Cigar Essentials: The Lighter

You can't smoke a cigar without lighting it first! With that being said, you need a good lighter or specific cigar matches if you want to smoke a cigar the right way. There are plenty of lighters out there, with plenty of bells and whistles, so what should you look for? Well for starters the price range will probably be the biggest factor in your lighter purchase. So for myself, I choose ones right in the middle price range, with a lifetime warranty. I currently have the Xikar Element lighter pictured here. It is great and works every time flawlessly. It also features a window to see how much fluid I have left and a little punch cigar cutter built right into it. There are plenty of really cool Xikar lighters but this one was a great bang for the buck. 

So other than this model, what should anyone look for? For starters, make sure the lighter is butane! Butane makes a great flame and is odorless and tasteless. Traditional lighter fluid will alter the taste of the cigar and no ones wants to smoke anything that taste like lighter fluid. This means most Zippos will not do for cigar smoking, and most matches for that matter. Also make sure the lighter has a window to see how much fluid is in there! I can't tell you how frustrating it is to not know how much fluid is in the lighter. You get your cigars in your Herf-A-Dor and head out to golf, and you cant lite anything because you are out of fluid and didn't know it! Happened to me all the time. Also this is not a must, but the built in cutters make life easier for when you forgot your cutter as well. People forget stuff, so why not include everything you need in one package!? As far as the number of flames that the lighter produces, this is a personal call. The more flames the faster and more spread out the heat is when lighting your cigar. This means a better lite in the beginning and that will elevate some burn problems down the road. With more jets, it lites more of the cigar foot and will make for a better burn. I have two jets and it works fine for me! The last thing to look for is design, the design of the lighter is just as important as the functions! Who wants a lousy looking lighter when they are lighting up a great, expensive cigar?!

In conclusion, just pick a lighter that you can afford that is at least butane! I personally recommend lighters with warranties, cutters, and windows. The multi-flames are nice but can really get pricey. So go out and do a little research to get that perfect lighter for you and enjoy those cigars!

Cigar Review: Room 101

Sometimes you just gotta try it....












I was sitting in Cigars Cigars for my friend's bachelor party and this one cigar caught my attention. I am a sucker for cool labels and Room 101 just had that spark. It is a relatively new brand and my curiosity got the best of me...

Just looking at this cigar will tell you smoking it will be  a treat! The cigar had a great little oily wrapper with a spongy texture just ready for smoking. It is a Semilla Honduras wrapper, and the only way I can describe it is to say a maduro and a connecticut had a little too much fun one night and made this little mistake. It is sweet and oily with the slight earthy notes of a maduro. It had a fast draw and great wrapper construction. It was definitely a medium bodied cigar with sweet chocolate notes and a rich, very thick smoke. It was a good smoke and the branding was interesting. Room 101 is inspired by Japanese art and the tattoo culture. It is just an interesting story and brand persona, and I am a believer in brand importance just as much as the actual quality. The Room 101 had a nice mellow finish and I enjoyed it to the very nub. It wasn't overly complex or interesting but it was still a high quality smoke. I will pick up a few more of these and maybe will post a little more on the brand story as well. Overall I give this cigar a solid 8 of 10.

Whisky Essentials: Whisky Rocks

This is the best use for rocks I have ever seen! Pet rocks have nothing on whisky rocks! I was given these whisky rocks as a senior gift from a respected fraternity advisor and I am forever grateful. I never thought I would get so excited about a couple square rocks...Anyway, they are a great gift for any whisky lover and most importantly, they actually work.

What you do is freeze them for around 3 to 4 hours before your tasting session. You then place them in your glass for around 10 minutes. They make a noticeable difference in the temperature of your whisky, without diluting or shocking the liquid from melting ice cubes. They are pretty effective and keep the chill for quite some time. Plus, they look really neat in your glass! The only thing I ran into is that I use Glencairn nosing glasses and it starts to get a little cramped in the glass. If you are using traditional low ball glasses or whisky tumblers, they will work great. Overall, I am very impressed and thought that every whisky connosuer should own  a bag of rocks! Remember ice melts, whisky rocks!

Drew Estate's Social Media

I love it when two of my passions collide! Drew Estate is launching a very interactive and personal social media campaign. I have not posted many articles about marketing on my blog recently, but when a cigar company starts some very interesting marketing campaigns, it would be a sin if I didn't! I have always been very interested in this Web 2.0 and social media marketing, and I have always been interested in cigars, so this is perfect!

Their campaign has included Facebook communications, Twitter posts, website news, YouTube videos, and newsletters. It is the textbook definition of a social media campaign. They are not selling me anything, they are just informing me about their unique and great brand/product and providing me with some really cool "insider" information. This is where most companies mess up, they try to sell too hard during a social media campaign. They need to just inform and share with their fans, and then their fans will turn around and share that information to others. This is a great example of word of mouth marketing and social media. Notice my post, a perfect example. There must be thousands of people out there telling their friends about the cool things Drew Estate is up to. Advertising and marketing is changing and I think that it will be moving toward permission based mediums (inbound marketing) like what Drew Estate is using now. I am not 100% sold on the effectiveness of social media but its main principles make a lot o' sense! So for anyone reading this post, take a look at some of the advertising and marketing now a days and tell me what you think. For anyone interested in doing a social media campaign at their company, just check out what Drew is doing!

Here are the links to all that is Drew Estate!

The Drew Estate Facebook Page
Drew Estate YouTube Videos
Jonathon Drew's Twitter
Drew Estate Twitter
The Drew Estate Website

Cain F and Nub Cigar Tour

Cain F & Nub Join Forces!

Join the Cain F Tour at a cigar shop near you to meet the man behind  Nub and Cain, Sam Leccia. Watch a rolling demonstration and get exclusive giveaways like hats, shirts, bottle openers, matches and more. The Tour events will also be the only place to try the limited edition Cain F energy drink and to get the currently unreleased Cain F Nub.

For a more detailed calendar of events (including time and shop address), visit the  Cain or Nub websites. The Ohio locations are:


May 5th 4PM-8PM- The Cigar Affair, 323 Conant St., Maumee, OH 43537
May 6th 5PM-8PM- Jungle Jim's International Market, Inc. - 5440 Dixie Highway Fairfield, Ohio 45014

Scotch Review: Aberlour 12 DW

Eh, not double the deliciousness...

I decided on the Aberlour because I wanted to give it a try against my favorite, The Macallan 12. They are very similarly priced and I wanted to see how the tastes compare. I also like my Balvenie Doublewood and thought this doublewood could use a tasting.

Color: muscat or russet, a deep gold
Body: medium

Nose: brown sugar and a some notes of floral, almost like a daisy smell

Palate: very fast with a sweet and spicy, a little floral is tasted, and ends with a little smoky flavor

Finish: it is a short finish with the smoke and sweet fighting for dominance, the smoke wins but it bits the whole time!

I liked this whisky but it was not very complex, with only a few flavors and some very strong characteristics. It didn't have the fruity smells or flavors that I expect from a sherry cask. The oak took over here and really pounced what the sherry had to offer. The finish was short and the bit was medium to strong. It did have some great sweet notes, but it just wasn't what I expected it to be. I would say it is a whisky to have in the cabinet because of the price, but not one to keep on the top shelf. I give this one a 7 of 10.

Question for YOU: What is your favorite doublewood Scotch!?

Cigar Essentials: The Humidor

The humidor, the most important piece to a cigar enthusiast, yet the most misunderstood! The humidor is the castle to your cigar kingdom, and without the right protection and care your kingdom will fall apart. It is essentially a porous box that is prime for keeping a certain humidity. If one thinks about what a cigar is, it becomes very apparent for special care. Because the cigar is a dried dead leaf, it can mold, lose taste, and dry up if the proper humidity is not maintained. That proper humidity is 65-75%. Monitoring that and achieving that, is done by getting special humidifiers and hygrometers.

So what should one look for in a humidor? Fist and foremost, it should be Spanish Cedar or Honduran Mahogany. These two porous woods allow for the proper breath-ability for the humidity levels to stay at 70%.

The next couple attributes are mainly personal tastes. Glass or no glass? I have one that is similar to the one pictured, but some people do not like or approve of glass tops. They don't have the properties of the wood and allow for sunlight to further increase temperatures and cause other problems. If kept in a dark place it doesn't really matter, in my experiences at least. I have had a great experience with the glass top and it holds the 70%. I also like the look of the glass top, it is up to you.

The location or allotment for the hygrometer is also a personal taste. I like mine to be built into the box, like pictured. This allows to monitor the humidity without actually opening the box. The only problem with these are that the analog hygrometers are finicky and I have had trouble with them in the past. I will recommend nice digital hygrometers in future articles.

Then there is the issue of shelves or dividers. I don't feel a particular preference either way, but I like the idea of being able to separate certain cigars from others. You wouldn't want to mix your sweet cigars with your earthy maduros. I would never recommend mixing flavored cigars in any box with normal cigars. An Acid or Java cigar can overpower other cigars and really alter the taste. I found it preferable to have 3 humidors! Ya that's right, 3. One for my sweet mocha cigars like the Java and Tabak Especial, one for aromatic Acids, and one for my traditional cigars.

Now that you learned just a few things about selecting a humidor lets look at how to season your new humidor. They say you need to season a new humidor because the wood has not absorbed any humidity and can literally suck the moisture from your cigars! You don't want a vampire humidor so always season new boxes! When you buy your humidor, “season” it by applying a moist cloth to the interior wood and then leaving a small, closed container of water inside the humidor for 12 hours. If the humidor “drinks up” most of the water, leaving the container near-empty after 12 hours, repeat the process for another 24 hours. Once the water stops evaporating, the humidor is ready for your cigars! Just add the humidifying solution to your humidifier and insert into the humidor. Make sure to sprinkle it into the device, do not drench it! It seems to actually cause it to not release enough humidity. Enjoy and I hope you found this helpful, feel free to leave comments and advice!