Camacho Havana

I sat down Wednesday evening to relax and watch another thrilling
episode of “I Survived a Japanese Game Show”. To further enhance the
experience, I pulled out a Camacho Havana Churchill. The Havan comes
in 12 sizes. Why do we need 12 sizes of the same cigar? Is the blend
that good that it is marketable in 12 sizes? Does the market demand 12
sizes? I wonder if modern efficient manufacturing initiatives can
simply support 12 sizes by making more efficient use of variable leaf
sizes and therefore maximize the profit potential for a single cigar?
Camacho does not say.
The Havana is a fine looking cigar and a member of Camacho’s Premium
line of cigars. Camacho also has an Ultra Premium line of cigars that
includes the Tenth Anniversary, Triple Maduro, Liberty 2007 and Diploma
cigars. At this moment you might be wondering what makes an Ultr
Premium better than a Premium? After all, the Premium includes such
highly regarded smokes as the Corojo, Coyalar and Select and SLR
cigars. Curious, I searched for more information that might indicate
what the difference is between a standard Premium and an Ultra Premium
but alas, I could not find much. However, what i did find may be very
revealing I will leave that up to you. It seems that what
differentiates the two lines is availability (Ultra’s are limited, does
that mean Premiums are Unlimited?), where you can buy (Ultras are only
available at select retailers, those that purchase the right quantities
of Camacho product) and what you will pay. Not by quality, unless
scarcity indicates quality in which case we should all be driving
Edsels as they are very scarce.
But back to the Camacho Havana. Pre-light aroma was pleasant with a
hint of citrus, or maybe pepper. Lets just say it was spicy and leave
it up to your imagination. I cut the cigar with my Palio cutter and
found no surprises. No excess unidentified material or hollow spots.
The cigar exhibited a nice draw with a slight resistance and produced
buckets of smoke. The smoke was creamy and danced very beautifully
between me and bickering contestants trying to choke down a traditional
Japanese breakfast of shaved fished on “I Survived a Japanese Game
Show”. The taste was medium bodied (sorry Camacho, I can’t swallow
saying this is full bodied) with a nice spicy undertone and dark earth
flavors. It seemed to be a perfect match for the current entertainment
and a glass of raspberry iced tea. As I laughed raucously (always
wanted to use that word) at the contestant hanging from and trying to
pickup stuffed panda bears with claws in place of his hands (picture a
crane arcade game) I truly enjoyed the swirling smoke and flavorful
finish of the Camacho cigar. By this time, the Green Monkeys had
soundly defeated the Yellow Penguins and we were waiting to see who
would be nominated for the elimination challenge. I retreived another
glass of tea from the refrigerator and sat down to finish my cigar and
my game show. As I watched the unlucky elimination contenders began
their struggle against “the most powerful fan in Japan” I began to
notice that all was not right with my world. I began to empathize with
the contestants as the taste in my mouth turned from spicy Latin paella
to burnt cajun carp. I wondered just how hard it would be to walk on
semi-slick floor wearing tennis shoes into the exhaust of an airboat
fan. I decided it would not be all that hard afterall both contestants
were female, less than half my weight and had demonstrated an ability
to make reasonable progress. Even though the competitors were pelted
with inflatable beach toys (we all know dangerous an inflatable whale
is when hurled by high velocity winds) they both managed to deposit
several packages in the mail slots at the end of the walkway nearest
the “most powerful fan in Japan”. I paused and stared briefly at my
cigar, swirled my tongue in my mouth and then took another draw on the
cigar to be sure. The taste had turned to putrid rotten fruit and I
still had a third of the cigar and “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” to
go. With only a moments hesitation I dropped the cigar in the ashtray,
rinsed with ice tea and resumed watching “I Survived a Japanese Game
Show” just in time to see eight very happy Japanese men with various
haircuts and dressed like Buddy Holly carry the tearful loser out of
the studio in disgrace. I wondered if I could get them to carry out the
Camacho Havana in the same manner?

Montecristo White, from Altadis

I smoked a Montecristo White just recently.  I received that the cigar from  directly from the wonderful folks at Altadis about a month ago. Anyone could have (and many did) received this cigar by simply registering at the web site.  Who would have thought Altadis would be so generous with ‘the most famous cigar brand in the world’?  Altadis has shown there support and concern for the cigar smoker by providing such a wonderful gift and not even charging shipping, how very generous of Altadis.
So what about the cigar you ask?
Well the pre-light aroma was quite pleasant, like a beautiful spring meadow after a rain.  Clipping the cigar with my Palio cutter revealed a wealth of consistently colored tobacco carefully layered and wrapped with a beautiful Connecticut shade Ecuadorian leaf.  It is indeed a fine looking example of the cigar makers art.
The anticipation continued to build as I pulled out my Solo lighter.  Slowly and with deliberation I I unlatched the lid, pressed the button and watched the lid flip open with a solid click.  I fired the ignition and slowly moved the bright blue flame towards the cigar as it dangled from my lips.  I gently rolled the cigar (always clockwise) as the heat from the flame roasted the tobacco.  Soon flames erupted from the cigar as I inhaled gently and began to feel the smoke fill my mouth.  I shut down the lighter as I exhaled the creamy smoke into the air conditioned space of my home.
I pulled the cigar from my mouth and admired my handiwork in the red glow of the foot.
Taking the cigar again to my lips I continued to gently draw on the cigar and it gave up it’s smoke with only a slight resistance.
Suddenly I began to taste a sweetness but it was not from the smoke, it was coming from my tongue touching the head of the cigar.  It was not long before I noticed the same sweet flavor on my lips.
It suddenly occurred to me why Altadis had been so generous.  The only flavor this cigar produced was the sweet flavor that must have surely been some sort of syrup poured on the cigar after manufacture.

In summary, this one of the worst Montecristos I have ever smoked.  I expect bland, tasteless cigars when smoking a Montecristo, not Swisher Sweet syrup.

Women and Cigars -Are we getting what we deserve?

If you peruse the Internet for information and sources about women and cigars, you will find that the prevailing opinion is that women smoking cigars is sexy.  We see good looking (and sometimes barley dressed) model hawking cigars in a variety of marketing initiatives.  If you read Cigar Snob (although the writtin content is minimal) you will see many beautiful women in various poses with their cigars.  Unfortunately, very few of the women featured in these situations gives the impression of being knowledgeable about the cigars they are presenting.  I think we deserve more. We deserve more from the manufacturers, the magazines and the ad agencies.

So now comes The Association for Women CIgar Smokers and Heather Haddad to change all of that and give women the voice in the industry that they have earned.  Women are not new to the cigar industry, they have been a part of may fo the most successfull cigar companies for many years.  If you look through the Cigar Family website, you will see several mentions of Carlos, Jr. but nary a word about Cynthia Fuente’s roll in building the business.  I wonder why.  I respect what the Fuentes have built, they deserve all of the success in their lives and I do believe that Cynthia Fuente is a part of that.

As men who smoke cigars, are we so shallow that a pretty girl can make us purchase a cigar, regardless of its heritage, flavor profile and price?  Looking through the current issues of several publications the answer would appear to be yes.  However, I have a little more faith in my fellow cigar smokers and think that although as men we enjoy looking at beautiful women, we take our cigars much more seriously and would not let our tastes or purchases be determined by such obvious means.

So I call upon my fellow cigar smokers, ignore the beuatiful women and buy yhe best cigars and I call upon the maufacturers and ad agencies to keep using the beautiful models, we don’t mind looking.

Cigar Retailers Unhappy

Dale and I have been hearing for some time from unhappy retailers. Why are they unhappy? Afterall, cigar sales continue to climb in the face of increased smoking restrictons, cigar quality continues to improve and cigar consumers are becoming increasingly aware of what is available in the market.
Retailers are increasingly unhappy wth the restrictive ordering requirements of the major cigar producers.
Unlike you and me, when a retailer wants to carry certain premium or limited release vitolas, they are being forced to also carry lesser sticks from the product line. These are not necassarily cigars of lesser quality but in some markets are just not in as much demand.
This is not a problem for the largest retailers or the large Internet retailers (who seem to operate in a different reality anyway) but is a real problem for your neighborhood cigar shop.
These neighborhood shops are the backbone of the cigar industry providing expert guidance, comraderie and in many cases a unique smoking opportunity in the face of increased regulation. This is an essential environment for the cigar industry. Where else can new smokers come for advice and knowlege?
The problem has existed for some time but has become more of an issue as the cigar shelves begin to bulge with outstanding sticks from a variety of boutigue makers and consumers become more discriminating and knowledgeable.
I have pontificated many times on our Cigar Radio show about this being the Golden Age of Cigars and how only the cigar makers can mess it up.
This is one major way they can shot themsleves in the foot.
Manufacturers need to make a few changes to fix this problem.
First, they need to stop giving special treatment to large retailers at the expense of smaller retailers. The small shops cann not absorb these ridiculous purchasing requirements. Some accomodation needs to be made so all shops can carry the most desirable vitolas.
Secondly and perhaps most importantly, distributors and manufacturers need to stop pretending that unautorized Internet retailers selling their cigars at ridiculously low prices are not harming the market. Cigar makers are really good at enforcing pricing agreements with the local shops but routinely turn a blind eye to the largest Internet retailers that are often not even authorized to sell the product.
Final suggestion for cigar makers, take a hard look in the mirror and remember who built this business. It wasn’t the Internet retailers, it was the local shops providing personal service and caring advice not available from the big Internet retailers.
So untie the hands of the smaller retailers and giove them access to some of the more desirable cigars in your lines or you just may wake up one day and find that the pain in your foot is now a pain in your wallet.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies

So the illustrious mayor of San Francisco having little else to do in support of the good citizens has proposed a ban on tobacco sales at stores where pharmacists work. In the true spirit of politics however, this measure would not apply to so-called big box stores such as grocery stores or Costco.
Why the exception for them? is it because they wield too much political clout or is it because the small business (read independent business) carries too little clout?
It seems that the good Mayor is on a mission to promote healthy lifestyles among the citizens of San Francisco.

Meanwhile the state Senate is considering a bill that would allow landlords the right to ban smoking in their properties. Of course current residents would be allowed to continue smoking until their rental agreements expire. This is being touted as support for the rights of non-smokers,never mind the rights of smokers or tenants. Tenants have fought for years to obtain the rights of privacy and equal protection. California is stripping away these very rights. Tenants could be evicted for violating the bans. So there must be an abundance of housing in California because this could only serve to empower the landlords and further limit accessibility to affordable housing, another liberal cause of the day.

The city of San Francisco and state of California must not have enough to do combating street crime, traffic congestion or any other public safety issue that they can add even more ridiculous laws to those3 they can’t enforce now.
This should be a simple issue that does not require any new laws. If a landlord does not want smokers he should already have the right, as the property owner, to ban them just as he/she can ban pets. Sharing the same wall with someone does not confer to you the right to determine their lifestyle, at least no yet. In fact, California already has a law that allows landlords to do just that, however some claim it is not explicit enough. I wonder what happens when a shaman moves in next door and wants to perform a religious ritual or worship ceremnony that requires the burning of say spruce twigs? Will that be protected by the state constitution, the same constitution that protects gay marriage? Or are indigenous religious ceremonies lower on the protection scale than gay marriage? Apparently the rights of smokers is significantly less than that of non-smokers in California.

So one may be left to ask what might be next for San Fran’s healthy Mayor
and the activist legislature? Will be a ban on trans-fat cooking in your rental property or will it be a declaration of support for so called art that would otherwise be judged pornographic if sold from the counter of a drug store? Oh yeah, that already happened didn’t it.

