Today’s installment is going to be a short one. My wife and I are heading to New York City to meet some friends at Club Macanudo this afternoon and want to get an early start. Is it unusual to drive 2½ hours just to smoke a cigar or two? When you can manage it, it’s well worth the time to meet up with friends you only see a couple times a year. I bet it’s been ten or twelve years since I was at Club Macanudo. I’ll select some special cigars to take along to enjoy, and we’ll have a good time in the big city. In other news, a week from today I’ll be on my way to Nicaragua for a return visit to Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari. This may interrupt my usual posting schedule a bit, but I will endeavor to post updates along the way as time and technology allow.
To recap a couple cigars I smoked this week, I slipped in a Monte Pascoal Minuto Thursday before going to an abysmal Flyers game which left me so disgusted that I didn’t bother stopping in the cigar bar for a post-game smoke. These are dynamite little cigars, and this one may have had a year or so of age, which didn’t hurt it. I enjoyed the heck out of this small Brazilian Puro. If you don’t see these in your local shop, you can use the code “MPCGRS10” on CigarFromBrazil.com to get %10 off any purchase on the site. I’ve smoked a bunch of cigars in this line and they are tasty smokes.
Saturday I took an afternoon walk with a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo. I thought I knew what this cigar was, but the size didn’t match up to any of the sizes listed on the website. It was a 6″ x 50ish box pressed cigar, it certainly wasn’t the 54 ring gauge Poderosa. Then I remembered when I met up with Peter from ACigarSmoker.com last year he gave me a sampler of Joyas from an event they had recently had which had 4 or 5 toros, of which this cigar may have been included. Anyway, this line is one of my favorites for flavor, although I can stand a little less power. It also evokes some great memories of smoking one in the factory in Esteli two years ago. Sadly, this particular example was a little tighter than I would like and it gave me a little more frustration that pleasure. I’m sure I’ll have the chance to smoke another one of these in the next week or so. I still love the flavors in this cigar and am never deterred by the occasional bad experience.
News
From Cigar Rights of America:
S. 772 Joins H.R. 792 – As Key to Warding off FDA Regulation of Cigars
With an historic act of political leadership for all those that have a passion for premium cigars, U.S Senator Bill Nelson, D-Florida and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, have again joined together in a spirit of bi-partisan leadership to send a loud and clear message to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – “Leave Our Cigars, Alone!” Early this morning, it was assigned the bill number, S. 772.
However, Senators Nelson and Rubio are not alone this year in the launch of a bill to protect premium cigars from destructive regulations by the federal government.
In another display of bi-partisan cooperation, a diverse coalition of U.S. Senators have joined S. 772 as original co-sponsors. They include Senator Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana (and Chair of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee); Senator Jon Tester, D-Montana; Senator Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, and Senator David Vitter, R-Louisiana.
Cigar Rights of America commends the leadership of these Senators for our cause of Cigar Liberty from the tyranny of federal regulation. To have such legislation filed two years in a row, is a testament to the perseverance of all that share in the camaraderie of a great cigar. It is recognition by these members of Congress that by the FDA even contemplating the regulation of cigars, the agency is going beyond their legislative intent.
H.R. 792 Climbs to 61 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives!
This month’s new co-sponsors of H.R. 792 include: Dan Benishek (Michigan); Tim Huelskamp (Kansas); Steve Chabot (Ohio); Trey Radel (Florida): Bill Huizenga (Michigan); Todd Rokita (Indiana); Dina Titus (Nevada); Andy Barr (Kentucky); Glenn Thompson (Pennsylvania); Howard Coble (North Carolina); Chris Collins (New York); Lee Terry (Nebraska); Robert Whitman (Virginia); Kurt Schrader (Oregon); William Owens (New York); Frederica Wilson (Florida); Patrick McHenry (North Carolina); Wm. Lacy Clay (Missouri); Bill Shuster (Pennsylvania); and Kerry Bentivolio (Michigan).
Please call their offices and commend their leadership for Cigar Liberty. Go to the full co-sponsor list, and if your member of Congress is not on it, call them and say “SIGN ONTO H.R. 792 and S. 772! Or…you’ll remember on Election Day.”
NEW PETITION DRIVE FOR THIS CRITICAL FEDERAL LEGISLATION
“Operation Cigar Liberty” needs you. In the spirit of H.R. 792, let’s put 792 (at least!) petitions from each Congressional District in America, into the U.S. Congress. That’s 344,520 petitions. All you need to do is fill in the blanks, and we take care of the rest. Starting today when you fill this out, it will automatically go to both of your U.S. Senators, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. ACT, TODAY!
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITON AS SEND A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS!
And on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue…
It’s official. The Obama Administration is proposing a fresh new round of tax increases (to the tune of 93%!), and this time on your cigars! President Obama wants new cigar taxes to go for education programs. SCHIP just wasn’t enough. Fortunately, that’s why there are three branches of government, and such a proposal should meet with strong resistance in the House of Representatives, and hopefully the Senate, as well.
Call The White House at 202-456-1111 and say “NO NEW TAXES, ON MY CIGARS!”
TAKE ACTION: Help Exempt Premium Cigars From FDA Regulation!
H.R. 792 / S. 772 – Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act
Between April 26, 2010 and December 21, 2012 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration publicly posted their intent to deem cigars as subject to federal regulation. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon the cigar enthusiasts of the United States to voice their opposition to any proposed new regulation of premium/traditional cigars by the United States Government.
Some of the measures FDA could consider, as we believe they are, include:
- Ban on walk-in humidors, self serve cigar displays, and mail-order cigar sales;
- Ban on all flavored cigars, that are enjoyed by legal-age adults;
- Deface ornate, decorative cigar boxes, often considered an art form with grotesque images;
- Ban on cigar events where free cigars (samples) could be available to legal-age adults;
- Limits on cigar marketing and advertising;
- Imposition of new ‘user fees’ [tax] on cigars, to finance regulations;
- Limits on special release and small-batch cigars, due to mandates that cigar blends be submitted to FDA for pre-approval before release;
- Limits on nicotine levels on cigars to near zero, severely impacting the flavor of cigars;
- Ban on marketing cigar merchandise.
We urge you to easily take action now by clicking the button below!
It’s very important to write to your elected officials and implore them to co-sponsor these pieces of legislation! Our ability to enjoy premium cigars and all the great things associated with it depends on it! I promised I’d dig up some info on the New Jersey Cigar Festival, which, by the way, would not be possible under FDA regulation of premium cigars! See how important this is?
This year’s NJ Cigar Festival will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 11am – 4pm at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park, NJ.
We hope you’ll be able to join us for what promises to be the New Jersey Cigar Event of the year!
As an attendee, you’ll have direct access to some of the most famous names in the industry, including Jon Drew, Jose Blanco, George Sosa, Arielle Ditkowich, Maria Martin, Antonio Lam and Willy Herrera. (Willy is even bringing a new, as-yet-unreleased blend with him, just for Festival attendees.) And My Father Cigars will be joining us, as well!
There will be plenty of product to buy at special prices, which you can enjoy while indulging in a buffet lunch featuring the delicious food that Park Avenue Club has become known for through New Jersey. And, of course, there will be free massages and hot towel shaves.
You can purchase tickets here, or visit Barrister Cigars (2565 Route 22 West in Union, NJ) and buy your ticket(s) in person using cash or a check and get a free cigar.
Looks like a great event featuring a great bunch of people!
That’s it for today! Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Hey Craig,
The JDN Dark Corojo you spoke of is appropriately named La Niveladora (literally, the bulldozer) and is a 6 x 52. I’ve smoked a couple fivers of these over the past year and it has become my favorite size in the line. The draw problem you experienced seems to be the exception as all I’ve smoked have been perfect.They do pop up on Famous’ Cigar Monster from time to time for around $20 a fiver with free shipping. It’s well worth giving another shot.
Thanks Craig for another great post and keep up the good fight as we all are!
Craig,
It is not unusual for me to drive at least an hour or more to enjoy a cigar. I had the great experience of visiting a local cigar lounge. It was very hard to find because it’s in a casino/bingo parlor. But the experience was very nice, smoked a “My Fathers” long corona and had some makers mark 46 for breakfast (11:00 AM). Washington state made smoking in public buildings illegal many moons ago so the only places you can smoke in are on the Indian reservations. There are some exclusive clubs and a hand full of shops that have built garage type buildings on adjacent properties for events and such. This session of some lawmakers are supposed to vote on opening up a certain number of smoker friendly shops and lounges. But as we speak WA is not smoker friendly.
Have fun on your trip to NYC.
George