Part Four, the final chapter. Lots of great discussion here about tasting cigars off the bench and envisioning how they will taste as they age, too many 90 plus ratings? Joya de Nicaragua in the 1970′s, more advice for bloggers and the benefits for manufacturers. Cigar technology, dying of cigars, consumer education, sorting tobacco, seed variety, the decline of Cuban cigars, aging cigars and props to Rolando Reyes Sr. and Dion Giolito.

I hope you all have enjoyed the interview. This one is probably my favorite so far and not because of Pete Johnson but because of the expertise of George Brightman. Funny story, one day I called W.Curtis Draper-Bethesda expecting to talk to Paul Spence. George answered the phone and asked for Paul but he was away. George asked if he could help me and I said I’d just call back. I immediately sent John Anderson a text that said “who the fuck is George at Bethesda?” Little did I know of George’s background in the industry. Online retailers may have better pricing on cigars but it is the local retailers who offer something that is priceless.

This is Part Three focusing on questions from the audience. Is Pete still having fun? Times of crisis? Experience working with The Garcia Family. Second guessing blends, more info on Little Monsters, and blogger’s responsibility in the industry? Note to self, gotta invest in a third microphone for audience use.

Same format as an An Evening with Benji Menendez and An Afternoon with Ernesto Perez Carrillo. This weekend Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars was in Washington DC and Bethesda MD celebrating the start of W.Curtis Draper 125th Anniversary year with the release of the Cabaiguan WCD 120 Redux. Towards the end of the afternoon, Pete and George Brightman (W.Curtis Draper-Bethesda) sat down and talked about Tatuaje Cigars and the cigar industry in general.

This is Part Two of Four and has a lot of great content. The story of La Verite, the “romance” in the cigar business, a Tatuaje farm, who is to blame for current pricing, could the cigar industry self regulate itself, the golden age of cigars and an explanation on fermentation.

Same format as an An Evening with Benji Menendez and An Afternoon with Ernesto Perez Carrillo. This weekend Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars was in Washington DC and Bethesda MD celebrating the start of W.Curtis Draper 125th Anniversary year with the release of the Cabaiguan WCD 120 Redux. Towards the end of the afternoon, Pete and George Brightman (W.Curtis Draper-Bethesda) sat down and talked about Tatuaje Cigars and the cigar industry in general.

The discussion between Pete and George totals about two hours. To make the experience manageable and thus, enjoyable, I will be breaking the footage into four, thirty minute clips.

Same format as an An Evening with Benji Menendez and An Afternoon with Ernesto Perez Carrillo. This weekend Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars was in Washington DC and Bethesda MD celebrating the start of W.Curtis Draper 125th Anniversary year with the release of the Cabaiguan WCD 120 Redux. Towards the end of the afternoon, Pete and George Brightman (W.Curtis Draper-Bethesda) sat down and talked about Tatuaje Cigars and the cigar industry in general.

The discussion between Pete and George totals about two hours. To make the experience manageable and thus, enjoyable, I will be breaking the footage into four, thirty minute clips. This is Part One focusing on the start of Tatuaje Cigars, meeting Pepin at the Grand Havana Room in LA, what cigars inspired Pete and the story of the Cojonu series.

It’s pretty interesting to note that this celebrates five years of the 20 Minutes with Pete Johnson series of videos here on Stogie Review. So first I want to thank Pete for always being giving with his time. Secondly I want to thank W.Curtis Draper for giving me a home to record for the past five years. This series of videos has turned into a tradition that I hope continues for many more years to come.

In this interview Pete talks about the special release he does for W.Curtis Draper called the WCD 120 Redux. The WCD 120 Redux celebrates Draper’s 125th Anniversary and is based off a Cabaiguan cigar Pete did for W.Curtis Draper 120th Anniversary. Pete also talks about some of the projects we can look forward to in 2012. Most notably the addition of a Little Monster Series as well as an update on the next two releases of the Moster Series and the status of the next La Verité. Pete also takes some time to talk about the La Dueña, a cigar he blended for Janny Garcia, as well as many other things like his most underrated line, Saints and Sinners, Para Ti and FT114…

If the above video isn’t enough for you, stay tuned the rest of the week as I post footage from a two hour discussion between Pete Johnson and George Brightman (Cigar Aficinado fame). It’s a must watch especially for any of my fellow bloggers as they take time to discuss our role in the industry.

Welcome back once again my friends to another week of me battling this dang cold with a sore throat, cough and taste buds that seem to have been burnt off at the roots.

I am going to talk just a little bit about different cuts on cigars this week. I know most of you will groan but there are a lot of newer smokers or even veterans that have never seen nor tried anything other than the standard straight cut, so this is for you. I will not go into much depth on these cuts as you can ask questions in the comments or email if you wish. I just wanted to give a nice picture of each cut and tell you what I like or dislike about each one so hopefully you can broaden your cigar experiences by giving them a shot yourself.

Straight Cut

Let us start off with the most common type of cut that most people have used at one point or another in their smoking lifetime.

Basically this cut can be performed with and single blade guillotine, a dual blade guillotine, or even a pair of scissors. You have so many choices for straight cutting a cigar that you could get overwhelmed right up front.

For personal experience with this type of cut you can start off with a cheap plastic job and then progress up through the nicer cutters or you can start off in the higher end if you want, it really doesn’t matter except for the following. I will say the MTX scissors and the Xikar cutters have a bit of a learning curve but Kurt does a great job explaining the use of the Xi series of cutters in this video.

I received both my Xi and the MTX cutter as gifts from a very nice and generous man (whom I still need to bomb the hell out of – I did not forget you my friend, I need to build up some good sticks worthy of a nuclear attack) and they both stay in my pocket at all times.

V-Cut

As you can see the V-cutter creates an inward V to get you past the cap(s) but not totally remove it the entire way around the cigar.

I have heard of a lot of people having trouble with this cut as you have to make sure to keep the cigar firmly planted the the inset of the cutter so the notched V cut will evenly remove tobacco the whole way through. I admit, I have to run a cigar through the v-cutter twice sometimes to get it even the whole way across.

I only have experience with the Wolf plastic v-cutter which is okay but dis not last very long for me. I am going to try and get my hands on one of the Xikar VX cutters which is an all metal v-cutter. I think that one will do a much nicer job than the plastic ones.

V-cutters are bulky. No way around it. If you compare the size of a v-cutter to a normal gullotine or the MTX it is 3 to 4 times as deep (yes, I am guesstimating). I do not keep one in my pocket for this reason. I do however have it at the house, on the table right next to my big red comfy chair.

Punch

In my estimation, the punch is the second most common type of cut people use on a cigar. I myself used this cut almost entirely for my first 2 years of smoking cigars. Well smoking cigars that needed to be cut.

By far, this is the most troublesome cut I have ever used. I had tar problems, horrible draw problems, cracked cigars, etc. I would end up straight cutting over the punch at least 50% of the time. It could be because I always used cheap punches but I am leaning more towards the fact that I used smaller gauge punches.

Oh yea, as you read above you can get different sized punches for different ring gauge cigars or even just personal preference.

I still like the punch but the v-cutter would be my second favorite next to the straight cut right now.

Bye

As I said in the beginning this was just a simple look at 3 types of cutters, the most prominent ones, just to show everyone a picture of each along with a bit of a personal view on how each has worked for me.

Ask any questions in the comments below about the cutters mentioned above or even what your favorite way to cut a cigar is.

After typing all of this up, I noticed Walt did a much better look at cutters two years ago.

Haters gonna hate.
It’s easy to get drawn into a debate with someone who’s not open to another point of view, no matter how well you argue the point. Whether it be conceiving of a world where cigars taste like something other than smoke, or accepting that consenting adults should be allowed to enjoy fine tobacco in an establishment that welcomes it. As much as I think it’s a stupid saying, there is a shining bling of wisdom to “haters gonna hate”. It’s a dismissal of an unnecessary and unwinnable battle, and liberation to return your attention to what matters: that fine roll of premium tobacco in your hand. Not everyone who disagrees with you is biased or being irrational, of course, but when you encounter someone who is, just let it roll past you like a plume of aromatic smoke.

Whatever, just be consistent about it.
People new to cigars often ask what the ideal humidity is for their humidor. I generally answer that it depends on the palate and the cigar, but in most cases I find that a humidity a little under 70% results in the best smoking experiences for me. But the real answer is 65%, 75% or any number in between, it doesn’t matter, so long as you maintain a consistent, stable environment. Inconsistency accounts for many of the burn and flavor problems people encounter, like tunneling, uneven burns and wrapper splits. A cigar isn’t like a digital hygrometer, it takes some time for all the tobacco in that stick to reach a consistent humidity. Pick a number and stick with it.

Cigars, the breakfast of champions.
Traditionally, cigars fit into the later part of the day with the after dinner drink. So what I’m about to tell you will come across as heresy to some. (And I’ll refer them to the part of Jerry’s Three Things that discusses breaking the rules.) If you really want to drink in the flavor and nuance of that cigar, light it up first thing in the day. Studies have found that your senses are at their sharpest in the morning, and gradually dull as the day passes. Like many people these days, your palate works long hours, and by the end of the day, it’s a little tired. It’ll still get the job done, but just not as well it does immediately after a night’s rest. (Of course, all bets are off if your after dinner drink is followed by five more the night before.) And if you smoke a lot of full-bodied powerhouse puros, you might consider trying it something a little milder. Cigars you find a little to mellow for that evening scotch may surprise you with a morning coffee.