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MAD CITY MADNESS

Plus: Rocky’s best, in one package for one price

Los Angeles, June 27 – “The council narrowly voted to take the cigar out of cigar bars, adding to the city’s anti-business reputation.”

So said the Wisconsin State Journal of the 11-9 vote by the Madison City Council last week to reject an exemption to the city’s smoking ban to allow the city’s only two cigar bars to continue operation.

The city’s non-smoking ordinance is set to take effect on July 1 and both the Madison Wine and Cigar Room and Maduro would have to go smoke-free without the exemption. With summer upon us, the Maduro can continue with outdoor smoking for a while. The Madison Wine and Cigar Room is closed for remodeling and may not reopen without the ability to offer smoking inside.

However, the actions of the Madison City Council, called “a heavy-handed government attempt to change people’s behavior” by the Journal, may be the catalyst in creating a backlash that will wipe out the Madison smoking ban altogether.

The Wisconsin State Assembly, controlled by Republicans, was also in action last week and approved a bill (AB 414) that would establish statewide rules that would override local ordinances. The bill goes on now to the State Senate, where it will undoubtedly be tinkered with, but would help both Maduro and the Madison Wine and Cigar Room.

The Assembly’s approach is to ban smoking in restaurants, but allow it in bars. It creates a consistent law across the entire state, but recognizes that smoking is a legal activity. The bill was sponsored by Assemblyman Jeff Fitzgerald and his brother, State Senator Scott Fitzgerald.

The Journal was enthusiastic about this moderate approach: “[t]he guts of the bill are reasonable and necessary. The bill’s uniform state standards would stop cities such as Madison from becoming non-smoking islands and preserve limited freedom for smokers. It would also protect nonsmokers in most settings from secondhand smoke.

“Smokers could celebrate the compromise with a stogie at Maduros cigar bar in downtown Madison. Nonsmokers could eat at any of the surrounding restaurants in peace.”

C.A.O. looks pretty:
The color ful red, white, green and blue C.A.O. Italia band won a Gold Award for Excellence at the 26th Annual European Sappi Awards last month.

The Sappi Awards recognize outstanding efforts in packaging and design and drew 2,609 entries from 35 nations in 2005.

Introduced at last summer’s Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (RTDA) convention and international trade show, the Italia line has been well received, both for design and taste. The artful integration of the three colors of the Italian flag and C.A.O.’s existing design style led to elegant packaging that was immediately extended to an elegant humidor for the line.

The Italia was the second C.A.O. line to take a “national” theme, after the very popular Brazilia, introduced in 2001.

Elton . . . Elvis . . . and Rocky?
The great superstars are known by just a single name: The Bambino . . . Mickey, Willie and the Duke . . . and current stars like Prince, Beyonce and Celine.

Now Rocky?

Corona Cigar Company has introduced the “Rocky 8,” a unique sampler which offers all of Rocky Patel’s hot lines in one package.

There are eight cigars in this sampler:

• One RP Vintage 1990 Churchill (7 inches by 48 ring);

• One RP Vintage 1992 Churchill (7 x 48);

• Two Sun Grown by Rocky Patel Torpedo (6 1/4 x 52);

• Two each of “The Edge” Toro (6 x 50) and Torpedo (6 x 50).

There’s also a leather case and the price for the entire “Rocky 8 Sampler” package is $59.95.

The Vintage line is one of our favorites, ranked on our CigarWire subscription service as one of the top full-bodied cigars available on the U.S. market. The Edge has gained a growing following for its uninhibited taste at a reasonable price, but Patel is especially enthusiastic about the Sun Grown. He deflects praise for The Edge and the Vintage lines by saying “Have you tried the Sun Grown?”

With this sampler, you get a chance to try all three and start the summer smoking some of the best cigars on the U.S. market.
~ Rich Perelman

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