As a rule I do not purchase Cuban cigars as it is illegal to do so (although I have had a few gifted to me), and to many “aficionados” that makes me (and all other NC smokers) nothing more than “drugstore” cigar smokers. Of course I disagree with that assessment as will anyone with half a pallet that has tasted a Swisher Sweet and any one of the many great domestic cigars. Still, if you want to find the “best” domestic cigars there are some rules that will help you find them.
- Ignore Price–there are some really good domestic sticks out there for $5 and under. There are also some really nasty sticks out there for over $5!
- Ignore Half-Naked Women–sex sells, but not good cigars.
- Ignore “Cuban” Nomenclature–many domestic cigars are “rolled in the fine Cuban tradition” or have a distinct “Cuban” flavor. I’m not saying some of the cigars marketed using this strategy aren’t good, but it isn’t because of anything “Cuban” about the cigar.
- Ignore Ostentatious Packaging–sure those fancy boxes and bands are attractive, but they have no correlation to the quality of the cigar.
- Ignore Most Cigars With Stolen Cuban Names–when America placed an embargo against Cuba many of the names used for Cuban cigars were stolen and placed on domestic cigars. As a general rule these cigars are manufactured by large companies pumping out tons of cigars that are just a notch above those drugstore smokes mentioned earlier. That isn’t to say you won’t find a few good ones, but if you stick with boutique or family owned shops you will find better smokes.
In February I purchased the Xikar Genesis Lighter. I had heard great things about the Xikar company, and I was tired of fussing with matches and cheap lighters. Within four months I started having trouble getting my Genesis to stay lit so I took advantage of the Xikar Lifetime Warranty, and mailed the lighter back for repairs. Apparently they were unable to repair it becuase today a package came with a brand new Xikar Genesis Lighter! In a world where customer service means “sell them something they don’t need, and hope you never see them again,” it is refreshing when you have a great cusotmer service expereince. Thank you Xikar!
An article in the Summer 2008 issue of Cigar Magazine entitled, Secondhand Smoke and Global Warming More Connected Than You Think?, by James M. Taylor speaks to the similarities in scare tactics, biased reporting, and bad science found in the battles against secondhand smoke, and our carbon footprint. Taylor points out that as a whole, Antarctica is actually getting colder not warmer. The ice melt on Kilimanjaro is not related to global warming, and that the glacier atop the mountain has been retreating since the 1800s. A Gulf Stream shutdown is not going to happen. Droughts are actually occurring less frequently. And there is no scientific consensus concerning global warming despite what the media is telling us.
Among the most interesting tidbits included in the article are the fact that Al Gore’s, Inconvenient Truth, “contained so many misrepresentations of scientific fact that the British government could no longer allow it to be part of the public school curriculum unless they government first provided teachers with a list of the movie’s numerous scientific errors”, and that there is a petition found at the Web site of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine that has been signed by no less than 19,000 scientists that do not believe the erroneous information the world is being fed about global warming.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate the entire article online. However, I have contacted the author and perhaps he will provide me with such a link. In addition, I remarked how nicely the issue of firearms ownership would have fit into his article if he had wanted to make it a hat trick. You can find much of the same information in similar articles written by Taylor at the Web site for the Heartland Institute.
