The Stogie Guys

After the introduction of the Jameson Cigar Co. last March, and bolstered by a generous web offer of two sticks and a T-shirt for the cost of postage, it seemed like the entire online cigar community was writing about the new cigar outfit. So Jameson’s strategy had worked. The only problem, however, were the mixed reviews of the company’s original blend.

As Jameson President Brad Mayo told me via email, that Sumatra-wrapped line, now called the Red Label, was re-blended “due to several factors, including changes at the factory and problems with the wrapper. It now consists of an all Dominican filler, Honduran binder, and Ecuadorian wrapper.”

While StogieGuys.com has yet to try Jameson’s new Red, today I set my sights on the Black Label, a “rich, complex cigar that delivers bold flavors.” It boats a Brazilian ariparaca leaf that’s dark, textured, and unrefined. Such traits are characteristic of tobacco from South America’s largest nation, including mata fina, one of my all-time favorites.

The five inch by 44 ring gauge Corona sports a reddish hue and dimensions that are perfect for outdoor smoking during the winter months. The three I smoked for this review averaged about 40 minutes from light to nub.

Well-received by cigar website reviewers, the Black Label starts with a rich taste of black coffee and leather. The voluminous smoke that pours from the clear draw has none of the sweet cocoa flavors that I’ve come to expect from mata fina. Instead, this hearty cigar is intense, especially following the addition of peppercorn after the first inch.

From a straight burn that requires no touch-ups to a firm and sandy ash, I also noted excellent physical properties. This is the sort of stick you can light up and simply enjoy without the worry of maintenance.

To heighten that enjoyment, let me recommend you spark this Corona with a sweet, powerful drink. The taste of El Dorado 12 Year Old pairs well because the sugary rum helps offset this cigar’s spice and bitter notes.

Laying down $5 for a Black Label Corona is a good bargain, particularly if you let these young cigars rest awhile. I have a feeling age will improve their balance. For now, with or without the free T-shirt, this tiny powerhouse 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

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.

This caramel-brown Connecticut shade Robusto (5 x 52) was even better yesterday than when we reviewed it almost one year ago. Eleven months of humidor time seems to have improved the burn and married the creamy tastes of marshmallow, chocolate, spice, and graham into one balanced flavor. If you haven’t tried this 2007 release yet, pick up a few and employ your self-control to let them settle—the wait will be worth it.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In our ongoing effort to make StogieGuys.com as entertaining and informative as possible, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other snippets of interest. We call ‘em Friday Samplers. Enjoy.

1) Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted 289-139 in favor of extending and expanding SCHIP. As we reported Tuesday, among the bill’s numerous tobacco tax increases is a 750% hike in the federal tax on large cigars. The cap on the 52.4% tax (on the wholesale price) is being increased from 5 to 40 cents. Yesterday, the bill passed its first Senate test by surviving committee.

2) Following our Tuesday coverage of SCHIP, the anti-smoking zealots over at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) decided to hotlink to a Stogie Guys image. Rookie mistake. As a result, we made the graphic to the right appear on ASH’s homepage for over 12 hours (here’s a humorous screenshot).

3) Baltimore officials announced on Wednesday a prohibition on “the sale of individual, cheap cigars” like Swisher Sweets and Phillies. Part of a growing trend, the move is intended to discourage youth tobacco usage by keeping prices high. No word on how the city health commissioner plans to prevent kids from pooling money together and splitting up packs of five.

4) In an article about undervalued luxury items, International Listings cited our Friday Samplers as a good way to “keep an eye on how weather, politics, and the economy all weigh on [cigars].”

5) Inside the Industry: The Colibri Group, known for its upscale lighters, unexpectedly shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy. Alec Bradley revamped its website. Cigar Aficionado shocked many cigar smokers by picking the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto as its cigar of the year.

6) Around the Blogs: Cigar Jack smoked a Perdomo Squared Maduro. Keepers of the Flame lit up a Taboo Twist. Cigar Inspector tried the La Aurora 1495 Cameroon. A Cigar Smoker reviewed a Padilla 1968. Stogie Review fired up a Casa Magna Colorado Belicoso.

7) Deal of the Week: Not surprisingly, there’s a new inauguration-themed cigar sampler: the Presidential Sampler. For $49.99, you get ten premium smokes including one each from Cohiba, Graycliff, CAO, Romeo y Julieta, Camacho, Padilla, and Montecristo.  Get yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I suspect, as a result of the current economic turmoil, many cigar enthusiasts are temporarily experimenting with value sticks as potential substitutes to pricier options. Let me do you a favor by suggesting you not waste any time or money on the affordable Gispert Natural Lonsdale.

Handmade in Honduras, this Altadis stogie sports a Connecticut shade Ecuadorian wrapper with Nicaraguan and Honduran binder and filler tobaccos. Astonishingly, several of the 11 Natural vitolas have rated as highly as 90 in Cigar Aficionado (Gispert has another six Maduro sizes complete with a San Adreas Morrón wrapper.)

Sounds too good to be true, especially since the six and ½ inch by 44 ring gauge Lonsdale sells for only $38-47 per cedar chest of 20. “Heck,” I remember thinking to myself before lighting one up for this review, “if it performs moderately better than George E’s Quick Smoke, this could be a decent recession option.”

I had good reason to be somewhat optimistic. With a well-applied wrapper, tight cross-section, and clean look, this Gispert has the appearance and feel of a cigar three times its price.

I was much less enthusiastic, however, after I toasted the foot and took a few deliberate draws. The uber-mild flavor of grass and sweet milk was almost nonexistent—the sort of creamy taste that can be drowned out completely by beer or wine, let alone rum or whiskey.

After the first inch I was still waiting for something to arrive, but only a light, airy, hollow taste was detectable. With nothing discernable to savor, I felt like I was smoking just for the sake of smoking. I enjoy mild cigars, but there’s a big difference between mild and bland.

Frankly, at the halfway point I wanted to extinguish the cigar and move on to something, anything, else. Never mind that the burn was straight, albeit with a strangely thick, bulging black mascara; decent physical properties don’t add up to much if the cigar tastes like white construction paper.

So, as you might have guessed, I don’t think I’ll be picking up another one of these anytime soon. The Gispert Natural Lonsdale serves as a stark reminder that, when it comes to cigars, you often get what you pay for. Recession or boom, I give it one stogie out of five.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

[UPDATE: According to the IPCPR, the tax cap will be 40 cents per large cigar. Please click here for their full press release. The tax portions of the bill can be downloaded here (pdf) and the full bill can be downloaded here (285 page pdf).]

Well, it looks like today we’ll all finally learn just what the new federal tax will be on cigars. No more speculation and rumor. The facts will be laid out in the bill to reauthorize the 11-year-old State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is slated for a vote in the House of Representatives Wednesday or Thursday.

Federal budget crunchers were working the numbers Monday, trying to see if everything adds up. Apparently, the increased tax revenue—largely from a cigarette tax boost—isn’t now sufficient to expand and fund a five-year plan. So, there’s consideration of shortening the time frame and coming back again in a few years.

As I write this Monday night, the final SCHIP bill hasn’t been released. It’s anticipated this morning, and the first place you’re likely to find it is on the House Rules Committee site or on Thomas.gov. Groups involved with tobacco, such as the IPCPR and the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, will also be on top of it.

For most of you reading this, the heart of the issue is what happens with large cigars, the category that includes premium sticks. One provision that could have devastated small cigar shops, a floor tax on inventory, has been shelved. And the plan to boost the cap on individual cigars—currently about a nickel—appears also to have been scaled back.

When President Bush vetoed the previous SCHIP bill, the cap was $3. There has been intense lobbying to push it down more. A few weeks ago, a number of reports put the cap proposal at $1. Over the weekend, a couple of retail shop owners told me they’d heard the cap would be 40-45 cents. A GOP staffer on the Hill told Patrick S on Monday that he was hearing cap figures between 39 cents and $1.

Jeff Borysiewicz, an executive at the gigantic Corona Cigar Co. and executive vice president of Cigar Rights of America, said Monday night that even if the tax ends up at the lowest of those ranges, he won’t be satisfied.

“I don’t feel good about what’s happened,” he told me. The group was among those arguing for a percentage tax increase equivalent to the 156.4 percent boost for cigarettes. That would have put the cigar cap between 12 and 13 cents.

Borysiewicz said he’s convinced that a tax even in the 40-cent range will have significant negative repercussions on manufacturers, importers, retailers and customers as it ripples through the market.

As you read the figures in the new bill, bear this in mind: What you see today is almost certain to become law. SCHIP enjoys strong support from key GOP and Democratic lawmakers, and what the House approves is what the Senate will vote on. Though there has been a lot of talk about having the legislation ready for a Jan. 20 signing by President Obama on Inauguration Day, I’m told it’s highly unlikely the Senate will vote by then.

–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.

This five inch by 50 ring gauge cigar, which had been resting in my humidor since I reviewed it over a year ago, was better than I remembered. Gone were many of the underperforming physical characteristics, and the spicy flavor of pepper, clove, and molasses seemed more nuanced than before. Consider the Series ’68 Robusto $5 well spent—especially if you’re patient enough to give it some time to improve.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

I wanted to like this cigar. It’s from a small producer in Estelí, Nicaragua, and Luis Martinez offers sticks at reasonable prices and frequently promotes good deals. This is the kind of company you can pull for.

Unfortunately, my experience with an eight-stick sampler pack ($25 including shipping and sales tax) left me unimpressed. Construction and burn were fine. The draw was consistently good. Even the faint pre-light aroma of nuts and mint was pleasant.

Taste was the downfall. Smoking through the sampler, I noticed little difference among the various vitolas. The beginning was harsh and biting, and throughout there was a dry, musty taste—and aftertaste—that I associate with Mexican tobacco.

My assumption was heightened by the fact that while the company identifies the wrapper (Ecuadorian sungrown) and binder (Honduran Cuban-seed), it refers to the filler only as a mix from Central America.

In the second third, the Silver Selection tended to smooth out a little and there was even a little pepper here and there. Even at its best, though, the cigars were not my cup of tea.

For just a shade over $3 a stick, you won’t be risking much if you want to check them out. I believe there’s even a no-risk special deal with a travel humidor. Rating this one wasn’t easy, but in the end I can give it only two and a half stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys