Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

THE EUROPEAN VIEW

Plus: Maine fireman fights for freedom!

Los Angeles, November 9 – With the debut of Cigar Magazine, the U.S. cigar-magazine wars are again underway.

But Europe is not far behind, with cigar-themed magazines in France, Germany, Israel, Italy and Russia, among others.

One of the most popular is the European Cigar-Cult Journal, published in German and English. It’s celebrating its tenth anniversary and called together a panel of 11 tasters to nominate their favorite cigars from anywhere in the world.

The results?

• As expected, Cuban cigars dominated the nominations, with 21 of the 33 nominations (three per panelist), but Dominican and Honduran brands were noticeable:

> The Davidoff Millennium Blend earned top-3 raves from three tasters and the Davidoff Limited Edition 2004 was nominated once.

> Padron’s 1964 Anniversary Series was nominated twice, both times for the Torpedo shape.

> The Juan Clemente line, much appreciated in the U.S. in the 1980s, but which lost favor in the Boom, was nominated once.

> Flor de Selva, a big winner in Europe, but not much of a success so far in the U.S., was nominated once.

> Non-Cuban brands with distribution in Europe – but not the U.S. – were nominated four times: twice for La Libertad (Honduras) and once each for La Meridiana (from Nicaragua) and Patoro (Dominican Republic).

• Of the Cuban brands which led the nominations, the Partagas Serie D robusto was cited four times and the Partagas Lonsdale once for a total of five, tied with Cohiba for the most by any brand. There were four nominations for the Cohiba Siglo VI and one for the Esplendido. The Punch-Punch was nominated three times and another Punch shape was cited once, for a total of four, in third place.

H. Upmann, Juan Lopez and Montecristo earned two nominations each and Bolivar had one.

The issue also had well-written articles on pairing cigars and wine and cigars and coffees, plus a rating of a selection of cigar cases (a Davidoff case was ranked best). There was also an interesting rating of cigars based on a quality-against-cost basis, with high ratings for Flor de Selva, La Aurora Preferidos, Puros Indios and the Santa Damiana H2000 edition.

Let Freedom Ring:
Steven Delorge is a business consultant by day, but also a part-time firefighter in his hometown of Saco, Maine. He is also a freedom fighter.

Creating a one-man protest against a new citywide policy which prohibits city employees from smoking on city property of any kind, the Portland Press-Herald reported that Delorge began a program of civil disobedience last Thursday, November 4.

In contravention of the new policy, Delorge has taken to donning his firefighter’s gear and smoking a cigar outside his fire station every day during the lunch hour. “I love cigars,” he told the Press-Herald, “it’s one of the three top things I enjoy.”

He noted that he was smoking outside, where he believes there are no health effects to his smoking on others. “They’re trying to regulate personal behavior,” he noted. “That’s where I think they’ve gone too far.”

The city policy against smoking went into effect on November 1 and Delorge’s protest took place while city administrator Richard Michaud was on vacation. He is due back this week and further discussion is assured.

Go get ‘em, Steve! To paraphrase an old Prohibition-era slogan, “Have a cigar and strike a blow for liberty!”

Cheaters Never Prosper:
The former police chief of Vacaville, California agreed to participate in an anti-theft education program in exchange for the dismissal of three misdemeanor counts of theft, stemming from taking 55 cigars, without paying for them, from the Lil’ Havana smokeshop in Vacaville.

Mike Cook was caught on videotape taking cigars in the shop’s walk-in humidor. He was police chief until his retirement in 1988 and said the theft charge was a misunderstanding. The store owner did not agree.

Flipping Out:
Our 2004 Rankings Flipbooks have arrived from the printer and all CigarWire subscribers will be receiving one by mail shortly.

If you haven’t signed up yet, now is the time while this bonus-special is still on. Just click on the “CigarWire” tab in the upper left-hand corner of the screen to join those in the know!
~ Rich Perelman

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0) add comment