The Stogie Guys

Ask 100 cigar aficionados to name the deadliest predator known to the hobby, and at least 75 of them will identify the dreaded tobacco beetle. That pinhead-sized critter, with its appetite for destruction and its prodigious reproduction rate, is certainly a nasty pest. And just the thought of finding tiny worms boring through your collection of premium smokes is enough to send shivers down your spine.

But there’s a much more insidious – if a bit more prosaic – enemy that is far more likely to devour your stogies. It’s common mold. And if you’re not careful, an outbreak is not just possible; it’s probable.

So how do we know our enemy when we see it? For one thing, mold is almost always going to be a white, green, black, or even blue substance. It’ll smell like mildew – not unlike a dirty gym sock that’s been sitting in the laundry pile for a few days. It will brush off of the cigar when rubbed, but will leave a stain or discoloration in its wake. It will start as small discolorations here and there, but can grow into a thick, fuzzy substance. If the infestation is particularly severe, there might be some mold coating the sides of bottom of your humidor. Mold can spread through both direct contact with an infected stick, or through airborne spores – so it’s easy to see why an outbreak can gradually become a serious issue. If left unmolested, the mold will eat through your sticks and even the cedar lining inside your box.

What’s to be done? The first, and always the best, solution is prevention. Keeping all traces of mold out of your humidor at all times is impossible in certain climates. But you can prevent major outbreaks by keeping humidity levels at the low end of ideal (say, 65-69 RH) and/or never letting humidity climb too much beyond 70 RH (which is good policy anyway). Also make sure that your sticks are getting some air circulation every now and then. If you’re keeping cigars in an airtight container, such as Tupperware, make sure you open the container at least once a month – and preferably more often – to let some fresh air in. Always used distilled water when filling and refilling your humidification devices. Doing so won’t guarantee an end to mold, but it’ll provide much better odds than tapwater.

If you’ve already got some mold in your humidor, assess the extent of the damage before acting. If the mold seems to be localized to just one or two sticks, and if the spots seem small and easily brushed off, simply take those sticks out and plan to smoke them soon. For good measure, sort through your remaining stash for any additional signs of infection. If the mold is widespread – say, coating large portions of individual cigars, or clinging to the walls and floor of your humidor – you need to take more decisive action. First, remove and dispose of the infected cigars; they’re not smokeable and are of no use to you. Next, quarantine the unaffected sticks while you carefully remove the mold from your cedar with a hand vacuum or cloth.

Once the mold is gone, wet the tip of a cloth or Q-tip with isopropyl alcohol, and lightly rub the interior of your humidor to kill off the remaining (invisible) spores. Too much alcohol can damage the cedar lining, so rub/tap lightly and do not drench the cedar. A proper application should dry almost immediately. When it does, rub down the wood (very lightly) with a bit of warm, distilled water. Dry everything very thoroughly, and allow the humidor a few days to air out. During this time you should keep your cigars quarantined before reintroducing them to the humidor. Once the cigars are back in the humidor, monitor everything very closely for a few weeks to make sure no mold has reappeared.

Note that not every whitish coating in your cigars is mold. In fact, a grayish/whitish coating of dust on the skins of your smokes is probably plume (or bloom), an accretion of oils on the wrapper due to age. It’s considered a sign that everything is in good working order, and that your sticks are maturing nicely. Plume will brush off a cigar easily and will not discolor the wrapper; white mold will leave a mark.

–Jon N

photo credit: Keepers of the Flame

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

Flor de Oliva bundles are often among those mentioned when smokers discuss worthwhile inexpensive smokes. I paid only $2.30 for this 6 inch by 50 ring gauge maduro with Nicaraguan filler. Sensing that it might be light in taste, I used a cedar strip to light it, which seemed to impart some nice cedar notes for the first few puffs. After that, though, I was disappointed. The smoke was thin and generally tasteless. What began as a mild cigar quickly became a nearly non-existent one. As an Oliva fan, I’ll likely try others in its low-price line, but not another maduro.

Verdict = Sell.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

This cigar, quite simply, is a Cuban icon. Montecristos account for roughly half of worldwide Habanos SA sales, and the pyramid-shaped No. 2 is among the legendary brand’s best-selling vitolas (the No. 4 currently holds the top spot).

With a reputation for full flavors and a clear draw, this Cuban puro is no stranger to praise. Among its many accolades is an inspiring rating of 94 in the February 2008 issue of Cigar Aficionado. The publication also recently named the Montecristo No. 2 its “Cigar of the Week.”

Unexpectedly, this 6.1 inch by 52 ring gauge stogie doesn’t exactly have the look of one of the world’s elite smokes. It is slightly crooked, moderately lumpy, and on the veiny side. Two water spots—harmless yellow circular imperfections that likely indicate where droplets of rain hit the wrapper leaf during the curing process—slightly blemish the head and foot.

The seams on my three No. 2s also appeared hastily applied. Maybe the torcedores who rolled my sticks were paying more attention to whatever the rolling floor lector was reading them. (The brand gets its name from The Count of Montecristo novel, apparently a popular choice among rollers when Montecristo was established in 1935.)

Fortunately, these aesthetic imperfections have no bearing on taste. An oily, earthy bouquet opens the cigar with well-balanced notes of oak and clove. The smoke is moist, abundant, and cool with little spice and no harshness. The draw is clear, but the ash isn’t as stable as you’d expect.

A buttery almond backdrop joins in after the first inch or so to provide a pleasant creaminess that’s similar to the taste of the Petit Edmundo. This is about when it becomes necessary to periodically correct the burn. The second third is a bit bitter, and the finish is characterized by an increase in spice.

Overall, while I’d prefer a cleaner appearance and more reliable physical properties, this is still a wonderfully enjoyable cigar—even for the price. Boxes of 25 sell for around $270, and three-packs can be had for $31 (I’d recommend the latter option before the former). For complex, delicious flavors, I give the iconic Montecristo No. 2 four and ½ out of five stogies.

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

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Jameson is a new cigar company that introduced its line with a web offer of two sticks and a T-shirt for the cost of postage and handling. Who could resist?

I received two six inch torpedos and, though both had some cosmetic imperfections – such as a large water spot on the Sumatran wrapper of one – they appeared to be well-constructed. The clip was easy and the pre-light draw nice. However, problems developed quickly.

Lit, the draw became extremely loose. One started to tunnel, and it was difficult to get both to burn evenly. There was lots of smoke throughout, with a pleasant aroma. Though it has a ring gauge of 54, it felt fine with the torpedo shape. The binder is Honduran and the filler Dominican.

Jameson calls this a medium-bodied cigar, but I found it mild, particularly as I smoked it down. There were some toasty, bready notes, but little complexity or development. It became bitter after about two-thirds. A particular annoyance with one of the cigars was impossibility of removing the band because it had been glued so tightly.

I was curious about the name of the cigar, wondering if it was honoring the brash newspaper publisher in Spider-Man comics. I couldn’t find it addressed on the firm’s skimpy website, and several calls to the 866 number got only voicemail. I emailed my question several days ago and haven’t received an answer, though I did get a response promising a free pocket humidor if I bought a box over the weekend. If and when I get a reply, I’ll let you know.

Jameson advertises this cigar at five for $25.50 and $115 for a box of 25. As with several cigars I’ve smoked lately, this one wasn’t bad, and I would smoke it again if offered one. But I wouldn’t seek it out. It just didn’t do much for me. As such, the Jameson Torpedo earns a rating of two and 1/2 out of five stogies.

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

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Last week Baltimore city officials announced their intention to ban the sale of individual cigars. The ban exempts tobacconists and cigars that cost over two dollars each, so Rocky Patels, CAOs, Montecristos, and the like are exempt. No need to fear, right?

Wrong. The ban, which targets cheap machine-made smokes, may exempt the types of cigars we review here at StogieGuys.com (except on April Fools Day), but it still is an ominous power grab all cigar smokers should take note of.

Since all tobacco products are already illegal for anyone under the age of 18, the ban is simply an elitist attempt to target cheap cigars that are mostly smoked by young inner-city adults (who city officials seem to think are too stupid to be able to decide whether to smoke cigars). Or, as Jacob Grier observes, “In other words, upper class people can responsibly choose to smoke a cigar, but poor people need to have choices taken away from them.”

Like most prohibitions – last time I checked drugs were also illegal in Baltimore, but readily available – this ban is destined to fail. Enterprising individuals will be able to buy these cigars by the box and then illegally sell them on the street to anyone willing to buy them, including children. And any health benefits are likely to be undone when, instead of smoking cigars, people will turn to more addictive and unhealthy cigarettes.

For those of us who enjoy premium cigars, the worst part of the ban is the precedent that it would set. The City Health Commissioner ominously calls the ban “a small but important step forward.”

The bureaucrat’s quote begs the question: What exactly is this a small step forward towards? The answer can only be one thing: further bans on tobacco products.

Anti-tobacco activists know that a complete ban of cigars or cigarettes would face huge opposition. But a ban on products used primarily by most disenfranchised of citizens can slip through with little resistence. Consider what would happen if a major city, like Baltimore, announced its intention to ban all tobacco products. The news would be in headlines all around the country, and smokers would revolt and only support politicians who opposed the prohibition.

Instead, if the Baltimore ban becomes law, tobacco prohibitionists will have established that in the name of “public health” adults can have their choices limited. Who knows? Maybe next time all cigars or cigarettes will be on the chopping block.

If cigar enthusiasts want to continue to be able to choose to smoke cigars, they need to oppose all attempts to ban tobacco products. Today they come for cheap machine-made cigars, tomorrow it may be our beloved Rocky Patels, CAOs and Montecristos.

–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.

I am quite the fan of the Double Chateau Sun Grown and, as you might expect, also enjoy this shorter cigar. At 4.5 inches with a 50 ring gauge, it packs decent physical properties and the same tastes of peppercorn, syrup, and cedar into a shorter format. If you don’t mind touching up the burn now and again this is a good buy at about $75 for a box of 25.

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) U.S. Coast Guard agents seized 28,000 Cuban cigars and 42 bottles of rum in a single smuggling sting in Florida. Two Fort Myers men were indicted for the illegal imports this week. No word yet on what the agents will do with the confiscated goodies.

2) You’ve still got time to get in on the Stogie Guys’ efforts to keep the Memorial Day spirit going all week long with cigar donations to the troops overseas.

3) Inside the Industry: To launch its revamped Playboy line of cigars (not to be confused with Playboy by Don Diego), Altadis is having events all around the country hosted by Playboy Playmates. Cuvee cigars, made by Cusano, has re-blended its 151 and Rouge lines only one year after they were introduced at the RTDA.

4) Around the Blogs: Cigar Jack checks out the Gispert Robusto. Stogie Review fires up the CI Legends Copper. Keepers of the Flame tries an Ancient Warrior by K Hansotia. Stogie Fresh reviews a Perdomo Lot 23 Maduro.

5) Deal of the Week: This “21 Gun Salute Sampler” includes 21 cigars from the biggest names in the business including Rocky Patel, CAO, Gurkha, Cohiba, La Flor Dominicana, Toraño, Bolivar, La Gloria Cubana, Hoyo, Partagas, Perdomo, Arganese, and more – all for just $59. Get yours here.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Altadis USA