The Stogie Guys

All of us at StogieGuys.com are pleased to announce that Mike Kitsen of East Lansing, Michigan, has won our “What Do Cigar Rights Mean to You?” contest. Mike will receive the Ultimate Rocky Patel Cigar Rights Sampler, which includes a dozen of Rocky’s finest cigars, three punch cutters, and Rocky’s new five-torch Diplomat table lighter—all generously furnished by the Duque Cigar Company.

While we received many outstanding contest entries, we think Mike’s comment succinctly and accurately touched on the most important aspects of cigar rights. Here’s what he had to say on November 25:

[Cigar rights mean] the ability to: (1) enjoy a cigar in an establishment that allows cigar smoking, without the interference of government; (2) buy a cigar without being hit with an industry and consumer crippling tax; and (3) smoke in my home or on my property without the fear of big brother’s watchful eye or prying neighbors who are irrationally fearful that traces of smoke may encroach upon their property and give them cancer. And for businesses, it means the ability to make an honest living, selling a legal product, and having the right to permit people to smoke or not (so long as the choice is that of the owner and not the government).

Upon learning of his triumph in the contest, Mike wrote to us: “Out of so many great ‘Cigar Rights’ entries, I am glad to hear I won because cigar rights is a very meaningful topic to me, especially in today’s ever increasing anti-smoking world. It’s fitting that such a meaningful topic comes with a phenomenal gift from StogieGuys.com and the Duque Cigar Company. Thank you for such an on-point topic, and keep up the fantastic work, guys.”

Picking a winner from the many outstanding entries was no easy task. But we hope you will join us in congratulating Mike for his well-deserved victory.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

You won’t find much information online about this relatively obscure cigar. Perdomo’s extensive website doesn’t even mention the blend, and my emails to the company have gone unanswered so far. All this is a shame, especially since I was pretty pleased with the three Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Robustos that I smoked for this review.

Here’s what I do know: The line features a Cuban-seed binder and filler from Nicaragua and a triple-fermented Connecticut shade wrapper. As with many anniversary cigars, this one was created to celebrate Tabacalera Perdomo’s ten years in the business.

The five inch by 54 ring gauge Robusto looks like many Connecticut shade smokes, albeit save for the orange-yellow cellophane in which it is wrapped. The wrapper leaf is oily, light, and clean, and the stick is firm and tightly packed with an overall feel of quality. The unique band is as huge as it is ornate.

Now for those of you who consider yourselves too macho for Connecticut shade tobacco, don’t write off the Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne just yet—this unassuming stick packs a lot more flavor than you’d think. While the main profile of sweet hay and grass is predictable, it is partnered with heavier, more unexpected notes of pepper, smoky wood, and cereals.

I don’t want to give you the impression this Perdomo rivals a 601 Oscuro. It doesn’t. But it incorporates more complexity and flavor than many Connecticuts, even after the taste settles down after the midway point.

While the construction isn’t impeccable, it’s better than most cigars that sell for around $130 per box of 25. The white ash is a little too flakey as it layers gorgeously atop the fairly straight burn. The draw is deliberate but easy. Despite some reviews I’ve read, I had no trouble keeping my three samples lit.

My overall verdict is that this is a solid, multifaceted smoke with more taste than meets the eyes. Don’t pass up the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Robusto as a delicious early evening cocktail smoke. I give it three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. Cigars for this review were provided by Cigars Direct. You can purchase Perdomo cigars from Cigars Direct here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As you might have seen in last week’s Cigar Insider, the fine folks of PG Cigars are traditionalists who make significant sacrifices to create cigars that look, taste, and feel like pre-Castro Cubans. Dr. Paul Garmirian and his son Kevork have honed an important strategy: set aside gimmickries to focus on providing top-notch products for the most discriminating of cigar enthusiasts.

Their efforts often result in cigars that are dissimilar to many of today’s most popular blends. The Epicure size from PG’s original Gourmet Series, which debuted in 1990 at Georgetown Tobacco, is no exception.

