I’ll be posting my pick for “Best Cigar of 2019”—otherwise known as #COTY2019—next week. Until then, here are a few of the things that happened to me and in the cigar industry in the past 12 months.
My Season of Change
It was a long time coming, but 2019 was the year I finally made the move away from working at Burns Tobacconist. It started with some contract work in the summer and moved on to part-time in September with a new company, remaining at Burns part time. At the end of November I made it official and left Burns completely, although not without some mixed emotions.
I made a lot of incredibly great friends at Burns, both people I worked for and with, as well as customers. Friends that I hope last a lifetime. Amazing people with amazing talents and some with a gift for being hopelessly entertaining at times. At the end of the day, though, it was time to get back to my “other life” of graphic design full-time.
If you come looking for me at Burns Tobacconist, you will still find me there…some days or evenings…hanging out in the lounge downstairs or upstairs, depending on what’s going on. The rest of the time you can head right around the corner from the downtown Burns location and find me at ClearBox Strategies. As noted, I’m doing graphic design—websites, social media and print—and marketing work, helping a variety of businesses attract more clientele.
Luckily, the ClearBox Crew has quickly formed into a “family,” similar to what I had at Burns, really. I don’t know that it always stay that way, but it’s been very helpful in this transitional period. And one of these days I’m going to get my new “little sisters” to come smoke a cigar at Burns!
You Did “Not-See” That Coming
This was the “fight that wasn’t” all year long against the anti-smoking Nazis. We in the cigar business watched cities, counties and whole states restrict tobacco sales to 21 years old and over and there simply wasn’t much of a fight from most in the industry. I honestly can’t remember any cigar makers taking a stand against it…if they did, they were bit players in the biz. So just a week or so ago, the law was passed by both the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate as part of the annual budget: sometime next year it will be a federal law that tobacco sales are only to folks 21 years old or older.
From the standpoint of a Tennessee tobacconist selling alcohol, I always felt it would make our job easier. I can’t remember how many people I’ve had to turn away when working at Burns. The sign on the door (both locations) reads “21 and Over Only,” because Burns sells beer they are technically classified as a bar and can’t have 18 to 20 years olds in the business, even though they can legally buy tobacco. Instead of having to explain that, the new law simplifies the matter: we can’t sell anything to you!
But from the standpoint of a small-government Republitarian, I have a big problem with the federal government restricting the rights of legal citizens older than “minor” age. At that age, according to the federal government, you are responsible enough to take out a student loan that you’ll be paying back until you’re 80; you are old enough for a non-restricted drivers’ license; you can get married; you can join the military and go die for your country. But you can’t be trusted with cigars…or cigarettes…or alcohol, for that matter.
I’m not saying that 18 year olds make the best decisions about consuming alcohol or tobacco products. But if they’re old enough to be put into battle in a foreign country, maybe they should be able to work it out for themselves and pay the consequences for their actions in those arenas, too. It’s more freedom erosion and that I find hard to stomach…especially when the cigar and vape industries didn’t even get some quid pro quo out of the deal. If they had said, “Tobacco21 is acceptable as long as the FDA is prohibited from most (all?) regulations!” Then that would be something to ponder. As it was, though, they put up almost no fight and apparently got nothing.
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition
In case you missed it…back in the summer, Avo announced the release of the “Unexpected Series,” with 4 blends they would not say much about. When they showed up at Burns, I did my duty as a tobacconist and tried all four. A couple I really liked, one was good and I thought I might smoke again, and one was just not to my liking.
Fast forward to the fall and the company announces (with laughing spokes holes, from what I’m led to believe) that the four blends were just regular production Avo cigars with different packaging and slightly inflated prices. Reaction has not been positive with one shop owner declaring that “Avo Uvezian is rolling in his grave.”
On the one hand, I think I understand the motivation behind the stunt…basically trying to get people to try old blends with new eyes. It can help to not have preconceived notions about cigars before smoking them. Well, it can help some people…I found that the repackaged XO, I didn’t care for…just like I don’t care for the normal one. The repackaged Avo Classic was good, which is what I think of it usually. The repackaged Heritage was great and I like it all the time. The wild card for me was the repackaged Domaine. I hadn’t smoked a Domaine in nearly a decade and had generally just avoided it because I didn’t have good memories of the last one. But I found that I do really enjoy the blend…at least in the “Unexpected Moment” size. So in a way, it did get me to appreciate a blend I had been ignoring. Hell, it even made my “Honorable Mention” list below…although I did reconsider that once the news came out.
On the other hand, execution was terrible. They should have declared right from the beginning that this was some kind of “test” or “game” and that the blends would be revealed later in the year. Maybe make them a 4-pack sampler in a humidor-bag instead of standard 20-count boxes. Bottom line, there was some way to do this right. Instead they came out and laughed at consumers and retailers like it was some big joke. Honestly, someone probably should be fired for that.
COTY Honorable Mentions
If you aren’t familiar with the way I’ve presented my year-end lists before, it comes down to this: anything rated a 10/10 on the Leaf Enthusiast “everyman’s cigar ratings tool” in the past 12 months gets an automatic bid for COTY. Anything that gets a 9.5/10 (or at least a 4.5/5 on the “Flavor” section) gets automatic consideration as an “Honorable Mention.” I don’t do a “Top 25” or “Top 30” or “Top 100” list…just repeating some of those that impressed me the most and re-smoking a select few to determine a Cigar of the Year.
This cigars that rated a 9.5 and I have decided merit an Honorable Mention are (in alphabetical order):
- Aganorsa Leaf Signature Maduro
- Avo Unexpected Moment (Domaine)
- Davidoff Vault Macau
- Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca
- Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Muestra De Saka #nlmtha
- Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso
- Foundation Cigars Menelik
- Foundation Cigars Tabernacle No. 142
- Macanudo Inspirado Palladium
- Padron No. 89 Natural
- Powstanie Habano
The other 9.5 ratings
So there were a few 9.5 ratings I had that I couldn’t give an Honorable Mention to. Why? Perhaps because I didn’t continue to be impressed by them over and over and over again…perhaps lack of availability to me. Sometimes smoking them too much makes them not as exciting as they used to be. Whatever…I’ll stand by the 9.5 ratings, but some 9.5s are worth more than others. Check these out as ones that maybe got “rounded up” a little…
