Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars - RICHS: THE BEST-LOOKING 110-YEAR-OLD WEVE EVER SEEN

RICHS: THE BEST-LOOKING 110-YEAR-OLD WEVE EVER SEEN

RICHS: THE BEST-LOOKING 110-YEAR-OLD WEVE EVER SEEN

Plus: Jarheads Pop For Partagas

Portland, Ore., December 3 – One of the joys of traveling is being able to visit famed "Temples of Tobacco" like the 110-year-old Rich's Cigar Store here in Portland.

Looking every bit like the landmark it is, the store that started out as a tiny cigar sales counter and newsstand is a must-see destination for every tobacco enthusiast . . . or newshound.

The front of today's spacious, perfectly-arranged store offers an immense selection of newspapers and magazines from around the world. Rack after rack of every kind of periodical imaginable, with elegant displays of pipes to the right and the cigar and accessory selection toward the back.

And this is a full-service shop. There is row after row of cigar cases of every shape and price . . . a well-lighted case full of different styles of cutters . . . brightly-lit stands, cases and displays of lighters from the popular Colibri and Zippo lines to the exotic and expensive Dunhills and Duponts . . . and a wide variety of humidors of different sizes, finishes and prices.

And then there are the cigars.

Back-to-back rows of inexpensive cigars to walk around, including ancient American names like Marsh and S.F.S., but also inexpensive handmade cigars like JM's Dominican, Punch London Club and Fuente "It's a Boy" and "It's a Girl" models.

There is a walk-in humidor as well, but the real action is in the lighted sales cases across the back of the store and the humidified, glass-front, floor-to-ceiling display cases holding box after box of the greatest names in cigars: Fuente, Partagas, Montecristo, La Gloria Cubana, Ashton and so on.

General Manager Bill Shindler, contentedly smoking on a beautifully-formed pipe, was more than generous with his time to share a little bit of Rich's history and how they are doing today.

Naturally, his customers are enthusiastic smokers of most of the top brands. "Whenever we can get them, Ashton VSG and, of course, Fuente [Hemingway] Short Storys do very well.

"We also do well with Butera." It's refreshing to see a niche brand of extraordinarily high quality do so well; for those not familiar with Butera, it's a Dominican-made, mild blend that offers a smooth, even flavor. It will likely be added to our next list of the best mild-bodied cigars available in the U.S. due early in 2005.

The sales staff is patient with novices and experienced smokers alike and their enthusiasm for cigars and the fun that goes with them is obvious. They even got me excited enough to take home a box of Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8s . . . after all, it ranked no. 4 in our survey of the top full-bodied cigars available in the U.S. (full list on the CigarWire!), plus I got a 10% box-buy discount and Oregon has no sales tax! What a deal!

There are two Rich's stores: the original at 820 S.W. Alder Street (503/ 228-1700) in the heart of downtown Portland and at 706 N.W. 23rd Street (503/ 227-6907). They have an extensive catalog as well as a comprehensive web site at www.richscigarstore.com.

They make me proud to be a cigar smoker.

Hammer Time:
The elegant Partagas Sevilla Humijar up on eBay drew a lot of attention during its seven-day run, which ended on Wednesday.

There were 12 bids in all for the jar, undoubtedly manufactured in the 1960s or 1970s and in excellent condition. Sold by a dealer in Quebec, the winning bid reached $676, more than double what other examples of this style have brought in the past. The apparently-perfect condition of this jar was likely one of the factors which led to this high winning bid.

H. Upmann (Havana) glass jars are fairly common on eBay, but porcelain jars for Partagas and Ramon Allones from the 1960s and 1970s are fairly uncommon. It is not unusual to see Millennium Reserve jars for the Cohiba Piramides, Montecristo Robustos or Cuaba Distinguisados, but pre-Revolution jars from Hoyo de Monterrey or Punch are almost never offered.

Stripes:
Mike's Cigars of Bay Harbour, Florida is again offering its unique 898 Collection Dominican "Tricolor" cigar.

Subscribers to Mike's weekly e-mail specials were offered the opportunity to pick up a box of 10 of these double corona-sized sticks at just $30 the box. The cigars are all seven inches long by 50 ring gauge and have a triple-color wrapper of natural, maduro and candela (a.k.a. green) leaves, making the cigar look, in Mike's words, "like a GI fatigue uniform."

The cigars are made by Felipe Gregorio and are of good quality. But these may be more fun to give as a gift, just to see the look on the recipient's face!
~ Rich Perelman

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