Tag Archives: Beatles

by CigarCraig | August 17, 2014 · 1:51 pm

Visiting Chicago – Smokey Bear Cigars and TESA Cigars

Here I am in the windy city and I’ve been enjoying the camaraderie and hanging out with some great cigar friends. I know I said I was going to try posting from the field, but the places and events were not conducive to getting any good video, and frankly I was having too much fun smoking and socializing. You’ll have to put up with my normal style Sunday post, I guess! I have been fortunate to find some local cigar events here in Chicago that I managed to impose myself upon. Today I may venture out to the Casa de Montecristo, which everyone tells me I have to visit. We’ll see, driving around here is a serious time and patience investment, but the people here seem very nice. We are here for the Fest for Beatles Fans, and my wife is working at the show with her clients who are all Beatles related authors. It’s a rather interesting cross-section of people, but the passion they have for the Beatles is similar to the passion we have for cigars, and both passions bring people together.

Friday after helping my wife get her booth set up, I headed to Smokey Bear Cigars in Evergreen Park. The GPS said it would take about an hour, but with traffic it was closer to two. I was certainly ready for a cigar when I got there. They were having a Toraño event, and Jack Toraño, who grew up in the Chicago area before going to Miami, was there with his wife Cecelia. Of course, I bought some Toraño cigars and lit up a Master Maduro Toro Gordo. The shop has a generous walk in humidor with a really good selection. I saw some cigars that I haven’t seen in shops before. They were loaded for bear (ha) and had a good amount of traffic too. they also have a nice lounge where I sat down with Jack and his wife and caught up a little. The cigar was a beautiful rich, dark and tasty. I followed it with an Exodus 1959 Gold robusto, which has been a favorite for about ten years. The Toroaños have been making great cigars for a long time, and continue to do so. I love being in a strange city and visiting a shop I’ve never been to before and hanging out with friends. I’m pretty sure if Jack hadn’t been there I would have had a good time, as Pam, the owner, is running a good lounge and shop. Too bad it’s so hard to get to from Pennsylvania!

Saturday I left the car parked and embarked on the Chicago Transit Authorities Blue line to go to TESA Cigars. I’ve heard of this shop, I’ve ridden past their factory in Esteli, and I’ve also heard of a third (or first, as he tells it) Chris Kelly in the cigar business. The other two are Chris Kelly and Chris Kelly, in case you are wondering. Anyway, after navigating the “L” I arrived at the shop, which is in an odd, area. It’s about a block away from Oprah’s studios, but there isn’t really much around from what I could tell. It’s a nice shop though. Their own brand dominates the humidor, along with a nice selection of other cigars, including an impressive selection of Drew Estate products. Tom Navarro, whom I’ve know for a few years, helped arrange a herf there and about 20 people were there, many from the Tatuaje Saints and Sinners message board, and the BOTL message board. I purchased, and smoked a TESA Cabinet 315 Robusto, which was a nice, well balanced cigar that had a load of rich flavor without a lot of spice. The 315 has a Habano wrapper and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli, and is finished off with a curled pigtail cap. Taxes are a bit crazy in the Chicago area, so this PA, no cigar tax, guy was pretty sticker shocked. Chris does a nice job blending the cigars to be smooth and delicious, which was further evidenced by a corona he gave me that he had recently brought back from Nicaragua and wasn’t saying much about the blend. I’ll be interested in smoking more from this line, as the sample he gave me was very tasty and well made. It was great meeting everyone, and, as always, a stranger walks into a group and finds new friends instantly, it’s a special thing. I was also privileged to meet a Facebook friend, C.W. Harris, who Jose Blanco was kind enough connect me with, and is how I found out this event was going on. I had TESA on my list anyway, but it was extra special to meet up with Tom, C.W., Chris and the rest of the gang there (and I’m terrible with names, there was Justin and Scott, and Ed, David and a raft of others….they need name tags at these things!)

Well, I think I’m going to see if I can find Casa de Montecristo and go have a cigar or two there this afternoon, then we drive back to PA tomorrow, work three days, then fly to Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Cigar Fest. Let me know if you’re going to that event, which I’m looking forward to. I’ll try doing the “Live blog” thing from there, but I can’t make any guarantees. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Review, Stores, Trip Report

Tagged as Beatles, Chicago, cigar, cigars, Smokey Bear, TESA, Toraño

by CigarCraig | June 20, 2012 · 8:38 pm

A Monte Pascoal Cigar, Beatles and Other Assorted News Items

It’s been an odd week! Since Sunday I’ve only managed a couple cigars, one of which was a Monte Pascoal Corona and the other doesn’t warrant mention, unfortunately. The Monte Pascoal is a Brazilian puro and a very nice cigar. I’ve heard it described as “Cubanesque”, but I don’t get that. What I get is a well made and tasty smoke. I’ve smoked several sizes and I think this corona is one of my favorites. It’s loaded with flavor. The other cigar I had, which will remain nameless, was a disappointment, it didn’t draw well, and wasn’t particularly pretty, and the flavor was just OK, nothing special. I could excuse some of these in a cheap bundle cigar, but not in a Super Premium cigar. I’ll write it off as another failed experiment and more forward.

News

In an odd cross-over, my friend Mitchell Orchant, of C.Gars Ltd., recently came into possession of, and sold, a rare framed presentation of Beatles banded cigars. The story is currently featured on BeatlesNews.com. I guess I need to hold on to the Burt Reynolds and Mickey Rooney cigars I have buried in a humidor someplace (I always wondered why the Mickey Rooney is a Churchill and not a robusto!)

In other news, I received an e-mail this week from Enrique Seijas telling me about his new project since leaving Altadis. CigarCountry.com sells name brand, premium cigars, and you can get them with custom printed cello or cedar sleeves. The price is extremely competitive and I’m seriously looking for a good reason to buy a box with my name and website on the cello. I wish they’d been around when my daughter was married, and they are a great step up from the usual “It’s A Boy/Girl” cigars. It’s a very cool idea, check it out.

Some upcoming events to look forward to: The Chattenooga Tweetup in August (info here). The Delaware Cigar Festival in September (info here, apologies to non-Facebook users!) I got an e-mail from Sir Stogies, a really nice little shop in Gilbertsville, PA saying that Jose Blanco was going to be there on Tuesday, June 26 at 11am. Another case of the day job getting in the way of fun! Another event I plan on trying to get to is a Drew Estate event on Thursday, June 28 at a much more realistic time of 6pm, at the Humidor at the Leaf, which is Famous Smoke Shop’s retail store in Easton, PA. Of course there’s the Jose Blanco blending event hosted by Buttheads Tobacco Emporium tomorrow, June 21, which will be a first of it’s kind live stream event.

I’ve come up with about as much non-sense as I can muster, but I have one more piece of business to attend to. It seems that our winner of the last contest never came forward to collect his prize. I sent two e-mails and didn’t get a reply. So I have to select an alternate winner. Random.org spit the number 18 at me this time, which corresponds to my old buddy Bob Greene. I’ve known Bob for years, and I’m certain he will enjoy Mitchell’s book! Bob, please send your mailing address so I can get this stuff out to you!

That’s all for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under Contest, Events, News, Review

Tagged as Beatles, Beatles News, Butthead's, c-gars ltd, Chattenooga Tweetup, cigar, Cigar Country, cigar store, cigars, Contest, Delaware Cigar Festival, drew estate, Famous Smoke Shop, Humidor at the Leaf, Jose Blanco, Monte Pascoal, Sir Stogies

by CigarCraig | January 15, 2011 · 9:47 am

Cigar Beatles – A Guest Article by Jennifer Vanderslice – Sunday January 16, 2011

The following article was written by my wife, Jennifer, in the spring of 2008. Since it’s original publication, Jenn received information from a descendant of the Morrita Cigar Company saying that they never produced Beatles banded cigars and the examples pictured in the article were counterfeits. I’ve reprinted it here with my thanks for allowing me and only minor formatting changes.

My Two Loves

By Jennifer L. Vanderslice

I believe that everyone at some point in time would love to be able to find a link, if not combine, two passions that seem unrelated to one another. Take for example the “Seinfeld” episode called “The Blood” where George decides to combine sex with food. My two hobbies, the Beatles and an occasional cigar will meet this summer in Las Vegas when my husband and I attend LOVE: Cirque du Soleil and attend the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers convention. I had to wonder if I there were any other connections between the Beatles and Cigars.

What really kick started my search is the current issue of “Cigar Magazine”, with an article titled “Hey! You’ve Got to Hide Your Smokes Away” and subtitled, “There is nothing fab about these beetles!” Not only did the editor choose to reference the Beatles in the title, there is also a beautiful caricature by Christine Fusco of “The Beatles” as cigar beetles. Even though the article’s author, Frank Seltzer, who happens to be a good friend and also a Beatles fan, makes no mention of the Fab Four, it did set me on my quest to find more of the connections that I crave.

But I would need…Help!

It was time for an email to my good friend and cigar expert, Mitchell Orchant, in London. Mitchell owns CGars Ltd., and Turmeaus, the oldest and only cigar store in Liverpool. Turmeaus opened in 1817, and one can’t help but imagine the Fab Four going in as lads in the 1950’s and 60’s to buy their fags. I haven’t yet been able to get a story from Mitch, but I know that hidden within those 190-year-old walls is a story about four young lads from Liverpool who made it big!

My first search of the internet on these distant topics brought about some surprising results… bands! No, not the musical bands, but the paper rings on cigars. In the 1960’s several companies, including Murillo and Morrita, put out sets of cigar bands with images of the Beatles on them. These are known to fetch a pretty penny at online auctions. I decided to send out another email to inquire about these. I emailed Tony Hyman, owner of the National Cigar Museum. Though he admitted his expertise was in US-Canada and Cuban cigar related items, he could tell me that labels like these were created strictly for collecting. He said you could tell by the fact that there is no white tab on the ends for gluing. He also made another interesting point: In the 1960’s, the majority of Beatles fans were teenage girls and why would teenage girls want cigar bands? This might explain why these types of labels are so rare today!

Still, these beautiful treasures did not provide me with the links I wanted. So my search continued. The next door that I opened was an email to my fellow Beatles Freak and the host of Breakfast with the Beatles, Andre Gardner. He told me of a photograph of George Harrison and Ringo Starr dressed in tuxedos and smoking cigars. This photo (which is available for purchase at www.rockartshow.com) was taken on March 23, 1964 at the Carl-Alan Awards where the Beatles were presented with two awards and were also informed that they were the recipients of three Ivor Nivello Awards. Sounds like a good cause for a celebration!

Another photograph, taken by Terry O’Neill in 1965 shows Ringo standing in front of 10 Downing Street in London with a large cigar clutched between his teeth and flashing his customary peace sign with his left hand. Even though I have not been unable to find an explanation of this photo, it did reaffirm that Ringo did enjoy a fine cigar now and then. But does he still indulge this passion? And if he does, it may be time for me to email the editors of Cigar Aficionado and ask why Ringo Starr has not graced their cover?

It’s been interesting to find cigar references in other places in Beatles history. In 1968, the movie “Yellow Submarine” was released. In it there is a scene called “Sea of Monsters”. As the Yellow Submarine (with the Beatles contained within) travels through the sea of monsters, they encounter a boxing dinosaur in a green polka dotted jacket. In order to avoid being ‘knocked out’, they stuff a cigar (with a flowered band) into the dinosaur’s mouth and light it by flipping up the top of the submarine like a Zippo. While this is all happening, Bach’s ‘Air on a G-string’ begins playing right before the cigar explodes. When asked about this scene, George Martin has admitted that they used that particular piece of music as a reference to Hamlet Cigars, who’s use of Bach’s Air on a G-string in their ads is well known throughout the U.K.

So is George Martin (sometimes referred to as the 5^th Beatle) a cigar lover too? Not according to his son, Giles. “Wow- that’s obscure!… No my dad has never smoked cigars!” was his reply when asked.

And is it coincidence that the motto for Hamlet Cigars is “Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet”? After a little research I found that the similarity to the song “Happiness is a Warm Gun” are just coincidental. John Lennon got his title from the cover of a gun magazine.

During a 1966 interview with John Lennon and Paul McCartney for Flip Magazine, a DJ named Jim Savilla walked into the dressing room and sat down. John commented to Jim that he wasn’t smoking. Jim replied that George had complained about the dressing room being filled with smog. After John declared, “That was George”, Jim promptly lit up a large cigar. Interesting that it was George Harrison, a chain smoker, who had complained and John who approved. So I shot off a quick email to author and Beatles expert, Larry Kane. When asked whether or not he knew if John was a cigar smoker, his reply was short, “As far as I know…he did not.” Not quite satisfied with this answer, I emailed John’s former girlfriend, May Pang. She sent a note back within the day stating, “John did not smoke cigars. He barely liked the cigarettes he was smoking.” Ah, isn’t it just as you would imagine it to be…John being so open and accepting of others and their vices?

It was now time for me to move on to Paul McCartney and this is where my panic set in! When I thought about it, I realized that Paul McCartney lives in sort of a bubble world that we can only see the outside. Getting inside his world to talk to his people was going to be a little difficult. And Paul is an ex-cigarette smoker, but even ex-smokers still smoke an occasional cigar.

I started out by sending a note to famed photographer Jorie Gracen (Paul McCartney: I Saw Him Standing There). She may have seen him standing there, but she never saw Paul smoke a cigar. Another email went out to Paul Gambaccini, the author of “Paul McCartney: In His Own Words” and “The McCartney Interviews: After the Break-Up”. Even with all his research and knowledge on Paul McCartney, his reply was, “Wow. I’ve never heard this question before. Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue how to answer it, either!” Hmm…maybe he’ll put my question in his next book of interviews.

While researching this piece, I sent queries to Paul’s people at MPL Communications and Ringo’s people, but haven’t received a reply as of this writing. When (more like ‘if’) their peeps contact my peeps, I will add an addendum to this article. I’m really not expecting one though with Ringo touring and Paul planning an upcoming tour.

After two weeks, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that my search for a link between my two loves, the Beatles and cigars, is coming up null. I don’t consider this a defeat though.