The Stogie Guys

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

Liga Privada was the traditional cigar that put Drew Estate’s marker down as a force in the traditional premium cigar market (previously, the company was best-known for its infused cigars). Lately, though, my favorite line from Drew Estate has been Herrera Estelí. The cigar sports an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Honduran binder, and Nicaraguan filler to produce a “Cubanseque” profile in a lineup of five traditional sizes. Recently, Drew Estate added a box-pressed version as part of its line of exclusive box-pressed smokes for the Drew Estate Lounge at Corona Cigar Company’s location in Sand Lake, Florida. The cigar features plenty of cedar along with cream, hay, and roasted nut notes. Although it’s a solid cigar, I prefer the original sizes to this pressed vitola, which burns a little hot, probably because the box-press yields a loose draw.

Verdict = Hold.

–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.”

While the small Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño in Estelí makes many excellent cigars, the Intemperance BA XXI A.W.S. IV is my absolute favorite. This Arapiraca-wrapped lonsdale (6.5 x 44) is the perfect format to enjoy the outstanding Intemperance blend, which also includes an Indonesian binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. For the very fair price of $7.50, you get a well-balanced profile of red and black pepper along with notes of cocoa, sweet cream, roasted nut, and dry wood. Construction is always impeccable. Consider this Quick Smoke an affirmation of my review two years ago that awarded this cigar our top rating.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Few small cigar brands begin with a mild smoke. Sure, the potential audience is larger than that for the powerhouse blends often favored by boutique firms. But it also involves going up against industry behemoths such as Macanudo, Romeo y Julieta, and Montecristo.

Búho Cigars, run by the father and son team of Eddie and Ryan Dovner in Florida, kicked off at the low-end of the spectrum with a Dominican-rolled line featuring an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, an Indonesian binder, and “a proprietary Dominican blend” for filler.

Ryan told me the inspiration was his father’s love of Cuban cigars and how impressed he became with Dominican tobacco. He thought he could create a Cuban-esque blend and worked with the Abam factory in Santo Domingo to come up with the six-vitola Primero line. (There’s a Maduro with a San Andrés Mexican wrapper as well.)

Búho (“owl” in Spanish) is experimenting with different packaging options. In addition to conventional boxes of 20, sampler packs are available in durable humidified travel cases. The company is also promoting point-of-purchase displays with individual cigars in sealed humidity packs.

Cigars for this review were supplied by Búho, which also sent some we’re giving away in a StogieGuys.com contest. (Details toward the end.) Suggested retail prices for Búho cigars are $8 to $9.

I have smoked three in the Robusto format (5 x 50), and, other than a bit of a tight draw on one, construction was good. They burned straight and slow, producing a great deal of creamy smoke.

The opening is typical of many Connecticut cigars: a little grass, a little hay, a touch of earth, a bit of a bite. Within half an inch or so, though, a rich tobacco sweetness begins to emerge and overlays other flavors, including some light spice along the way. The cigar shines best in the second half.

Now, here’s the contest. For a chance to win a sampler of Búho cigars, simply go to Búho’s Facebook page, like it, and visit Búho’s website and register. Then leave a comment on this post that you’ve done so. We’ll pick two winners at random in a week or so.

And I think the winners will enjoy these smokes, especially if they’re partial to Connecticuts. Búho is well worth trying. I rate the Robusto three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys / Búho Cigars

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

While the bulk of capacity at Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño is devoted to RoMa Craft production (CroMagnon, Aquitaine, Intemperance, and Neanderthal) the boutique Estelí factory has slowly been adding a few other clients. The Powstanie line is made for the Florida-based retailer Cigar Hustler. The first Powstanie blend (a second Habano-wrapped blend followed soon after) sports a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Nicaraguan filler. The result is a medium- to full-bodied smoke with sneaky strength. Dominant flavors are wood, earth, and unsweetened chocolate. The finish is short and clean and the construction very solid. It’s hardly my favorite cigar made at Nica Sueño, but it’s still very enjoyable.

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 take on a single cigar.

Few cigars have generated as much buzz as Cubanacan’s HR line, and even fewer have been at the center of a star-studded cigar-centric soap opera. The splits and legal questions involving who did what and who owns what are best left for another day (long story short, in July, Cubanacan found out, via the media, that Cuban tobacco star Hiroshi Robaina was leaving the company for La Palina). At this point, let’s just say Robaina and blender Omar González Alemán created one fine cigar. The Ecuadorian-wrapped HR Hermosa (5.1 x 48) is powerful, rich, and pours out smoke. Not particularly complex, the profile is pleasing from start to finish. It’s expensive—I paid about $75 for a four-vitola sampler—and hard to find. But if you can get an HR, light one up.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This cigar’s smooth, light brown Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper—even with much of it hidden by the huge, ornate band—makes an inviting first impression. It’s equally enticing after lighting up.

