Serious Cigar Blog
06/12/08 - Things have been
very busy around here. We opened a new store a couple months ago
in the central area of Houston. Actually, we bought an existing
location that specialized in pipes and pipe tobacco. We have been
expanding the cigar selection every week and things are really
picking up. If you have pipe needs, you should stop
by or give us a call, we have a great selection of pipes
and tobacco.
There are a couple of events coming
up, check the calendar for details.
We are looking forward to the RTDA
show in Las Vegas and all the new products that come along with
that. We will report on what we find.
I will do my best to keep this
section updated frequently by various people on our staff.
11/06/07 - Off to the Big
Smoke we go. We will have a group of 40 people or so with us for
the trip. We plan on smoking more cigars than we can count and
having a great time. We will spend most of our time at the
Venetian hotel. I will post some photos on the site during our
trip.
09/30/07 - Thank you for the
generous contributions made by so many people to the Cigar Family
Charitable Foundation. We will be sending them a check for
$5,000.00 which will help so many children and adults in the
Dominican Republic.
07/19/2007 - New legislation
has been proposed that would dramatically increase the amount you
will pay for cigars. The Federal Government is proposing to raise
taxes on cigars to as much as 53.13% of the manufacturer’s
selling price. This is a huge increase and will hit us all in the
wallet.
We need to voice our opinions TODAY
and we have a way to do just this. It does not get any easier than
this, below, you will find a link to a website that will help you
write your senators a quick email telling them your position. The
whole thing will only take you about 1-2 minutes, please take the
time to act. I sent my messages in a few minutes ago.
CLICK
HERE TO VOICE YOUR OPINION
06/26/07 - The World Series
of Poker is under way right now and I am going back out for more
punishment. I am not playing in the Main Event this year but it
should be a great time non-the-less. You can follow along with my
adventure on my WSOP 2007 blog.
06/07/07 - We received the
advanced rating sheet from Cigar Aficionado a couple days ago. A
few items stand out on it. If you are not familiar with this
sheet, C.A. sends out the top 10 non-Cuban cigar ratings. They are all 90 or
better again. Here is the list:
Arturo
Fuente Hemingway Best Seller - 93
Padilla
Signature 1932 Lancero - 92
Cohiba
Red Dot Churchill - 91
Felipe Power Special R - 91
Oliva
Master Blends III Torpedo - 91
Don
Pepin Blue Label Delicias - 90
CAO Vision Prana - 90
Gurkha Grand Age - 90
Padron
1964 Anni Corona Natural - 90
Partagas
Spanish Rosado Rojito - 90
Please call us on the CAO Vision,
they can not be listed on the website.
06/05/07 - The brand new Oliva
Serie V Ligero Especial will be available beginning June 20th
in the store and on the web. We are very proud to be a part of the
National launch of this exciting new offering from Oliva and will
have Gilberto Oliva, the blender of this cigar, on hand to answer
an questions you may have.
06/03/07 - One of the most
anticipated evenings came and went yesterday. Don Pepin Garcia was
a true delight to have in the store for our event. We had a fine
crowd on hand who enjoyed watching the cigar master create two
special cigar shapes before their eyes. Pepin masterfully rolled a
Pipe and a Bat which were both raffled off at the end of the
event.
We smoked tons of his cigars, drank
great Mojitos and had some of the most delicious Caribbean food
around.
We have been trying to have Pepin
in the store for a while and it was well worth the wait.
Thank you to all who participated
and enjoyed the cigars.
05/16/07 - Altadis, makers
of renowned brands such as Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta and much
more has just launched a great new Cabinet Seleccion of cigars in
four of their brands. These new blends are not available directly
from our website but you can call in your order or some by the
store and pick some up.
The new blends are in the
Monetecrsito, Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann and Por Larranaga Cabinet
Seleccion and range in price from $12 to $6 or so depending on
size and blend. Call us for more details.
04/23/07 - Cigar legend Avo
Uvezian marks his 81st birthday with the release of a cigar that
aficionados have been waiting for - the AVO LE 07. After the
cigars reached the United States they were meticulously inspected
against a strict set of quality control standards. Upon successful
inspection, bundles of 20 cigars were wrapped in paper and
individually singed by supervisors before being packed in dressed
down boxes that mesmerizes through the simplicity of the packaging
and underlines the natural beauty of the tobacco leaves.
The AVO LE 07 captivates through
the balanced combination of the stronger Piloto and San Vincente
tobaccos, refined with a milder Olor tobaccos and the special sun
grown Ecuadorian wrapper. The rich aromatic and unique taste is
accentuated by the 5 5/8" x 48 ring Toro that enthusiasts
around the world will revere. The AVO LE 07 was limited to 4,000
boxes of 20 and will be in very short supply.
As an added difficulty, they will
not be available via the web. We are taking pre-orders via phone
for these limited cigars. They are $230 per box. Please call
281-397-9800 if you have interest or just come by the store.
04/20/07 - The all new
"The
Burner" from Alec Bradley is a great table lighter. I
just fired up my cigar, a Tatuaje
Havana VI Angeles, with it and it took only a second or two.
You just have to see the picture
to appreciate this new design. The burner is shaped like a
mushroom with lots of small holes. It creates a Bunson Burner type
flame that works very well. It holds enough butane for two hours
of continuous flame. Priced at only $49.95, this lighter will
serve you well.
04/03/07 - We received the
advanced rating sheet from Cigar Aficionado a couple days ago. A
few items stand out on it. If you are not familiar with this
sheet, C.A. sends out the top 10 non-Cuban cigar ratings. They are all 90 or
better again. Here is the list:
Tatuaje
Havana VI Angeles - 93
Arturo
Fuente Don Carlos #3 - 92
Ashton
VSG Tres Mystique - 92
Trinidad
Toro Natural - 92
Arturo
Fuente Cuban Belicoso - 91
Ashton ESG Robusto - 91
Padron
1964 A - 91
Partagas Decedas No. IV - 91
CAO
Cameroon Anni Toro - 90
Gurkha
Legend Torpedo - 90
There are a few hard to finds and
many cigars that are usually available. Check with us on the CAO
Sopranos by phone since they are not listed on the web.
The Ashton, La Flor and Padron are
usually in short supply so if you see them on the site, grab them.
03/18/07 - I have been in
Keystone, CO for a few days with my wife and kids. A very nice
place to come with your young ones, let me know if you need
recommendations. I am not much of a skier so we sent our two boys,
6 & 4, to ski school during the day and my wife and I just
hung out and relaxed. It was nice to be able to sit and smoke a
few cigars without the interruptions of the office. I smoked several
Don
Pepin Cuban Classics (Black Label) Toros and really enjoyed
them. If you enjoy full bodied cigars, check these out. Pepin also
makes the Tatuaje, 601, Padilla Miami 8/11 and 1932.
03/05/07 - We had a nice
event in the store on Saturday the 3rd with Craig Cunningham from Esteban
Carreras cigars. I smoked them all day long and actually
enjoyed the Vigilante Maduro the best. Not sure why because I am
usually not a Maduro smoker at all. Craig is just about to change
the packaging all four lines of cigars and placing them under the
Esteban Carreras name and create better brand recognition. For
Example, the Vigilate brand will move under the Esteban Carreras
brand and will have a secondary band that will say Vigilante on
it. The cigars will remain the same quality smokes they have
always been, just a change for the better in packaging and
branding.
02/27/07 - CAO's Vision
cigars were just released and we received a few boxes. They are a
terrific smoke and come in an amazing humidor that keeps them
fresh and can be used in the future for other cigars. The blend
has a Four-year-old Dominican Wrapper and the filler and binder
are from Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Brazil. If you are
interested, please call us since we do not list these on our site.
02/22/07 - We received the
advanced rating sheet from Cigar Aficionado a couple days ago. A
few items stand out on it. If you are not familiar with this
sheet, C.A. sends out the top 10 non-Cuban cigar ratings. This
time, they are all 90 or better. Here is the list:
Ashton
VSG Torpedo - 93
Opus X Petit Lancero - 92
Hoyo
de Monterrey Excalibur Maduro Epicure - 92
Padron
Serie 1926 No. 9 Natural - 92
La
Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel Maduro - 91
CAO The Sopranos Edition Associate - 90
Carlos
Torano 1916 Cameroon Corona - 90
Cuvee
Grand Lancero - 90
Gran
Habano 3 Siglos Gran Robusto - 90
Padilla
Habano Torpedo - 90
There are a few hard to finds and
many cigars that are usually available. Check with us on the CAO
Sopranos by phone since they are not listed on the web.
The Ashton, La Flor and Padron are
usually in short supply so if you see them on the site, grab them.
Ron Lesseraux
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