Dunhill | Half Ashed

Georgetown Tobacco Caucus

The Georgetown Tobacco Caucus is only available at Georgetown Tobacco, and was blended in 2009 when David Berkebile visited Rocky Patel’s factory in Danli, Honduras. The blend was designed to complement the flavor of the Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper leaf, which is David’s favorite. The result is a rich and satisfying smoke that avoids the extremes of strength and taste which have become common in today’s cigar market. The medium body and subtle flavor make the Caucus accessible to a wide variety of cigar enthusiasts, who have made this the most popular brand in our store. Provided to us by Cigar Man for Life, these sticks have been with us for a while and are a few that we both enjoy. Probably the best cigar I’ve had produced by Rocky Patel since the RP 15th Anniversary in 2010. Tonight’s cigar is 6” x 52 and sells for about $7.

Cigar News

Over the past couple weeks, a few large scale acquisitions have come to pass in the tobacco world. The one of most interest to cigar folks is Altria (parent of Philip Morris) picking up Nat Sherman. While most of listeners of this show know Nat Sherman as a cigar company, cigarette production is a major component of their business – but they do hold a number of premium brands. Future plans for these premium cigar brands (made for them by Plasencia and Quesada) are yet to be announced.
Dunhill cigars and pipe tobacco….gone, or will be soon.
It’s THAT time of year again. Manufacturers are beginning to announce the “if/when” of price increases. So far, I’ve seen bits coming down from Perdomo, AJ Fernandez, and JC Newman…but personally I expect there to be many more over the next 4-6 weeks.
Terry Johnson (TL Johnson Cigars) has merged with Black Patch Cigars of Kentucky. To my recollection, we’ve only talked once in memory about Black Patch and the “Kenbano” tobacco they grow in Kentucky to showcase in their blends. Tabacalera TLJ will produce Black Patch cigars going forward, and presumably the Kenbano will be coming down for those purposes.
Since our last show, Matt Booth has announced he’s retiring from the cigar industry – along with his Room101 brands, which he owns. His attention will turn to focus on his lucrative jewelry business. His contract with Oettinger Davidoff expired Jan 1st, and he has opted not to renew. It’s still possible that the brands could return to production, but no plans have been announced at the moment.
The IPCPR tradeshow was somewhat “booted” from the former venue, the Sands/Venetian complex. It’s been widely speculated that a bigger group wanted the venue for the assigned dates, and with the convention hall holding the power to cancel, they opted to do so. IPCPR has quickly adjusted and rescheduled for July 10-14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The move de-couples hotel arrangements from the convention site, but presumably won’t offer much more interference except being a bit off the strip.
So, the FDA has extended the deadline for manufacturers to submit ingredient lists for cigars from Feb 15 until Aug 8, 2017. That’s the news from the FDA, but after looking over the requirements I can’t help but wonder about a couple things. First, for any premium cigar made with no chemicals besides potable water and tobacco, there are only 4 requested pieces of information: tobacco type, variety, curing method, and any recombinant DNA technology used in creating the varietal. Even for these cigars – containing nothing aside from water and tobacco – I have questions. First, the “type” of tobacco must be listed by weight. Exactly how much does ½ leaf – cut by human hands from variably sized leaves – weigh? I wonder with what precision the FDA expects this to be? Secondly, I wonder how many manufacturers *truly* know how the tobacco they used has been genetically engineered? I’ve spoken with some in the past who simply don’t. They buy tobacco. They know where it was grown, who grew it, and many other details – but they may not know it intimately on an agronomical basis.
I also wonder – for those who use something other than water – if they know enough detail about their process to accurately submit the application. Bethune, the “secret sauce” used by more makers than would admit, often contains wine, rum, tobacco, water…and various other ingredients passed along sparingly like it’s the Colonel’s original recipe. I am willing to bet many can’t answer the questions regarding chemical reactions and other properties imbued by the Bethune. I have no idea how stringently this will be enforced, nor even if it can be without FDA personnel on the ground in factories throughout cigar country (a la food inspectors). I’m anxious to see how third-party cigar companies meet this; I have a gut feeling many don’t know their cigars on a level to complete this and will have to rely on information from their partner manufacturers (and/or agronomists from *their* sources). Small manufacturers (under $5million/yr) will have an additional 6 months to comply, so we’ll see in a year or so….

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Craig –

HR Blue – Oh my goodness gracious
Cattle Baron!
Hoyo de Monterrey Añejado
pipe tobacco – Escudo Navy Deluxe

Fuente Fuente Opus X 20th Anniversary pre-release from CFC.
Quesada Keg – both Nicaraguan and Dominican versions.

Montecristo Number 2

From Craig:

Created in July of 1935 at the Particulares factory in Cuba by Alonso Menendez (Benji), Montecristos were rolled there until 1937 when production was transferred to the H.Upmann factory, also owned at that point by Menendez. Montecristo cigars’ little known claim to fame is that they were the first cigar ever blended to focus on a core of flavors besides the typical tobacco & spice flavors. Being dubbed “new school havana flavor”, they started a revolution that continues today with many notable blends from all over the world. The #2 is the most famous of the line, though not the best selling, and undoubtedly thought of as the world’s greatest torpedo.

Cigar News

Outside of FDA items and post-tradeshow details, there isn’t a ton of NEW news this week…so I thought I’d kick around a couple things I’ve had from the show.

Dunhill Aged Maduro. I believe this is the first time a true maduro has carried the Dunhill name. It has a Sungrown Ligero wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and Dominican/Nicaraguan filler mix. I smoked the 4”x54 short robusto, but it’s also available in 5.125”x42 Marevas and 5.5”x54 short churchill. I had mixed results with this one. After smoking two I’m torn. The first was a bit monotone, with an occasional foray into some slight bitterness. I wasn’t a fan. Giving it a second try, though, was rewarding. I still had some occasional tannic notes, but overall was much better. I’ll report back once I’ve had the last one…but for smallish cigars that will run $9.50-12 at retail, I’ll have to be pretty impressed.
Sticking with the General Cigar theme, I also had the CAO Consigliere. This, for those who haven’t heard, is unofficially a re-introduction of the Sopranos, sans series nomenclature. The company says this allows for a much lower MSRP than the Sopranos (now $7-9 in 3 vitolas). I smoked the 5”x52 Associate (also comes in 6”x54 Soldier and 7”x56 Boss). I had better luck with this than the Dunhill mentioned above. I played Craig just for a few minutes and trimmed away some of the wrapper. Removing the wrapper gave it a very sweet essence – akin to root beer, in fact. I’ll be trying these at least once more when they hit shelves. Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper over Honduran binder and Colombian/Nica/DR fillers.

JC Newman, even in the face of new legislation and regulatory oversight, launched a new “boutique” division – 4th Generation. The company has already begun shipping (to beat the 8/8 deadline) three lines – The American, The Admiration, and The 1954. Interestingly, the cigars will be produced at their Ybor city factory rather than their Nicaraguan operations – although production is in NIcaragua until the factory has been readied for production. The company will be headed by Eric’s son Drew and wife Ariel. The American will be an American puro, featuring the FSG wrapper grown by Jeff Borysiewicz in central Florida. It will also have CT broadleaf, CT habano, and PA. The Admiration is a mix of American and NIcaraguan tobacco. Finally, the 1954 is an attempt at recreating Stanford’s Cuesta Rey 95. 1954 commemorates JC Newman’s move to Ybor. I’m interested in seeing how these lines are received, as they all carry pricing from $16-20 per stick.

The FDA lost a lawsuit this week. A district court judge sided with the tobacco companies and deemed that new packaging does NOT necessarily mean a new tobacco product. This was specifically in regard to a cigarette suit, but should cover cigars as well. FDA asserted previously that a change in any packaging would start a new application process. Notably, the judge also deemed a change in package quantity DOES signify a new tobacco product.

Kevin Talley – Sr. Directory of Legislative Affairs – has left IPCPR. No reasoning was given, but I’m intrigued by sheer curiosity of the timing…

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Craig – A GREAT couple of weeks for me

ECCJ 20th was the dog of the show. That should tell you something
Reynaldo Canonazo 2014 from Zedman
1998 Montecristo Especials
L‘Atelier Racine – How polar opposite this experience was… from itself
Avo Syncro Fogata
Davidoff Yamasa

JC Newman Perla del Mar Maduro
The revived Oliveros from Aging Room

Episode 158: Georgetown Tobacco Caucus

Georgetown Tobacco Caucus

Cigar News

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Half Ashed Episode 150: Montecristo No 2

Montecristo Number 2

Cigar News

What Else We’ve Been Smoking