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OH, THOSE AMERICAN CIGARS!

Plus: have a milk chaser with your cigar . . .

Los Angeles, June 29 – It’s always fun to read about how others see you.

So our interest in the newest issue of Britain’s Cigar Buyer magazine – a trade publication – was heightened when a review of “American cigars” was included.

The introduction was worrying, stating that “in recent years, some fine American cigar brands – many of them actually rolled in the USA – have been vying with the finest Havanas, and deservedly winning over new British fans” (italics added).

Oh boy.

For the record, very few brands sold in the U.S. are rolled in the U.S. Lars Tetens and the Pinar series are rolled in New York, the Cuban Cigar Factory in San Diego is going strong and the La Gloria Cubana and La Tradicion factories in Miami are some of the best, but that’s about it for handmade cigars. Almost everything else comes from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Jamaica.

In the tasting of “American Cigars,” the J.C. Newman Cigar Co. line-up was tested, with the Cuesta-Rey Centenario Aristocrat (7 1/4 inches by 50 ring) earning a 9.3 out of 10, but others in the Cuesta-Rey line getting panned with scores from 8.5 down to 6.0.

U.S.-marketed cigars did better in the “New Releases” section with Rocky Patel’s Sungrown series scoring a 9.7 for the Petit Corona size, 9.5 for the Toro and 9.2 for the Robusto. Patel has consistently promoted his Sungrown line as his best, even with the popularity of the Vintage line and The Edge.

A perfect score of 10 was given to the Honduras-produced Zino Platinum Sceptre Shorty (4 1/2 x 44).

In the Tres Petit Coronas category, 17 cigars vied for honors with nine from Cuba and eight from other countries. The Cuban scores ranged from 7.7 to 10, but four received perfect scores of 10: the Cohiba Siglo I (4 x 40), Punch Petit Punch (4 x 40), Montecristo No. 5 (4 x 40) and the Trinidad Reyes (4 3/8 x 40). One Dominican cigar – the Davidoff 1000 (4 1/2 x 35) – also received a perfect score.

But three other Dominican-made cigars received scores of 9.0 or better, including the Davidoff Grand Cru No. 4 (4 5/8 x 44), Davidoff Millennium Blend Petit Corona (4 1/2 x 42) and Private Stock No. 8 (4 1/2 x 36). And of a total of 14 cigars which scored 8.0 or better, seven were from Cuba and seven from the Dominican Republic or Honduras.

More interesting would be a full-on test of Cuban brands against the first line of U.S.-made brands including Arturo Fuente, Camacho, Hoyo de Monterrey, Macanudo, Partagas, Romeo y Julieta and so on. Maybe in a future issue!

More flavor in a smaller package from Kahlua
The continuing battle for the right size in flavored cigars continued this week with General Cigar’s introduction of a Petit Corona in its Kahlua brand.

The new shape will debut in mid-July and measures 4 inches long by 38 ring. Like all Kahluas, it’s made for General by Drew Estates in Nicaragua and is the ninth shape in the range.

Got milk . . . and cigars?
Another anti-everything group was unmasked this week when the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom disclosed that the so-called “Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine” was actually an extension of the wild-eyed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The “Physicians Committee” is actually an animal-rights group which has continuously attacked the “Got Milk?” and “milk moustache” campaigns. According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, less than five percent of the “Physicians Committee” are physicians!

Despite considerable scientific evidence to the contrary, “Physicians Committee” President Neal Barnard has called milk a cancer-causing agent and said in 2001, “We should think of milk the way we think of smoking cigars.”

Let’s do! So with your next cigar, have a milk chaser . . . then settle down to a nice steak dinner.

He’s a winner:
We finally got our Register & Win contest rolling again after some in-house technical troubles. Raney Nelson of Flemington, New Jersey was the latest winner, of a box of Pride of Jamaica Royal Coronas.

Up this week is a box of 20 La Primadora Coronas (5 1/2 x 42), courtesy of Mike’s Cigars of Bay Harbour, Florida. They’re medium in body with a slightly spicy finish.

There’s no purchase necessary, just sign up by clicking the “Register & Win” tab above. You only need to register once as duplicate entries are deleted before a random selection is made. All subscribers to our CigarWire subscription service are, of course, automatically entered. Good luck!
~ Rich Perelman

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