The Stogie Guys

Much of what I smoke is driven by the needs of StogieGuys.com: what we haven’t yet reviewed, what readers are asking us to review, what’s new, etc. This requires a ton of variety. (I know it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it). When I’m just smoking for sheer enjoyment, though, I find myself favoring a few select blends at any given time.

Over the past few days I’ve been smoking more for enjoyment and less for this site. If you follow us on Facebook, you’ll note that I recently took a brief vacation to Florida—a trip that afforded me the luxury of firing up whatever I wanted. I think it’s telling of my taste to look at the cigars I decided to take to Florida.

Tesa Gran Cru Limited Edition. This one-size, box-pressed cigar is all about balance. Anyone can put together a spicy, heavy-handed powerhouse, but few can construct a medium-bodied blend with such equilibrium as Tesa’s Chris Kelly. This torpedo’s Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, criollo ’98 binder from Jalapa, and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos combine to yield a woodsy flavor with notes of cream, salty peanut, and coffee. You can bet I’ll be all over this smoke again as soon as more become available at Kelly’s Chicago shop.

Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve. Remember this cigar? It was released in the summer of 2011 and then, as far as I can tell, sort of forgotten. But I’ve been impressed by the single size, a torpedo (6.1 x 52) with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The flavor has a dry spice with earth, coffee, and caramel. Normally priced around $12, my local shop put the Grand Reserve on special for $9.50 earlier this year, and I decided to stock up. I’m glad I did as it’s currently a favorite.

God of Fire Serie B Double Robusto 2011. I know I reviewed this cigar very recently. I know Prometheus is one of our advertisers. Ever since I tried the Serie B Double Robusto 2011, though, I’ve seriously been hooked. And for good reason. The Double Robusto (5.75 x 52) has an Ecuadorian sun-grown wrapper and a great profile of pepper, raisin, dark chocolate, and espresso. It also smokes like a champ, as it should for $22. I can’t afford to smoke this cigar too frequently, but my vacation was a nice excuse to burn a few of these.

Pinar del Rio Small Batch Reserve Habano Gran Toro. No, not everything on my list has to be expensive. While recently I’ve been reaching for a fair number of super-premiums, I realize this isn’t sustainable. So I’ve also been smoking a few more modestly priced smokes, like the Small Batch Reserve Habano Gran Toro from Pinar del Rio, which packs a flavor of sweet wood for about $6. It also boasts the excellent construction I’ve come to expect from Abe Flores’ brand.

Now these aren’t the same cigars I chose to smoke for pure enjoyment a few months ago, and they probably won’t be the same cigars I’ll choose months from now. My tastes tend to be somewhat seasonal. Just like I prefer rum in the summer and bourbon in the winter, I tend towards milder, creamier smokes in the summer and heartier, spicier cigars in the winter.

In addition, no matter how good a cigar is, I find the principle of diminishing marginal utility starts to apply if I fire up the same stick over and over. So it makes sense for me to rotate my favorites, even as they get interspersed with the cigars I smoke for this website.

In any event, I figured it might be interesting for me to share what cigars I’ve been selecting from my stash lately. Feel free to share your current favorites in the comments below.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Yesterday, voters in North Dakota and Missouri decided on ballot questions that will impact cigar rights in those states. While Missouri voters rejected the anti-tobacco “Prop B,” voters in North Dakota approved Measure 4.

North Dakota’s Measure 4, a statewide smoking ban to criminalize indoor smoking in virtually all “public” places including cigar shops, overwhelmingly passed 66% to 34%. The law calls for violators of the restrictive ban to be fined $50, and for a bar proprietor who allowed smoking in spite of the ban to have his or her liquor and tobacco sales licenses revoked. Arguments made by cigar smokers and the hospitality industry that the blanket smoking ban would infringe on property rights, harm small businesses, and unfairly restrict personal choices to smoke were not enough to overcome intense lobbying by anti-tobacco groups.

Prop. B in Missouri would have increased the state tax on cigars by 15% if passed, but the move appears to have failed by a slim margin. The latest numbers show “no” with 50.8% and “yes” with 40.2%, with a 42,000 vote difference out of nearly 2.7 million votes cast.

Any revenue from the tax increase was to be earmarked in equal proportions for education and smoking cessation programs, but critics point out that politicians regularly and easily raid such funds, so there was no guarantee of any net funding increase in the designated areas. Further, some people cautioned that raising the tobacco tax would just drive cigarette sales to neighboring states, and presumably would drive cigar sales to online retailers.

It’s not clear if the margin of defeat for Proposition B is enough to avoid a lengthy recount process. In early June voters in California narrowly rejected a 73% tobacco tax increase but, due to an extended recount and certification process, the result wasn’t finalized until a little over a month ago.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Sometimes those of us who devote lots of time and energy to cigars forget that there are many, many smokers who enjoy them but aren’t nearly as involved. They may not have the time or the inclination—or both—to delve deeply into such topics as the differences in Nicaraguan tobaccos grown in various regions of the country, or a comparison of the relative merits of entubar and accordion bunching.

No problem. After all, cigar smoking should be about enjoyment. For some, that means acquiring and evaluating lots of information. For others, it means just lighting up. But in reading various cigar forums, I know there are always newcomers confused by some of the basics. Here are a few explanations that I hope will help.

Wrapper. This is the leaf that covers the cigar, the tobacco that you see. The varieties and origins can seem nearly infinite. Despite what you may hear, a darker wrapper does not automatically mean a stronger cigar. Maduro (Spanish for ripe or mature) wrappers darken as they’re processed and often have a sweeter characteristic.

Filler. This tobacco comprises the majority of the cigar and forms the inner component. Premium cigars are nearly always long-filler, meaning the tobacco runs the length of the cigar. Chopped, cut, or sandwich filler is usually found in less expensive cigars, and it usually consists of clippings from long-filler cigars.

Construction. There are many ways to make cigars, but the most basic categories are machine-made and handmade. Most machine-made cigars use homogenized tobacco, paper, and other components and, for my taste, these bear about as much resemblance to premium cigars as does chalk to cheese. (You can read more of my thoughts on them here.) Premium cigars are almost always hand-rolled, though that includes the use of some tools, even mechanical ones such as the Lieberman machine. Premium cigars are 100% tobacco.

Resources. Well, you’re already at the best one, right? Explore the categories at the top of this page and use the search function for whatever is on your mind. If you need more, try our Cigar University or Tobacconist University. And for those interested in history, nothing comes close to the extraordinary National Cigar Museum.

And if you have other questions about cigar basics or more advanced curiosities, please let us know in the comments below.

–George E

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.”

The size of this monster of a cigar (5 x 62) makes me skeptical, but knowing the other fantastic cigars made by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, I had to try it. The large ring gauge format features an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It’s very earthy and full-bodied with dark chocolate and a little spice. The fat cigar features excellent construction and produces loads of thick smoke. I picked this cigar up from Emerson’s (where you can pickup a four-cigar sampler of the line for $35) and despite the unwieldy size I’m pleasantly surprised.

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 verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Boutique Blends Cigars, a company formerly known as Oliveros, released the SWAG SoBe blend this summer to honor (in both name and style) the Miami neighborhood of South Beach. It is comprised completely of ligero Habano tobacco from the Dominican Republic. But with a medium-bodied profile of black pepper, dry wood, and a fair amount of spice, the VIP (4.5 x 48), as advertised, has a more powerful stature than you might expect from a Dominican puro. Construction is excellent. And the price of about $6 for a single is more than fair, making this an easy recommendation.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Quesada (SAG Imports/MATASA) makes some very good cigars, and the Garcias (My Father Cigars) need no introduction. So the project between Patricia Quesada, Raquel Quesada, and Janny Garcia—the “tres reynas” (three queens)—is a promising collaboration.

“Janny is like a sister to us…We always have such a great time together, so we thought it would be fun to make a cigar that would represent our special bond. It is a project we have been discussing for a while and are so excited to finally be able to share it with the world,” Raquel Quesada said of their cigar.

The cigar is made at the Garcia’s My Fathers Cigars Factory in Nicaragua. Available in three sizes—Robusto (5 x 50), Torpedo (6 x 54), and Gordo (6 x 60)—it sells for $7-8 each, with only 1,000 boxes of each vitola made. The cigar features a dark Connecticut broadleaf wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.

Pre-light the well-made Robusto (I smoked three for this review) features sweet tobacco and raisin flavors. Once lit, I find a combination of coffee, vanilla bean, milk chocolate, and hint of grass.

I was a little surprised by the lack of strength in this cigar given its Nicaraguan and broadleaf components. I’d classify it as mild- to medium-bodied. The only spice that makes an appearance is a hint of black pepper that comes and goes.

Still, it’s well-constructed, nicely balanced, and features a notably cool smoke. It’s the type of cigar that goes nicely with a cup of coffee in the morning or afternoon.

All around it’s a solid smoke: well-made, pleasant, balanced, and rich. Even though I didn’t find it to be exceptional, it earns a rating of rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Here’s one of those instantly recognizable cigars that needs no introduction, a Cuban that has received its fair share of praise since it was released as the “Partagas Pirámide” in 2000.

Notable among the Partagas Serie P No. 2’s commendations is the number four spot on Cigar Aficionado’s list of the best cigars of 2011. “The cigar shares the same dimensions as all of Cuba’s pirámides, and the Partagas Serie P No. 2 is currently smoking better than all of them, even the legendary Montecristo No. 2,” wrote the magazine. “It has been transformed into something incredible, a perfect example of the level of top-quality smokes that are being made in Cuba today.”

When CA rated the Serie P No. 2, it was examining samples with box dates of March 2011. I don’t have the luxury of knowing the box date of the two samples I’m smoking for this review. While I’m very confident in the authenticity of the cigars, I did not acquire an entire box. I hope you’ll forgive me since each No. 2 costs about $18.

Carefully sliding the Cuban out of its black, cedar-lined aluminum tube, the first thing I notice is the tremendous amount of oils on the mottled Colorado wrapper. I also take note of the substantial weight of the cigar (6.1 x 52), which is explained by the dense cross-section of filler tobacco that’s visible from the foot. Pre-light the aroma is of hay and syrup.

After lighting the foot, the initial flavor is very well balanced with tastes as varied as white pepper, cream, and roasted nut. The texture is bready. I find a little spice and some kick, but the profile is decidedly medium-bodied. It’s the sort of start you hope for if you spend $18 on a single.

So I wasn’t terribly disappointed to find the Serie P No. 2 remaining consistent in flavor from light to nub. Aside from a gradual increase in intensity as the end draws near, there aren’t many discernible changes in taste, save for a texture change from bready to syrupy. Construction was OK, but the burn—which requires a few touch-ups along the way to stay even—leaves something to be desired.

I guess I was hoping for something a little more exciting given the Serie P No.2’s reputation and price. While I enjoyed the cigar thoroughly, I’m taking into account the fact that you can buy better (non-Cuban) smokes for a fraction of the price when I award it four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys