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.

I always have high expectations whenever I light up a La Aurora, and this five inch by 50 ring gauge treat doesn’t disappoint. It delivers a balanced profile of dry vanilla, toasty spice, and that sweet finish that’s typical of Cameroon tobacco. What’s more, living up to its $8-11 price tag, the La Aurora Cameroon Robusto sports outstanding combustion qualities.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Before I met Sean Williams at the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans last month, I had never heard of El Primer Mundo Cigars. I probably should have. In its young existence, his Atlanta-based boutique manufacturer has built a loyal following, earned some impressive reviews, and achieved nationwide distribution.

Sean will be the first to tell you that none of this would have happened without his “friend and mentor,” David Blanco of Los Blancos Cigars. David’s knowledge and connections to the Plasencia family inspired Sean to pursue his dream. “Spending time with these two great families gave me a humbling insight into the tobacco business and a sincere respect for the tradition, heritage, and pride that the great tobacco families hold,” says Sean on his website.

Today, El Primer Mundo is handmade by the Plasencias in Estelí, Nicaragua, and distributed by the Blancos. The tobacco comes from Plasencia’s farms.

In the case of the Habano Criollo Maduro blend, that tobacco includes a binder from Jalapa, filler from Nicaragua and Honduras, and a dark Havana-seed maduro wrapper. The classically sized Robusto is further accented by its beautiful band and rich fragrances of honey and cocoa.

While some of the sweetness carries over to the taste, the first third is dominated by notes of coffee beans, walnuts, and bitter chocolate. A great combination, albeit lacking in balance. The thick, hearty smoke all but coats the mouth for a long, flavorful finish with each easy puff.

The midway point is where the box-pressed Robusto really shines. Just as a black pepper spice enters the equation, a sugary taste creeps in to add depth and complexity and the meandering burn starts to self-correct. Notes of charred steak and intensified spice are evident as the 70-minute smoke comes to a close.

This selection from El Primer Mundo earns my respect for its interesting flavors and decent construction. It shows promise to improve with age, which would validate its $7-8 price tag. So, in my book, the Habano Criollo Maduro Robusto earns three and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Philip Wynne, maker of Felipe Gregorio Cigars, has created many distinct blends, including some using Moroccan tobacco introduced at this year’s IPCPR Trade Show. But one blend we hadn’t seen from him until this year was a Dominican Puro.

“Pure” is a reference is to the Dominican-grown tobacco that makes up this new smoke. In fact, according to FG’s website, it all comes from a single finca (or farm) in the Cibao Valley.

Available in three sizes—Churchill (7 x 47), Corona (5 x 44), and Torpedo (5 x 54)—the blend is aged in cedar trunks for at least six months before being boxed. When it finally arrives in stores, Pure retails for around $10 each.

The Dominican wrapper is very oily with a few noticeable veins. The somewhat squared Torpedo is firm and well-constructed, and pre-light there are subtle fruit notes of dates.

Once lit, the cigar gives off a variety of intense flavors. Pure has lots of leather, cedar, and pepper with a background of cognac with a savory, charred meat. The finish is long and woody.

Despite the force of the flavors, Pure isn’t necessarily what I’d call a full-bodied smoke. Medium to full is a more apt description, especially since the final third mellows to more of a classic medium-bodied smoke.

As you’d expect from a cigar that costs $10, construction is notable with an even burn, a sturdy ash, and a draw with just the right amount of resistance. I was, however, disappointed that both of the samples I smoked for this review required re-lights in the final third because they extinguished. But Pure’s unique flavor profile compelled me to go on.

Pure has admirable construction, plenty of intensity, and remarkable complexity for a cigar built with tobacco all from one farm. That’s enough to earn the Felipe Gregorio Pure Torpedo a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

It’s no secret that it’s becoming harder and harder to find a place to smoke. Smoking bans have forced us out of offices, restaurants, and bars, and smoking bans now target outdoor areas, multi-unit apartment buildings, and even cars.

Smoking ban advocates claim their concern is protecting people from exposure to secondhand smoke. So they shouldn’t object to people smoking in a cigar shop, right?

After all, no one enters their local brick and mortar because they don’t want to be around smoke; they go there to enjoy cigars and hang out with fellow smokers. Those who work in cigar shops do so because they are passionate about cigars, and often the B&M is the only place they can smoke while at work.

But as you might guess, it isn’t that simple when it comes to the anti-smoking zealots. Instead, the last havens of cigar smokers are under siege, just like so many other places.

Indeed, in a handbook titled “Fundamentals of SmokefreeWorkplace Laws,” a group of anti-tobacco lobbying organizations lay out their strategy for spreading smoking bans, and include a passage on opposing any exemptions for tobacco retail shops, cigar bars, or hookah bars. (The “handbook” also opposes exemptions for private clubs, grandfather clauses, and any exemptions for financial hardships.)

But bans aren’t the only foes of cigar stores. Even where smoking is allowed, regulations are designed to do harm. In New York City, for example, the century-old Barclay Rex cigar store recently found itself in trouble with city inspectors who cited the shop for serving free coffee to its customers using a $9,000 automatic espresso maker. The violation was for serving “food” without a permit. Problem is, according to New York’s strict smoking ban, no place that allows smoking can have such a permit.

Other shops in New York have had similar problems.  When Nat Sherman launched it’s new flagship store in Midtown, it opened a downstairs members-only lounge, complete with a full bar. But during my last visit I was told that the bar was temporarily closed while they waited for the appropriate approval from city authorities. Free coffee and water were provided, so don’t tell the city officials.

