I’ve borrowed this from the Friends of Habanos site (thanks Rob!). It’s something I’m going to keep beside me during future smoking sessions, to help develop my palate and make me sound more intelligent. I just hope I don’t come across many “horse manure” cigars!

Cigar Flavour Wheel

Jason and I are very excited to announce a new Perdomo Cigars event for Melbourne in August! We’re working with Sunny Gjomakaj from One Fitzroy Street Restaurant to put on a spectacular event! Sunny has managed to score award-winning chef Tim Smith to design and prepare an amazing 8-course degustation menu for the evening, as well as a wonderful selection of drinks from Pyrenees Ridge Winery and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Jason and I will, of course, be bringing a wide selection of Perdomo Cigars to suit every taste!

Click for large view.

This Perdomo wallpaper was created by Mykl Roventine and is a lovely shot of a Perdomo Habano band.

Perdomo’s Habano brand is rated 90 by Cigar Aficionado and rated 9.5 by Smoke Magazine.

Meticulously blended using tobaccos from the three desitinct growing regions in Nigragua (Estelí, Condega & Jalapa), the Habano cigars offer a unique medium to full flavored smoking experience that combines rich complex flavors with smooth, satisfying finishes.

Filler : Nicaraguan
Binder : Nicaraguan
Wrapper : Corojo, Maduro, Connecticut

Buy your Perdomo Habano here.

I’m a big fan of science. As XKCD likes to say – “Science. It Works, Bitches”.

Unfortunately, cigars are regularly being subjected to bad science and bad journalism.

A few months ago, Parade magazine ran an article called “The Dangers of Pipes and Cigars”. In the article, they reference a report done recently by Columbia University which, the article claims, showed that “smoking pipes or cigars doubled the odds of having an airflow obstruction.”

If this were indeed true, many of us would have to seriously reconsider our cigar habits.

The problem many cigar smokers have with this report, however, is that it is based on fluffy science.

As Smoke Magazine pointed out recently:

The Columbia study contained no new research, but an examination of a previous study that included just 56 individuals who smoked either cigars or pipes and did not smoke cigarettes.

Moreover, the study itself says “few participants smoked pipes or cigars…Effect estimates in this group were therefore relatively imprecise…” No kidding; what the survey actually showed was that among cigar-only smokers, the odds for decreased airflow to the lungs increased a trivial 1 percent when adjusted for age, race, sex, and height, and were 37 percent less than non-smokers when more carefully adjusted for 13 factors also including body mass, education, family history, and so on.

Additionally, the study report states “no U.S. studies have reported on the possible effects of cumulative pipe and cigar smoking on lung function.” This is wrong. In fact, the impact of cigar smoking was exhaustively reviewed by the National Cancer Institute in its monograph on cigars published in 1998.

Incidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) was examined using the American Cancer Society’s massive CPS-I study, which included 15,072 cigar smokers. The result? For those who smoked an average of 1–2 cigars per day, there was no impact at all vs. non-smokers up through age 64, and for those who do not inhale, no impact through age 79!

Now consider that in the U.S. in 2009, smokers of all types of cigars averaged just 2.93 per week and smokers of handmade, premium cigars averaged a grand total of 1.59 per week!

But the CPS-I results are nowhere mentioned in the Columbia “study.”

As I’ve said on the blog before when I covered the CPS-I study, I take my health very seriously and so I’m always keeping an eye out on the latest science on cigars and health. It is unfortunate that a lot of the media coverage on the subject is pretty fluffy and either out-right biased or based on bad science.

The Wall Street Journal has an article on cigar clubs today which I enjoyed. Perdomo gets a small plug too.

Here’s my favourite part of the article:

I have been struck by what seems the spontaneous camaraderie (not always the easiest thing to find in New York) enjoyed by those who frequent cigar bars. Also, as much as I hate second-hand smoke, particularly cigarette smoke, I can’t fully get aboard Mayor Bloomberg’s Orwellian plans to banish and tax smoking out of existence. I see lighting up a cigar at a ballgame, for instance, as an inalienable right, something the founders obviously would have written into the Declaration of Independence if they’d realized it was going to be a big deal two centuries later.

Read the full article here.

Last month (June 2010) saw a major cigar event in Russia. According to the site MyCigars.ru:

The evening was dedicated to the opening of Salon Award Cigar Clan Best of the Best. The event was held in a huge white tent in the middle of the exhibition center. Awards received:

The best Cuban cigar Vegas Robaina Famoso;
Best Dominican cigars Bossner Petr I Maduro;
Best Nicaraguan Cigar Perdomo Habano Maduro;
Best Honduran cigars CAO Italia Gondola;
Discovery of the Year Ashton Estate Sun Grown 22 Year Salute Torpedo;
Discovery of the Year Kirsanoff Collection Vegas De Montana Churchill.

Nick Perdomo accepts cigar award

Smokey Dan from The Smoking Den reviews the Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Churchill.

Order your cigars here!

Time for another Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro review, this one from a lady! It’s always great to see more ladies appreciating a fine cigar, so I thought I’d run this review, even though it’s a couple of years old.

The blog is called “Her Humidor Cigar Reviews”, it’s written by Lisa B. and she summarizes her lengthy review of the 10th Anniversary Maduro with this paragraph:

Overall, the cigar did not transition too much from it’s primary flavors. Once you get into the heart of the cigar, it pretty much gives you consistent enjoyable flavors of mocha, sweet cream and spice, then eventually rich leather, roasted nuts and smooth aged tobacco with a long finish. I had no complaints with the medium body and lack of a red pepper kick. However, there was some ligero present, it just doesn’t slap you around like a fuller-bodied peppery smoke. This cigar seemed intent on keeping me relaxed and comfortable. On that note, I strongly believe this is a cigar that everyone can enjoy. My husband, who prefers mild cigars, took a few draws off my cigar and almost didn’t give it back. The nerve of him!

Perdomo 10th Anniversary Maduro

Purchase your Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary cigars here.

via @porktree

Via @cigarchick