Sunday Fiver – February 22, 2009
A fiver of cigar stories from around the Web.
Reviews
Jerry over at the Stogie Review has a twin pack of video reviews this week. The first was one of Charlie’s favorites, the El Triunfador from Pete Johnson’s Havana Cellars. The second was was the Por Larrañaga Panatela from Habanos S.A.
Patrick from The Stogie Guys reviewed the Bravo Colombian Gold. I’ve seen this cigar in a few shops but haven’t purchased any yet. From his experience, it looks like it is well worth trying.
Feature Article
Skip over at Smoke Signals writes about the Brotherhood of the Leaf. It’s a great read about how cigar smoking is about more than just the cigars. It’s about the people. He also talks about the developing online cigar community on Twitter. You can follow Nice Tight Ash as well as Chris and Charlie on there.
The Perfect Draw found a couple of videos on how to roll cigars. One of them is of Don PepÃn Garcia, rated a level 8 or “Master Roller” while in Cuba, plying his trade.
From newrest funeral director, Kary Kiyoko, says what he and others can do is take an active part in keeping the place open by making funeral arrangements and raising awareness, bringing people together and creating a dialogue about what happens when those in an abusive relationship die.
“By working with them in the funerals I’ve seen so many kids at such great risk be turned off – their mothers and father will turn off their kids, it just means a lot that we can take them,” says Kiyoko. “As a teacher I’ve had the chance to meet such tragic men but I was afraid it would be a lot worse for those families.”
The organisation also makes community services available, so families get support from their local councilors or others close to them, as well as being able to call for an immediate funeral. “We’ve got the support of the families so it’s really not a lot of work. The way I feel is that I’ve done this for so many families – there’s still a long way to go before we can get as much support from as far as family or local council,” explains Kiyoko. “So all it takes is for people to have a conversation with their loved ones about this situation and see how it could be better. It looks to me as if our organisation can really do this for this family and that’s amazing – we can raise awareness, raise money, bring more people together.
United Tobacco 601 Red Rabito
The United Tobacco (EO Brands) 601 line is produced in Esteli, Nicaragua by Don Pepin Garcia, with 4 wrapper choices. Â The 601 Red is wrapped with a Nicaraguan Habano Natural leaf and is available in 7 sizes: Chruchill, Rabito, Robusto, Toro, Torpedo, Trabuco and Guapito.Â
Arganese Maduro Presidente Robusto
Arganese Cigars was originally created as the personal cigar for Gene Arganese. Â After he began passing the cigars out to family and friends he realized the potential for developing his own line of products. Â He eventually settled his operations in La Palma Free Trade Zone of the Dominican Republic, where he now operates a 13, 500 square foot factory with 110 acres of tobacco fields. Â Today Arganese produces 9 lines of cigars, one of which being the Maduro line that I’ll be reviewing for this post.
CAO Lx2 Lancero
The Lx2 is the latest cigar from CAO, and it’s been highly anticipated. We have chosen the limited edition lancero size for our first video review, and headed out to Chris’s garage, aka “The Office,” to try it out.
This is our first video and it may be a little roughly edited, but bear with us. We go over the cigar, our February contest, how the site is going, and give thanks to all the folks who have helped us get started: Jerry, Walt, and Brian from Stogie Review, Dennis from The Cigar Spy, Denis from Cigar Inspector, and Justin from Las Vegash TV. Charlie gives some tips on lighting with matches, and on his beer pick, Lancaster Brewing Company‘s Hop Hog IPA.
Palio Cutter
Name:Â Palio Original Composite Silver Cutter
Made by:Â Brother of the Leaf, LLC
MSRP:Â $44.96 but can easily be found for $35.96 on the Internet.
Warranty:Â Lifetime
Gurkha G3
If you receive a stack of cigar catalogs in the mail every month like I do, than you are probably familiar with Gurkha cigars. Â According to the Gurkha website Kaizad Hansotia bought the brand for $149 in the late 1980’s during a trip to India. Â Now Gurkha produces premium cigars and packages them in elaborate boxes. Â Today’s sample, the G3, is described as a complex powerhouse , so I was anxious to fire it up and see what this cigar had to offer.
February Contest: Win a box of Bad Dog Cigars!
Nice Tight Ash is happy to announce our first sponsor, Duque Cigars. Use coupon code NTA2009 to get 5% off your order. To kick off our partnership, they are sponsoring our first contest!
The Prize
The winner of our February contest will win a film can of 20 Bad Dog toros and a Bad Dog Cigars poster. The Bad Dog is a long filler cigar with a slightly sweetened tip that goes well with a cup of coffee or after dinner. And the poster? Well, the posters speak for themselves.
Strong Ash: Jesus Fuego 777
Welcome to the debut review in our Strong Ash series. Here we smoke full flavored cigars that might knock some folks back in their chair.
Jesus Fuego is a fifth generation cigar maker. Â Although portions of his career were spent blending and rolling cigars for other people, Jesus has spent the last couple of years developing his own line of cigars. Â One of his newest releases, the 777 or Triple Siete, is a Nicaraguan Puro.
Puros Indios Viejo
For today’s review I’m going to take  look at the Puros Indios Viejo.  I really don’t have much experience with their products, so this is really a learning experience for me.  I was lucky enough to win a box of these at a herf in September, so we’ll see just how lucky I was. (Let me apologize for the pictures in this review, I’m still experimenting with lighting and the camera. Have no fear, I’ll get it all figured out soon.)
Liga Privada No. 9
“Hecho Excluvisamente Pare El Jefe” is what you will read if you look close enough at the Liga Privada No. 9’s band. Â Originally blended as the personal cigar of Drew Estate’s President Steve Saka, the Liga Privada No. 9 has now found a home in cigar enthusiasts humidors.