These are just some of the ways cigar shops are being targeted. Unlike online retailers, who can pick their base of operations to minimize taxes, local shops can be instantly driven out of business by massive tobacco tax hikes or complete bans.

The shame of it is that cigar stores are the lifeblood of cigar culture.  They’re where we go to sample new cigars, get recommendations about what to try, and enjoy the camaraderie of our fellow smokers. That’s why it’s so critical that we support our local B&Ms and defend them against these attacks.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I have a hard time sleeping on airplanes. So flying back after last month’s IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans, I found myself mentally drooling over all the new releases that I couldn’t wait to try. Needless to say, before we landed at Dulles International, I had pretty much decided that my gorgeous sample of an Entubar Torpedo wouldn’t last long in my humidor.

This blend carries the new Berger & Argenti brand name. Based in Miami, the company was launched in August by Don Kiki Berger—who fashions the Cupido, Cubano Claro, and Don Kiki lines for Cuban Crafters—and Albert and Michael Argenti of Cuban Imports, Inc.

Entubar is Berger & Argenti’s flagship blend. According to materials I picked up at the convention, it is “a tribute to the time-honored Cuban cigar making technique” of the same name. That procedure includes “creating delicate ‘scrolls’ of rich, flavorful tobacco” and tightly bunching the Nicaraguan and Dominican filler leaves within the Nicaraguan binder.

When you glance at the Torpedo (6.75 x 56), the first thing you’re likely to notice is the twisted bunch of filler that protrudes from the foot. Closer inspection reveals a virtually flawless and oily Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed desflorado wrapper, a carefully crafted and sharply pointed cap, and a faint pre-light aroma of sweet hay. These characteristics help explain my eagerness to light up this cigar.

Entubar is marketed as “a superior smoking experience defined by a mosaic of complex flavors, a sweet finish, and an unsurpassed draw.” I won’t disagree. With a balanced variety of tastes, the first third will impress any cigar enthusiast. The profile includes cereals, cream, grass, roasted nuts, and onion spice. And the combustion qualities are downright remarkable.

As the burn line’s thick mascara moves toward the middle of the stick, the Entubar’s flavors increase in intensity. A spicy tingle is present on the lips, and notes of bitter coffee beans join in to add depth down the home stretch. I had all but fallen in love with this traditional-tasting cigar before it was time to lay it to rest.

Brilliant cigars are often expensive cigars, and the Entubar Torpedo is no exception. A single sells for around $11, and a Spanish cedar box of 20 sells for $220. This is money well spent, however, and I wholeheartedly recommend you give this treasure a try when it shows up at your local B&M. For great complexity and construction—and for everything I’ve come to expect from Don Kiki and more—the Berger & Argenti Entubar Torpedo earns five stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five stogie-rated cigars can be found 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 take on a single cigar.

With everyone focusing on all the new treats from this month’s IPCPR Trade Show, I thought it appropriate to reconnect with a great bang-for-the-buck release from last year: the ML3 from Arganese. This one’s an all-ligero blend with a dark Brazilian maduro wrapper and Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. Retail on the classically-sized Robusto is $5. When I reviewed it a year ago, I enjoyed this cigar’s solid construction and bold taste of dark chocolate, bitter espresso, and pepper. Not much has changed.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

United Tobacco—also known as EO Brands—has created some great blends since it was founded in 2003 by Eddie Ortega and Erik Espinosa. The 601 Green and Cubao come to mind as particularly outstanding. But before I take a look at their newest lines, Murcielago and Cubao Maduro, I thought it appropriate to review Mi Barrio, which debuted at the IPCPR Trade Show last summer.

Spanish for “my neighborhood,” Mi Barrio boxes feature the artwork of Edin Gutierrez, a Cuban-influenced artist who is good friends with Don Pepin Garcia and Orestes Espinoza (Erik’s father). The two are portrayed on Mi Barrio bands.

This blend is a limited edition seasonal release, available four times per year in batches of 100,000 sticks. While EO’s website maintains that each release will be the same unique size and shape with a different blend, we have reason to believe the opposite.

The first Mi Barrio, El Puro, was a large (7.5 x 52) Nicaraguan puro. The El Aceres that I sampled for this review, however, are clearly a different size (6 x 50) and probably the same blend. My colleague pointed out this anomaly in a recent Quick Smoke.

At any rate, El Acere hit the market in October 2008 with a price tag in the lofty $9-11 range. It features a Nicaraguan habano wrapper and binder and filler tobaccos from Esteí and Jalapa, respectively. The pre-light aroma of cocoa and vanilla is simply amazing—enough to make your mouth water.

The actual taste of the smoke, however, doesn’t really live up to expectations. While I enjoy El Acere’s unwavering flavor of cedar, spice, and dark chocolate, I wish it included more balance. The overall profile, for instance, is a tad salty for my liking. And instead of being thick and rich, the smoke is light and airy, contributing to its hollow texture.

Perhaps I’m being too critical. This is, by most accounts, a very fine medium-bodied cigar with many of good qualities. The flavor is nice, the resting smoke is intoxicating, and the combustion qualities are top-notch. But I just keep thinking how much better El Acere would be with a little more depth, especially for the price.

Maybe other sizes are better suited for this blend. So, assuming EO’s website is wrong and my colleagues and I are right, I’ll have to try the other Mi Barrio releases (El Forro and El Billetero) to see if they strike the right chord with me. For now, the El Acere earns three stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys