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THE CIGAR TIMES
www.thecigaremporium.com
FOR LOVERS OF FINE CIGARS
ISSUE ONE
FREE
COMPOSITION
Filler Up!
with Lianne Ashley
T
HERE ARE THREE PARTS THAT MAKE
up a cigar. First there is the
filler, then the binder and then
what we can all see, the wrapper.
The filler is the bulk of the cigar,
where you’ll find the blend of
different tobacco. Considering the
filler makes up 98% of your cigar,
generally if you like or don’t like
a cigar, it is because of the filler.
There are three different sizes of
see FILLER, page 2
FROM YOUR HOST
W
Welcome to our First Issue!
Inside…
with David Kariotakis
Click on any title or
page # to jump
ELCOME TO OUR FIRST ISSUE OF
The Cigar Times!
I sincerely hope that you, our
valued customer, find our newsletter
to be informative, accurate, and a
fun, quick read. We will always strive
to improve future issues of The
Cigar Times, and us such will
place a great deal of importance on
the feedback we receive from you.
This issue will set the pace. It will
be up to you to ask and contest,
sharing your views and thoughts for
future publications. Feel free to
e-mail us your thoughts:
(frontdesk@thecigaremporium.com).
It will be up to us to respond to
your musings and to be thorough in
our own research, to give you the
whole story as it relates to the cigar
world and its lifestyle. At times it
UPCOMING EVENTS
CIGAR PROFILE
BUYING TIPS
HISTORY
BEVERAGES
Zoom To EVENTS
see WELCOME, page 2
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WELCOME, from page 1
may not serve us (we are a retailer of
cigars through the Internet and
havea retail presence), but we will
keep the integrity of the information
in our newsletter as shall we say
“acigar” as possible.
As the business and education of
cigars is ever evolving, I take great
pleasure in uncovering the true facts
and mysteries of the cigar world.
I have heard countless stories
from clients of their first experience
with a cigar. Sometimes it is fond
memories of a family friend or a
relative that smoked, or perhaps
their own personal experiences in
their journey of discovering the
pleasures of cigars and the associated
lifestyle. To each of us it is our own.
Something we can always call upon
when asked, a signature if you will,
memories of life’s little pleasure.
Enjoy and welcome to the
wonderful world of The Cigar Times.
—David Kariotakis
Owner, City Cigar Emporium
THE CIGAR TIMES
Is published by
contributors
Lianne Ashley,
David Kariotakis
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FILLER, from page 1
filler, and that has a lot to do with
the quality of the cigar, and how well
the cigar burns.
Short-filler cigars can be very
interesting. You’ll find that many
machine-made cigars have a short
filler. That is why machine-made
cigars burn hotter
and quicker than
handmade cigars. You
would normally get a
very big and open draw,
because there is a lot
of space between the
pieces of tobacco. To
best explain short
filler, take the Cuban
brand of cigars called Jose L. Piedra.
These cigars are very inexpensive
because they use short filler in both
their machine and handmade cigars.
Jose Piedras are unique due to the
high quality of the tobacco used.
Any pieces left over from rolling a
Monte Cristo or a Romeo Y Julieta,
is then gathered and put in a Piedra.
So, for five dollars, you are getting a
pretty good cigar. You can’t expect
perfection from Jose Piedra. The burn
won’t be the greatest,
and there are usually one
or two other cosmetic
flaws. But for an inexpensive everyday smoke,
they can’t be beat.
Even medium-filler
cigars are usually less
expensive than a longfiller cigar. A cigar that
has a medium fill will have two
bunches of leaves, each half the
length of the cigar. If you are a
Pablo Picasso was born dead. His midwife
left him on a table. Picasso's uncle brought
him to life with a lung full of cigar smoke.
pretty regular smoker, and you like
high-quality tobacco but you don’t
want to pay a lot of money (which is
often the case), you can get some
good deals on medium-filler cigars.
Long filler is the most desired in a
well constructed handmade cigar.
This means that all of the leaves
rolled up inside are the length of the
cigar. All premium cigars have long
filler. Because the leaves in the cigar
are long, it makes the burn much
more consistent and also allows for a
long and sturdy ash, a measure of
judgment for some people. If you are
after high quality in a cigar, always
make sure that it has long filler.
Upcoming Events
FEBRUARY 2001
•Superbowl Sunday
•Scotch Tasting Night
•90 Minute Wine Seminar
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for info and reservations
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CIGAR PROFILE
Vegueros
W
E’VE CHOSEN TO HIGHLIGHT THE
Vegueros brand of cigars this
issue, just to show you that there are
good quality, everyday cigars that are
inexpensive. Vegueros is a relatively
new brand of Cuban cigar. We’ve been
seeing a few new brands coming out
of Cuba, mainly because of the problems
concerning who is
actually entitled to
own the older brand
names. So Cuba has
decided to bring out
a few new ones and
get trademarks (or
something to that
extent) on them so that this sort of
thing won’t happen in the future.
There are some other interesting
titbits of information concerning
Vegueros, as it was not created solely
to bring out a new brand. Outside of
Havana, there were people asking
for their own cigar factory, to
provide jobs for the community. The
BUYING TIPS
Bundle Up
W
HEN WE TALK ABOUT “BUNDLES”
of cigars, we’re usually talking
about cigars that are not perfect, for
various reasons. These cigars will
normally come dis-banded, and in a
bundle of 20 or 25. They are great
for the everyday smoker, or on the
golf course, and especially for those
who really don’t want to pay a lot of
money to smoke a cigar. Keep in
mind, they won’t be perfect. There is
a reason why they’re usually so
cheap. Sometimes you can really
luck out, and the only thing wrong
will be that the size was an eighth of
Cuban government likes to keep
tight control of things, and almost all
of the cigar factories used for
product to export are in or near
Havana. So the government did
allow a factory to be set up, but it
was made to fail.
The Vegueros brand of cigars was
given very poor graphics and boxes.
When they first came out, they were
priced comparably to Cohiba, and I
know you know that those are not
cheap. No one knew
anything about these
cigars, so why were
they going to pay
Cohiba prices for
them? They weren’t.
Most of the stock
ended up sitting for
three years. Then the price dropped
on them substantially, for unknown
reasons.
As a result, some exceptionally
well-aged cigars were on the market,
at a terrific price. Unfortunately,
we’ve already seen a change, as the
aged product has depleted. So now,
instead of having an aged product at
a great price, you have an opportunity
for an investment at a great price,
since you know for certain that they
age well.
an inch too long or too wide. But it’s
usually going to have an odd burn, or
the foot will be tattered, and so forth.
These are the kind
of smokes that you
can feel good about
passing around at
special occasions. Most
of the time in a big
group, the majority
of people won’t be
avid cigar smokers,
and won’t end up
appreciating or finishing them.
Most often, bundles
are non-Cuban, the
Cuban equivalent being “seconds”.
Seconds are more expensive than the
non-Cuban bundles, but that’s
because the cigars are normally highend and hand-rolled. The Cuban
seconds are quite difficult
to acquire right now, so
if you should find some it
would be worth your
while to pick them up.
Before you go out and
buy a bundle because you
can’t resist the price, try
one first! Make sure you
could smoke 20 of them.
You might find that maybe
2 or 3 out of the bundle
really don’t smoke well.
That’s pretty standard,
so don’t think you got a bum
deal.
VEGUEROS
Handmade Cuban cigars
SEONE
MAREVAS
4 7/8 x 36
5 x 42
$6.25
$7.50
ESPECIALES NO.2
6 x 38
$11.25
ESPECIALES NO.1
7.5 x 38
$12.25
At City Cigar we rate this cigar a
9 out of 10 for value (if there was
still aged product available it would
have been 10 out of 10). Keep in
mind that this cigar is a powerhouse,
super strong, maybe even a little
bitter at times, but that is exactly
why you would lay it in your
humidor for six months. The
Vegueros brand of cigar gets an 8 out
of 10 overall. Let us know what you
think.
BACK TO
INTRO
HISTORY
Why Cigar Makers
Fled Cuba
B
EFORE CASTRO CAME INTO POWER,
Fulgencio Batista ruled Cuba
with an iron fist. The rich only got
richer, and the poor got poorer.
There essentially was no middle class.
When Fidel Castro first emerged,
Batista dismissed him as being a local
mischief-maker, and certainly didn’t
consider him a threat.
The reason cigar
makers fled Cuba in
1959 was simple—
when Castro came
into power, he nationalized all Cuban
industry. Now his
government had total control. He fixed
the price of tobacco,
so that no matter what the market
demanded, the farmers always got
paid the same. Not that a fixed
tobacco tax is uncommon to the
Cuban people. In the early 1700’s,
when Cuba was a colony of Spain,
the Spanish monarchy fixed the price
of tobacco, calling it Estanco, literally
monopoly.
Castro also appropriated money
and property from Cuba’s elite ruling
class, which just so happened to
include most cigar manufacturers.
So, the privileged few decided that
they would rather keep their wealth
and belongings and leave Cuba,
rather than to stay and live a life they
had never imagined. When the cigar
makers fled Cuba, they took many
things with them. The two most
important things: the best and the
latest hybrid varieties of tobacco
President John F. Kennedy commissioned Pierre
Salinger to buy and stockpile 1,500 Havana cigars on
the eve of signing the Cuban trade embargo.
seed; and their knowledge. These
“exports” are the reason that nonCuban cigars have become what they
are today, a major competition to
Havana cigars.
We must remember and acknowledge
the enormous and lengthy struggle
that has taken place among the nonHavana cigar makers in
their quest to reach the
level of quality that
Havana cigars are known
for. It has not been easy.
Many cigar makers settled
in Tampa and Miami, as
well as in some Caribbean
and South American
countries. But it was
agreed that Honduras
was the most promising new location
because of it’s many similarities to
Cuban growing conditions. The soil that
is used to grow tobacco can be compared to the soil used to grow grapes
for wine. It can take decades for the
levels of nutrients and humidity in
the soil to be exactly right.
Now think of all these cigar
makers going to these countries
wanting to grow tobacco, where
there had never been tobacco before.
Nothing was established. Everything
had to be done from scratch. They
had to build the barns, warehouses,
and factories. They had to prepare
and cultivate the fields, train people
how to plant, grow and nurture the
tobacco. And most importantly, they
had to teach people how to roll!
It has taken forty years for nonCuban tobacco to establish itself as a
reputable and worthy opponent.
Now that they have the tobacco
under control, there are battles being
fought about who really owns the
brand names, because almost every
Cuban brand has a non-Cuban
counterpart. We could be seeing
popular and available brands becoming
more popular and less available. We’ll
just have to wait and see how it all
works out.
BEVERAGES
Cleanse Your Palate
P
AIRING BEVERAGES WITH CIGARS IS
always fun and enjoyable. Of
course there are the classic accompaniments: brandy, port and bourbon.
But really, it’s all about what type of
mood you are
in, because you
can drink anything with cigars.
You should
just be sure that
you are drinking something,
because smoking stimulates
the saliva glands,
and when you cleanse your palate
you get the full range of flavour that
your cigar of choice has to offer.
Have fun exploring the different
combinations, and you’ll be sure
to find your own classic accompaniments.
879-0208
TOLL FREE 1-877-222-4427
www.thecigaremporium.com
888 WEST 6TH AVE.,
VANCOUVER, BC
CANADA V5Z 1A6
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INTRO