This from Don Collins:

For the fifth time in 10 years the Areas of Santiago de Cuba, Bayamo, Las tuknas, Marti, Camaguey, Santa Claor, Pedro Betarcourt Colon, and Pinar del Rio have been ripped apart by Hurricanes. Irene and Sandy have done most of the final damage, recently to the tobacco crops in cuba. Supporting articles and details appear below. It takes five to ten years to grow and cure proper cigar tobacco on the island. Beginning ten years ago Cuba began to import most of its cigar tobacco from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica and fell well behind in quality and quantity of production.  

This from Perter Orsis (Associated Press):

HAVANA—Residents of Cuba’s second-largest city of Santiago remained without power or running water Monday, four days after Hurricane Sandy made landfall as the island’s deadliest storm in seven years, ripping rooftops from homes and toppling power lines.

Across the Caribbean, the storm’s death toll rose to 69, including 52 people in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, two in the Bahamas, two in the Dominican Republic, one in Jamaica and one in Puerto Rico.

Cuban authorities have not yet estimated the economic toll, but the Communist Party newspaper Granma reported there was “severe damage to housing, economic activity, fundamental public services and institutions of education, health and culture.”

Not even more substantial structures survived
Yolanda Tabio, a native of Santiago, said she had never seen anything like it in all her 64 years: Broken hotel and shop windows, trees blown over onto houses, people picking through piles of debris for a scrap of anything to cover their homes. On Sunday, she sought solace in faith.

“The Mass was packed. Everyone crying,” said Tabio, whose house had no electricity, intermittent phone service and only murky water coming out of the tap on Monday. “I think it will take five to ten years to recover. … But we’re alive.”

Sandy came onshore early Thursday just west of Santiago, a city of about 500,000 people in agricultural southeastern Cuba. It is the island’s deadliest storm since 2005′s Hurricane Dennis, a category 5 monster that killed 16 people and did $2.4 billion in damage.

And this from PRTC (PuroTabaco):

PRTC (PUROTABACO) of Puerto Rico has been trying to contact CUBATABACO, Cuba’s government run cigar industry to find out the true extent of the damage. Independent reports have confirmed that the industry has been completely wiped out. The soil has been leeched by excessive flooding of important chemicals needed to re-plant tobacco crops and the availability of the necessary chemicals is low and what is available is too expensive. Cuba will have to depend on tobacco, coffee and other agricultural imorts for the forseeable future. Santiago, Cuba (right).

Further to the re-release, and based on a huge push for larger ring gauge cigars, they will be released in 3 sizes, all of 60 ring gauge. I for one, am a huge fan of the large ring gauge sticks. Lots of smoke, a great feeling to hold and a good length smoke. With increasing favourtism in Australia for the larger sticks, this will be a winner for us here.

The sticks will be available in a Grand Robusto (5 x 60) a Grand Epicure (6 x 60) and a Grand Churchill (7 x 60) Wrappers for these cigars will be Connecticut, a beautful Ecuadorian Sun Grown and a brand new Double Maduro. Being released in the USA in July, we hope to have stock in Australia shortly after.

While there is secrecy still surrounding the new blend, we were fortunate to get and extra special sneak peak at a 40 second video last Friday. Daniel Colon (Perdomo Cigars Marketing Manager) put together a great little teaser and had it up on the Perdomo FaceBook page for 1 hour. I for one, set my alarm for 2:00am Australian time and sprung up to watch the video. What did we see, well, not too much (hence it only being a teaser) But, what we did see, was a beautiful box pressed cigar in a couple of different wrappers. I for one, am looking forward to getting to the IPCPR in Orlando this year to try this little beauty and get stock back to Australia as quickly as possible. If I know Nick Perdomo as well as I think I know him, and based on the time taken to produce this blend, this will be one great cigar!!

The 2012 Aussie contingent... Sam, AJ, Ree and Jason

The time has come once again. We are starting to prepare for the annual trek to Nicaragua to visit the home of some of the best Cigars in the World, the Perdomo Cigar Factory in Esteli Nicaragua. I am just in talks now with Perdomo HQ in Miami to finalise the dates for our Australian group to visit the factory next year. As a basic outline of what to expect, here is a broad overview of the 2012 tour.

We left Australia on Tuesday 21st February and arrived in Los Angeles on the same day. A quick stop in L.A (and, very importantly, a coffee!!) we then boarded our plane to Las Vegas. Landing in Las Vegas at the exact time we took off from Brisbane. We were met by a stretch Limosine at the airport and taken to our hotel, The Bellagio. After spending 3 great days inSin City, we jetted off to Miami. Friday saw us visit the Perdomo HQ and enjoy a couple of sticks with the great staff there. Friday night, we ventured down to Little Havana for a few more sticks and some cuban hospitality.

Saturday was a day for relaxing visiting South Beach and then a few drinks with Nick Perdomo and his family on Saturday night before flying out to Nicaragua on Sunday. Landing in Managua, we boarded the Perdomo bus for the 3 hour bus ride to Esteli. Plenty of cigars and beers were enjoyed on the bus ride (including a few unscheduled toilet breaks). Monday thru Wednesday were spent doing the tour (no, I am not going to spoil all of the details of the intinerary, you will have to come on the trip if you want to know that!!) paired with social activities with the group, the Perdomo senior staff and family in the evenings.

Flying back to Mimai on Wednesday afternoon and a half day back at Perdomo Miami HQ on Thursday for a couple of pre-flight cigars before flying back to Australia via L.A.

This adventure was enjoyed immensely by the group that attended (our crew was 20 strong on the factory tour) and had plenty of time for the usual sight seeing and relaxing. A couple of great dinners, cigar lounges and even the odd celebrity (we had dinner next to Carlos Santana in Las Vegas) ensured the trip was loved by all.

Now, although we are only starting to plan next year’s trip, I see it as using this year as a base with maybe a few twists. Total cost for each person this year for all flights and accommodation was $3,500 and we will try to keep it around that figure for next year. Spots on the trip fill fast and we need to confirm numbers in the next 2-3 months. I am therefore “throwing out the lines” now for any interested parties to let me know. I will be finalising dates by mid July with an aim for somewhere between mid February and mid March 2013. So, those interested need to email me as soon as possible so I can ensure that you receive all updates and information pertaining to the tour.

Remember, this is only a call for interest and to ensure that you get further information. So, even if you only “think” you might want to attend, let me know now.

Well, we’ve all heard the rantings of the Australian government and it’s ministers regarding the health costs borne by the Australian people when it comes to smokers. But how truthful are they being? We have read and referred to reports from various countries including the USA, Holland and others in the past all confirming what we have always believed, THE GOVERNMENTS IMPOSED TAXES MORE THAN COVER THE ASSOCIATED HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR SMOKERS. Well, the New Zealand governemnt last week released a new report acknowledging exactly that.

Thanks to some information from my good friend and our NZ distributor, Grant Ovenden in Christchurch, I am happy to share this story with you. In short, it acknowledges the following:

- Smokers in New Zealand actually SAVE the government money

- The blend is going through a makeover to improve the flavour profile and will be slightly more full bodied

- Perdomo are moving to a 2006 harvested tobacco for the new blend

- Nick is releasing some new sizes to include more of the ever popular Perdomo 60 ring gauge.

Due for release in August to tie in with the annual IPCPR (this year being held in Orlando, Florida) we will release more information on the all new Grand Cru as it comes to hand and expect stock in Australia of the new blend sometime in September.

Next thing I know, my wife is walking down the stairs with something that resembled a birthday cake. When it arrived, I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was a massive Perdomo Cigar!! I sat there dumbfounded for a few minutes (as did most of my friends) until I finally blew out the candles.

The cake was 300mm (12 inches) long and 150mm (6 inches) in diameter. The look, the colours, the artwork, the banding all resembled a Perdomo Cigar down to a tee, it was amazing.

I must thank the staff at Cake Star in Brisbane for their amazing work. My wife has dealt with Jade (the owner) a few times before for other special events, but this time, they out did themselves. All of my friends were amazed at what they had created and shocked at the results. I am still too scared to cut it and eat it. I may just have to somehow frame this, as it really is a piece of art! I’m sure Jade and the rest of the very helpful staff at Cake Star will do more of these types of cakes after the resounding cheers from my friends and the comments on Facebook.

The image below shows a great comparison. On the left we have a Perdomo Reserve Super Toro Noir (6×60), the middle is the cake and on the right is a VERY SPECIAL stick, the Perdomo Galaxia (10×100)

Many customers who come here the first time have only smoked second-rate cigars in the past and when they try their first Perdomo, they are impressed at the difference. So what makes the best cigars better than the rest?

Of course, the answer isn’t simple. There are lots of ingredients that go into making an excellent cigar. Most of those ingredients start well before the cigar makes it into the retail store. In fact, many of them start well before the tobacco makes it to the rolling room.

Every cigar starts with high quality tobacco – it is, after all, 100% plant – so a lot of importance goes to the seed stock, the health of the soil, weather conditions while growing, density of plants per metre, choice of fertilisers, and how well the plants are protected from pests (including choice of insecticides).

After the tobacco has been harvested, it must be cured and fermented with great care. This process, during which the leaf dies and undergoes chemical changes, takes several months. After fermentation, the tobacco must be aged for several years to ensure maximum smoothness and flavour. Errors in any of these steps during the maturing of the leaf can lead to inferior tobacco and therefore an inferior cigar.

One of the most common issues with cigars is that they haven’t been aged appropriately. This is one of the reasons many cigar aficionados will buy a box of cigars and then store them in their personal humidors for several years before they smoke them. Perdomo Cigars, however, are “ready to smoke”, meaning the tobacco is aged in the factory before they are shipped to retailers.

Signs that the tobacco has not been aged properly include an alkaline taste on the tongue or if the cigar keeps going out without a good reason (i.e. you have lit it properly and continue to puff on it every minute or two but it still goes out). These are signs that the manufacturer is probably using the tobacco before its time.

Once the tobacco has been sufficiently aged, a selection of leaves are chosen to become a “blend” and these leaves are then given to the rollers. Inexperienced cigar rollers may roll the tobacco too tightly making it difficult to draw air through the cigar. This is referred to as a “plugged cigar” and is also one of the most common problems with cigars. Fortunately, every single cigar made by Perdomo is tested on a “DrawMaster” machine before it leaves the factory, making sure that you will never get a plugged Perdomo.

Perdomo cigars tested on the DrawMaster. Photo by Sam Spurr http://inluminocomms.blogspot.com.au/

Finally, once they are sitting on the retailer’s shelves, cigars need to be stored carefully – between 65 – 72% humidity and around 22 º C. If they are allowed to become too humid or too dry or too hot, the delicate oils and flavours in the tobacco will be ruined.

So, as you can see, there are plenty of factors involved in creating the best cigars. If any one of these elements isn’t 100% correct, the cigar you smoke will not be the ideal experience. Which is why when we discovered Perdomo and learned about their quality control and vertical manufacturing process (i.e. they grow all of their own tobacco instead of buying it from secondary sources as many manufacturers do), we knew we were on to a good thing!

Here are some highlights:

“The band for this cigar is simply beautiful….”
“The cold draw tastes of butter, hay, earthy, and a slight bitterness….”
“Between draws I’m left with a creamy flavor on the palate mixed with a little spice. The body is full with a very rich flavor…”
“The last third of this smoke was the most enjoyable part. A walnut flavor joins in with the notes of wood, hay, and butter….”
“Overall: I’ve found the Perdomo Exhibición Sun Grown exhibit to be an excellent medium cigar. While it has little in the way of strength, it packs a full rich, enjoyable mix of flavors. The cigar required no corrections to its burn or draw at any point, which makes any smoke more enjoyable….”

Thanks Peter! Long ashes to you, sir!

Visit the Perdomo Exhibicion product page in our online cigar store!