OCTOBER 1998

6 1/8/" x 49

5" x 52

Great Buy! Suggested Retail: $190.00

7" x 50

Great Buy! Suggested Retail: $113.75

6.75" x 54

6" x 50

Greetings from the Humidor

This October we’re proud to introduce you to more than just two José’s, a Felipe, a good looking Dominican, and the King of the World. We bring to you an outstanding line-up of cigars well dressed in fancy labels too!

Few cigars can live up to a name like El Rey Del Mundo. That’s "King of the World" in Spanish. It’s not King of the Hill, or Ruler of the Sea, or even Emperor of the Land. The name’s King of the World, and if you’re looking for consistency, high quality, and big flavor at an affordable price, then you’re guaranteed to be in heaven. Ladies and gentlemen, the cigar we have all been waiting for: the El Rey Del Mundo, Choix Supreme. I may be a little rusty with my French, but I believe that means "freakin’ unbelievable." Rated 88 by Cigar Aficionado and called "delicious" by our panel, the Choix Supreme is a cigar that is sure to be top 10 on any aficionado’s list. So saddle up and get smoking!

When I spoke with Felipe (Gregorio), he assured me that not only would we be ecstatic about his new line, but that we would also be reserving it for our best customers. Both Felipe and The Cigar Renaissance have quite a bit of experience in the cigar industry. With all the new cigars being manufactured, we both knew that the new line had to be better than just better. Well, the standards were set high, and the Felipe II has become a great success. From the maker of the original Felipe Gregorio cigar, first produced in 1992, the Felipe II Reserva R from Honduras screams elegance and sophistication with its earthy complexity and flashy band. As always, it’s an excellent choice! Well done Felipe.

Since its introduction in the 1970’s, every José Benito cigar is the result of individually-chosen long-filler tobacco, blended from the finest Dominican farms and specially selected Indonesian wrapper leaves. The result is a medium-bodied smoke, upholding the family’s tradition of excellence in tobacco which began in the mid-1800s. This months 3 ^rd feature is the José Benito Churchill weighing in at a solid 7" x 50, and packing a ton of great flavor. In a single round of match-ups this year, the José Benito Churchill beat out a majority of the competition in it’s weight class with an 87 Rating from Cigar Aficionado.

The best thing the José Marti factory ever did was start producing cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua. Sure they’ve been around. Their Dominican and Honduran lines have actually received considerable attention, but check the ratings. Nicaraguan soil is meeting the demand of a growing class of smokers looking for a more full-bodied and spicy character. José Marti, in particular, has done an exceptional job. This month we’re proud to bring you the José Marti Masaya. This Pyramid shaped cigar is one that we rarely see. In fact it’s so rare it missed the last Cigar Aficionado torpedo review. The good news is that it’s in your goody bag this month and it’s a world class smoke. Enjoy after a good meal!

If you’ve ever wondered how cigars are actually selected for the cigar of the month club, I can tell you it’s no easy task. Literally hundreds of different cigars every year are reviewed by the panel. Many of the well known brands with high ratings are taken with open arms, but of the newer brands, only about 1 in 5 brands are even considered for review. From there, the cigars are reviewed and indexed with an "overall impression" rating. Anything with a favorable "overall impression" rating is thrown into a separate pile of possible features of the month. The truth is, most cigars will never have the honor of making it into the club. This is the same reason why it’s also so successful. When our final feature of the month first appeared in our humidor, it demanded to be smoked. Aesthetics certainly attributed to this cigar’s most favorable "overall impression." But, it was the rich and creamy bellows of smoke that finally won us all over. The Premium Dominicana No. 40 is one of the finer examples of a Dominican cigar that meets the demand of today’s more experienced cigar smokers. It’s recent 89 Rating from Cigar Aficionado doesn’t look too shabby on it record either. Enjoy.

Happy Smoking!

Hygrometer Highlights
(issues to keep an eye on & interesting topics)

Yes, Hurricane George did rip across the Dominican Republic. The damage will certainly hurt many manufacturers, but it could have been much worse. Hurricane George took the life of over 300 people across the Caribbean and caused damages approaching $3 billion. Fortunately, most of the cigar makers in the Dominican Republic were spared significant damage, and there was no damage to the tobacco crop, because tobacco isn't grown in the Dominican Republic this time of year. An exception was Consolidated Cigar Corp., one of the world's biggest producers of cigars, whose facilities were hit hard by the storm. Unlike most Dominican manufacturers, which are located in the interior city of Santiago, Consolidated makes its cigars in La Romana, a town near the southeastern tip of the country. The storm hit La Romana first on its trek across the Dominican Republic, packing powerful winds of 110 miles per hour.

The roof of Consolidated's tobacco warehouse in La Romana was damaged by the storm, and tobacco has been damaged by water. Despite sandbagging the perimeter of the cigar plant in preparation, water infiltrated the cigar factory as well, and finished cigars that were ready to be shipped were damaged by the elements.

James L. Colucci, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Consolidated, said the cigar facility is structurally sound, but he wasn't sure how many of his workers had lost their homes. Across the Dominican Republic, which suffered the worst damages from the storm, more than 210 were confirmed dead, 800 were missing and feared dead, and an estimated 300,000 were homeless. Leonel Fernandez, president of the Dominican Republic, called the hurricane a "national tragedy," according to the New York Times.

Litto Gomez, a co-owner of La Flor Dominicana, said the impact to his factory in Tamboril was minimal. Some workers even showed up for work the day after the hurricane struck. Executives from Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia. also said that its factory went unscathed.

Chateau de la Fuente, the farm where Fuente Fuente OpusX wrappers are grown, wasn't as lucky. The farm is located about an hour and a half southeast of Santiago, and was savaged by the storm. Fuente lost all of its casas del tabaco , or curing barns, in the hurricane. The barns (which numbered at least 15) were empty because it's not tobacco growing season, but they take time and money to replace. The cost of replacing those tobacco barns will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Wayne Suarez, a Fuente executive.

"The farm got hit real hard," Suarez said. "Thank God nobody was hurt. We'll rebuild and go on."

The royal palm trees that used to tower over the tobacco fields at Chateau de la Fuente speak to the severity of the storm. Several were uprooted, while others were snapped in half like toothpicks. Suarez said those trees had stood undisturbed for 30 years. The pine trees that dot the mountain behind the farm were also damaged.

Hendrik Kelner, the maker of Avo and Davidoff cigars, also grows wrapper tobacco in the Dominican Republic. Kelner could not be reached for comment. Tyrell Conner, spokeswoman for Davidoff of Geneva, the importer of Davidoff and Avo cigars, said she had not been able to reach Kelner, and had no information.

-David Savona , CA