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

STEALS AND DEALS

Plus: Lots of activity at Havana’s Festival del Habano

BULLETIN:
(issued 4:14 p.m. PST)
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York today agreed with General Cigar that its trademark for the brand name Cohiba is valid against claims from the Cuban government.

The three-judge panel issued a unanimous 43-page decision. More on the decision tomorrow and a full dissection of why the court overturned the District Court decision on Monday.

Los Angeles, February 24 – Our continuous scan of top mail-order and on-line retailers continues to find interesting opportunities to obtain quality cigars at modest (or at least reasonable) prices. This week, we found these deals:

Abner’s World:
From Philadelphia come three terrific buys on high-profile brands that rarely see such deep discounting:

• Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Cuban Coronas (5 1/4 x 45), at the lowest prices we’ve seen in a while: boxes of 25 were already reasonable at $79.95, now offered at $74.95.

• Diamond Crown Maximus, also made by the Tabacalera A. Fuente and rarely discounted, at prices much lower than from anyone else we’ve seen:

> No. 3 (6 3/8 x 50 pyramid), boxes of 20 for $224.00, with maduro wrappers!

> No. 4 (6 x 50), boxes of 20 for $168 in maduro;

> No. 5 (5 x 50), boxes of 20 for $133 in maduro.

• Romeo y Julieta 1875 Churchill (7 x 50), one of the most popular cigars available in the U.S. today, previously offered in boxes of 25 for a pathetically low $72.95, now $64.50! That’s $2.58 a stick!

We ranked the Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva line no. 4 in our list of the top full-bodied cigars available in the U.S. and Romeo y Julieta 1875 no. 4 in our roster of the top medium-bodied cigars. Great cigars at less than $3 each is an opportunity worth taking advantage of.

Atlantic Cigar:
An interesting mix of interesting opportunities to try some brands we don’t often see at these prices:

• Cuesta Rey Centenario CentroFino Sun Grown Captivas (6 1/4 x 42), no. 6 on our list of the top medium-bodied cigars offered in the U.S. at one of the lowest prices we’ve seen: boxes of 25 for $73.42.

• Fonseca Sun Grown Cedars, all cedar-wrapped with a medium-to-full-bodied flavor:

> No. 4 (4 1/4 x 50), boxes of 20 for $48.88;

> No. 5 (7 x 48 in tubes), boxes of 20 for $74.75.

• La Flor Dominicana samplers, a great way to try Litto Gomez’s unique and flavorful brand. Our favorites:

> 2000 Series El Toro (6 1/4 x 52) with a Cameroon wrapper, four for $17.34;

> Ligero L-300 (5 3/4 x 50) a powerful blend with lots of character, four for $14.76;

> Double Ligero Chisel Set with Gomez’s unique shaped end; a cigar which should be on everyone’s list to try at least once. Get two each of the natural and maduro-wrapped “chisels” (6 1/4 x 52) for total of 4 cigars for just $20.26.

• Oliva “O” Classic, a medium-to-full-bodied cigar of all Nicaraguan tobacco, on sale in all four sizes:

> 7 x 50, 25 for $71.95;

> 6 x 50, 25 for $65.94;

> 5 x 50, 25 for $59.94 and

> Torpedo (6 1/2 x 52), 25 for $71.94.

• Partagas Spanish Rosado Rojitos (4 1/2 x 50) at the best price we’ve seen so far: a big box of 40 for $136.77.

• Puros Indios, always near the top of the price-value chart, now even lower:

> No. 2 Especial (6 1/2 x 46) in boxes of 25 were $48.95, now $39.95!

> No. 4 Especial (5 1/2 x 44) in boxes of 20 were $38.75, now $37.20, easily the lowest we’ve seen.

> Piramide No. 2 (6 1/2 x 46), perfectly constructed and full of flavor, in boxes of 10 were $37.00, now $35.52, the perfect introduction to this brand;

> Rothschild (5 x 50) in boxes of 20 were 41.25, now $39.60;

> Toro Especial (6 x 53), a wonderful cigar; in boxes of 20 were $46.25, now $44.40, an excellent value.

• Vegas de Fonseca Sobrinos (5 1/4 x 50), an underrated cigar from Manolo Quesada’s MATASA factory in the Dominican Republic, at a nice price in a box of 20 for just $51.00.

If you haven’t tried La Flor Dominicana, Puros Indios or Vegas de Fonseca, this is your chance: 44 sensational cigars will run you less than $100 and you won’t regret buying any of them.

From the Cubador:
Much action this week at the VII Festival del Habano, attended by about 1,000 enthusiasts and members of the trade from more than 50 countries. The program ends tomorrow, but the highlights so far have included:

• A lavish opening reception at the National Museum of Fine Arts, with live models posing as statues. Of course, attendees were free to smoke inside the Museum, thanks to a waiver of Cuba’s two-week-old non-smoking policy in enclosed public places.

• Announcement of the nominations for the Habanos “Man of the Year” awards, this time in four categories. Not surprisingly, no Americans were nominated, but well-known European retailers Edward Sahakian of London (manager of the Davidoff store) and Vahe Gerard of Geneva (Gerard Pere et Fils) were nominated in the retail category. British actor Jeremy Irons was a surprise nominee in the communications field. The awards will be handed out at the gala dinner on Friday evening.

• Tours of farms in the San Antonio region, south of Havana, where much of the wrapper leaf for Habanos cigars is grown.

• A new attempt to roll the world’s longest cigar by former record-holder Jose Castellar Cairo. His old record of 45 feet from May 23, 2003 was surpassed on January 10 of this year by Dominican roller Patricio Pena in San Juan, Puerto Rico, who completed a 62-foot-long cigar that weighed 20 pounds.

The 61-year-old Castellar’s new attempt is to be completed tomorrow and if successful, will create a 65-foot-long cigar (20 meters!), also with about 20 pounds of tobacco. The rolling effort is taking place at the Havana Conference Center and the tobacco was provided by the Partagas factory in Havana.

Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ . . .
~ Rich Perelman

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