Friday, July 03 2009
By Gary J. Arzt
Fingernail, Bite, Cut, Punch
This summer will mark fifty-one years that I have enjoyed smoking cigars. I find it a pastime that serves to encourage relaxation, conviviality, conversation and contemplation. Hopefully, not simultaneously.
The first cigars I purchased were a box of Bock y Cia Panatelas, and I was not confronted with the question - to bite; to use the fingernail; to cut or to punch. The primary reason for that, these cigars were " Clear Havana." Cuban tobacco manufactured, in bond, in Tampa. "Manufactured" is the operative word, as these were machine made! I had no awareness at the time. My second box, a week later, was a box of Romeo y Julieta Churchill tubos.
My late father was a cigar smoker, as were many of my uncles and my father's friends. All bit the cap of the cigar. Ergo, I followed suit. Cigar cutters that one could carry around were all but nonexistent in the United States. I am sure that in cosmopolitan capitals like London and Berlin, they may well have been common place.
I bit for damned near 14 years. I noticed some people using a wooden match stick or toothpick to pierce the capa, but as far as I was concerned, that would create a chimney, funneling the smoke through a narrow channel and causing a very hot smoke.
I took notice of people handling the task with their thumbnail as well. It is particularly easy with a cigar finished with a pigtail or 'flag' cap, but it was not for me. Even today, many older Cubans do it this way. My friend, Pepin Garcia, Master Blender and iconic cigar maker, eschews all kinds of devices and uses his thumbnail. Hell, Pepin doesn't even carry a cigar case!
The first cutter I ever acquired was a large "appliance" that was best suited to sitting on a desk or a table on which one's humidor sat (see above photo). It had a single lever that would precipitate the cut and you had a choice of a 'V' cut, or a small or slightly larger flat cut. Neither of which was appropriate for much more than a Lancero or a Corona. At the other end was a flat device with a notch cut into it. This was used for prying open a cigar box by positioning the notch around the nail, which sealed the box.
In 1972, the father of my then fiancée, and, no, she did not subsequently become my wife (none of my fiancées did), gave me a 14kt gold cutter from Tiffany & Co. It was a single gold blade that sliced through the capa like a hot knife through butter. He even had my initials engraved on it. Henceforth, I became "a cutter."
In the '90s, the "punch" was introduced. The original was called a "Magnum .44" and was, ostensibly a real bullet. Could be; who knows. I eschewed the punch, because by that time I had become a rock-ribbed purist and this gimmick was loathsome to me.
Nonetheless, in the mid '90s, Davidoff introduced the Avo cigar punch, which ejected the tobacco that was removed from the capa. I received a gift of one from Avo Uvezian and became quite enamored of it. I was something of a chewer, and the smaller plug that it removed meant I was not picking bits of tobacco off my tongue as I smoked my cigars. To this day I use that punch for all cigars with the exception of Belicosos, Torpedoes, Pyramids and Perfectos.
Sad to say, I lost the gold cutter. Since then I have used a small metal cutter, imported by Paul Gamarian, in anodized black. I lost that too, so I replaced it with the plastic version. This is Sheffield surgical steel and makes a superb cut. I purchased a dozen about a year ago, because people who see it always like it and I give it away. Then, as luck would have it, I lost my last one. I have to contact Kevork Gamarian and, hopefully, get another dozen. I say "hopefully," because the Englishman that made them died some years ago! In the meantime, I'm using a great cutter, by iCorona, which is imported and distributed by Savinelli USA.
So, in the course of my adult life, I have bit, cut and punched. Bottom line, I don't think it much matters, as long as I can smoke fine cigars.
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New Favorite from My Father Cigars
I don't know how many of you have smoked My Father cigars by Jaime Garcia, but if you have enjoyed the initial versions of this great smoke; try the new Cedro Deluxe. They're superb!
Aside from the brands Pepin and son Jaime make for other people, their own line up of cigars is extraordinary in the range of product. From the Vega Cubana to the white label JJ, the Don Pepin blue and Don Pepin black labels, Tabaco Baez and My Father there is a cigar for everyone…as long as you enjoy smoking full bodied, classic cigars. I love the Vega Cubana coronas, the My Father torpedoes, Lanceros and Toros.
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Coming soon! Cubao Maduro
I am very much looking forward to the latest cigar from Espinosa y Ortega (think 601, Cubao, Mi Barrio). Eddie Ortega let me sample a fantastic Maduro Cubao that will expand the already highly successful line. It will be introduced at the IPCPR in New Orleans, and I imagine we'll see them at our favourite tobacconists in September. I found it to be an extraordinary smoke, and I am sure it will be a tremendous success.
Since last November, Miami Cigar & Company has been responsible for the distribution of 601, Cubao and Mi Barrio. Nonetheless, the creativity of Eddie Ortega and Erik Espinosa are ever present, and the advertising and packaging is ably directed by Eddie. Both Messrs. Ortega and Espinosa are making themselves available at in-store events all over the country.
The smoking lamp is lighted.
