The 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) With the eyes of the industry on the annual trade show in Las Vegas, cigar enthusiasts may have missed the shakeup at Davidoff. Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, president and CEO of the Switzerland-based company, has named Jim Young the new president of North American distribution (Young was formerly president of Guinness USA). Christian Eiroa now serves as an advisor to the company instead of president of Camacho (Camacho was acquired by Davidoff in 2008). And Peter Baenninger has been moved from heading up Davidoff’s U.S. operations to overseeing global retail. No word yet on how these management changes may impact Davidoff’s portfolio of cigars, which includes AVO, Camacho, Cusano, Griffin’s, Zino Platinum, and Winston Churchill.

2) Cigar Rights of America, a consumer-based group that works at to protect the freedoms of cigar enthusiasts, has launched a quarterly newsletter called Cigar Patriot. If you are a CRA member and you haven’t received your copy in the mail yet, be sure to log on to the CRA website and update your contact information. You can also view a digital copy here.

3) Inside the Industry: Altadis announced new lines at last week’s trade show, including “A. Turrent Puro Corojo” (using a Mexican wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan and Mexican filler), H. Upmann 1844 Reserve (featuring an Ecuadorian wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and Dominican filler), and “Diamondback” (blended by Omar Ortez with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler). For more new releases see StogieGuys.com’s complete 2011 Trade Show coverage: Show Preview, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Odds and Ends, and Final Thoughts. Reviews of new releases will start next week.

4) Around the Blogs: Smoking Stogie smokes Undercrown by Drew Estate. Stogie Review has lots of Trade Show videos. Stogie Fresh has Trade Show photos. Cigar Fan fires up a Kinky Friedman Kinkycristo. A Cigar Smoker lights up an E.P. Carrillo Maduro.

5) Deal of the Week: This special lands you ten full-bodied smokes at a very mild price. Just $30 gets you five Cain Habano robustos and five Perdomo Criollo 10th Anniversary robustos. Or double up for only $20 more.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Davidoff

Next week the center of the cigar world will be right in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip, as the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show returns to the Sands Expo and Convention Center at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As we have each year since 2008, the last time the show was in Las Vegas, StogieGuys.com will be on the trade show floor providing updates on the many new cigars set to be released.

I’ll be providing live updates starting Monday morning from the middle of the action. But just because the trade show doesn’t open until then, that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to report already. Here are some of the high-profile new releases that we already know about: (more…)

Like Entubar, Clasico, and Exile Wired, Mooch is a product of the merger between Albert and Michael Argenti of Cuban Imports and Don Kiki Berger, creator of several lines for Cuban Crafters. The blend was introduced at last summer’s industry trade show as a more affordable addition to the Berger & Argenti portfolio. (more…)

Over two decades ago, Avo Uvezian founded a cigar company. A Lebanese-born jazz pianist and a former jewelry designer, he was an unlikely addition to the world of cigars. But this Juilliard-trained talent, in partnership with Hendrik Kelner, would quickly make an impact on the industry, selling over 750,000 cigars in his company’s third year and inking a distribution deal with Davidoff.

More recently, Uvezian celebrated his 85th birthday with a new cigar. The release follows in the tradition he started ten years ago when he introduced a limited edition smoke to celebrate his 75th anniversary. This year, Uvezian has paired a sun-grown Dominican wrapper with a Peruvian binder and San Vicente and Piloto Cubano filler tobaccos.

The resulting Avo Limited Edition 2011 is available in only one size: Diademas (6.6 x 50). Its production is limited to 100,000 cigars worldwide, including 60,000 cigars for the U.S. market. Such exclusivity helps explain the hefty MSRP of $17.50.

Shipments of the Diademas started to hit tobacconists in late March. Those who were lucky enough to find and afford the cigar were rewarded with a stunning, double-banded perfecto that has minimal veins, a beautiful cap, and pre-light notes of hay and molasses—an aroma that’s very similar to the PG Symphony 20th, which is also crafted by Kelner.

The cold draw is surprisingly easy despite the cigar’s firm feel. Once lit, the rich, abundant tufts of smoke emit flavors of caramel, black coffee, roasted nuts, cream, and cedar spice. The aftertaste is characterized by a sharp bite on the middle of the tongue. I’d describe the profile as medium in body and moderate in strength.

Leather becomes a force into the midway point, adding bitter tones to the flavor and slightly increasing the Diademas’ overall intensity. To its credit, though, the cigar smokes more like an orchestral performance than a heavy metal rock show, displaying a fine balance from light to nub. And the combustion qualities of both of the samples I tested for this review were superb.

In the end, instead of being an example of an overpriced limited edition that’s more style than substance, the Avo Limited Edition 2011 emerges as a top performer. Sometimes you get what you pay for. In this case, that’s a good thing. So I have no qualms about echoing the chorus of praise this cigar has already received, and I’m awarding it a rare rating of five stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five stogie-rated cigars can be found here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When I look back on some of the finer smokes I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy over the years, a disproportionate number happen to be relatively unknown at the national level. The cigars made by the Tesa Cigar Co. are a good example.

So I’m always eager to try limited quantity cigars that I’ve never heard of before. Such was my disposition when I received a few samples of smokes in the mail from Cigari Cigars, an outfit based in Southern California.

Cigari was established in December 2009 as an exclusive offering of Zafuto’s Cigar Haven in Ontario, California. These days you can also find Cigari smokes at a handful of other tobacconists in the Southern California region, as well as several fine restaurants and country clubs. While they are currently unavailable online, I’m told that may change (the Cigari website is under construction).

Access to Cigari may be limited for the time being, but those who find these cigars will have their choice of three different wrappers: Corojo, Habano, and San Andreas. The first two are Nicaraguan puros with fillers from Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The latter makes use of a maduro leaf from Mexico. Whatever the blend, though, all Cigari sticks are handmade in Estelí under the supervision of a factory owner who owns four different plantations. And each comes in four vitolas: Corona ($5.50), Robusto ($6), Toro ($6.50), and Salomones ($9).

The Corojo Robusto is a beautiful-looking specimen with a silky exterior leaf, few veins, and a well-executed triple cap. Mouth-watering notes of milk chocolate emanate off the foot.

Some of these creamy, cocoa-like tones carry over to the flavor once the Robusto is lit. They are balanced by black coffee, Nicaraguan zing, Corojo spice, and traces of sweetness. Medium-bodied and nicely balanced.

As the cigar progresses, I conclude that the profile is impressive for the price point. The Cigari Corojo is neither dull nor overly powerful, neither too spicy nor too sweet. Most importantly, the combined effect of the various tastes is unique—a complement that escapes many of Cigari’s better-known competitors. And all three of the Robustos I smoked for this review displayed fair combustion qualities.

Suffice it to say that, thus far, I’m a fan of this up-and-coming brand. With hopes for a wider distribution—or at least the ability to purchase Cigari products online—I’m awarding the Corojo Robusto four stogies out of five.

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

–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) Jose Oliva, CEO of the Oliva Cigar Co., has announced his candidacy for the Florida House of Representatives as a Republican. Oliva is a “founding sponsor” of Cigar Rights of America and, according to his campaign website, an advocate of lower taxes, smaller government, and business-friendly policies. The election to fill the vacant seat for which Oliva is vying will be held May 24.

2) Cigar Rights Alerts: New York lawmakers rejected a proposed cigar tax cap, which would have limited state excise taxes to $1 per cigar. An Indiana Senate committee has killed a proposed smoking ban bill. Louisiana politicians are clamoring for a 10% tax increase for cigars. Anti-cigar zealots in California aim to increase tobacco taxes by 70% and dismantle premium cigar shops’ exemption from the statewide smoking ban. South Carolina legislators are mulling a variety of smoking ban proposals.

3) Gary Arzt RIP: On Saturday, the cigar world lost Gary Arzt, a tireless and passionate advocate for cigars. Gary (1941-2011) wrote regularly about cigars and was fiercely loyal to his friends, as evidenced by his guest commentary written for our site. Everyone who knew him can attest to the fact that his passing is a great loss for the cigar community.

4) Inside the Industry: Tabacalera de Garcia, the world’s largest cigar factory, is now open for tours. The factory in La Romana is where the Dominican version of such brands as Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann, and many others are made. Details can be found here.

5) Around the Blogs: Smoking Stogie fires up a 10-year-old Padrón 1964 Maduro. Cigar Fan smokes an Alec Bradley Prensado. Stogie Review reviews an Avo 85th Anniversary Limited Edition 2011. Nice Tight Ash checks out the Avalon Numbers Series 46. The Illuione 68 is now the number two cigar at YourCigarRatings.com.

6) Deal of the Week: This special from the Corona Cigar Co. features the Montecristo White and Punch, both in tubos. $29 gets you 5 of each, or $50 gets you 10 of each.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Cigar Rights of America

The Miami-based Berger & Argenti company was established in 2009 as a partnership between brothers Michael and Albert Argenti and Enrique Berger. The outfit’s first lines included Exile Wired, Clasico, and Entubar.

The latter, Berger & Argenti’s flagship blend, made quite an impression on me when I reviewed it after returning from the 2009 IPCPR Trade Show. It had balance, complexity, and interesting flavors. It also had outstanding construction, due in no small part to the “entubar” process, which involves creating delicate “scrolls” of filler tobacco to ensure “chambers” of air flow.

The newer Entubar Quad Maduro—so named for its “cuadrado” press and maduro wrapper—was introduced at the 2010 IPCPR Trade Show. This line makes use of the same painstaking “entubar” procedure but employs a new, bolder blend of tobaccos. Included are Nicaraguan (viso and ligero) and Dominican (seco) filler leaves, a Nicaraguan binder, and a Jalapa-grown maduro wrapper that has been “aged eight years in seasoned oak barrels,” according to a press release.

Like the original Entubar, the Quad Maduro has a “channel” of ligero tobacco that extends a quarter inch beyond the foot, which creates “a startlingly unique ‘fuse like’ appearance that assures a superior draw, flawless conical burn with a long white ash, and a myriad of complex flavors channeled directly onto the palate.” A band around the bottom advises enthusiasts to “thoroughly toast entire cigar foot before smoking.”

It’s easy enough to establish an even light on the Double Corona (7.63 x 54). Once set, the dark cigar produces a full-bodied taste of earth and peppery spice. The profile then settles to include less heft, less spice, and flavors of nuts, leather, cream, and dark chocolate. Quite enjoyable with a chalky texture.

At the midway point and beyond, the Double Corona is decidedly medium-bodied. The flavors never really seem to change all that much, they just moderately intensify and retreat (depending on how quickly you smoke the cigar). Construction, as expected, is superb throughout the two-hour experience, with a near-perfect burn, a solid ash, and an easy draw that yields bountiful smoke.

Quad Maduro comes packaged in cedar boxes of 20 cigars and is available in three other sizes sizes: Corona Macho (4.63 x 48), Robusto (5.38 x 54), and Torpedo (6.88 x 56). The Double Corona retails for $12 apiece. This price point, in my opinion, is an accurate reflection of the quality of the tobacco and the labor-intensive “entubar” process. For its harmonious flavor, beautiful aroma, and notable combustion properties, the Entubar Quad Maduro Double Corona deserves four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys