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Back in the days of clay and corn cob pipes; all that smokers really wanted was for their tobacco to stay alight so they could continue sucking in smoke (blowing it out into the faces of others wasn’t considered anti-social back then; let alone harmful to the health of the so called “passive smoker”). However, pipe smoking habits and social mores have changed somewhat since then. A Pipe Is Both A Prized Possession and an Indicator Of The Smoker’s Character I’m probably generalizing; but, it seems to me that today’s pipe smokers are somewhat introverted, solitary, intellectual types who like...

At first glance, the history of Tabacalera Oliva Tabolisa  (known, here in the States as the Oliva Cigar Co.) appears fairly mundane. One Melanio Oliva grew tobacco and founded the company in Cuba in 1886; the company is still family owned; but, has moved its headquarters to Miami Lakes, Florida. It is what happened to Oliva Cigars in between that reflects on politics. Aftermath of Revolutions After Castro’s Cuban revolution in 1959, Gilberto Oliva (the founder’s grandson) emigrated to Spain (taking the family with him). Without his Cuban farms; Gilberto continued to work with tobacco but as a broker –...

For the uninitiated among us, Phillies Cigars are an American cigar brand which originated around 1910 in Philadelphia from a company called Bayuk Cigars Inc. They were originally called Philadelphia Hand Made; but, after customers shortened the name to Phillies; the Buyuk brothers adopted Phillies Cigars as their brand name. The cigars still live on but the manufacture is now under Altadis USA Inc (a subsidiary of the Spanish company of the same name; which is currently owned by the British multi-national Imperial Tobacco Group). Phillies Cigars come in a wide selection of sizes, types and flavors including the, now, semi-infamous...

I didn’t get it. I don’t know why, but my Cult Fuerte was anything but. Fuerte is Spanish for strong or vigorous. My Cult Fuerte wasn’t. It’s touted as a full-bodied cigar with a well-balanced assertive flavor profile. After all, it has an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Ometepe Nicaraguan binder, and Jalapa, Nicaraguan filler. The one I smoked, and I know that I may have got the exception rather than the rule, was medium at best. I had one concept of the cigar in my mind, and got a whole different taste than I was expecting. I went online to see...

Some of the most famous men in history have smoked cigars.  Be it statesmen, writers, philosophers, scientists, entertainers, or athletes, these gentlemen have changed the world with a cigar clenched firmly in their teeth.  But with the November elections not far off, we thought we would take a decidedly non-partisan look at the most famous political smokers in history. Winston Churchill—Admit it, you knew that Churchill would have to be the first on our list.  The greatest British statesman of the twentieth century (perhaps of all time), Churchill was an orator of the highest power, delivering speeches that inspired and...