The Stogie Guys

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Last summer, Drew Estate unveiled three smaller vitolas for Liga Privada No. 9 and T52 lines—Corona Viva, Short Panatela, and Petit Corona—plus the Unico Serie Nasty Fritas. “The Nasty Fritas utilizes a Connecticut Broadleaf Oscuro wrapper and a plantation-grown Brazilian Mata Fina binder over Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers,” read a press release dated from July 2018. “Like the Papas Fritas, the Nasty Fritas filler tobacco incorporates leftover tobacco leaves that are short cut through the manufacture of Liga Privada No. 9 and Liga Privada T52 cigars.” Nasty Fritas is a “conical vitola” measuring just shy of 4 inches long with a ring gauge of 52 at its widest point. It is sold in 50-count boxes for $325, or $6.50 per cigar, and features a pigtail cap and closed foot. The burn line is a bit temperamental, but the flavors—cocoa, coffee, and the hints of sweet grassiness that are (to me, at least) synonymous with Liga—are enough to merit a recommendation.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Few brands have earned the across-the-board high ratings as My Father Cigars. Launched in 2008, My Father is owned by the Garcia family and showcases the cigar blending skills of Don José “Pepin” Garcia and his son, Jaime Garcia.

In 2014, the brand announced a new addition, its first-ever cigar featuring a Connecticut wrapper. My Father Connecticut (or “Edition CT”) features a Connecticut-seed Ecuadorian wrapper. The Nicaraguan binder and filler it surrounds are grown on the Garcia family’s farms.

My Father Connecticut comes in four sizes: Robusto (5.25 x 52), Toro (6.5 x 54), Toro Gordo (6 x 60), and Corona Gorda (6 x 48). I smoked three of the Robustos, which retail for around $8 each.

The tan wrapper with few visible veins surrounds a cigar that is neither overly firm, nor particularly spongy. The draw is open and the cigar’s combustion qualities are superb, with a even burn and ash that easily holds for an inch.

The cigar features a combination of leather, hay, butter, hints of fresh clipped grass, and a white pepper spice. As it progresses, the spice fades as wood and earth notes become more prominent in the complex, medium-bodied profile. Coffee, cinnamon, and cedar spice linger on the finish.

My Father Connecticut is another well-made addition to the My Father portfolio, though its occasionally unbalanced flavors lack the sophistication and complexity of many of the My Father blends that came before and after. Hardly your grandfather’s mild, bland Connecticut-wrapped cigar, the My Father Connecticut Robusto earns a 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

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

One of Pete Johnson’s first cigars, the Tatuaje Nuevitas was one of the few not made by Don José “Pepin” Garcia. The original was made at Tabacalera Tropical until 2007. The reintroduced version (introduced last year) is made at the Garcia family’s My Father Cigars factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. The robusto (5 x 52) is a Nicaraguan puro wrapped in a Corojo ’99 wrapper. The cigar features medium-bodied woodsy flavors with notes of leather, honey, and light baking spices. Construction on the $8 cigar was flawless.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A couple times each week 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 La Aroma de Cuba creation measures 6.9 inches long with a ring gauge of 50—making it a good deal longer and thinner than my only previous experience with this blend, the Maximo. Once the dark San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos are lit, the Romantico starts pleasantly enough with notes of cocoa, gritty earth, a little black pepper, and creamy peanut. There are few changes throughout the well-constructed smoke, though I don’t necessarily consider that a negative. This cigar has loads of elegant flavor. I don’t regret paying north of $11.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Late yesterday reports broke that U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb would be resigning his position next month. The move comes less than two years after Gottlieb was confirmed to the position in May 2017.

According to a Washington Post report, Gottlieb’s resignation didn’t come at the request of the the White House. President Trump tweeted praise of Gottlieb’s job at the FDA. “Scott has helped us to lower drug prices, get a record number of generic drugs approved and onto the market, and so many other things.”

Gottlieb, who had been commuting from Connecticut weekly, told the Post it was a difficult decision. “This is the best job I will ever have. I’m leaving because I need to spend time with my family. I get home late Friday, work on weekends, and come back to Washington on Sunday.”

Gottlieb’s confirmation was supported by cigar industry groups based on his prior writings questioning the logic of FDA tobacco cigar regulations. But his time at the FDA was a mixed bag for cigars. Gottlieb came into the job known for a “harm reduction” approach to tobacco regulations.

One of Gottlieb’s first acts was to delay upcoming deadlines for implementing the FDA’s Deeming Rule, which included new cigars. He later initiated another round of rule-making on whether the FDA should adopt an exemption for premium cigars. Later, Gottlieb pushed for a ban on flavored tobacco products.

Next Commissioner Faces Big Decisions on Cigar Regulations

Gottlieb’s departure leaves the next head of the FDA to make major decisions regarding the FDA’s oversight of premium cigars. A permanent replacement for Gottlieb would need to go through a Senate confirmation process, which would take months given the backlog of other nominees awaiting confirmation votes. An acting commissioner could be named more quickly, but no decisions have been made about who would fill the post.

The FDA could issue a final rule on the premium cigar exemption any day now and, unless it comes in the next month, it may be one of the first big decisions made by the next commissioner. If a final rule isn’t issued before late spring 2020, the rule can be overturned using the Congressional Review Act by a new Congress and president after the 2020 elections.

The next commissioner would also be primed to make final rulings on flavored tobacco products and on an FDA initiative for reduced nicotine tobacco products. Cigar industry groups would do well to lobby the White House for a nominee who is likely to issue premium cigars a long sought-after exemption from FDA rules.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys

When StogieGuys.com first reviewed this line (both the Churchill and Robusto) almost a decade ago, Master Blends 3 was the latest iteration of a limited edition that greatly enhanced Oliva’s standing among cigar enthusiasts.

Now, while Oliva still refers to Master Blends 3 as the third in “a series of limited artisanal blends,” you can find them almost anywhere.

The lightly pressed Torpedo (6 x 52)—one of a trio of available Master Blends 3 vitolas—has a list price over $14, but I’ve seen them as low as $4.25 per stick online when bought 20 at a time.

Master Blends 3 remains a fine smoke, worthy of the strong ratings it garnered in both previous reviews. It kicks off with a burst of cedar that recedes after about a half an inch. Soon, other flavors advance. Along the way I enjoyed tastes of nuts, leather, and sweetness that moved between syrup and cinnamon. The Nicaraguan ligero filler provides a kick and some pepper, especially in the final third.

My only complaints include a fairly flaky ash and several touch-ups being required on each of those I smoked. Not that that was surprising, given the thick, oily nature of the dark sun-grown Broadleaf wrapper that encompasses the Nicaraguan Habano binder.

Each line in the Master Blends series sports a different wrapper. I never smoked the first, but I fondly recall Master Blends 2 as a terrific smoke. There’s been an occasional rumor that Master Blends 4 is on the way. So far, however, rumor is all that’s come out.

And with the sale of Oliva a few years ago (in 2016, Oliva was acquired by the Belgium-based J. Cortès Cigars N.V., a family-owned business focused primarily on machine-made cigars) and former CEO José Oliva stepping down this year to devote more time to politics, it’s even less clear whether anything will happen.

Hopefully, at some point there will be a Master Blends 4 release. I’d like to smoke one. Until that time, though, we can enjoy the Master Blends 3.

For me, the Torpedo is equal to its siblings and also rates four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

A couple times each week we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

An extension of one of Caldwell’s first lines, “Eastern Standard,” this cigar tweaks that blend with a lighter Connecticut Shade wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The Rothschild (4.75 x 52) features above-average construction with a pigtail cap. The profile includes light roast coffee, cream, and hay with a clean, short finish. It’s a pleasant, if not particularly complex, mild cigar.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys