If you have been a long time Stogie Review fan, you may be thinking that you are seeing things. An episode of Your Questions, My Answers (YQMA), is this right? Rest assured, this isn’t a hallucination and things have been set in motion to bring back YQMA as a regular part of the Stogie Review lineup. For the time being, we are going to say that YQMA will be a bi-weekly-ish show. Episodes 46 and 47 are complete and future shows have been mapped out.
Season 2, if you will, kicks off with Mike and me getting together on Skype to tackle a few questions. We tried to keep things laid back, and in doing so, the run time tops the charts at roughly 1 hour and 26 minutes. There was no particular rhyme or reason to our discussion topics, we simply seemed to bounce from one to the next.
Cigars Smoked in this episode included the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami (Walt) and the Arturo Fuente Curly Head (Mike).
After the introduction and some back and forth banter on our cigars and beverages, we get down to business.
- Finding cigars in a messy coolidor
- Saving money by buying a Creme Brule Torch
- How much mark-up are you comfortable with when buying locally versus online
- First experience with a pipe
- Stand out cigars
- Variety in our cigar rotation
- Upcoming Cigarfest Coverage
- Manufacturer operated social media accounts
Just a quick note, I made a rookie mistake and set my capture software to save video in a format about half the quality that we normally use. This setting has been corrected and video quality should be back to normal with the next episode.
I smoke my pipe sometimes, but not too often. (this could take a while…) I mainly started because I had a girlfriend who absolutely hated the smell of cigars, and told me if I must smoke inside (I like to smoke when I write my college papers) then she would be fine with a pipe. Well I went off and found pipesmagazine.com which helped, and learned fairly quickly how to pack a pipe. I forget the name of my packing technique, but I just grab a large pinch between my index finger and thumb and stuff in about half the bowl, then repeat to 3/4 and then take it to about 4/5 full at max. Don’t squash the tobacco to death, but you want it to be packed fairly tightly, I look for it to spring back about a 1/16th inch when I press it in.If it’s getting too hot you may be puffing too much, or have too loose a pack, you’re supposed to take a puff every 10-30ish seconds as far as I remember, but I’m kind of a 10-15 second double puff guy. However, if it gets hot slow down, letting a pipe go out really doesn’t matter, they’re very very easy to start back up.
As to pipe tobaccos, accessories, and pipes themselves it’s all a matter of preference really. If you’re just going to mess around, then a Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipe is popular, and they hold up well. Though if you want a more respectable pipe for a good price, then you can’t go wrong with a Dr. Grabow pipe. I use a Grabow simply because I use my tobacco money on cigars and don’t feel like dropping the money on an expensive pipe, though I’m sure a more expensive pipe would yield a better experience. When it comes to tobaccos I absolutely LOVE my McClelland Frog Morton blend (if you look for it, you’ll see a frog sitting on a log smoking a pipe), it’s very very smoky, but with a sweet room note. I’d recommend just about any brand of shag cut (since you’re a beginner flake tobaccos and pressed tobaccos are very unforgivable to a bad pack) from Dunhill, McClelland, G.L Pease, or Cornell and Diehl. If you use 4noggins.com you can see customer reviews so you don’t buy anything too bad. Oh also, the only way to go when buying pipe tobacco is online, trying to find pipe tobacco locally is a complete pain in the ass. Whew, finally to accessories. As far as accessories go pipe cleaners are a must, a Czech tool is a must, and I keep some extra grabow pipe filters around because after a few bowls they get pretty dang rank smelling and looking.
So a couple useful resources are; pipesmagazine.com for smoking information, and 4noggins.com to buy pipe tobacco, though there are a lot of good sites to buy pipe tobacco from out there. Sorry for the length of this, but there’s apparently a lot that goes into smoking a pipe heh.
By the way, pipe tobacco is cheap, so don’t be afraid to go nuts with tins of the stuff, sometimes I’ll just burn some in my ashtray to cover up the smell of a cigar, or I’ll pack a half bowl and smoke it before going out with friends, you always get good comments when you smell like pipe tobacco, I kid you not.
Snes,
I think my problem was packing the pipe too loosely. Once I had a Facebook Friend explain it to me, I packed the tobacco much firmer and my hot smoke and relight problems disappeared.
Thanks for all of the information and resources, they are appreciated!
Love what you guys bring to the industry!
You’re making this gig even MORE fun….that said, Mike what is UP with that cap???!!! LOL ;^)
Jon,
Thanks for the support!
lol – thanx for the support Jon
I have to admit, I still absolutely love the Tony Soprano cigar 😉
4.25 for a curly head? Dude you can get a regular line long filler fuente for 4.25. You’ve been had my friend.
Scotch neat is where it’s had unless it’s johny red i’ll put 2 ice cubes in. Have you had Talisker walt? It’s a fantastic Islay single malt. Smooth and a great smokey peaty profile just begs to be paired with a good smoke.
Give me a glass of Talisker a good smoke, and a phillies game and I’m in heaven. As a matter of fact that’s what I’ll be doing when I get home from the gym tonight.
Dave,
I have not had Talisker. I haven’t sampled enough Islay Scotch to acquire a taste for it. The few times I’ve had it the peaty/smokey quality was too much for me. I tend to stick with the lighter Highland Scotch.
That makes perfect sense, an Islay Scotch (Caol Ila) was the first scotch I ever had, and I loved it right away. But just as you don’t have a taste for the Islay, when I went to drink a lighter Highland scotch for the first time I was left disappointed. I guess just like cigars it’s all about each individuals pallet.
And it’s a real shame about Kensington, I hate to see any small business go under. My grandparents had a corner store that was put out of business by a Pathmark. I’m hoping supermarkets don’t start selling beer just so it doesn’t put all the mom&pops out of business too.
It almost makes me feel guilty for doing 75% of my shopping at Holts, but that was always the B&M growing up to go too, I didn’t find out until recently that it was a nationally known business. I try to buy at mom & pops as often as I can, no matter what the business is.
To answer your question in the video, I’m perfectly comfortable with paying more for product to keep the mom&pops alive. I play the mark-up by ear, i’m not going to pay 20% more if i’m spending 1000 bucks, but if i’m spending 10, 20% is fine with me. What most people will be shocked to see (more with larger purchases) is that there are many times a mom&pop is actually cheaper.
Also Kensington Closed? My girls parents live in Reading and that’s where I grab a smoke if I’m staying the weekend or something. That sucks I liked them from the few times i was there.
Dave,
Yes, Kensington has closed. Business has been slow for some time now and the owner just couldn’t keep the doors open anymore. I’m going to miss it, I had lots of fun visiting the shop over the last few years.
Wow – quite a wide-ranging discussion.
I haven’t picked up any of my two or three pipes in 25-30 years, but I recall my favorite tobacco as being Troost Slices, which is no longer available in the country (at least in their original form). I also liked some of the MacBarens blends. My bent was toward the blends with more Burley and Cavendish in them, especially the flake types. I was thinking about rooting around my garage a few weeks ago to see if I could find those pipes.
My favorite new torch is called the Honest Adjustable Flame Butane Jet Torch Lighter, sort of a smaller, angled head version of the creme brulee torch that I got for $7.87 with free shipping from a place in Hong Kong. I sent Mike the link for it last week. Works great so far.
Great work guys! I like that this is just like a couple of friends sitting around shooting the breeze, which of course, is exactly what it is. Makes for a fun format.
jjo,
I’m still so new to pipes that I don’t know what the difference is between flake tobacco and what I most likely got (Savenelli Tins, Fox and Hound Pouches, CAO Flavors Tin, and some loose tobacco)
The inexpensive torches are the way to go. They can be had for little money at places like Bed Bath & Beyond, Harbor Freight, Walmart, etc… and they work like a champ. The branded ones are nice but they tend to cost a hefty chunk of change.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for the comment
Walt,
Flake tobacco is cured then compressed and cut into slices (sort of resembling thin beef jerky). The slices are folded and put into the pipe bowl and smoked. Here’s a link to an explanation of this type of tobacco:
http://www.mac-baren.com/TopMenu/Expert-Knowledge/Flake-Tobacco-1.aspx
I’m afraid I’ve been away from pipe smoking for so long that I no longer know or remember what any of the other blends taste like.
Hope you have fun with it.
I love El Baton’s. Made by the same guys as Brickhouse (which is also a great cigar).
As for paying more at my B&M. I am willing to pay an extra $3 to $4. On Fridays my local shop has Movie Night. They have two large T.Vs and free food. I also like the camaraderie and conversation. So I go there smoke a couple of sticks watch a movie talk about the latest cigar trends and at the end of the night I take the wrappers up to the register and settle my account. That’s why I don’t mind paying the extra few dollars.
As for the distance i drive about 20 minutes there. there are some closer places like, what the call here in California, “Smoke Shops”, Some even have lower prises, but they are not experts in caring for the cigars, and i have been going to my B&M for years and i am loyal to them.
Mike,
I agree. It is all of the little extras that make the extra couple of dollars worth it to me.
Thanks for watching and commenting
You guys do need to come down to Olde World tobacco that’s my local shop and it’s so nice there. Im usually there 2-3 times a week.
I have been there quite a few times and I know Walt has been there at least once. It takes me 45 minutes to an hour to get there so I have not been a frequent visitor.
Throw me an email sometime you will be there on a Friday or Sunday and I can see if I can get over to visit and chat. mikeATstogiereviewDOTcom
Takes me around 15 minutes so that’s the closest now that the local tinderbox closed down. That would be really cool I will definitely shoot you an email and see what’s going on be nice to meet the two of you.
Chad,
I’ve been there once or twice. Love the coffee!
I’ll have to talk to Mike and see if we can’t get together and visit your home shop sometime.
Thanks for watching
Very informative as always, keep up the good work!.
Jorge,
I’m glad you enjoyed the show.
Thanks for watching.
The coffee is amazing there they do sell some of it that they roast right there. They were having a Rocky Patel event not sure when that was though. It was nice to here you guys mention my local shop. I havn’t ever been to Genuine Tobacco in columbia my buddy gave me a discount card I will have to check that one out.
Chad,
I’ve only been to Genuine Tobacco the once, but I think Olde World is a better overall shop in terms of lounge and variety. Genuine has a nice lounge and great pricing but some of the stock looked like it could have been taken care of better. It is definitely worth checking out. While there, dig around in the clearance bin, i found some Ashton VSG for several dollars under MSRP.
I wish i could buy from a local BandM but living in New York the price is so much higher then online that i feel like I am throwing my money away.
I have seen prices from 40% to 100% higher then online
The blue collar smoker really has no choice.
The tax man killed retail store here in New York.
Billy,
If I were a New York resident I think I would be in the same position, spending the bulk of my money online. I’m all for supporting local business but taxes drive the price of cigars to an astronomical level.
Thanks for watching and commenting
Walt,
I hate to do this but, Does Kensington Tobacco have any of there Cabinet Humidors for sale? I am just starting in the cigar shop business and am always keeping my eyes open for used humis. Please e-mail me with info. Thanks
Mike,
I’m pretty sure all of the cabinets have been spoken for but you can always ask. The Kensington Tobacco Contact form should still work for sending email. If not, the phone number is listed on the contact page, you can call and leave a message.
http://kensingtontobacco.com/contact/
Thank You!
I am sorry to hear your neighborhood cigar store closed… It is difficult to go into another place and recreate and/or simulate the same vibe from your favorite haunts, but it will take some time before your find the right one for you.
I work at Casa De Montecristo and 8 to 8 Cigars in the western suburbs of Chicago and if you are in the area, please drop by and check us out! The owners are friendly and will take care of you.
I would be interested in your feedback.
For the record, I can and have walked to my local shop, but often choose not to do so.