And The Winner is . . .

Well we have hit that time of year where everyone from TV to Music to Motion Pictures is doing their Best of the Best list or their top “whatever” for 2014, so I guess a band wagon jumping we shall be.

 We posted on here and sent out to our Club Members a list of the top cigars that we have sampled this year, the cutters they have used and the online store they liked the most (we did not include local Brick and Mortar (Stores) because members are spread out all over 3 states.

 So without further blabbering, The Winner for top cigar of the 2014 cigar season is . . . 

·        The Drew Estates; Tabak Limited - Cafe’ Con Leche.

This is the first time a flavored cigar has won Favorite cigar of the year. Being although I too voted, I would have to agree 100% with the vote the Runner up was the

CAO – Itallia.

·        The best cutter award goes to the V-knotch, no surprise there.

·        The best online store to buy cigars this year went to Cigars International, 

with Famous Cigars

and

CigarBid.com tying for second place.

 Best Cigar of 2014:

The Drew Estates; Tabak Limited - Cafe’ Con Leche.

Best Cigar Cutter:

V-Knotch (Any Brand)

Best Online Store:

Cigars International

So as we Blow out our 2014 smoke rings and get ready to breath in 2015’s offerings, I say thank you to one and all that has read, reviewed or participated in our cigar blog and would like to remind any of the readers to hit that “Follow” button and don’t be afraid to make a comment or submit a question for us here at the Cigar Stop. Also Thanks to

The Dead Ringers Cigar Club for hosting some fun events this year and helping keep this blog somewhat interesting (I hope).

 

Until next time

B.O.T.L.

~CigarAsh~

Cigar Cutting 101 REVISITED:

First thing you do is cut the end of a cigar before you smoke it, but how and with what? This will be the Cigar Stops look at cutting cigars.

 I am sure at some point we have done a blog entry on cigar cutters, but I refresher is always nice, so here is a look at the most popular ways to cut a cigar.

·        The Punch – Punches a round hole in the end of the cigar.

The Punch

·        The Guillotine – Cuts off the entire end of the cigar.

The Guillotine

·        The V-notch – cuts a “V” shape in the end of the cigar.

The V-notch

 

As far as what one to use that is a matter of personal preference, here is the way I look at it. 

The punch

The punch can be used on all cigars except the torpedoes, belicoso and any other pyramid or pointy ended cigar. It works great and only takes a small circle of the end so you do not get any leaves from the cut while smoking. The Punch cutter I prefer to have one that has a plunger on the end so it can ejects the tip of the end of the cigar, so that people will not try and tap the blade end to clean the cut out and damage the blade.

The Guillotine

The Guillotine cutter cuts the entire end off the cigar and can be used on all cigars, the only problem I have had with it is that as you smoke your cigar you have a tendency to get some of the leaves or wrapper from the cut end to flake or dislodge, however it is infrequent. The Guillotine is used best with pointed end or pyramid shaped cigars like the torpedo. The best Guillotine in my opinion is a solid one that will stand up to the pressure of your fingers while still slicing straight through the end. Some of the dollar ones work for a bit then dulls or the finger holes break of and it renders the cutter useless.

The V-notch

The V-notch is a cutter that cuts a “V” shape into the end of the cigar and I think it gives you the best draw while keeping the integrity of the cigar end in tacked. It can be used on all cigar shapes and sizes. With the V-notch cutters you should try and stay away from the cheaper models due to the same thing as the Guillotine cutters, the plastic will break with uneven pressure and again when it breaks that is all she wrote they become useless.

 The only glitch with any of these 3 cutters is that if they get a nick or bent or dull in anyway the will just tear up the end of the cigar and it will inhibit your smoking pleasure.

 My favorite cutter is the V-notch I like keeping as much of the cigar intact as possible for a nice steady even draw. Give each one a try and see if you have a favorite, there are many, many different kinds of cutters shapes and sizes to choose from don’t get overwhelmed stick to one of the 3 here before you explore the others like the scissors, the shuriken and the large table top models.

the Scissors

shuriken

Hope this helps out

B.O.T.L.

~The cigar Stop Team~

2014 – Thanks for the fun

 

The Cigar Stop

Well it is coming to the end of the year and the cigar smoking season is coming to a close. Even though it is a year round thing we have no events till spring. There will be the occasional meeting in the “Cigar Garage” with partial membership, due to the fact our Dead Ringers Cigar Club members are spread out over a few east coast states.

 We had some great events as well as our usual Cigar club meetings. Here are some of the highlights of the season.

·        We gained 7 new members.

·        The “Backyard Burner Event” in Tewksbury at Smokehouse Brown’s to kick off the season

·        The “Memorial Day Cigar Event” to open the Smoking Troll Bar & Grill

·        We had “Cigarfest 2: Clash of the Stogies Event” at the Smoking Troll Bar & Grill

·        The “Cigars, Beers and Bratwursts Event” which was also held at the Smoking Troll Bar & Grill where we had a mini Beer-fest, a 10 Cigar Sampler Tasting and a Sausage-fest all rolled into one event.

·        The Thanksgiving Day Smoker at the “Giraffe” clubhouse

We have a couple of club meetings left this year, but no events planned. We are in the process of planning next year’s events already and I hope we have no less the turn out than we had this past year.

 As I said we are a year round hobby, but seeing as there are not very many places to smoke cigars indoors anymore we are limited to the spring, summer and fall months for cigar events.

 So thank you Dead Ringers Cigar Club Members, Blog Readers, The Cigar Stop team and Venders that have help make this 2014 a great cigar season.

I hope you will keep following the Cigar Stop blog; we have more reviews and cigar insights we would like to share with you all. We also hope to hear from our readers, let us know what your thoughts are on particular cigar or opinion on a review or give us your own review on a cigar.

 I have noticed a lot of internet activity for Europe and Eastern Europe and I know for a fact we have at least 2 Canadians out there… so let’s hear it from you our readers.

Hit that “FOLLOW” button

See you next time

B.O.T.L.

~CigarAsh~