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

“SMOKE AND YOUR TROUBLES WILL PASS”

Plus: the world’s longest cigar!

Los Angeles, January 11 – In compiling the third edition of our Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars, we found plenty of small facts and pleasant memories of cigars and Cuba from the time of the Taino indians right up to today. One of the best was:

“Fumando las penas van pasando y . . . si fumas PARTAGAS nunca las tendras.”

Printed in royal blue letters against the white background of one of the earliest ceramic cigar jars, which held 25 Partagas puros, was this message from the 1920s, loosely translated as “Smoke and your troubles will pass . . . but if you smoke PARTAGAS, you’ll never have them.”

Has there ever been a better reason to enjoy cigars?

The jar is a classic, made by the Tavalera firm from Seville, Spain. Only the phrase above appears on the jar; the familiar Partagas brand shield is missing and did not appear on jars for many years to come.

Much sought after by collectors, it’s hard to find, even on eBay. The only example in the last two years appeared in 2003 and finally sold for $620.

Although H. Upmann is reported to have created the “office jar” in the 1910s or early 1920s, Partagas produced true collector’s items in the Tavalera jar and a series of bakelite “Partagas Humijars,” which have scored prices of $737 and $811 on eBay in recent months.

The Longest Smoke:
The Associated Press reported yesterday on a 62-foot-long cigar which may be certified as the world’s longest by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The 20-yard-long stick was created by veteran torcedor, 43-year-old Patricio Pena, who has been rolling cigars since about the age of seven. A native of the Dominican Republic, Pena has a cigar-rolling and sales booth at a popular farmer’s market in the Santurce area of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Inspired by a friend’s challenge, Pena obtained sponsorship for the effort from the San Juan city government, the Telemundo television network and Bacardi Rum. The tobacco itself weighed about 20 pounds and cost about $2,000.

Pena began preparing the cigar last Wednesday, creating the bunch and letting it set prior to rolling on the wrappers last Saturday. As he applied the wrapper leaves, he had help from nine assistants who turned the cigar for him.

The finished cigar is not for smoking, of course. Pena said he plans to display it above his booth at the farmer’s market as a tourist attraction. He is in the process of collecting necessary forms to obtain Guinness certification. The current holder of the “world’s longest cigar” title is Cuba’s Jose Castelar Cairo, who made a 45-foot-long cigar in August 2003.

What’s the longest cigar you can buy to smoke? They are quite a bit shorter, but the longest production cigars are:

> Santa Clara Magnum (Mexico), 19 inches by 52 ring;

> Puros Indios Chief (Dominican Republic), 18 inches by 66 ring;

> Graycliff Big Bamboo (Bahamas), 16 inches by 50 ring.

If you don’t want to smoke them, you can use them for stickball!

Steals and Deals:
We always get a kick out of the Thompson Cigar Company catalog, even if their prices aren’t always the best.

Sometimes they surprise us, like their new Torano special.

The key to this deal is their “bonus” pack of eight Torano cigars, giving you a chance to sample four excellent lines: Carlos Torano Cameroon 1916, Carlos Torano Exodus 1959, Carlos Torano Exodus 1959 Silver and the newer Casa Torano. We thought so highly of the Exodus 1959, we ranked it 16th on our list of the top medium-bodied cigars available in the U.S.

Even better is that the eight sample cigars come in a sensational Andres Garcia hard-leather, cedar-lined case, made in India and a perfect road travel case. Other retailers sell the case for around $40 alone. You also get a Torano hat!

All this stuff comes when you buy a full box of Torano Cameroon 1916s, Exodus 1959 or Exodus 1959 Silver. Even so, the prices are good, ranging from $99-122 for the Cameroon 1916s, $106-115 for the Exodus 1959 Silvers or $89-105 for the Exodus 1959s. The best deal happens to be the lowest in price: just $89 for the excellent Exodus 1959 robustos (5 inches by 50 ring) in a box of 24 . . . and the eight sample cigars, case and hat.

Also intriguing: Thompson’s offer of three triple-flame Nibo “Space” lighters, offering a veritable inferno guaranteed to light your cigar almost immediately. We’ve had some problems with the reliability of Nibo lighters in the past, and with three torch jets, they consume a lot of butane. But at three for $29.95, who’s counting? Light my fire!
~ Rich Perelman

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