The Stogie Guys

As a big fan of the regular Camacho Corojo line, I was excited to review a cigar from one of the Honduras-based company’s ultra premium blends. Unfortunately, my recent experience with three sticks from the Diploma line—a “monster cigar comprised of the finest authentic corojo crop”—left me disappointed.

Also the name of a vitola in the blend, the Diploma features corojo binder and filler tobaccos and, in this case, comes wrapped with a dark and oily maduro wrapper. It’s a classically sized robusto at five inches with a 50 ring gauge, and the three I smoked for this review were very similar across-the-board.

Prelight I found a rich tobacco aroma with a little hint of cocoa. The cigar feels overly soft and spongy from top to bottom and the bunch of tobacco at the foot looks loose. Not exactly what you expect from an $8 cigar.

It lights easily and the initial burn is razor sharp. The draw is too easy for my taste, sort of like drawing air through a straw with no resistance at all. The taste offers up lots of leather with a hint of cocoa on the finish.

At about the one inch mark, the burn starts to go ragged and eventually demands a correction from the torch. Then, at about the halfway point, the leather and cocoa fade and are replaced by woodiness and spice that remain until the end.

All three Diplomas suffered from the same construction and burn flaws and overall the experience was underwhelming. While the flavors were enjoyable they weren’t overly complex, and once the burn problems started they continued through the majority of the smoke. I expect better construction and a little more complexity from the flavors for the money. For that, this high-end offering from Camacho earns only two stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick M

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Regular readers will recall that Cuban Crafters, one of our favorite boutique manufacturers, has a knack for turning out excellent cigars that won’t put a dent in your wallet. The relatively newly released Cupido Tuxedo is a departure from that model—in price not excellence.

Ranked atop the boutique world in 1999 and 2000 before a hiatus, this Cupido Tuxedo incarnation is Cuban Crafters’ take on a super-premium maduro. Unlike the Estelí-made J.L. Salazar, Don Kiki (Brown and White), La Carolina, Cabinet Selection, and Cameroon blends, this line is handmade in the Dominican Republic by Cuban torcedores.

Tuxedo bears no resemblance to the criollo-wrapped Cupido line (of which the Corto viotla remains one of the best sub-$3 cigar experiences I’ve ever had). With a naturally cured habano maduro wrapper and a Dominican and Nicaraguan long-leaf ligero binder and filler, the Tuxedo looks more elegant and powerful.

Each signed and numbered cedar chest of 25 Churchills sells for $180 and prominently features a “Puff the Magic” slogan. Fairly oily with plenty of toothy texture, these seven inch by 52 ring gauge cigars are firm with no soft spots.

The expertly applied cap makes for a clean and easy cut. Once lit, rich prelight notes transition into a hearty taste of coffee beans with a little sugar. The first inch includes a unique sour finish that sets up the taste buds for the sweetness that follows. From there, the flavor wavers from cocoa and coffee to leather, pepper, and cedar.

Of particular interest is that, across the dozen Churchills we smoked for this review, several—those that we smoked immediately after receiving them—had brief periods of biting bitterness. But a few weeks in the humidor completely cured that flaw and improved the taste dramatically.

Regarding physical properties, the draw is good (especially for a cigar of this length) and the burn is exceptional. Don’t let the white ash build off the foot too long, though, or you’ll end up with a lapful.

In the end, while the price isn’t nearly as friendly as other Cuban Crafters creations, we enjoyed this cigar immensely. Given the complex, well-balanced flavors and the obvious quality of craftsmanship, we give the Cupido Tuxedo Churchill four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A & George E

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.

As my colleague wrote in his October review, this monstrosity (6.4 x 60) features a medium-bodied flavor of tobacco and earth that persists for what seems like days. And that’s ultimately The Freak’s downfall: a consistently one-dimensional taste that often overstays its welcome. But with good construction and a reasonable cost of about $5 per stick, this Nicaraguan-wrapped stogie makes a decent golf course or barbeque companion.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Pairing cigars with beer is more challenging than pairing them with more traditional cigar spirits. While nearly any good bourbon, scotch, or rum will go well with nearly any good cigar, beer’s flavor profile is more difficult to match up with stogies.

With that in mind, I popped open a few bottles of Geary’s Pale Ale to see if it had the type of flavor that would pair well with beer. Geary’s is brewed in Portland, Maine, and is widely available in New England. Elsewhere Geary’s is tougher to find, so when I found it at a Total Wine here in Northern Virginia I grabbed a six-pack.

The Pale Ale is the beer that Geary’s is best known for and, according to Geary’s website, it is “a classic British pale ale with a nod to the legendary beers of Burton-on-Trent. Copper-colored, dry, clean, and crisp with lots of late hope taste in an appetizing complex with ale fruitiness from imported Hampshire yeast.”

A half inch of light, frothy head settled on top of the reddish brown ale after I poured a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Geary’s doesn’t have as much intense hoppiness on the nose as many pale ales, but it seemed to have a pleasant floral aroma.

When I got down to tasting, I found a crisp, heavily carbonated beer with an almost champagne-like quality. I also detected citrus to go along with a classic, if understated, pale ale hoppiness, as well as a hint of fruity sweetness as if a bit of hard cider had been mixed in.

This is an excellent summer beer that will refresh on its own, or accompany a meal of lobster (such as the one that adorns the label). Pairing it with a cigar proved a little more challenging.

The lightness means that it would be overpowered by a full-bodied cigar and almost any maduro. A mild Connecticut-wrapped cigar, however, seemed to pair quite well. I’d recommend the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne, the Arganese Connecticut Ambassador, or the Romeo y Julieta Vintage line.

So, the next time you have the chance, I suggest you twist open a Geary’s (this rare micro brew that uses twist-off caps) and light up your favorite mild smoke that features a Connecticut wrapper. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to spend a warm summer afternoon.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

It seems like every week another study comes out on the subject of tobacco. Nearly all are done by advocates of increased “tobacco control” (a euphemism for higher tobacco taxes and expanded smoking bans) and they all seem to come to the same conclusion: more “tobacco control” is needed.

Now if the tobacco industry was presenting study after study that concluded that we need fewer smoking bans and lower tobacco taxes, you can bet that reporters and politicians wouldn’t blindly believe their claims. When the anti-tobacco industry has a study that agrees with their anti-tobacco agenda, however, the results are dutifully reported as scientific fact without so much as a second look.

But if the media and politicians aren’t doing their jobs, who can you turn to to get a straight scoop? One of the best sources is Michael Siegel, who runs a blog called The Rest of the Story.

Siegel, himself a doctor and professor of public health, is an unlikely foe of anti-tobacco activists, especially since he is an advocate of workplace smoking bans. According to a bio on Siegel’s organization, The Center for Public Accountability in Tobacco Control, Siegel is “a physician with 21 years of experience in tobacco control who recently became disillusioned by the direction in which the anti-smoking movement is going.”

According to Siegel, more and more “[t]he tactics being used by many anti-smoking organizations have become questionable, including misleading and deceiving the public, improperly attacking individuals, and improperly using kids to promote a political agenda.” When anti-tobacco activists deemed those who question the link between second hand smoke and lung cancer the equivalent of “holocaust deniers,” Siegel called them out for their fanaticism.

As a doctor and researcher, Siegel has the technical background to examine the methodology of studies to see if the conclusions claimed are actually supported. He finds that they regularly aren’t, such as the often-repeated claim that just a few minutes of exposure to second hand smoke has negative lasting health effects.

Siegel’s writings are invaluable in exposing the “ends justify the means” nature of much of the anti-tobacco movement, whose once possibly well-intentioned aims seem to have turned into an all-out propaganda campaign against an individual’s right to smoke.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Actonel

With a winkled texture, a soft feel, and a few green splotches, I had every reason to be leery of this relatively unknown cigar when I removed it from a Bravo five-pack that was labeled “100% pure gold.” But this Colombian puro—that’s right, Colombian puro—made a real believer out of me.

Blended by Roberto Juarez and Antonio de Jesus, this series is one of five puro blends made by Bravo in the Andean mountain range of Colombia, “the same location as some of the world’s finest coffee beans.” It features an Ecuadoran-seed wrapper, a Connecticut-inspired binder, and a filler with Cuban ancestry.

Handmade by artisans at the Duran Factory in Santander, Colombia, the six inch by 50 ring gauge Toro has a flat, hastily applied cap and a shade-grown look. It sells for about $5 apiece when bought by the box from select retailers. I’ve wanted to try this particular vitola ever since our friends at Keepers of the Flame named it one of the best mild cigars of 2008.

Based on appearance, I was preparing myself for disappointment. This cigar, however, serves as a fine example of why you can’t judge a stogie by looks alone.

After touching flame to the tobacco, the prelight notes of delicate hay give way to a mild taste of cream, toast, and traces of spice. The flavor builds after the first inch to take on oak, vanilla, and honey characteristics.

Where many cigars are bold and boisterous, this Bravo is subtle and patiently delectable. The profile is particularly intriguing, allowing the smoker to discover the complexity on his own instead of hitting him over the head with it.

With an all-around fantastic burn, a well-behaved ash, and a good draw, the experience stays enjoyable to the nub. I noticed little increase in spice and no harshness in the two Toros I sampled.

It’s safe to say I am pleasantly surprised by this mild treat and its uncompromisingly gentle yet intricate aroma. Maybe there’s something about Colombian tobacco. Or maybe the folks over at Bravo really know how to develop excellent cigars. Either way, the Colombian Gold Toro is worthy of four 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 take on a single cigar.

At a bargain price of $3-4 per stick, this Cameroon-wrapped classic is much more accessible than Fuente’s high-priced Hemmingway, Anejo, Don Carlos, and Opus X lines. It features a straight burn and charismatic flavors of nut, pine, herbs, and toast. If you ask me, the Flor Fina 8-5-8 (6 x 47) is the tobacco equivalent of homemade chicken soup—inviting, reliable, and downright comforting.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys