The Borons Cigar Blog

We're here to help you tell the difference between a real Cuban Cigar and a fake one. Here are some tips and tricks to help you spot one from a mile away.

When you think about a premium cigar, your first thoughts might be about Cuba, and for good reason. However, there are many other countries that produce fine cigars that rival the Cuban experience.

Here are the seven main countries for fine cigars – Mexico, Ecuador, Honduras, Brazil, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and including the most famous, Cuba.

Mexico

The history the Mexican cigar dates back to the Mayans, who smoked tobacco in pipes, as well as in loosely-rolled bundles that looked similar to a primitive cigar. Due to the volcanic soil in the San Andreas region of Mexico, some of the finest cigars are produced here. The soil is rich in potassium and that yields premium tobacco as well as the dark Maduro wrappers and sleek San Andreas wrapper.

Ecuador

Ecuador doesn’t have a long history like some of the countries when it comes to cigar production. That doesn’t mean that the cigars are of less quality; in fact, the cloud cover and humidity in Ecuador yields a spicy and delicious cigar wrapper like the exquisite Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.

Honduras

Known for its fertile soil and excellent climate for tobacco, Honduras produces cigars with usually a stronger, more dark and earthy flavor. It is an area that even has wild tobacco fields used by its people for hundreds of years. Using mostly Cuban seed, the region is windy and mountainous, with acres of vivid green tobacco plants.

Brazil

This is a country that produces bold, strong, and dark tobacco that is full of flavor and sun-grown tobacco wrappers that have a neutral, sweet taste. If strong is your preference then you can’t go wrong with a Brazilian Cigar like the CAO Brazilia. Almost all of the Brazilian tobacco is grown in the area of Bahia. However, all of the regions within this area on the Atlantic Coast have their own micro-climates and curing methods – which gives unique tastes to the cigars.

Nicaragua

Cigars from Nicaragua are superior tasting due to volcanic soil that is full of nutrients. The weather conditions there are ideal as well, so you get an alternative that is full of flavor and is considered some of the best tobacco in the world. What makes it unique is its soil and minerals which produce spicy and full-flavored cigars.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic was the first to cultivate tobacco for cigars and the flavor is usually mild and smooth. Recently, however, the Dominican Republic has produced some strands that are amazingly powerful so no matter your preference, this is a country where you can go bold or go smooth. And keep in mind that they use the finest aged long filler tobaccos and top-quality wrapper leaves.

Cuba

The Cuban cigar has long been a favored among many and for good reason – the weather is perfect and the soil is quality. According to an article at the Chicago Tribune:

Tobacco grown there takes on the flavors of the soil and is influenced by the micro-climate in that particular region. You can take the same seeds and grow them elsewhere. There will be similarities, but only Cuban tobacco tastes like Cuban tobacco.

While you cannot import Cuban cigars into the United States due to the trade embargo, you can enjoy alternative cigars or cigars from any of the other fine countries listed, where the flavor is comparable to the Cuban.

A famous name in the world of Premium cigars, the H.Upmann brand has a long history of top-selling blends that date back to Cuba in 1844. Eventually forming a sister brand in the Dominican Republic where the legacy of excellence continues today, American smokers have come to rely on the Dominican H.Upmann cigar for its smooth and rich medium body flavor, along with a fabulous aroma.

We are excited to say that this storied brand has received a makeover, and its coming out of Nicaragua from one of the world’s hottest cigar makers. H. Upmann by AJ Fernandez cigars bring to the vanguard a selection of the finest aged tobaccos that include a seamless Sumatra wrapper from Ecuador over a vintage Nicaraguan Corojo 99 binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. These superb vitolas are offered in three popular sizes, the Churchill, at 7 inches by 54 ring gauge; Toro, 6 by 54; and the Robusto which weighs in at 5 by 52. The cigars ship in 20-count cedar boxes with powder blue trim, and each stick comes adorned with elegant powder blue and gold bands.

Already a huge hit with our in house “herfers”, H. Upmann by AJ Fernandez cigars deliver a rich tobacco sweetness accented with medium to full flavored notes of  dark roast coffee, hazelnut, cedar, and subtle hints of spice. Not only are these new smokes super-delicious, but in true AJ and H.Upmann fashion, you can count on outstanding construction, a very slow and even burn, and an effortless draw.

From the stunning bands and boxes to the super-premium quality and flavor, H. Upmann by AJ Fernandez offers the discerning aficionado the utmost in beauty and cigar smoking perfection.

Yesterday’s post was actually written before we arrived in Santiago…I admit I was cheating but with the Internet here you never know.  On the flight from Miami on Sunday, I spoke with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo who confirmed he was making a new cigar for Crowned Heads.  This is the Nashville-based company co-founded by Jon Huber formerly with CAO.  The cigar will be the J.D.Howard Reserve, who is better known by his alias of Jesse James.  According to Greg Mottola at Cigar Aficionado, Huber says Howard used to live in Nashville and he was intrigued.  The new cigar will come in 5 sizes but the price and boxes and bands have yet to be finalized.  The cigar should be ready for the industry trade show this summer.

Food and Beer in Santiago

So upon arrival in Santiago we met with Manolo Quesada who took us to a new beer bar (VinoBeber) which served an amazing selection, and had a nice outdoor smoking area.  The beer that impressed us the most was the Dogfish Head Miles Davis Bitches Brew (made at a small brewery in Milton, Delaware).  Released in 2010 to mark the 40^th anniversary of Davis’s landmark album Bitches Brew,  it is an Imperial Stout mixed with a Honey Beer.  Amazing flavors as it warms up.  Who would have thought you come to Santiago to get a small han- crafted American beer. We also discovered a new restaurant not far from the hotel called La Comai (not sure of the spelling) but they served a full pound of Mofongo with fantastic Chicharrones for about 6 bucks…and it is probably the best Mofongo I have ever had.

On Monday, Manolo took us to his new factory in Licey.  I say new because they moved in a year ago, and since I was forced to cancel last year’s trip.

The factory has plenty of room now, compared to the original MATASA factory in the free trade zone.  I will officially tour the place later this week and will report more about it then.  On Tuesday night, about 60 people who spent the first couple of days at Casa de Campo in La Romana for the official start of the festival made the 5 hour bus ride to Santiago. A total of 250 people are signed up for the festival. At La Romana the participants spent a day golfing, or on the beach on Monday and then Tuesday morning they toured Tabacalera de Garcia—home to Altadis USA.

At Pro Cigar, a few of the factories often introduce new cigars and this year is no exception.  The Quesadas are unveiling their new Fonseca Cubano Exclusivo.  For years, the Fonseca brand has been on the mild end of the cigar spectrum.  The primary exception was the Cubana Limitada which had much more strength for the advanced smoker’s palate.  This new Fonseca is a middle ground for the brand.

While in the mild to medium range, it presents a fuller flavor so it is approachable for the novice while delivering a lot of taste for the more serious smoker.  Using Dominican HVA (Havana Vuelta Arriba) wrapper over a Dominican binder and Connecticut broadleaf, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.  The cigar will ship next month in four sizes, Robusto (5.5” x 52), Corona Gorda (6 x 46), Belicoso (6.5” x 52) and Gordo (6.5”x 60).  The prices have yet to be determined.

New Digs

For Litto Gomez at La Flor Dominicana one of the newest members of Pro Cigar, his mind has not been on the festival.  Instead Litto has been working on a major expansion of his factory in Tamboril.  About 3 months ago, he was able to acquire the land next door to the factory and in that short period he was able to clear the land and construct new buildings giving him a lot more space.  Now, La Flor Dominicana has room for its tobacco storage (although not all of the tobacco is here some remains in a warehouse).  Litto has been concerned not only with the physical aspects of the construction, but also the aesthetics.  The results are beautiful.

His new expanded factory also has much more room for the rollers who now are producing about 3 million cigars a year.  Litto says once the construction is totally complete, he will focus on new cigars for this year…but he admits that his big push will come NEXT year when La Flor Dominicana turns 20.

Last week we talked about ANY excuse to smoke a cigar, but there’s one HUMUNGOUS excuse I’ll always have, and that’s NFL Playoff football. Cigars and football… damn guys, it’s like mac n’ cheese… Starsky n’ Hutch… mashed taters n’ gravy… beer nuts and… well, um… beer. Now being a lifelong New York Giants fan, you can only imagine how I’ve been enjoying the gridiron action so far. With the reaming of Atlanta and the pummeling of the 15 – 1, heavily favored Green Bay Packers, I have admittedly been a horror for anyone to be around who doesn’t bleed blue.

Now I always break out the premium smokes when there’s hot playoff action on the telly, but when it’s my team winning, I will pass the good stuff around like a proud papa celebrating the birth of a child! And these past two weeks I’ve been like Santa on a month-late run handing out the likes of the Camacho Triple Maduro, Jaime Garcia Reserva Especiale, Montecristo Red, El Rey Del Mundo Real, and some Oliva Cain Daytonas! What am I nuts? No, just a generous BOTL who is enjoying the pigskin madness that only the National Football League can provide.

The unfortunate problem we will forever have up here in northern New Jersey is that it is just frigid outside this time of year, and even heading to the garage for a halftime shortie will undoubtedly freeze some important parts of the anatomical structure. Now come on guys, we’ve been thru this crap for over four years now, and you KNOW that I don’t smoke in the house. Yeah, go on tough guy, call me a wuss, girlie-man, or any kind of insult you’d like, but it’s not gonna change things for me. And I tried getting a really good heater for the garage, but I still freeze my little bag of onions off so I can only really go to a friend’s house where smoking is accepted, or a local cigar shop – and thank God, there are a few by me that I frequent for just these kind of occasions.

So this weekend we have two stellar match-ups: the NFC has My New York Football Giants on the road to take on the defensively tough San Fransisco 49ers, and the AFC has the Baltimore Ravens trying to take down the Patriots Brady Bunch in Foxborough, Massachusetts. If you’re a football hound anything like me, you’ll be glued to the flat screen, tossing epithets at opposing players, coaches, and referees, all while noshing an assorted mix of man-food goodness. (I’ve got a rootbeer pulled pork recipe that’ll knock your taste buds off into another stratosphere. Let me know if you want me to send it.)

Now these match ups are going to call for some special play selections direct from the JR CIGARS humidor. For the AFC game, your friendly neighborhood Polack is taking the New England Patriots along with a the Alec Bradley American Blend Classic with its Connecticut-seed Honduran wrapper intermingled with a flavorful binder and hearty blend of long fillers from the town of Condega, located in the province of Estelí, Nicaragua, to create a mild-to-medium-bodied, smooth, and creamy smoke with great balance and a sweet cedar finish. As for the NFC, well, you KNOW I’m picking the road dog Giants paired up with a Macanudo Cru Royale GIGANTE! Don’t let the Macanudo name fool you because this dark stick is packed with with a long-filler blend of Brazilian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican Mata Fina tobaccos, a smooth La Vega Especial binder, and a deep, dark, oily Ecuador Habano-seed wrapper. Plus the Blue band goes perfect with a Big Blue victory. (Sorry, dude, I told you I was an obnoxious snob.)

So, I guess what I’m saying is that it’s gonna be a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl, Patriots vs Giants and I’ll be looking for a repeat of that amazing game. (Can anybody see where that David Tyree fella is at?) Hey, don’t let me get ahead of myself, because it’s only Friday and we’ll see on Monday if the Zman is a champ or a chump. But no matter what happens, I’m gonna be smoking up some serious premium goodness, courtesy of our friends at JR CIGARS! Ahhhh… football and cigars… say, it’s just a hunch, but I bet some ice cold beer would work with this whole shindig, whaddya think?

Stay Smoky My Friends,

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

If you’re anything like me (whoa that’s a scary friggin thought, you’ll have to agree) then you will basically make any excuse whatsoever, anytime, any place, to smoke a good cigar.

“Hey honey, I’ll be barbequing for 20 minutes,” and that’s all I need to break out a shorty and herf away while I’m grilling up the mid-section of some four-legged carcass. Gonna be in the garage for a little bit? I don’t care what the chore is because my leafy buddy is there by my side, stinkin’ up the joint and keeping me good company. An hour ride in the car alone is excuse enough to grab a big burly stick from the humidor and use it as my navigational device! Any ride of an hour or more requires a kettle sized mug o’ java, some rockin’ tunes on the radio, and a smoldering double corona to signify the passing of every single yard marker.

A few neighbors of mine smoke cigars and what a great excuse to partake while they walk their dogs. When I see one of my buds strolling by their pooch, I quickly throw on my shoes and coat and join in on the festivities. I’ve actually lobbied for a dog for this very reason, but the reality of taking bowzer out and picking up his steaming pile in two feet of snow is not my idea of enjoyment… but at least a good cigar would make it somewhat more enjoyable.

If my son wants to have a catch or pitch to me, that’s good enough reason to have a stellar stoag hanging from my face. If my neighbor or pal is returning a tool he borrowed, well, I will ALWAYS coax him into kicking back with a single malt and a tasty hand rolled treat from a variety of Latin American countries. Twenty minutes later his nagging wife will be screaming out the door, wanting to know where he mysteriously disappeared to, and unfortunately for him, all the lies in the world can’t cover up the luscious scent of premium aged tobacco lingering from every fiber of his being.

Then there are the blatant made up stories I use, and no matter how much bullshit I toss out as a smoke screen, the wife will always know the real deal. “Hey honey, Jim needs me to help fix his mower, so I’m heading over there for a little bit.” “FIX HIS MOWER?” she’ll yell out in a ‘you’re completely full of Shinola’ voice. “You don’t know how to change a god damned battery in a flash light! You’re going over there to smoke cigars so don’t even try to pull one over on me!” Busted… like every single time. Of course I’ll then get pummeled for being a lazy-ass who just wants to smoke cigars and escape from performing any of my household chores, which is basically true, but why the hell does she have to make me feel so bad about my love for the aged leaf?

Now nothing is more enjoyable than a celebration smoke, like when your team wins a big game. The past few weeks I’ve been celebrating the New York Giants latest victories including their decimation of the Atlanta Falcons in round one of the NFL playoffs. Of course this weekend is a MONSTER challenge for my G-men as they take on the Cheese Heads of the Frozen Tundra, but I believe in my team and I’m about to choose some major league celebratory smokes like the Alec Bradley Tempus, Camacho Corojo, or the Bolivar Cofradia. Yeah, I know, decisions, decisions. And if by chance my team doesn’t happen to win, well, you can bet your sweet ash I’ll find some kind of an excuse… ANY kind of an excuse to smoke them anyway!

So hey, share in the comments section here and let me in on YOUR favorite excuse to smoke a cigar! We’re all Brothers (and Sisters) of the Leaf, and your favorite cigar is ALWAYS the one you’re smoking at that very moment. Okay, I can’t take credit for that last one, but it was good enough to repeat!

Til’ net time, Stay Smoky My Friends,

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

I would imagine you guys know me long enough, where it goes without saying that I freakin’ love cigars. (Gee Zman, what a revelation… did your inner Polack just kick in?) Now I’ve been smoking long enough where I know what I like. I know the blends, the wrappers, the flavor profiles and the strength. But for the life of me I can’t figure out why I like what I like. That may sound a little dopey and your answer may be, “who really cares, just STFU and enjoy your stogies, ya fat bastid.” But I’ve been wondering why I like a certain cigar and another guy thinks it dog shmootz.

I guess you could wonder this about anything: food, alcohol, taste in women, yada, yada, yada, but this query has led me to think about how personal cigar smoking really is. If a guy tells you that he doesn’t like scotch, or liverwurst, or even red heads, no offense is taken whatsoever. (Let me just say that if you don’t like red heads, you are mentally challenged, but please don’t let me stray from the subject at hand.) You just figure it’s his personal choice and that’s all there really is to it. But offer up say perhaps one of your prized stellar maduros to someone and that knuckle-dragging ingrate tells you that it sucks, well you take great offense as if it were a serious personal affront. I’ve seen this on many an occasion in online cigar forums where a guy says he loves a certain brand and then someone else will reply that it’s a hunk of excrement, and suddenly a war of words begins. I even get mad at my own dad when I give him what I think is a nice stick, and if he tells me he didn’t care for it, I get all pissy and tell him to go buy his own friggin cigars!

So when it comes to cigars, why do we like what we like and why are we SO goddamned particular and uppity about it? Hey I don’t know, I’m asking you! You have any concrete thoughts? Cuz I don’t. I know one guy that smokes the strongest cigars on the planet and eats triple maduro / triple ligero for breakfast. He thinks everyone else is an out an out puss for smoking anything less. Then I know an older dude who’s been smoking for 45 years – mild delicate Connecticut shade wrapped cigars, the kind most newbies start off with. I’ll ask him why he doesn’t try bumping up in flavor to a medium bodied cigar, something with a little more depth, complexity, and flavor. And you know what he says to me? “I like what I like.” I know as a fact that the guy dines on a variety of tasty foods and fine wines, but when it comes time to lighting up, it’s that same golden yellow wrapper cigar every damned time.

Now for me, personally, it’s all about flavor. From medium to very full bodied is what I like and if I do smoke a lighter wrapper cigar, it’s usually in the morning or before I’ve eaten. Years ago, like most stogie lovers, I dug the mild stuff, but my palate has changed a lot and I just don’t get the flavor I need from a mild cigar. I’m sure many of you reading this are the same, yet, did you know that the basic Macanudo brand is the best selling premium hand rolled cigar in America? That’s because the casual smokers and newbies who smoke on the golf course, while camping, playing poker, etc., those guys want something mild that’s not going to leave them with Satan’s breath the following morning. Complexity means zilch to those guys, as where it means a lot more to us full time leaf-ionados. (That’s some writer’s license used right there, keep on reading….) Although I will say that complexity is definitely not as important to me as a cigar just having good flavor. There are certain sticks, like take the Cain Habano for instance, that really just has a nice medium to full flavor profile straight through and I’m totally fine with that. But then there’s times I have an expensive scotch or full bodied wine and I’ll reach for maybe an Ashton VSG to compliment the complexity of what I’m drinking.

Hey, I guess when it comes down to it, there really is no right or wrong answer, we really do just “like what we like” when it comes to cigars and I have to say upon final reflection that I’m totally cool with that. But if you tell me you don’t like red heads, I can assure you that you do indeed have some sort of mental blockage.

Happy New Year, Home Boys & Gals,

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

First off, wish me a happy birthday, ya slugs! Yeah, it’s today, December 30 and I don’t smell a day over 40.

Okay, I seriously ask you guys, how can it possibly be the end of another year? I remember celebrating the new millennium like it was yesterday and now that’s a dozen years ago? This is crazy! And now we’re facing a glitch in the Mayan calendar, hoping and praying that these ancient knuckleheads simply ran out of paper.

A hell of a lot of crap happened during the course of 2011, way too much to talk about in detail, so I might as well just stick with the cigar happenings. First off, the good people here at JR Cigars gave Steve Nathan and I our own YouTube show where we get to entertain and spread the cigar knowledge to the world. The feeling of power is somewhat overwhelming, and gratifying all-the-same. Of course when you mix a ranting, psycho Polack with a chemically imbalanced Debbie Downer of a cigar training manager, you’re going to create a chemistry that is horribly unpleasant, yet for some unexplainable reason, you just can’t stop looking at it. I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you.

As far as cigars go, JR went completely bonkers bringing in a plethora of new brands to the company, the brands you’ve been asking for, ie; Rocky Patel, My Father, Don Pepin, Jaime Garcia, NUB, La Flor Dominicana, Alec Bradley, Oliva, VegaFina, EP Carillo, CAO OSA Sol, Macanudo Cru Royale! Yeah, the list is long and deep and I personally couldn’t be happier. I am definitely gonna celebrate the new year in JR style with more smokes than I could have ever imagined enjoying. Sweet!

Now, while the good stuff was certainly good, the bad stuff was incredibly annoying. The Food and Drug Administration decided they wanted to regulate the cigar industry, treating our precious smokes in the same way that they scrutinize cigarettes. If these politico nightmares get their way, an entire industry that employs some 85,000 people will be in for the fight of their lives – so it’s up to us to fight these clueless numbskulls with every last ounce of smoke that we’ve got! January 19 is now the date that the FDA will stop taking feedback from the public on this matter and it’s up to us to make as much noise as we possibly can until then!

And now you’ve got these stooges on the Orange Bowl committee who have been bamboozled by the ancient and out of touch Frank Louseyburg of NJ and his smoke Nazi cronies. Our good friends at Camacho Cigars had a 3-year deal with the Orange Bowl to be an official sponsor of the game which included outdoor smoking lounges at the event. But three holier than thou senators stirred up a bunch of health organizations and bullied the Orange Bowl Committee and the NCAA, getting Camacho tossed out as a sponsor! Of course the Bowl organizers used the lame and shameless excuse of what a poor message a cigar company would send to kids, but somehow it’s okay for collegiate sports to advertise alcohol, fast food, and the pill that makes you call the doctor after 4 hours. From what I understand, a rum company is an official sponsor of the game, which is a hypocrisy that has us all shaking our heads. What kind of message does consuming alcohol send to our children? The message is simple: when enjoyed responsibly by adults in moderation, all of these grown-up products should be allowed to do business under the name of freedom in these here United States of America.

So what’s up for 2012? Well this FDA thing is looming and we need to educate, get the word out, and fight these fascist legislators with everything we’ve got. And while the crap keeps hitting the proverbial fan with new anti-smoking laws and continual tax hikes on our cigars, new brands will continue to come out this year as our industry will stick together like never before.

So, that’s it from the great state of Jersey, guys. You and I will be talking again next year for sure!

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

For those of you who have been following this smoky blog for the last few years, you know that I have a habit of belly aching about the weather, as it is always interrupting my cigar smoking activities. It’s either, ‘too hot’ and disgustingly humid in the summer, or it’s ‘too cold’ in the winter, with snow and ice freezing my cojones into ice balls when I try to enjoy a smoke. But this past week here in Jersey, we have been hit by some of the most bizarre acts of nature that I have ever seen ‘round these parts.

Last Tuesday afternoon an earthquake hit the east coast… now I know you dudes in Cali thought it was funny stuff, but for you left coasters, it’s kind of like a snow storm descending upon San Diego. I was sitting in a local diner with my dad when our table started shaking and I said, “Holy crap, did you feel that?” We thought a big truck went by, but thanks to Al Gore’s amazing internet, word spread around the globe in seconds flat. While the cackling old hens in the diner were worrying about a “Day After Tomorrow” scenario, I had one thing only on my mind… what was going to be my cigar of choice when I got home from my shaky meatloaf lunch? An oily Excalibur 1066 Dark Knight?… a full bodied Macanudo Maduro Vintage 1997? Or perhaps the flavorful new Rocky Patel Edge Corojo to ease the pain of the aftershocks? Life is full of difficult decisions, but in times of crisis, a real man will keep his head and deal with the matter at hand. So, like the trooper I am, I went with the Rocky. Seriously, guys… there is no wrong answer, here.

Let’s switch to the present moment as I am writing this blog at the edge of my garage at 9:00 on Saturday night – the wind is whipping and the rain is coming down in over-sized buckets. Hurricane Irene has made its way up the eastern seaboard as New Jersey and New York are next in line for a hammering, following the awful beating the good folks in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware took. I’m actually about four feet from the garage opening and starting to get drenched, but with a Punch Grand Cru #2 clenched firmly between my teeth, no freakin’ dismal act of God named after some angry bitch is gonna stop me from reporting to my Brothers and Sisters of the leaf!

Cigar smokers are indeed a steadfast bunch, and we will endure conditions that mere mortals would shiver at, all for the sake of our Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican made amigos. It’s pretty damned hard to keep a tried and true cigar smoker down, and this past week sure as hell proved it. Hopefully all of you reading this made out okay and stayed safe and dry, no matter what geographic region you hail from. And hopefully, the power stays on here in Zmanville so I can get this blog of mine up and posted. You know that I do this for ‘you guys’… I give and I give.

It’s 11:30pm, it’s pouring with a vengeance and the trees are bending with the wind. I feel it’s only fitting to leave you with words of wisdom that Carl the greens keeper once made famous, “I don’t think the heavy stuff’s coming down for some time.”

Tommy Z . JR Cigars Blog With the Zman

There’s Only 1 More Day to Jump on our Wacky Macky Weekly Special!

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Macanudo Vintage 2000 Celebramos Travel Humidor ONLY $59.00!

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Macanudo Vintage 1983-2000 Celebramos Humidor ONLY $99.00!

Second, we have 10 spectacular 5.75 inch by 50 ring gauge Macanudo cigars from the years 1984, 1988, 1993, 1997, and 2000 packed in a leather-covered, cedar-lined humidor that will hold 20 Churchill cigars. It includes a humidifying element inside and a digital display on the outside to check the humidity without opening the box. SAVE $51.00 OFF THE RETAIL PRICE!

This past week, five major US tobacco companies filed suit against our federal government in a most unprecedented and landmark fashion. Since the FDA has taken over governing cigarette tobacco, they have wreaked havoc with manufacturers, mandating that large, exceedingly graphic warnings be placed on every pack of smokes. And, to add insult to injury, the companies are being forced to pay for the updating of all their packaging!

The FDA has ruled that by October 2012, cigarette manufacturers will be forced to display one of nine grotesque health warnings on all packaging, and the companies are fighting back, taking the FDA to court on the grounds that the ruling basically violates their right to sell a legal product.

“Never before in the United States have producers of a lawful product been required to use their own packaging and advertising to convey an emotionally charged government message urging adult consumers to shun their products,” said a spokesman for the group of companies.

A complaint has been entered in US Federal Court that also says, “This is precisely the type of compelled speech the 1st Amendment prohibits.”

Guys, this is going to be one hell of a messy fight, one that we cigar smokers should take great interest in. The cigar industry has been lobbying hard to keep FDA regulators out of our humidors, and thankfully, several government officials are behind a bill to do just that. While I don’t have too much good to say about lifetime politicians, sometimes they’ll surprise us and think with their heads, instead of only pandering to get votes. While those kinds of actions are few and far between, we do seem to have a few politicos on our side.

While I am personally not a fan of cigarette smoking, and feel that cigars are an entirely different animal, in this case, a ruling in favor of the butt makers certainly helps the cigar industry, as we are no doubt targets next in line. It is the opinion of many of the anti-smoking zealots that tobacco is tobacco, lumping cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco into the same category, and to me, that is just wrong. That’s like saying that alcohol is alcohol, which would be putting wine, beer, and whiskey into the same category, when they are all very different types of drinks. Plus, a big part of the FDA’s strategy is to target the minds of children, but as I’ve said on this blog a million times, when have you ever seen kids hanging out, smoking $8 or more Montecristo Reds, TTT Trinidad Reserves, or Hoyo de Monterrey Dark Sumatras? The answer is: You don’t. In my opinion, premium hand rolled cigars are an adult pleasure, created for people who enjoy the relaxing benefits of a finely crafted product…  that yes, is still legal in this here United States of America.

Of course, the FDA won’t comment on any pending litigation, but that didn’t stop Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, calling the FDA ruling ‘frank and honest warnings about the dangers of smoking.’

R.J. Reynolds, vice president and general counsel, Martin L. Holton III, fired back: “Rather than inform and educate, the graphic warnings include nonfactual cartoon images and controversial photographs that have been technologically manipulated to maximize an emotional response from viewers, essentially turning our cigarette packs into mini-billboards for the government’s anti-smoking message.”

My question is as always, if the anti-smoke contingent gets their way and eradicates all forms of smoking, just where will these billions of dollars in tax revenue going to come from? The answer to that one is indeed a scary thought. This is gonna be a hell of a dog fight in public over the coming months, and the outcome will be groundbreaking. Yes, my brothers of the leaf, we certainly do live in interesting times.

Tommy Z . JR Cigars Blog With the Zman

Stock Up on THIS WEEK’S SPECIAL Before It’s To Late!…

Get your mitts on a bundle of 20 Cubita Dominican at 50% off the retail price! For those without a calculator that’s as low as $2 bucks a stick! This great deal ends on August 24^th! Go get you some of these classic cigars today!

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