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WHY IS IT CALLED "PILOTO CUBANO"? Print E-mail
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Of the several hundred cigars that have been graded by the magazine’s ever-changing tasting panels (selected from the readership), only seven have reached a score of 90! Those include:

>> 92.0: Montecristo No. 1 (6 5/8 inches by 44 ring; Dom. Rep.): Winter 2005.

>> 92.0: Por Larranga Lonsdale (6 1/2 x 44; Dom. Rep.): Winter 2005.

>> 91.3: Flor de A. Allones No. 1 (7 x 42; Honduras): Winter 2005.

>> 91.3: Punch Punch (6 1/4 x 44; Honduras): Winter 2005.

>> 90.5: H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon Corona (5 1/2 x 44; Dom. Rep.): Spring 2006.

>> 90.3: Trinidad Belicoso (6 1/8 x 52; Dom. Rep.): Fall 2005.

>> 90.0: Montecristo White Churchill (7 x 54; Dom. Rep.): Winter 2006.

Nine cigars reached scores of 89.0-89.9.

  • There are two delightful pieces on cigar art, including a note on labels by expert Wayne Dunn, reviewing such “wonders” as cigars named Whang Doodle and Infinity, which featured the same style of eye that also adorns the back of the American $1 bill! Tony Hyman writes about trading cards that used to be included in turn-of-the-20th Century packages of cigars, cigarettes and chewing tobacco and are today’s collectibles. The famous T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card was originally part of a set issued by the Sweet Caporal cigarette company.

  • If you’re looking for a great question-and-answer reference concerning cigar basics, you’ll have a hard time finding a better resource that Lew Rothman’s 10-page review about tobacco and cigars.

  • Simon Chase, the estimable marketing director of the Cuban-cigar importers Hunters & Frankau, discusses the aging process of Havana (and by inference, other) cigars in an excellent article called “Ageing Cuban Cigars.” One important passage is worth noting, for the next time a “friend” tells you that the tobacco in cigarettes and cigars is all the same:

    “Any consumable product whose raw material is subjected to a process of fermentation will, over time, change its taste if the process of fermentation is permitted to continue unchecked. This is readily understood in the case of grape juice when it is transformed into wine or spirits, but less so with tobacco.

    “Perhaps this reflects that fact that the most widely used type of tobacco – that which is found in cigarettes – is not fermented at all, and, after an accelerated process at high temperatures (known as flue curing), becomes a stable products ready to be used in manufacture.

    “By contrast, dark cigar tobacco is subject to a much gentler air-curing process. This is followed by a series of quick radical fermentations with water acting as the catalyst. These involve oxidation, reducing the nicotine content in the leaves, eliminating soluble carbohydrates, and, through the deamination of nitrogen compounds, releasing copious amounts of ammonia. At the same time, the pH of the leaves becomes more alkaline.”

    Now you know. There’s a lot more in this issue: a reader’s review of the C.A.O. blends, a look back at the important impact of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago had on pipes and an ending note from Rothman about the high prices of cigars outside the U.S. Another great and important issue for anyone who wants to know more about cigars.
    ~ Rich Perelman
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