Anyway, even though I haven’t been posting any cigar reviews, my compadres have.  Here’s what’s up for this week:

• AVO Limited Edition 2010 – A Cigar Smoker’s Journal
• La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Matatan – Stogie Review
• Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona – The Stogie Guys
• Graycliff 1666 Pirate – Nice Tight Ash
• Don Pepin Garcia Classic 1952 – Cigar Inspector

There you go, y’all.  Check out these reviews and leave some comment love for these fine fellas.  You know how we love some comment love.  I hope to have some new reviews of my own coming to you soon.  Stay tuned.

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The question here is whether or not a county (read: government institute) should be involved in the sale of tobacco.  That’s the spin.  Forget that it’s a revenue generator for the county which probably has road and education issues like the rest of the country.  Forget that cigars and golf just go hand-in-hand.  Forget that we don’t need a nanny-state watching over our every movement.  They want to make sure that the government doesn’t condone the sale of tobacco.  sigh.

You can read the article for yourself below, but I encourage all Jersey golfers and cigar smokers to contact Somerset County Park Commission and let them know you’d LOVE to see them sell cigars on the golf course.

One of the attractions of golf is spending a day outdoors to enjoy a challenging sport and get some much needed exercise and fresh air.

The rampant use of carts, especially on courses where cart rentals are mandatory, has cut down on the amount of exercise. But worse, at a time when society’s standards are beginning to shun tobacco use, smoking is still tolerated on golf courses. Cigarette butts litter an otherwise finely manicured course and the obnoxious odor of cigars often lingers by tees, greens and practice areas, fouling the otherwise fresh air.

Which makes it puzzling why the Somerset County Park Commission wants to start selling cigars at its five courses.

Even more bewildering is that the decision to start selling cigars comes after the park commission was criticized in a 2007 independent report for not collecting sales tax on cigars. That caused the park commission to stop selling cigars.

“I think it’s a terrible development,” Freeholder Director Jack Ciattarelli said about selling cigars at the golf courses. “And the notion of government being in the business of selling tobacco on recreational grounds is awful.”

Ciattarelli said he will ask County Counsel Thomas Miller to determine whether it’s legally permissible for a governmental agency to sell tobacco products on county-owned property.

But even if it’s legal, is it proper?

The freeholder director is also justifiably incensed that the park commission seemingly has not learned all the lessons from its past mistakes.

“I’m disappointed that park commissioners almost slowly but surely seem to be returning to policies that didn’t serve the public’s best interests,” Ciattarelli said, adding he won’t vote to reappoint commission members who vote in favor of selling cigars at the golf courses.

Ciattarelli’s criticism is well-placed. There is no conceivable reason why the park commission, with its wide array of recreational programs for people of all ages and abilities, should be in the business of selling cigars or other tobacco products.

And it’s also time for the park commission to start thinking about a smoking ban at all of its facilities.

The park commission has the admirable goal of improving the quality of life for Somerset County residents and it does a very good job working toward that goal. But selling tobacco products is directly contrary to that goal.

Let’s hope the park commission scrambles from the rough and gets back on the fairway by rejecting this proposal.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100312/OPINION01/3120313/-1/newsfront/Park-commission-should-snuff-out-its-own-cigar-plan

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There will be cigars on Saint Patrick’s Day. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has signed legislation allowing a one-time exemption to the District’s smoke-free laws for an annual March 17 gathering of Washington’s government and business elite. The mayor’s spokesperson Mafara Hobson was not immediately available for comment.

Time was of the essence for the bill by Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who is a member of the all-male Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, which hosts the 640-person celebration of Irish-American culture at the Capital Hilton.

Evans had succeeded in passing legislation last week to keep tradition alive for the Friendly Sons and another group, Fight for Children, that hosts an annual professional boxing fundraiser.

The bill was transmitted to Fenty on March 8. The mayor had 10 business days to decide whether to sign or veto the measure, taking him to March 22.

If the mayor had not acted before March 17, the Friendly Sons would not have been able to light up at their big event next Wednesday.

As a member of the council, Fenty was among those who introduced and championed the workplace smoking ban in 2006. While Evans is a close ally of the mayor, the measure was opposed by Fenty’s potential rival, Council Chairman Vincent Gray.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/03/its_all_in_the_timing_for_sain.html

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2009 Birthday Message from Marine Commandant General Conway:

2009 Commandant Birthday Message:

R 051329Z OCT 09
UNCLASSIFIED//
ALMAR 033/09
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC DMCS//
SUBJ/UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY MESSAGE – 10 NOVEMBER 2009//GENTEXT/REMARKS/

1. UNITED STATES MARINES REPRESENT THE BEST YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. TO BE A MARINE IS TO BE A MEMBER OF AMERICA’S WARRIOR CLASS – TO BE ONE OF THE FEW WHO STEPS FORWARD WITH THE COURAGE AND CONVICTION TO FACE WHATEVER DANGERS AWAIT. OUR NATION EXPECTS HER MARINES TO BE READY WHEN THE NATION CALLS; TO LEAVE FAMILY AND THE COMFORTS OF HOME BEHIND; TO MARCH INTO BATTLE AND THRIVE UNDER AUSTERITY; AND TO COME HOME UNDER A VICTORY PENNANT.

2. FROM AL ANBAR IN THE WEST OF IRAQ, TO HELMAND PROVINCE IN THE SOUTH OF AFGHANISTAN, OUR CORPS OF MARINES CAN ALWAYS EXPECT TO BE FOUND WHERE THE FIGHT IS TOUGHEST. SUCH IS OUR HISTORY. TODAY, AS WE WRITE THE FINAL CHAPTER ON OUR VICTORY IN IRAQ, WE WILL INCREASINGLY TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY IN AFGHANISTAN AND ADD NEW PAGES TO OUR LEGACY IN PLACES CALLED DELARAM, NOW ZAD, AND GARMSIR. ONE DAY, WE WILL RETURN TO OUR NAVAL HERITAGE AND PATROL THE HIGH SEAS WITH OUR NAVY BROTHERS. SUCH IS OUR FUTURE.

3. AS WE CELEBRATE OUR CORPS’ 234TH BIRTHDAY, WE FIRST PAUSE TO REFLECT AND PAY TRIBUTE TO THOSE MARINES WHO HAVE GIVEN THE LAST FULL MEASURE IN DEFENSE OF FREEDOM. WE EXTEND OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO OUR MARINE CORPS FAMILIES – THE UNSUNG HEROES WHO ENDURE HARDSHIP AND SACRIFICE SO THAT WE ARE ABLE TO GO FORWARD AND ACCOMPLISH ANY MISSION. WE EXTEND OUR APPRECIATION TO OUR COUNTRYMEN WHO HAVE ANSWERED OUR EVERY NEED. AND WE CELEBRATE THE MAGNIFICENT MEN AND WOMEN WHO WILLINGLY AND SELFLESSLY CONTINUE TO GO INTO HARM’S WAY TO PROTECT THIS GREAT NATION.

4. TO ALL WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE, TO THOSE WHO WEAR THE UNIFORM TODAY, AND TO THE FAMILIES THAT GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO FORGE AHEAD – I WISH YOU ALL A HEARTFELT HAPPY 234TH BIRTHDAY!

5. SEMPER FIDELIS! JAMES T. CONWAY, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

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Thanks to everyone for participating and joining in on the fun. It’s always good to give away cigars. And for my past winners, I’m sure they’ll tell you it’s always great to get cigars.

Agent 86, you’re going to have to break your secrecy protocol to give me a location to send these sticks.

Check back in, y’all, we’ll eventually get something going around here.

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The herf was organized by a couple members (Jason and Tony) of some popular cigar forums and was announced through those forums and on facebook.  I, myself, was a last minute attendee otherwise I would have made an announcement for others to join in on the fun… and fun it was!!  Of course, whenever you get a bunch of cigar lovers together it just tends to be fun.  There were some great cigars smoked, plenty of beer imbibed, and great camaraderie among friends, new and old.  Personally, I got to meet up with some guys I’ve known for years but had never met in person; and, I got to see some old friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile.

The weekend started early Friday afternoon with a pre-herf taking place at James’ house and lasting well into the night.  Saturday saw some great burgers at Dutch’s, some good beer at the Rahr & Sons brewery, and then the main event at Paddy Reds Irish Pub.  Of course, never willing to let a bar-closing stop us, some of us returned to James’ house for a little after-herf continuance of smoking and drinks.  Unfortunately, that’s where the herf ended for me, but not for many of the guys.  Sunday saw some post-herf activities, again at James’ house for drinks, smokes, and football.

Also, during the herf there was an auction of some fantastic cigars donated by attendees.  Overall, the herf raised more than $2400 for a local Ft. Worth charity: the North Texas Veterans Assistance Association.  I’d say that’s one helluva showing!!

So, since in the case of herfs, it didn’t happen unless there are pics…  Here are the pics.

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Only one entry per person, only for the 50 US States.  Must be 18 and older and all that other stuff that goes along with it.  Winner will be selected Friday, Oct 16th, 2009 around 6:00pm CST.

So, who wants some cigars “just because?”

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So, with as little time as I’ve had to smoke lately, once I received it, I put it on my key chain.  I think that’s one of the greatest things about the Cigar Spike.  It’s not so sharp that you’re going to poke yourself if it’s in your pockets (at least I haven’t had it happen to me after carrying it around for two months) and it’s quite unobtrusive.  It’s not dangling off like some key chain punch cutters do.

Anyway, I was able to put this to use a couple of times and here’s my feedback.  It’s good, not great, and, in my opinion it’s not something that can be used with every cigar.  Wait, what?  Yeah…

First, call me simple, but there was a little learning curve.  They say to “gently push spike into cigar end” but “gently” is a very subjective term.  I’m a man!  My gentle wasn’t gentle enough and unfortunately I ended up ruining the ends of a couple cigars trying to spike it.  No worries though, because I was able to cut them into smokeable cigars.  Anyway, once I got the right touch, it was no problem.

So, surprisingly, the draw was quite good with the Cigar Spike.  Being a wedge shape, you can push it in further to get larger holes.  I really had no complaints in that area, but here’s where my biggest problem lies.  Cigars have tar in them.  Depending on the blend and the size, the level of tar differs.  Now, large ring gauge full-bodied cigars usually have more tar than smaller ring gauge mild cigars.  Now, if you’ve never experienced the build-up of tar on your cigar and getting it on your tongue, I don’t suggest going out just to try it.  Take my word for it.

I found that with my larger ring gauge cigars there was more tar build-up than I normally experience.  Actually, with some of my standard smokes I’ve never experienced tar before.  Using the Cigar Spike, unfortunately, I had tar on my lips more than once.

So, depending on the cigar your smoking, a standard cut is going to serve you better than the Cigar Spike.  On others, the Cigar Spike will work just fine, but you’ll have to judge what you’re smoking.  The good thing is that it can serve as an emergency tool… for just a couple bucks you don’t have to worry about not having your cutter with you in that one instant that you forgot it on your counter.

So, there you have it!  Hopefully it won’t be another month before I make it back.

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Well, let’s see, being as it’s been forever since I’ve posted a cigar review; being that I was not able to make it to the IPCPR trade show that’s going on right now; and, being that I had a pretty good weekend with my daughters, I figured why not have a cigar tonight and write down my thoughts for my readers.  Oh yeah, and NFL preseason kicks off tonight!!  As if that’s not reason enough.

Anyway, I pulled out the recently released NUb Maduro for tonight’s smoke.  I’ve enjoyed all of the previous releases, which you can read here.  But, being a huge maduro fan, I really was looking forward to this cigar’s debut.  Here we go.

Appearance: This thing’s got a pretty dark wrapper even for a maduro, but they’re not painted dark like some other manufacturers do.  The wrap is tight and well done, and looking at the foot, the bunch looked good.  The band is the same as the other nubs, just a brown to represent the maduro.

Taste: This thing started strong; a little too strong out the gate, but it mellowed pretty quickly.  From there, it was just good tobacco taste.  It’s not a complex cigar and trying to pull flavors out of this isn’t a priority tonight.  Let it suffice that if you like maduros, you’ll like this.

Aroma: The unlit cigar was just good wholesome maduro tobacco smell, but I wouldn’t go waving this smoke, once lit,  in your face too much trying to get a good whiff.

Construction: Well, what’s to be said about these things.  They’re always great in this area.  The draw was fantastic.  The burn was a little off, but who cares?  You’d think that for such a short, thick cigar you’d see more construction problems, but these are always well-made.

Overall Impression: I’ve been impressed with NUbs ever since they came out.  This one doesn’t disappoint.  As far as maduros go, it isn’t the best, but it isn’t the worst either.  For a little over $5 and still at least a good hour of smoke, you can’t really ask for more.

Cigar Rating:

Related posts:

1. Cigar Review: Panacea Black Torpedo Maduro
2. Cigar Review: Los Blancos Connecticut Robusto
3. Guest Cigar Review: CAO Brazilia Box Press

I’m not sure where the local citizenry was or where the local cigar shops were to fight this proposal.  Maybe no one knew about it, but someone should have.  We Texans dropped the ball on this one…big time.  The word needs to get out, because while it’s just Galveston, TX now, if it’s not already your town, it could be next on the chopping block.  I’m going to go have a glass of wine and fondly remember the Texas that was proud to stand up for individual rights; it seems to be a memory.

Let’s contact the city council and let them know how disgusted we are:

District 1 – Tarris Woods: tarriswoods@cityofgalveston.org
District 2 – Linda Colbert: lindacolbert@cityofgalveston.org
District 3 – Elizabeth Beeton: elizabethbeeton@cityofgalveston.org
District 4 – Susan Fennewald: susanfennewald@cityofgalveston.org
District 5 – Danny Weber: (409) 744-7025
District 6 – Karen Mahoney: karenmahoney@cityofgalveston.org

Or you can email everyone at once by clicking here: EMAIL EVERYONE!!

Edit: Read this excellent post about this same topic here!!

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