American have so much freedom and free time that they seem intent on finding ways to rob others of their freedoms, just because they do not agree. And don’t give me the line that the ‘majority’ has spoken. Our system is set up to represent the interests of all its peoples without allowing for mob rule by the majority. That is why we have civil rights laws and equal employment laws, protecting the rights of the minorities against the wishes of the majority. Read your history f this does not sound familiar.
And yet we allow the mob of anti-smoking, clean living zealots to determine public policy without regard for the rights of those they oppress.

Cuban Cigar Mono-Blend Conspiracy?

On DWCR Episode 164, we discussed at some length the theory that habanos cigars had become one big mono-blend of flavor and profile. With Mark Neff of Cigarmony.com, we considered the possibility that there lacked a consistency across vitolas and that today’s habanos were merely the result of considerable inbreeding between brands and farms. For more detail check out episode #164 at DogWatch Cigar Radio.

Mark Neff added this observation after the show:

The fact that VR (vegas robaina) provides approx 80% of the wrappers for cc’s. Combine this with several marcas/vitoals being rolled in the same factory (which they have always done) and I could see where someone, even if they were there, would be very confused about what is being rolled. The specific tobacco and percentage blends are given to rollers based on what they are rolling, so piles of tobacco sitting next to each other make look the same but to someone who isn’t trusted with the blends or proper information would have no idea what they are looking at. Even the blends don’t know what specific crops they are rolling, just what percentages of what piles are for the specific vitola they are rolling at that time.

Cuban Cigars in US? Not so fast say the lawyers…

The article in a recent CigarCyclopedia article talks about the future of Swedish Match as an independent. While this is interesting conjecture and certainly Swedish Match is an interesting target due to its stable of Cuban brands, the article points out one of the bigger hurdles to the return of Cuban cigars to the U.S.
I have spoken on DogWatch Cigar Radio (most recently episode #164) about the real impediment to Cuban cigars in the US. Can you spell trademarks? Almost all of the current Cuban brands have been reproduced by other cigar makers and their trademarks registered in the US. This presents a legal obstacle that I predict will be even more difficult to overcome than a political embargo. The embargo can be easily terminated with a simple vote. But not so with the legally enforceable trademarks that so many manufacturers fought for nd have protected for many years.
I predict the trademark issue to take longer to resolve than the embargo itself.

DogWatch Cigar Radio Host attends first ever CRFH Herf

Check out the photos on Flickr !
Cigar roller, drawings and fun!

A Wife’s Review of a Macanudo Gold Label Cigar

See the review here!

Cuban cigar roller twists it toward a fourth Guinness record

Copyright © 2008 AFP. All rights reserved

HAVANA (AFP) — Jose Castelar began rolling cigars when he was five.
Now, at 64, the Cuban expert hopes to finish rolling a 20-meter
(65-foot) stogie by Wednesday to garner his fourth world record from
the Guinness Book.

“I can’t tell you exactly how far I’ll get,
but my goal is to beat my former record of 20.41 meters (66.9 feet),”
Castelar, knicknamed “Cueto,” told AFP on Sunday.

He rolls his
mega-cigar out of premium tobacco leaves, making a long, slender tube
about 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) across. He works non-stop, eight hours
a day since he began his record-seeking attempt on Saturday.

Nothing
distracts him, not even the hustle and bustle of the 28th International
Tourism Fairground that is going up near his workplace at the colonial
fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana.

His mega-cigar, once finished, will be shown at the fair beginning Monday.

Cigars
and other tobacco products are still one of Cuba’s traditional exports,
bringing in some 400 million dollars a year from sales in 150 countries.

It’s
not easy, he said while handling the custom-made tools of his trade.
“You need a lot of concentration and you’ve got to love what you’re
doing.”

To make a traditional, 30-centimeter (12-inch) stogie, Castelar said it takes him “just a few minutes.”

Castelar’s
previous record-setting cigars measured 11.04 meters (36.2 feet), in
2001, 14.86 meters (48.75 feet), in 2003, and 20.41 meters (66.9 feet),
in 2005.

“The technique is based on carefully choosing and
organizing the (tobacco) leaves into layers, in how you deal with the
middle part,” he said.

“The real magic, however, is not just in your hands, its in your heart.”