The Art of the Raffle

Cigar event raffles is a topic that seems to keep coming up in conversation. Jerry, Walt, Mike and I shared our favorite and least favorite prizes in a YQMA episode a month or two ago, and I used the opportunity to complain about winning baseball caps. I’m sure it was good for a few chuckles, but it probably wasn’t useful to anyone really thinking about organizing a raffle. I started thinking more seriously on the subject when a cigar rep …

Mike’s Look at Cutters

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, …

Three Things Brian Knows About Cigars

Due to temporary schedule conflicts, don’t have a review for you this week, but I’m not going to leave you hanging. I considered posting another Brian’s The Week In Smoke, but I felt like doing something different. Since Jerry ripped off the Week In Smoke concept, I figure it’s only fair I hijack one of his. But he is a man of few ideas, so that pretty much just leaves his “Three Things” post. (Which he actually stole from …

How To Herf

I’m AWOL again this week, so no Tower of Burn. Yeah, I know, but it’s proven to be nearly impossible to do a cigar review on the road. Next week it will be back for sure. In the meantime, I thought it’d be a good time to discuss one of our cherished cigar institutions, the Herf.

The idea to write a little bit about herfing came to me after I was asked for the third time by as many people …

You & Your 5 Senses

After my humidor tour I received a lot of questions about how I know if I’m properly taking care of my cigars since I don’t use a hygrometer. I thought the best way to to answer that question was to demonstrate how you and your 5 senses can be used to get a good feel for a cigar all before lighting up.

Video runs a little over 11:30 and I hope you go easy on me…I’m not known for my …

My Graycliff Tobacco Beetle Adventure

Recently, I had an unpleasant surprise. I have a small collection of Gracliff cigars I keep in one of the drawers in my humidor. It had been a while since I lit one up, and I reached for a blue label “Professionale” torpedo that had been aging for a while. When I lifted it out of the drawer I noticed a bit of fine dust fall from the cigar. And then I saw it: a beetle hole. Wait, this wasn’t …

Making a Cigar Box Clock

Instead of a Guest Review, today I wanted to mix it up a little bit. Last week Tom put together a video demonstrating how to turn a plain old cigar box into a wall mounted clock.

Check out the video below to see the step by step process in building your own.

Have you ever done a cigar project for around the house?
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Beginner Basics with Tom and Ed

While I’m slacking off and working on other aspects of the site. Tom and Ed were kind enough to fill in for me with an excellent video to help the new cigar smoker along. Along with the information for beginners, Tom and Ed smoke and review a new Canimao blend.…

Repairing a damaged cigar with pectin

Have you ever found yourself with a damaged cigar that you were just dieing to smoke? On occasion we receive cigars in the mail, or as gifts, and sometimes they get to us a little banged up. Occasionally this abuse leads to a pealing wrapper, or and in some cases, a couple of small cracks.

With a little patience and a box of pectin this problems can be quickly remedied to make that banged up cigar smokable.…

Using cigar scissors

With the recent review of Brian’s new Xikar MTX multi-tool it seemed like a good time to put together a short demonstration on how to use cigar scissors.

Using your scissors:

• Open scissors slightly and press against the head of your cigar

• With downward pressure on the cigar close the scissors to begin the shearing action

• Once a slight bit of tobacco is removed, repeat the shearing action as you move around the head.

• Shape the

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