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 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?

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.

…

Shipping Cigars

One of the common questions we receive here at Stogie Review is “I have some cigars I would like to ship to someone, how should I go about it?” With that being said I thought I would do a mini shipping how-to.

I prefer to ship cigars as follows.

Cutting your cigar

Here is a nice little tip that I picked up. If you want to ensure the best cut on your cigar and you use either a single or double blade cutter, try this. Lay the cutter on the table. Stick the end of your cigar in the cutter so the head rests on the table. Cut the cap off. The thickness of the cutter will remove just enough of the cap to give you a clean cut and one that…

Tips and Tricks – Installment 1

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with a friend when I decided it was about time for a cigar. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a cigar. Once removed from my pocket, I sat the cigar down in front of me while I reached for my Cutter and Lighter when I heard my friend say “What is that on your cigar” He was talking about my home made cigar label.

A few months ago I…