An original line from Mel Shah’s Bombay Tobak, Classic has a Dominican binder and Dominican, Honduran, Peruvian, and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos. (I’ve also written about MBombay’s KẽSara, Habano, and Mora lines.)

One area that stood out—something I rarely notice, frankly—was the cap. It drapes quite a bit past the shoulder, making it easy to apply the cutter without fear of going too far and possibly causing the wrapper to unravel.

The Classic line is clearly aimed at the large segment of the cigar audience that prefers milder cigars, and it clearly hits the mark. I think most smokers will find the strength to be in the upper-mild/lower-medium range.

This Churchill, one of five vitolas in the line, is 7 inches long with a ring gauge of 48. The MSRP is $11.50.

My first impression was formed from the deep, rich smoke and near perfect draw in each sample I smoked. The cigar is incredibly smooth, with a light finish. I found the flavors to be light as well, the sort that I might miss if I didn’t pay attention as I smoked.

That’s one reason I enjoy the occasional milder cigar. It creates a different smoking experience, tapping into tastes that don’t usually come into play with a higher-powered smoke.

In the beginning, I noticed a little spice and cedar that wound down after about an inch, overtaken by a delicate sweetness. The dominant trait, for me, was without a doubt the creamy smoothness of the smoke.

Construction was excellent in each of the three Churchills I smoked. They were supplied by Bombay Tobak.

Whether you regularly smoke milder cigars or, like me, pick one up every once in a while, the MBombay Connecticut Classic is definitely worth your consideraiton. I rate it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys / Bombay Tobak

One of my 2016 resolutions is to ensure we update our Question of the Month (found in our right-hand sidebar) monthly. Last year, far too often our reader poll got neglected. So I recently took down January’s question and, as I updated it, noted the results of the voting, which I present to you below:

What do you think is the most likely impact of forthcoming FDA regulations on premium cigars?

A. Large manufacturers will adapt, but boutiques will close down.
B. Blends introduced after 2007 will be recalled.
C. The floor price for a premium cigar will rise to $10.
D. All of the above.
E. The industry will see few impacts.

“All of the above” led the voting with close to 40% followed by—and this was shocking to me—“the industry will see few impacts,” which got a whopping 22% of the vote. I was so struck by the realization that so many of our readers don’t see the FDA as a major threat to premium cigars that I felt compelled to address the topic today.

As you probably know, StogieGuys.com has written about the FDA extensively since at least 2007. Currently, we’re right on the cusp of learning how this will impact the industry. To bring you up to speed:

• FDA regulations would be devastating to the thriving handmade premium cigar industry, even though there is no indication that such regulations would have any impact on youth smoking or public health.

• Currently, the FDA has officially sent the latest version of its deeming rule on cigars to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House for economic review. Now, the OMB is conducting its review of the FDA rule, and will then hand down the final regulations for implementation. This could happen any day, and it’s almost guaranteed to occur before the end of the Obama Administration.

• Cigar Rights of America (CRA) and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) have directed their lobbying efforts to OMB, which is charged with examining the economic impact of proposed FDA rules. The groups will attempt to show the potentially devastating economic impact the proposed regulations would have on cigars, including costing jobs both in the U.S. and abroad.

• In its initial proposed rule, the FDA offered two options for regulating cigars: option 1 (which covers all cigars) and option 2 (which exempts handmade cigars over $10). Although the proposed rules transmitted to the OMB presumably include the agency’s decision on that important issue, it is unlikely the OMB will make public the agency’s intentions on the issue of a possible exemption.

• While the OMB review may seem like a formality, those familiar with the creation of the initial proposed rule say the OMB was critical in advancing the option of an exemption for some cigars. If the OMB feels the FDA’s final version insufficiently addressed its previous concerns, it could request further revisions.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit the whole process is convoluted, drawn-out, and rife with complexities and other undesirables that render this story a difficult (and sad) one to follow. But I’m quite surprised 22% of our readers—folks who, by and large, regularly smoke cigars and love tobacco enough to read industry blogs and online reviews—could think the forthcoming FDA regulations will have few impacts.

Have they forgotten the FDA might wipe out every cigar introduced after February 15, 2007? Or that cigar innovation would likely come to a screeching halt? Or that cigar prices might rise considerably, as cigar options become exponentially more limited?

As far as cigars are concerned, the FDA is the defining issue of our era. Let’s try to keep in mind how important this is. And let’s not lose sight of what’s at stake: a thriving industry that caters exclusively to consenting adults and provides thousands of American jobs.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys