Archive for September, 2012

Uh… Where is Tom?

Tuesday, September 11th, 2012

No, I haven’t resorted to speaking in third person…

missingperson

I’ve had emails from some loyal visitors, and I’m sure a dozen of you are wondering… “Where are the reviews? What happened to Tom? I’ve had to resort to reading reviews by Scott Smyth!”

Well fear not. Real life has gotten in the way, at least for a week. In the mean time, I will tidy up some loose ends, smoke some good cigars, and return next week. I’ll see the twelve of you then!

Our CIGARS Will NOT Fall Prey to the Nanny State, by Tommy Zman

Friday, September 7th, 2012

To all of the politically correct, smoke nazi, tax raising, self righteous, freedom hating, nanny-stater, Orwellian, big brother, bureaucratic, moralist, save us from ourselves do-gooders… will you do me a favor and PLEASE just leave us cigar smokers the hell alone!

We just want to enjoy the leafy goodness that hails from Latin America because it makes us feel good, it helps us to relax, we bond with good friends over our smokes, and the last time I checked, cigars are STILL a legal product in these here United States of America. But the tag line, “Land of the free” is sure being jerked around and crapped on by the intolerant turds who think it’s just fine and dandy to tell other people how they should live their lives. They want to tell us what’s best for us, and the last time I checked, those were the traits found in communist countries and socialist dictatorships.

Okay, I’m a little riled up today… all right, who am I kidding, I’m friggin pissed because there are people out there who are trampling all over our rights as Americans, and a bunch of those tight-asses hold positions in high places, and THAT is a scary thing. And this is why I am GLAD as all hell that an organization like > Cigar Rights of America is standing up for this industry, defending our right to enjoy a product that we love and is an important part of many of our personal lifestyles.

I’ve had the honor and the pleasure to sit and talk with Glynn Loope, the executive director of the CRA on a few occasions and while the man has his work cut out for him, he is just relentless for the cause and there couldn’t be a better guy to be out in the streets, fighting the good fight.

CRA has helped to introduce two very important bills into legislation that need the support of the congress and senate. To date, 219 congressman have signed on to sponsor the bill along with 13 members of the senate. What’s really cool is that this is truly an honest to goodness bipartisan effort, the way all forms of government should actually work. There are those who have signed on that don’t even smoke, but recognize the importance of upholding freedom and a person’s right to choose. And the big number to look at here is that the CRA has rallied up 199,535 signatures from citizens like you and I, letting the government know loud and clear that we do NOT want the FDA acting as nannies over an industry that employs over 80,000 people in a terribly fragile economy. We do NOT want our beloved cigars messed with and taxed even more than they are right now.

One great victory came this past week when a Federal judge SHOT down the FDA for good in their appeal to force tobacco companies into placing grotesque images of disease and death on cigarette packages, images that were over the top and in the massive minority of heath related causes by tobacco. Its hard to believe, but in this case common sense most certainly prevailed. And it good news because if the FDA had succeeded, there is no doubt that cigars would be the next target on their hit list.

Wow, I think sometimes this blog is a cathartic experience for me, allowing me to vent to a group of good people who all “get it” and are tired of being dumped on by the biased and bigoted fanatics who will not stop until there is total tobacco genocide.

So, my brothers in premium-aged leafiness, let’s all hold steady, stand our grounds and fight for what we believe in. I ask you to please support Cigars Rights of America and all that they do. Now listen… if you haven’t signed the petition, > CLICK this LINK and it’ll take only a moment or two, because at this time we’re just 465 signatures shy of the 200,000 mark. And if you’re not a member of the CRA, and if cigars are really THAT important to you, it’s time to join the fight!

Hey, wow… I feel a lot better now. Thanks for listening, smoke ‘em cuz ya gottem, and let freedom ring. I’m Tommy Zman and you’re damned right that I approve this message.

TZ.Sig.2

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

> CLICK HERE to Check out this week’s J•R CIGARS Weekly Special

 

More IPCPR Cigars by Frank Seltzer

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

 

Many of the cigars shown at last month’s IPCPR trade show are starting to show up.  One that should be arriving any day is the new Vega Fina Fortaleza 2.  You probably have already read about this cigar in the new JR catalogue in my article on Altadis.  (What? You don’t have the catalogue?  Well that can be remedied by going here.) I personally like the Vega Fina line.  The traditional Vega Fina was a cigar developed for the Spanish market.  The Vega Fina had been around before that, but it was reblended and now is one of the top sellers in Spain, beating out many Cubans.  The regular Vega Fina is a medium bodied cigar with flavor and is one terrific smoke.  However, as part of its campaign to kick things up a notch, Altadis USA is coming out with the Vega Fina Fortaleza 2.  The Dominican binder and fillers are complimented with a great San Andres Criollo wrapper.  The list price for these is around 6 bucks each.

More Sol

Last year, General launched the CAO OSA Sol.  Cigar Journal named it the best Honduran cigar.  The cigar is named for its wrapper which comes from the Olancho San Agustin farm in Honduras (hence OSA the sol comes from the fact it is sun grown).  It uses a Connecticut broadleaf binder and three fillers –two from Honduras and one from Nicaragua.   This year CAO added two new sizes to the line – Lot T which will be a 4.5” x 50 and the Lot 46 a 5.25” x 46.  They should be shipping shortly.

 

Cohiba Diamond

The regular Cohiba Dominican (commonly called the Red Dot) line is a tasty smoke. It uses a Cameroon wrapper over Indonesian binder and Dominican fillers.  They are certainly an ultra premium cigar with list prices running between 12 to 17 bucks.  Last year, General released the Diamante collection in a special humidor containing 100 of these special cigars priced at $4125.  What makes the cigar special is the wrapper…it is Cameroon, but talk about aged…it comes from 1980!  Needless to say I did not get the chance to try one of those.  This year, the two sizes of the Cohiba Diamante are being released without the humidor  a 5”x 50 Robusto and a 6”x54 Toro.  Instead they will be individually boxed in coffins.  The price is still out of my budget at $22 and $25 each.  Fortunately, I was given a sample and I can say you really taste the age on the Cameroon wrapper.  The cigar is fantastic and contains a lot of initial sweetness from the aged wrapper.  The Diamante has a bit more ligero than the Red Dot and you can tell the difference.  This is a medium to full cigar because the intensity builds as you smoke it and the sweetness transitions to pepper and spice.

 Another House

Another cigar that I did not mention in the IPCPR roundups, though I saw it at the show, was the new Casa Magna Colorado Box Press.  The reason I did not mention it initially was that it is a line extension of the highly popular Casa Magna, which was rated #1 Cigar of the Year in 2008.  The new box press gives a nice touch to the line.  There are three sizes, Gordo Real (6.25” x 60), a Toro (6”x50) and a Short Robusto (4.5” x 54).  Then for those who really like jaw breakers, there is the Gigantor a 6” x 64 not box pressed. These are all shipping now and should be in stores within days.

 

 Lung Cancer in Non Smokers Goes Up Unexpectedly

This sounds like the monthly unemployment numbers when claims go up and economists almost always say it was unexpected.

A new study out today says more female non smokers are getting lung cancer which is causing a lot of head scratching.  The report will be presented at the European Respiratory Society’s Annual Congress today.  The report studied lung cancer patients and found a nearly 12% increase in the number of female non-smokers with the disease.  According to the lead author Dr. Chrystele Locher,

 

“We recently saw that the WHO have classified diesel fumes as carcinogenic, but more research is needed to understand other factors that could contribute to lung cancer in non-smokers. Anti-smoking campaigns must also target women more specifically, as we can see little change in lung cancer rates caused by smoking in women.”

 

Of course, the WHO’s classification of diesel fumes is about as scientific as its campaign on Second Hand Smoke.  Dr. James Enstrom did an analysis of the particulate matter studies.   He used nearly 50,000 California residents and  found the hype was just that.

These epidemiologic results do not support a current relationship between fine particulate pollution and total mortality in elderly Californians, but they do not rule out a small effect, particularly before 1983.

Eventually when all tobacco is banned and the nannies then clean up diesel exhaust and lung cancer keeps happening, THEN maybe they can start looking for the real causes of the disease.

 

 

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