The blend features a Colorado shade Connecticut wrapper that’s grown in Ecuador and a binder and filler from the Dominican Republic. It has a dry, leathery look and a faint prelight aroma of cedar and earth. Handmade in Santiago, the Gourmet Series is known for its spice and balance.

We didn’t find a ton of spice but, not unlike most PG creations, the five and a half inch by 50 ring gauge Epicure is big on balance. It starts with a clean vegetal taste and then quickly moves into a mild, complex array of oak and cedar.

Like a Davidoff Grand Cru, this series’ subtleties are best uncovered if you occasionally smoke through the nose. Doing so will give you access to all the warm fruit and dry red wine notes that are otherwise too muted to appreciate. For this same reason, if you’re on a steady diet of powerhouse Nicaraguans the Gourmet Series Epicure is probably not up your alley. It’s the sort of stick that pairs better with a nice red burgundy than a strong cocktail of rum or whiskey.

We are happy to report the physical properties are as good as you’d expect for a cigar that sells for $9.50. The burn is surgically straight and the ash is well-layered and sturdy. Fans of Graycliffs will be pleased with the easy draw despite the cigar’s firm touch.

This mild creation’s many wonderful traits won’t hit you over the head; they will, however, reward those who pay close attention. For its delicate deliciousness, we give the Paul Garmirian Gourmet Series Epicure four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A & Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As we reported Friday, a legal ruling in the decade-long battle over the Cohiba brand name could be a major setback for the General Cigar Co. General, a subsidiary of Swedish Match AB and one of the largest premium cigar makers in the world, makes and distributes such famous brands in the U.S. as Macanudo, Partagas, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Bolivar, La Gloria Cubana, and many others.

But the General brand at the heart of the controversy is Cohiba, perhaps the most famous trademark in cigars. Last month Cubatabacco, the storied Cuban tobacco monopoly (also known as Habanos SA), won a major victory in the latest decision in the protracted legal fight with General over the Cohba name. The key decision changed the standard that determines who has the rights to the Cohiba trademark—rendering a 2004 ruling against General Cigar Co. upheld.

The decision rests on a legal standard known as the “famous marks doctrine,” which states that a trademark is protected in a given nation if it is well-known, even though the mark is neither used nor registered there. The court found that despite the fact Cubatobacco didn’t file for a trademark on the Cohiba name, under the famous names doctrine it still retains the name’s rights.

The case is complicated by the fact that the Cuban trade embargo means that Cubatobacco can’t sell Cohibas in the U.S. Notwithstanding that well-known fact, the judge held that consumers were likely to be confused between Dominican-made and Cuban Cohiba cigars.

Judge Notes Cubatobacco’s ‘Cozy’ Relationship with Cigar Aficionado

The 2004 decision also provides a unique look into the premium cigar business. The first 70 pages of the decision read like a history of the Cohiba name and of cigar marketing practices, including fascinating details of the role played by Cigar Aficionado in establishing the Cuban Cohiba’s mystique.

At one point, in a discussion over how well-known the Cuban Cohiba was in the early nineties, the judge observes a “cozy relationship between…Cubatabaco’s marketing department and the editorial staff of Cigar Aficionado” that resulted in multiple “puff pieces,” or positive publicity for Cohiba.

The Future of General Cigar’s Cohiba Line is Uncertain

If the current ruling stands, the decision will mark the end of General Cigar’s “Red Dot” Cohiba lines. As part of the 2004 ruling, the judge ruled that General must turn over all its cigars and other materials that contain the Cohiba name. However, that order seems to be pending any appeal by General Cigar.

In a statement provided to StogieGuys.com, General Cigar’s Dan Carr, the senior vice president of sales and marketing, said “we strongly disagree with the Judge’s ruling and will continue to vigorously defend our position, up to and including (if necessary) taking an appeal of his ruling.”

We asked General Cigar what the ruling means for the immediate future of the Dominican Cohiba line, and if the company would continue to market and produce the cigar. We are told, however, that aside from the above statement, “given that this is pending litigation, we cannot comment further.”

