The Stogie Guys

The StogieGuys.com team has been writing about cigars daily for well over five years now. Yet in the 1,850 plus articles we’ve authored to date, I don’t think my colleagues or I have ever explicitly stated why we smoke cigars.

Perhaps we don’t need to. I suppose we all have our reasons. I smoke cigars. You smoke cigars. The fellow patrons at your local tobacconist, your herf buddies, perhaps even some of your family members…they all smoke cigars. At the end of the day, we’ve all come to the same conclusion: that a cigar-filled life is better than a cigar-less life. Amen to that.

And so we smoke. Despite the chorus of negative publicity, occasional dirty looks, and mountains of misinformation, we consciously select, buy, and smoke cigars. We keep carefully maintained humidors. We read about cigars. We pay high prices for rare smokes. And we routinely set aside 90 minutes or more to enjoy tobacco. This is what makes us Brothers of the Leaf.

I’ve identified four broad reasons why I love cigars, and why I go to great lengths to make room for premium tobacco in my life:

The taste. Words like leather, cocoa, nuts, pepper, cream, cedar, caramel, floral, etc. appear in just about every cigar review. Does any cigar actually taste like leather? Not really. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten leather. But there are no words in our vernacular that accurately describe the sensation of a fine-tasting cigar. This uniqueness in taste makes cigars indispensable.

Relaxation. I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but premium tobacco seems to soothe my soul unlike anything else. The sense of relaxation I get from an end-of-the-day cigar is priceless. Tobacco may be a stimulant, but what it seems to stimulate in me is peace of mind and clarity of thought.

The hobby. Loving cigars is about much more than the mere act of smoking. The combined efforts of caring for cigars, collecting them, seeking out rare smokes, and reading about the industry amount to a wonderful, dynamic hobby. When I was a kid I used to obsess over baseball cards; now I obsess over cigars.

Friends and family. Above all else, I love how cigars promote gathering and conversation among friends and family. Cigars are the ultimate icebreakers, helping me connect with new and old acquaintances alike. Some of the best, most memorable conversations that I can recall took place over a fine cigar. And nothing like a cigar helps you commemorate a special occasion with some great company.

So that’s why I smoke cigars. Feel free to let us know what you love about cigars in the comments below.

–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.”

Arturo Fuente’s Sun Grown line has always been a favorite of mine, and this Belicoso (5.75 x 52) shows why. With a dark, oily, and somewhat veiny Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper, it has a rich, inviting look to go along with excellent construction and combustion properties. It’s more full-bodied than the newer Magnum Sun Grown line and displays intense earth and cedar with just the right amounts of spice and sweetness. It’s medium- to full-bodied with good balance. Best of all, it’s an affordable smoke (I recall buying the box of 24 for around $100) that I always feel comfortable recommending to a novice or a cigar connoisseur.

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.”

In celebration of Smoke Inn’s 15th Anniversary, Padrón was commissioned to make a special cigar for owner Abe Dababneh. The result is a thick (6 x 60) version of the 1964 Anniversary Series, available in either Maduro or Natural varieties, retailing for $18.50 each. The SI-15 Maduro is expertly constructed, as one might expect, featuring core flavors of chocolate, leather, and coffee. The large ring gauge results in a cooler, more delicate smoke. Too me the flavors are slightly more muted than I normally experience from this line. But overall this is a good cigar, and if big ring gauges and Padróns are your thing, the SI-15 Maduro is worth a try.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick M

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Fall means one thing to us: football. And since football goes so well with cigars, we thought we’d have a little fun by combining the two…and giving away a ton of cigars in the process.

That’s why we’re pleased to announce the Stogie Guys NFL Pick’Em Challenge. Each week you can try to pick the winner of each game, and we’ll be rewarding the best contestants with cigars.

To join, click here. Enter group number 24973 and the top secret password: “stogie.” At the end of each week during the regular season, the contestant with the most correct picks will receive a six-pack of cigars. And we’ll be lining up an even bigger prize for the grand champion at the end of the season.

We’re limited to 100 entries, so please only register once until we’re at capacity. Anyone who submits multiple entries will be kicked out to make room for others. Ties will be broken by using the Yahoo tiebreaker system and, as an added challenge, all picks are against the spread. (Fine print here.)

Good luck!

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

At first glance, it may seem like P. Benitez Cigars only has one blend. But there are two distinct recipes among the five sizes crafted by the Managua-based boutique manufacturer.

The P. Benitez Lancero, for example, features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper with an Indonesian binder and a filler blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos. While the Churchill and Robusto share these same ingredients, the Torpedo and Maduro3 are made entirely from Cuban-seed Nicaraguan sun-grown tobaccos.

Each of these blends is the result of patient searching by Pedro Benitez, who spent two and a half years sampling blends from different parts of Nicaragua with hopes of creating a new cigar brand. After 18 months of searching, he hand-selected his favorite leaves from Estelí and Jalapa. Then, in January of this year, he officially established P. Benitez Cigars with a factory in Estelí (it has since relocated to Managua, Nicaragua).

Until recently, my only experience with P. Benitez was the Lancero, a fine smoke that combines traditional Connecticut flavors with Nicaraguan zing. I expected something entirely different from the Torpedo, a 6-inch, 52-ring gauge cigar that has a dark, reddish wrapper, a firm feel, and a pre-light aroma of cocoa powder.

Despite the Torpedo’s solid build, you don’t have to clip much tobacco off the cap to obtain an easy draw. Establishing an even light—a delightful process that yields toasty notes akin to s’mores—is simple with a few wooden matches. From there, a profile of dry wood, dark chocolate, and red pepper emerges. The aftertaste is chewy with cherry and some of the sweetness that’s often found with sun-grown tobacco.

This is a complex, balanced profile that lasts the duration of the Torpedo with little variation from light to nub. All the while the physical properties are outstanding. I noticed straight burn lines and solid white ashes across each of the three samples I smoked for this review.

In the end, while comparing the sun-grown Torpedo to the Connecticut-wrapped Lancero may be like comparing apples to oranges, I can’t help but size these two cigars (and these two different blends) up against each other. I’d have to give a slight edge to the Torpedo, which carries a bit more depth and, in my opinion, a more unique flavor. Look for this smoke at retailers in Florida, Pennsylvania, and—hopefully soon—online. It’s worthy of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Those who remember their Spanish Conquistador history (I don’t) know that El Dorado is a mythical city of gold. Despite it’s fictional appearance in the 1998 movie The Mask of Zorro and in the latest (and embarrassingly bad) Indiana Jones flick, centuries of searching could not locate El Dorado.

Yet apparently these seekers were looking in the wrong place, because I struck gold with this rum from Guyana, the small South American country wedged between Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname, and the Caribbean Sea. It’s a 15-year-old blend, which makes it the second youngest of El Dorado siblings. (Patrick A sampled the 12 Year here, and there are also 21 and 25 Year versions.) The 15 Year expression can be found for around $35.

Like blended scotch whiskey, El Dorado’s age actually refers to the youngest rum in the blend, which includes rum that is actually quite a bit older than that, having rested in used bourbon barrels for up to 25 years. The rums that make up the El Dorado blends come from a variety of different style stills, some that have been making rum for hundreds of years. Not exactly golden, 15-plus years has imparted a deep mahogany color on El Dorado. The nose has vanilla, coffee, smoke, and sharp citrus.

My first sip overwhelmingly reminds me of pure black strap molasses, that crude oil-like stuff that would sit for years unused in the back of my mother’s kitchen cabinet. But that’s just the first layer to this rum. Below lurks a complex combination of toasted almonds, calvados brandy, oak, and vanilla. It’s a lot of power up front, that quickly fades into a complex, balanced spirit. The finish is woody with some lingering grapefruit flavors that remind me of the rum’s tropical origins.

This is an excellent rum, with all the characteristics—sweetness, balance, and a hint of tropical citrus—that make fine aged rum my spirit of choice in the summer (as opposed to the winter, when bourbon and scotch is preferred).

El Dorado 15 Year Old is a worthy addition to any rum lover’s liquor cabinet. It goes very well with a medium-bodied Cameroon-wrapped cigar, like the Fuente Hemingway or re-blended La Aurora Cameroon.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

About six years ago, the Bolivar Gold Medal was brought back to life by a cigar shop in Cologne, Germany. Prior to that tobacconist commissioning several thousand boxes, this special release had been long discontinued.

Today the Gold Medal is back in regular production. And, while I can only confirm my hunch via anecdotal evidence, it seems to be experiencing a revival among cigar smokers who are paying more attention to the Cuban Bolivar brand due to the success of the Royal Corona—an excellent smoke that earned a five-stogie rating in September 2008. (more…)