As I was saying ...
Monday, March 15, 2010 at 6:46AM With regard to a column I wrote in January, some “new age” cigar smoker commented that all I do is hang out with big shots in the industry. Well, I shan’t apologize for who my friends are; but, I will tell you that one of the privileges and pleasures I enjoy is smoking cigars, that are in the process of being created and giving my opinion of the blend, or smoking them before they have been finalized or released.
So, I was hanging out with Henry “Kiki” Berger, Mike Argenti and Al Argenti of Berger & Argenti and smoking a few of their new Classico cigars the other day. Berger is as big a shot as they come…to the cognoscenti and the Argenti brothers are formidable industry figures. Any of you ‘new age’ folk know what company they helped make? Comment on that.
As I was saying…I was smoking their new Classico and switching up between the Corona Gordas and the Belicosos…and I wound up doing something I have only done once before (Anyone want to guess what brand that was?). I smoked about six cigars in a row – not chain smoking them – just lighting up one vitola or another of the same brand and blend! And, mind you, this exquisite smoke does not fit the profile I usually smoke – it is a medium bodied smoke; but rather tasty with some spicy notes. The Berger & Argenti Classico is a cigar you will know you smoked.
The cigar, with Nicaraguan filler; Nicaragua Criollo binder and enveloped in a lush, smooth wrapper of Ecuador Connecticut ‘desflorado’ is an event waiting to happen for the smoker.
It is available in a Corona Gorda (4.5 X 46); Rothschild (5 X 50); Belicoso (5.75 X 50) and Churchill (7 X 50)
Here you have a cigar being produced by experienced, talented cigar makers with a history of success, not a real estate developer from Providence, RI. That fact alone should make you curious.
The true joy of smoking, to me, is sharing my cigars with friends, and the adventure of exploration…trying new cigars. I suggest you be a little adventurous and try the Berger & Argenti Classico.
I know that blogs are created, by and large as hobbies and to allow people to put their opinions out there, as if the internet gives those opinions the same authority as recognized experts. You know what I mean; the guy who has been drinking Burgundy for a few years and thinks his views are as valid as Robert Parker’s!
Well, the thing is, when they start taking advertising, the blog is now a business and one would expect them to be business like.
Well, with many of ‘em that ain’t the case! But then, even some lesser lights in the cigar magazine category aren’t very business like.
I did some travelling and hit a couple of terrific shops; one of them, operating since 1921, is in Chicago, Illinois.
The shop is Jack Schwartz Importer (141 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604 – 312.782.7898 - www.jackschwartz.com) located in the lobby of the Chicago’s historic Board of Trade building. As the CBOT is a functioning hub of commerce, Bill O’Hara, the shop's current owner, gets to keep some interesting hours: Open Monday thru Friday from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Saturday’s they are available by appointment only; closed Sundays.
O’Hara, who I just noted is the current owner, worked for many years under Joe Howe – obviously the former owner, from whom O’Hara bought the shop.
While not quite a lounge – O’Hara’s clientele doesn’t appear to have much time for lounging – the shop does offer a couple of nice chairs and a crisp, clean, attractive décor and ambiance. The staff is friendly and accommodating. The walk-in humidor is crammed with the finest of cigars from all the best manufacturers in Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
One of the highlights of the humidor is Westminster, a house brand that Jack Schwartz actually went to Cuba in 1959 to create. It has since found continued life in a Hondouran variety and an excellent Dominican cigar – produced by one of the DR’s superb cigar makers.
Like all my suggestions, I can only offer the information and tell you that I enjoyed the time I spent shopping, smoking and chatting with the staff and customers at Jack Schwartz Importer. If you’re in downtown Chicago and you need a fine cigar…this is the place you should visit.
As an aside, it was one of Jack Schwartz’s employees, back when Joe Howe was still running the place, for which Litto Gomez named his La Flor Dominicana “El Jocko.”
My recent travels also took me to a city I have not been to in decades! I had occasion to pass through Kington, New York and I actually was there to buy cigars. Well, not really to buy cigars. I was there to see Israel Markovits and see Uptown Cigar Co. (32 John Street, Kington, NY 12401 – 845.340.1142 – www.uptowncigar.com). Uptown is a Monday thru Saturday operation open from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
As I said, I really didn’t go all the way to Kingston to buy cigars – though I did; and from a very broad selection in their walk-in humidor. I went to visit, as Israel and I had met in January at the Miami Cigar & Company NYC Extravaganza at Cigar Inn in Manhattan.
Israel runs the shop for Michelle, the shop’s owner, and is a young man of Cuban descent, who grew up in Miami – as it seems every Cuban in America did – and now suffers through up state New York winters to run this very welcoming and attractive shop on a tree shaded street in historic uptown Kingston, NY.
Aside from Israel, I was ably helped by Diane and Dennis and got the impression that they are Uptown Cigar Company, as Michelle, I learned is not there all that often. But then, she can count on Markovits, just as his customers count on him to keep them au courant about the finest and newest cigars. That’s not to say that he doesn’t keep a substantial inventory of the cigars they are already smoking.
The shop was founded in 1996 and has enjoyed considerable success by providing an inviting and comforting lounge environment, a well stocked and well maintained walk-in humidor and a selection of some of the finest and most well regarded cigars and accessories to be found in any cigar emporium.
It was a very enjoyable visit. Like all fine cigar shops/lounges that I visit, the regular clientele was friendly and engaging and it was easy to fall into conversation, relax, smoke and enjoy a few hours.
However; just as with my friend Robbie Morton, and his Cordova Cigar shop in Pensacola, FL, I shall not return in the winter. I am not at a loss as to where to purchase cigars without freezing my arse off!
How many of you know the name Paley…William S. Paley? I don’t expect many of you will recognize the name. No more than the people Jay Leno talked to on the street and showed a painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware…no one knew it was George Washington! And people ask me why I despair for my country.
Anyway, back to William S. Paley…the man founded the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). Interestingly enough, the seed money for his acquisition of radio stations in the late 1920s & early 1930s came from the Congress Cigar Company. Congress was founded by his father, Samuel Paley.
Fast forward to IPCPR 2009 and I am standing in the Convention Center being introduced to Bill Paley (William C.) the son of William S., who I had the pleasure of knowing. And now, I have the pleasure of knowing Bill.
And how do we connect all this to IPCPR, to this column and to the now gone Congress Cigar Company? William C. Paley, will be the third generation of Paleys in the cigar business! He is resurrecting the primary brand of Congress – a big seller in its day: La Palina
So, now when people talk about tradition in the cigar industry; continuity; and say things like, “It’s in the DNA,” you’ll understand even better. Tobacco gets into the blood.
Suffice it to say, the Paleys are neither Cuban nor Dominican nor any other Latino derivative.
Jorge Armentiros and his Tobacconist University are getting a lot of attention and it is very well deserved.
For those of you who don’t know Jorge, and that would be hard to believe among the smoking fraternity, save for the fact that hardly anyone knows that Joseph Biden is the VPOTUS! For those of you who don’t know him, he is (not uniquely) of Cuban heritage, born in Miami and operating, since 1994, first one, than two cigar shops in the Northeast. Princeton, NJ and New Hope, PA to be precise.
Jorge might well be described as obsessive/compulsive, but it’s a good OC syndrome; he demands professionalism at tobacoonists. So, to make it possible, he created Tobacconist University, an on line University dedicated to properly schooling and certifying Professional Tobacconists. He wrote a complete curriculumn and it is all at www.tobacconistuniversity.org where every shop owner and his staff can be properly schooled and tested in all the knowledge they require to properly serve their clientele. There is also a book that is now available – with 200 plus pages, The Tobacconist Handbook - that covers the same subjects and can prep you for your certification exam.
I heartily recommend it to all tobacconists and even the sales staff of cigar manufacturers – TU has a Certified Sales programme. I even recommend it to truly passionate cigar aficionados.
St Patrick’s Day with a proper parade was celebrated Sunday, 14 March, in Hollywood, FL. Go figure! My friends Ana & Miguel Cuenca, of the eponymous cigar shop, invited myself and The Guyabera Lady, aka Berta Bravo to enjoy the festivities at Cuenca Cigars.
So, Sunday around eleven found Berta, myself and the artist, Emilio Sauma headed for Hollywood, FL.
Ana never needs a holiday or a parade to make the shop festive; and as part of any Cuban owned cigar shop in south Florida, dominos are part of the festivities!
Let me tell you, playing with Miguel is not festive! He gets too damned manic when he’s winning; which is much too often!
If you’re in the Hollywood, FL area, it’s as fine a smoke shop as you’ll find anywhere. Small, intimate with a regular clientele that are all interesting and friendly. The attention paid to your needs is beyond the call of duty.
Just forget about playing dominos with Miguel. You won’t like it; and, I’m not sure he doesn’t cheat!
On the other hand, Ana was kind enough to get me my diet dinner (Ana & Miguel were serving the usual fattening Cuban diet of pig and tostones), of fresh crab meat, at a lovely restaurant down the block, called Sage (2000 Harrison Street, Hollywood, FL 33020 – 954.295.7678 – www.sagecafe.net). The restaurant was more than happy to accommodate my need to stay at the domino table and a waitress walked the food down the street.
I have eaten there several times and the place is attractive; the food excellent and the service more than gracious – in a south Florida way.
This and that…At the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans last summer, I met a strange chap named Ken Sayar. Then he turns up on Facebook posting interesting, intelligent quotations from Cicero, Plato, Benjamin Franklin, et al. Hardly an original word…until he started pitching, and that’s the only word for it, a MLM programme (read “Pyramid scheme”) called PeopleString. I am trying to remember if his pitch came before or after the Arganese (“Oh, it's not me”) Pyramid Scheme.
When was the last time a person said to you…that cigar has a fantastic aroma. It reminds me of my grandfather! That brought a smile to my face.
I have been playing dominos now for about three years. The game is de riguer (I don’t know the Spanish translation) in most cigar shops in the South Florida area. I’ve discovered that the Cubans hate to lose. I have also discovered the thing they hate more than losing…LOSING TO A GRINGO!
In response to a comment by Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, First Viscount Montgomery of El Alamein, that he neither drank nor smoked and got eight hours of sleep each night, and was therefore, 100% fit, Winston Churchill replied…
"I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
Reader Comments (2)
I have to say that Uptown Cigar Company is one of my favorite shops that I have been to.
It is nice to get out of NYC where people move slower and are kinder. I passed through Kingston about 8 times over the last 2 years as I had a case in Johnstown, NY. As Kingston turned out to be the half way point we stopped there for breakfast at this quaint eatery with a waitress that could of stepped out of the move transamerica. I am very tolerant of people and accepting. My business partner is old school. I was worried he would say something but he held is tongue and the place became our local stop every time through in the AM.
On the way back we would stop at Kingston, and sit back and have a smoke. There was a friendly kid there who I believe was from Illinois who was beyond personable and he made us feel as if we were regulars. It is definitely a nice shop worth the stop if you are passing through....
Barry
acigarsmoker.com
whenever I am bore, just come back to this reading and travel all the way with you.... thank you for the nice input.
ana
CuencaCigars.com