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikipedia

This past summer, Davidoff announced it would be releasing the first maduro cigar in the company’s storied history. The announcement caught many, including myself, by surprise. After all, Davidoff’s strength is generally considered to be its complexity and balance often in mild to medium cigars. Maduro wrappers present significant challenges to that formula, not to mention that Davidoff’s master blender Henke Kelner is reportedly not a fan of maduro cigars.

Still maybe the introduction of Davidoff’s first maduro should not have been a complete surprise. I’m just speculating here, but given Davidoff’s special connection with the Cuban Cohiba brand, maybe we should have expected Davidoff to follow when Cohiba introduced its first Maduros under the Cohiba line in 2007. (The introduction of Cohiba’s Siglo line in 1992 was widely considered to be a move to replace Davidoff’s Cuban lines, after Davidoff stopped making cigars in Cuba following disputes with the Cuban government.) More than any other non-Cuban company, Davidoff directly competes with Cohiba and other handmade Cuban cigars, so the move may be a reaction to competition from the new Cuban maduros.

But no matter the impetus for the cigar, it is one of the new releases that I was most looking forward to reviewing. The cigar is a five inch by 52 ring gauge robsuto (the maduro is only offered in the robusto), and it consists of a Dominican wrapper and a San Vincente binder with a sungrown Nicaraguan Cuban-seed “natural maduro” wrapper from the Jalapa Valley.

The maduro wrapper is the color of dark roasted coffee beans. Before lighting, I notice cocoa and vanilla bean flavors.

Once lit, I’m greeted with a combination of classic Davidoff flavors—balanced cedar and coffee—along with some new flavors including a little, though not an overwhelming amount, of the classic maduro sweetness. I also notice hints of charred oak, banana peel, and maybe even saffron.

Both cigars I smoked for this review developed uneven burns, but both self-corrected before they became problems. Besides that, the construction was flawless, with a predictably easy draw and firm, sturdy ash. One word of advice: Take this cigar slowly. Rush it and the rich, balanced flavors will develop a bitter edge.

While there wasn’t much variation as the cigar progressed, the complexity of the flavor was more than enough to keep me interested. And it strikes me as a cigar with some tremendous aging potential.

I paid $15 each for these cigars, which is in line with Davidoff’s MO. At that price you expect a superior cigar and it delivers, though it still doesn’t gain any points for value.

Those who enjoyed the Millennium Blend, another fuller-flavored Davidoff, should definitely give this cigar a try. As should fans of maduro cigars, particularly those who think that maduros need to have overpowering sweetness or must be one dimensional.

For this well-balanced blend of the best of maduro and classic Davidoff flavors, the Davidoff Maduro R receives a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

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.

It’s a sin that we haven’t reviewed a Rocky Patel Decade yet. I managed to try one Toro (6.5 x 52), however, when my dad picked up a pair from a local shop after Thanksgiving. This box-pressed beauty features a gorgeous Ecuadoran wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. It draws smoothly, burns wonderfully, and tastes of spice and creamy cocoa. Big on flavor, light on strength. Forgive the comparison, but the Decade almost feels like a cross between an Olde World Reserve and a Vintage. Not too shabby.

Verdict = Buy.

–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.

Nearly a year ago, my colleague rated the Robusto-sized EO 601 Serie “Green” La Fuerza highly, calling it “one of the most full-bodied smokes I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy.” I couldn’t have agreed more, as the 601 Green rates as one of my all-time favorites. With that in mind I tried its larger brother, the 6 and 1/8 inch by 58 ring gauge Trabuco. The wrapper wasn’t quite as oily as the robusto, but it’s still attractive and nearly vein-free. The flavor had similar roasted coffee and nut flavors, but it wasn’t quite as full-flavored (if the robusto was a ten on the strength scale, this is merely a nine). Still, it is a meticulously balanced cigar for its strength with a base of cedar, earth, and leather. Just like its smaller cousin, this large toro had flawless physical properties.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys