosotros, the joint project of Illusione Cigars and Drew Estate, ending. The announcement came when Illusione’s Dion Giolito told Cigar Aficionado, “Illusione cigars will no longer participate in the Nosotros brand project with Jonathan Drew DBA Drew Estate…The Nosotros brand/trademark dies in the Drew Estate Factory as per contractual agreement, and will not be made outside the factory it originated.”

While we may never know exactly why this promising and well-received project fell apart so suddenly, it’s fair to speculate that it may serve as a warning for anyone considering a similar collaboration in the future. Cigar makers are not only a passionate bunch, the successful ones are also very particular about their product. Getting a release up to snuff so that one cigar maker will put his name on it is difficult enough. But you can imagine that meeting the standards of two particular makers would be infinitely more difficult.

What the News Doesn’t Report

You won’t see it in the newspaper when biased reporters are demonizing the tobacco industry, but there’s no denying that the cigar community is a most charitable bunch. Nearly every cigar maker supporters multiple charities, and many have their own charitable foundations. The giving spirit was certainly on display this Friday for W. Curtis Draper’s annual Little Puff event in DC. While an official total hasn’t been released, those in attendance saw tens of thousands of dollars raised for a three local charities, including one in honor of a Navy SEAL killed in action.

[UPDATE: Draper’s tells me the final total will be approximately $55,000 raised for the three charities, an impressive outpouring of generosity from the attendees.]

A New Way to Support Tobacconists Under Siege

A recent trend for cigar manufacturers has been to release cigars for sale in brick and mortar shops only. The idea is to protect stores that have to charge high sales tax on their products, while online and catalog cut cut margins and costs. Now Alec Bradley is taking that concept to a new level. Since New York retailers were just hit with a record high 75% tax on cigars, company president Alan Rubin is introducing a New York-only blend. It’s a good sign that cigar makers are going out of their way to support those hardest hit by anti-cigar legislation.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Drew Estate/Illusione Cigars

It’s been over six months since the StogieGuys.com team published a new list of Gold Star Smokes. As you might recall, this special designation celebrates cigars that we feel are worthy of strong recommendations. They don’t necessarily have to be five stogie-rated—just commendable smokes we turn to time and again.

Co-Founder & Editor in Chief Patrick A

One of my favorite Cubans is also relatively affordable, and that’s a winning combination. The Juan Lopez Selección No. 1 (5.6 x 42) has a profile of honey and graham with an earthy, woodsy core and good combustion qualities. And unlike some blends from the forbidden communist isle, this lesser-known Cuban doesn’t seem to suffer from consistency problems. A great buy for around $8.

Co-Founder & Publisher Patrick S

From time to time I get asked what my favorite maduro smoke is and, while I wouldn’t say I have just one favorite, the La Aurora Preferidos Maduro Robusto is always in the conversation. It has that classic maduro profile with plenty of creamy cocao and coffee notes. But what separates it from others is an impressive combination of complexity and balance.

Tampa Bureau Chief George E

From the dark appearance to the wonderfully deep, thick flavors, the Toraño Exodus 50 Years Blend Torpedo is an enticing smoke. It is blended for smoothness, and the Brazilian arapiraca sun-grown wrapper has a more refined taste than I’ve found in most other cigars that use it. As it burns with the Nicaraguan filler, you’re treated to a rich array of coffee, chocolate, and fruit. All this, and a reasonable price, make this a cigar to enjoy again and again.

Contributing Reviewer Patrick M

The new Tatuaje Verocu No. 5 (4 x 40) is just starting to hit the market, but I’ve already had a chance to smoke several. This cigar stays true to the blend with a core of leather, cedar, and spice. It is very similar to the Verocu No. 1, No.2, and Tubo and carries a sub-$5 price point—making it a great Gold Star Smoke.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

While I had the privilege to smoke the new Guillermo León by La Aurora while I was in the Dominican Republic visiting their facilities in May, I wanted to wait to review this cigar until a production version was released. The sample I smoked was good but, since I had already smoked quite a few cigars that day, I wasn’t in any condition to pass judgment on it other than to say that I enjoyed it.

Now, a couple of weeks after the release of the production version by La Aurora at the IPCPR Trade Show, and with several Gran Coronas in hand, I am finally able to revisit it with a more critical eye and discerning palate.

The Gran Corona measures 6 inches long with a ring gauge of  47. It will be sold in boxes of 20 with an MSRP around $8.50 per cigar. In a first for La Aurora, the Guillermo León features a dual binder of Dominican corojo and Cameroon tobaccos around a four-country filler blend of Peruvian, Brazilian, Dominican, and Nicaraguan tobaccos. The cigar is finished off with a medium brown, semi-veiny, moderately oily Ecuadorian habano wrapper.

The aroma at the foot is of hay and sweet tobacco. A quick pre-light taste reveals sweetness with a hint of spice as well as an effortless draw. Upon lighting, the sweetness present in the pre-light taste is immediately apparent and reminiscent of maple syrup and light brown sugar. Very little spice is present at this point, confined mostly to the retro-hale.

After about an inch, a nutmeg-esque spice emerges and balances the sweetness well. More spice is also present in the nose along with hints of hay and earth. The mottled gray ash holds firm for about an inch at a time and the burn remains mostly even.

As the cigar moves into the second third, some very subtle notes of hay and cream also emerge. The spice and sweetness fade in and out throughout the rest of the cigar to create an interesting interplay that, at times, is a bit unbalanced.

Overall, the Guillermo León Gran Corona is a very interesting cigar with flavors that progress and change creating an interesting and often intricately subtle smoking experience. The cigar is decidedly medium in strength but full in flavor and demands your full attention—or some of the more nuanced flavors can be overlooked. For all of these reasons, the Guillermo León Gran Corona earns four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick M

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Like a lot of those who spend their workdays among cigars and tobacco, Benny Gomez is a gregarious, engaging man who enjoys talking about his family, his heritage, and his creations.

These days, more cigar smokers will be able to get to know Benny as he devotes greater time and energy to visiting smoke shops to get the word out about his two cigar lines: Casa Gomez and Havana Sunrise. “I still haven’t pushed it out there that much,” he said at a recent, well-attended event at my buddy Arnold Serafin‘s new shop in Spring Hill, Florida. “It costs a lot of money in advertising and promoting.”

But these days he’s ready to make it happen. He cited several reasons, including settlement of some legal issues, working with his son, Loren, in the business, and a recent tweaking of the Casa Gomez blend.

The cigar, created in 2004 by Benny to honor his Cuban father and his role in cigars, comes from Luis Sanchez’s Dominican factory. Benny decided he wanted to ramp it up a bit and added some Nicaraguan ligero to the blend. But he explained that he wasn’t seeking to simply create a stronger smoke. “I didn’t want just a powerful cigar,” said Benny, whose operation is based in his hometown of Miami. “I wanted that sweet texture that comes out of real good ligero leaf.”

One aspect of the business in which Loren has become heavily involved is the Internet. The Casa Gomez website is a work in progress, with direct consumer sales added recently. Loren is also active on several cigar forums.

When I spoke with Benny in July, he and Loren were preparing for another trip to the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans. Benny said he hoped to build on last year’s experience when he met many retailers.

But he said he will still utilize the same pitch for his cigars. He’ll hand them out with a simple request: “Smoke it and come back. I want your opinion.”

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys