The Stogie Guys

There’s little question Paris is one of the finest destinations for fine dining and shopping, but it’s also a fine city for cigars. I recently spent a week there (though I’ve been a few times before) and put together a few notes for enjoying cigars in the City of Light.

A Rich Tradition of Cigars

SEITA, the French tobacco giant, is part of what is likely the largest cigar company in the world, since it merged with the Spanish tobacco monopoly to form Altadis. Altadis owns a 50% share in the Cuban cigar distributor Habanos and is also the parent company for Altadis USA, which makes the non-Cuban versions of Montecristo, H. Upmann, Romeo y Julieta, and many others.

SEITA also created (along with Habanos) the Quai d’Orsay cigar line, which is named after the street where the SEITA headquarters are. The line was blended to French tastes and calls for a milder blend. Quai d’Orsay can be hard to find outside of France, but within Paris shops you’ll find it regularly.

Where to Buy Cigars?

Tabacs are everywhere in Paris, though most have only a few premium cigars, if any. (All the “Tabac” designation denotes is the store is licensed to sell tobacco.) Those that do carry cigars stock their shelves with mostly Cubans, though there are some other brands you’ll see regularly like Davidoff and Flor de Selva. Prices are tightly controlled so there is little variation in cost from shop to shop.

One of the things I’ve found in Paris cigar shops (though not the two listed below) is that cigars are often kept at a slightly too high humidity. It isn’t so high that the cigars develop mold, but it does mean you’ll often run into burn issues if you immediately smoke a cigar after purchasing.

À la Civette is the oldest cigar shop in Paris (founded in 1716) and a place I always visit. The walk-in humidor doesn’t have a huge selection by American cigar shop standards, but it has a nice selection of Cubans including all the recent French Regional Edition cigars and quite a few Limited Edition Cubans. Located just a block from the Louvre and across the street from the entrance to the Palais-Royal, the shop’s customers over the years have included Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, Voltaire, Churchill, and Micheal Jordan. (After you buy a cigar here, head over to the interior garden at Palais-Royal and light up under the trees on a park bench or at one of the outdoor cafes.)

Publicis Drugstore is a small, high-end department store on the famous Champs-Élysées just down the street from the Arc de Triomphe. I visited it for the first time in a previous visit on the recommendation of Tatuaje owner Pete Johnson, and it didn’t disappoint. In addition to an excellent selection within their recently renovated , you can eat at one of the finest restaurants in the city (L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon) and check out a superior selection of wines and luxury goods.

Where to Smoke Cigars?

Like so many places, Paris has been hit with a smoking ban that limits the indoor spaces where you can enjoy your cigar. There was a time not long ago when a cigar cart was a staple in the city’s fine restaurants. Now, sadly, you’re limited to a few indoor spaces specifically designated as cigar bars. The Hemingway Bar at the Ritz Carlton is currently being renovated, but it should return to being a great locale when it is completed. (Speaking of Hemingway, Paris Walks offers a two-hour English tour of Hemingway’s Paris that has an interesting glimpse, for just 12 euros, into the famous cigar smoker’s time in the city.)

Despite the limited indoor smoking locales, as long as the weather is nice there are plenty of places to enjoy a cigar outside. And unlike in the U.S., Parisiens aren’t likely to shoot you a dirty look for enjoying a fine cigar in their vicinity. The city’s plentiful cafes practically all have outdoor seating where smoking a cigar with a cup of coffee or an adult beverage is not out of place at all (just let them know your plan so they can seat you accordingly). In addition, there are lots of great outdoor public spaces, like the Luxembourg Gardens, Tuileries Gardens, or the previously mentioned Palais-Royal where you can grab a chair (the recliners that are in many public parks are actually quite comfortable) and do some good people watching.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In addition to heading up Emilio Cigars, Gary Griffith is at the helm of House of Emilio, an organization that provides distribution to what he considers to be the “best of the boutiques.”

The House of Emilio portfolio includes 1502, Bodega, Epicurean, Ezra Zion, Guayacan, Herederos, Nomad, and Rodrigo. “These are up and coming cigar companies that have superior product and great interaction with retailers and cigar aficionados alike,” reads the House of Emilio website.

The Orlando-based Nomad Cigar Co. was founded by Fred “GodFadr” Rewey, a man who considers great tobacco, great construction, and great blending to be the cornerstones of a great cigar. If you read through Nomad’s website, you’ll notice a theme of quality over quantity. “Nomad cigars are only rolled with the finest tobacco,” says Rewey. “It is because of this fact, from time to time, we have a shortage. Bottom line, if the tobacco does not pass inspection, it doesn’t go in the cigar.”

Among Nomad’s several cigar lines is S-307 (the “S” is for the Sumatra wrapper, the “307” for the square mileage of Estelí, Nicaragua). This is Nomad’s first full-production Nicaraguan smoke, handmade at Tobacalera A.J. Fernandez. In addition to the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper it has an Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos.

The Nomad S-307 comes in five sizes: Toro (6 x 50), Robusto (5 x 50), Torpedo (6.5 x 52), Toro Grande (6 x 58), and Corona (5.5 x 46). The latter is box-pressed, costs about $7, and has a light brown wrapper with pre-light notes of milk chocolate.

After setting a light, the loosely packed Corona yields a well-balanced profile with a chalky texture. Flavors include oak, black pepper, creamy peanut, and leather. The body is medium and the aftertaste is dry with faint spices that linger on the tip of the tongue.

As the cigar progresses, it’s hard to ignore two distinguishing physical properties. First, the draw is supremely loose, with each easy puff resulting in ample smoke. It’s almost as if no effort is required to draw on the Corona. And second, the straight burn line has a black mascara that’s as thick as any I can recall. The resulting white ash is light and billowy.

After smoking three samples, I’ve concluded there are minimal changes in the taste of the S-307 from start to finish. But I don’t count that as a negative. I enjoy the Corona’s flavor, and you can’t really complain about the construction or the price. For those reasons, I’m awarding this Nomad smoke a solid rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

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.”

This is the latest “Exclusivo Francia” offering for the France-centric Quai d’Orsay brand. According to Habanos, the cigar was developed in collaboration with SEITA, the French distributor of Cuban cigars that celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2014. The attractive, light golden cigar features flavors of bread, hay, cream, and a bit of cedar. It’s consistent from start to finish, mild, and very smooth. At around $16 each, it’s not the best value but, let’s face it, you’re paying a premium for a limited edition and distribution Cuban cigar.

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.”

I was in New Hampshire for work this week and, at the end of a long day of meetings, I had the opportunity to duck into a tobacconist and catch up on some emails. While the shop had a nice selection of cigars, I was ultimately drawn to an old favorite: Undercrown by Drew Estate. The large Corona Doble (7 x 54) was just what I needed to plow through a few hours in front of the laptop. I prefer Undercrown in the smaller Corona ¡Viva! format, but the Corona Doble performed well with rich notes of nut, creamy sweetness, espresso, and black pepper spice. Something about the combination of the Otapan Negro Último Corte wrapper with the T52 Habano stalk-cut binder just hits me the right way. I paid $8.50 for the Corona Doble and found it to be a wise investment.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Christian Eiroa may not be as widely known as some other cigar blenders, but he has created an indelible legacy. His Camacho brand helped create the market for strong cigars that now forms a permanent part of the industry, while his Camp Camacho in Honduras was a pioneering effort in the growing trend of cigar tourism to Latin America.

But Eiroa, a young man with a new operation, is anything but a historical figure. These days, he’s putting terrific new cigars on the shelves at a fairly rapid pace. I’ve been strongly impressed by his Eiroa line and other brands in which he’s had a hand, such as Asylum.

Now, I can add CLE Plus to the growing list. CLE, in case you hadn’t guessed, are Eiroa’s initials. His middle name is Luis.

This Honduron puro has been on the market about a year, a presentation standout with a striking thin red band and a nutty, mouth-watering pre-light aroma from its somewhat mottled brown Corojo wrapper.

CLE Plus comes in four sizes. The Robusto—a familiar five inches long with a ring gauge of 50—is the only vitola I’ve smoked, but as I’ve been working my way through a five-pack, it seems to me to be the perfect size for this bold cigar. Large enough for a satisfying experience but not so much cigar that you’ve had too much by the end.

With a bit of spice, deep leather, a little wood, and an occasional touch of sweetness, this is a cigar blended to be sure of what it is and to stay with it. There’s no harshness, no bitterness, and no nicotine bite.

Construction is excellent, with a straight burn, lots of smoke and a great draw. The Robusto runs about $8 per stick.

CLE Plus is, in my estimation, a first-class cigar, perhaps a bit too intense for a new smoker but one that an experienced hand shouldn’t miss. I give it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In a perfect world, I would have one large humidor, preferably a walk-in, with all the cigars easily accessible, sorted by name, and labeled with received dates. It would make aging simpler, humidification easier to monitor, and my whole stash more organized.

Reality is much different. At any given time I have anywhere from five to seven humidors. The variance is explained by the fact that, depending on inventory, I sometimes outfit two large Tupperware containers with Spanish cedar to store spillover smokes. While I’d love to just have one humidor instead of a handful of medium- to small-sized humidors, the five traditional wooden humidors all carry sentimental value (i.e., the one I got for my wedding that’s engraved with the wedding date), so I just can’t bring myself to consolidate.

One challenge with this setup is monitoring the humidification levels of each individual humidor. Each humidor seems to hold humidity differently, and that can make proper maintenance difficult. My solution? Once every so often (more often in the winter, when the natural air humidity is lower) I examine and rotate the cigars in each humidor. I also check to see if the humidification device in each humidor needs to be “recharged.” The whole process can easily take upwards of an hour, sometimes two.

So I finally broke down and decided to start using Boveda packs instead of the humidification devices that came with the humidors. In all, since I started using Boveda about a year ago, I’ve found my humidity to be more reliable, and there’s much less effort demanded of me to keep my cigars fresh. (Before I get into the details of my experience, I’d like to point out that Boveda is not a sponsor of StogieGuys.com, and the company did not provide any product for me to review. I’m simply trying to solve a personal humidity control need, and I paid my own money to get the product.)

The process of ordering Boveda is easy. Simply consult the chart to determine how many packs you’ll need, select your level of relative humidity (62%, 65%, 69%, 72%, 75%, or 84%), and the packs arrive in a few days. It’s preferable to order more packs than you think you’ll need. “It’s impossible for Boveda to over-humidify beyond the RH on the pack,” according to the Boveda website. “That’s why our usage instructions talk about minimums, not maximums. There’s no such thing as using ‘too much.’ More than the minimum will just last longer.”

Once you’ve arranged the packs inside your humidor(s)—feel free to lay them directly on the cigars—you can essentially forget about the hygrometer (which is likely mis-calibrated anyhow) and only worry about changing out your Boveda packs once they’ve dried up. It’s easy to tell when the packs need to be changed because they feel like dry wafers instead of liquid pillows.

When I placed my first Boveda order, I didn’t get enough packs, and most of them dried out after 60 days. In my experience, buying more packs helps drag out the pack life to 90 days. Still, since these packs are $4 apiece, if you need to buy 10 packs every quarter you’re looking at $160 a year just to keep your cigars humidified. That’s a lot of money considering my old method of using distilled water was essentially free, albeit time-consuming.

I generally like Boveda, but haven’t quite come to terms with the cost. So I’m open to suggestions on other, more cost-effective ways to maintain proper humidity without wasting a lot of time. I encourage you to offer suggestions in the comments below.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys / Boveda

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.”

This cigar’s velvety notes of espresso, marshmallow, dark chocolate, and dry wood leave a lasting impression on the palate. Even more interesting from the Crémo Classic Maduro is the resting smoke, which has a sweet aroma of candied nuts. This blend—a dark Mexican wrapper around Nicaraguan tobaccos—also performs well in the construction department, exhibiting a straight burn, solid ash, and good draw with ample smoke production. Pick up a toro-sized Intrepidus if you come across one.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys