Across the Counter Fortnightly Articles "Conversations with Customers"

Back to: Aspects of Pipe Smoking Aspects of Cigar Smoking Commentary Articles Complete Archives Index

No 203 - November 6, 2008
The Basic Pipe

Back to the beginning – that’s where we have to go if we want to discover the heart of a good smoking pipe. A reliable working pipe, that with careful smoking will become a warm handful of friendship, albeit without the most exotic face or finish.

In the beginning all pipe blocks (ebauchons) are treated equally.
They all undergo the same boiling treatment to remove saps and resin, and then it is off to the drying room. Here, over a period of 6 to 18 months the dry air will have a dramatic effect on the blocks. As the moisture is drawn out, some blocks will show cracks, some will split completely and others will survive to become dry and porous – suitable to continue in the pipeline.
Grading and channelling the blocks into various quality streams takes place regularly thoughout the manufacturing process, and the finished pipes appear after different time periods depending on the effort put into extracting the very best possible result from each bowl including an appropriate finish and colour. At the Savinelli factory, after a few early, brutal gradings to eliminate the real chaff, turned bowls for the Capitol range are identified. These bowls need to be good enough to avoid any embarrassment to the brand, and to offer an enjoyable smoke.
The final finishing processes are relatively quick and performed “cottage-style” by various selected workers – nothing fancy, just a rich matt russet colour which will take on a satin glow with a bit of
polishing after smoking. The pipes are simply stamped “Capitol Bruyere” – “Italy”.
These pipes are nothing pretentious, but you’ll have the comfort of knowing that each pipe has been through the strict basic processes given to each Savinelli pipe, be it a Capitol or a Punto Oro.
Your guarantee of a good smoke.

Because the Rand/Euro exchange rate has raised the price of the Capitol to over R500, for the period 13 November to 26 November we offer you a 25% discount, taking the price back nearly 2 years.

Back a couple of years in price – that’s where you can go this fortnight.

Colin Wesley
November 6 to 19, 2008

You can read previous articles from "Across the Counter" in The Library.

Across the Counter Fortnightly Articles "Conversations with Customers"

Back to: Aspects of Pipe Smoking Aspects of Cigar Smoking Commentary Articles Complete Archives Index

No 204 - November 20, 2008
The Budget Cigar

To quote Manuel (from Fawlty Towers)"I learn, Mr Fawlty, I learn". Well, we too have learnt some things over the years – and cigarwise one thing is that despite thepopularity of the thicker Robusto or Pyramid cigars, for all-day / everyday smoking many cigar smokers favour medium size cigars (length about 130/140mm by about Ring 40/42). These cigars are big enough to be complex in flavour - giving a satisfying, balanced smoke - yet not taking more than 45 minutes from start to finish.
This suits the modern lifestyle.
The most popular format is the Petit Corona, and the Benchmark is the Montecristo No.4 (featured in a current Selection – R265.00).

But some of these cigars can be very pricey – more maybe than we’re happy to spend with the economic climate being what it is at the moment.
So what can we do for December – when the time is right for a good Cuban, but it is also the time that involves the pleasure of buying many gifts for friends and family?
And it’s the time for lazy days when cigars may not be restricted to an after dinner delight but will also be enjoyed early evening and round a braai.
Is there such a thing as a “Budget” Cuban cigar, about Petit Corona size?

The answer is yes – but in the past such a cigar was not particularly good.
Then, the cigar was completely machine-made and usually came out with uneven filler, and bumps and bruises all over the body. For machine-rolling, the wrapper had to be fairly thick and with heavy veins, otherwise it would keep breaking. One could always recognise the cigar by its pointed head.
And the cigar smoked as it looked – rough and ready!

Today, things have changed and many budget cigars are machine-bunched but finished by hand. The machine-bunching ensures that the correct pressure is applied so that the draw is free and easy – very few cases of plugged cigars. The arrangement of the leaves can be done by less-experienced rollers – cost-saving. Hand-finishing allows for a finer wrapper to be used, benefiting the eye, the feel and the smoking quality of the cigar. With the round head and cap, combined with the better quality wrapper leaf, many of these are not easy to distinguish from a fully handmade cigar (except for the price).

Because there are several ways to create a “Budget cigar,” we’ve put together an interesting “Budget Selection” for you highlighting two of the ways:
Los Statos de Luxe Cremas (Slim Corona - 140mm x Ring 40)
Machine made, its blend is composed of leaves from the Vuelta Abajo region that are judged not to be suitable for the prestigious marques. This cigar has the pointed head, but the leaf shows relatively little bruising, and the wrapper is pretty good for a cigar of this price. A single cigar in a glass tube is currently R46.00 (special price). They are selling well in the shop – the acid test is that customers are returning for repeats. The cigar is slightly thin for its length, remember to draw slowly.
Jose L Piedra Nacionales (Petit Corona - 134mm x Ring 42)
This is a slightly unusual range of cigars, because the leaf is grown exclusively, not in the Vuelta Abajo region, but in the Vuelta Arriba region of Cuba where cigar leaf has been grown since the 16th century. The cigars are in cellophaned bundles of 25 – which saves the cost of boxes – or in cardboard packs of 5. The wrapper looks particularly good. The Habanos website tells us that these are made by hand, but from shorter filler leaf – easier to blend and to handle. The Nacionales received a 4 star rating from the late Theo Rudman, and compliments from our customers.
(In fact many of the cigars in the range have proved to be favourites, mostly for round the braai or on the golf course. Look at the thicker than usual half corona – Petit Cazadores.)

But it is difficult to form an opinion on the budget cigars without a comparison with a fully handmade version, so we’ve included:
Romeo y Julieta Petit Corona (Classic Petit Corona - 129mm x Ring 42)
This is also featured in our current Benchmark Petit Corona Selection and has proved a worthy companion to the Montecristo No.4. Romeo y Julieta is one of the best known Havana brands. The balanced and aromatic blend makes it the classic medium-bodied Cuban cigar. This is an excellent handmade cigar with plenty of taste for its size.

There is life after “Robusto” cigars (which are all in the superior cigar price bracket).
As the Americans used to say – “what the country needs is a good 10c cigar”.
Maybe what you need for a casual smoke is a good “Budget” cigar.

Colin Wesley
No.204 November 20 to December 3, 2008

The Budget Selection is available from November 27 Pack of 3 Glass tubed cigars – R195.00

You can read previous articles from "Across the Counter" in The Library.

Across the Counter Fortnightly Articles "Conversations with Customers"

Back to: Aspects of Pipe Smoking Aspects of Cigar Smoking Commentary Articles Complete Archives Index

No 205 - December 4, 2008
The Budget Pipe

We have just looked at the concept of a budget cigar for the Christmas period. That period when it is time to enjoy the pleasure of giving presents to family and friends and still find time to smoke your pipe or cigar at leisure – preferably without ripping the purse strings. We put together a very well-accepted “Budget Cigar Selection”– can something similar be done for the pipe smoker.

The answer is “yes” – the budget pipe.

With pipe-making, as with most manufactured products, there can be ways and means of cutting costs. But how do you do this without sacrificing value? Well, as the song goes, “let’s start at the very beginning…….” Choose the location for your factory as close to your raw materials as possible. If this is in a rural area, and there are plenty of people needing employment, so much the better. Recruit them and train them. The training may take time, but if you build a stable labour force that continues to produce increasingly better products year by year, it must be rewarding.
This is basically the story of the Lorenzo company in Albania.
Having been contracted to run the factory in the Communist era, the company was well-placed to buy the factory when the country became independent.

I would now venture to say that the formative years are behind them. We have just unpacked the second half of our pipe order for 2008, and it has been an absolute pleasure. Box after box of aesthetically pleasing pipes – in both shape and finish - shiny mouthpieces with snug-fitting pegs or Teflon tenons, and each pipe we picked up drew the comment “how light is this!” In brief they are really lovely pipes.
Secure in the knowledge that no short-cuts would have been taken during the curing and drying processes I feel sure that, barring the odd natural, unseen flaw in the inner bowl, these pipes will smoke well from the start and continue to give pleasure for some time to come. (Of course if you do get a burn-out, the pipe will be replaced.)

So confident is the company now of the competence of their craftsmen that they are introducing a new range of shapes – the Manola – subtly more refined and elegant. With this shipment we have received our first Manola pipes – one shape only, the 600, a 9mm option pipe in 3 different finishes: “Spot-carved”, “Walnut” colour, and the grain-enhancing “Two-tone”.

The Lorenzo range of value (budget) pipes – Filtro Manola, Filtro, Sport and the Minis – are pipes you can take to the beach, the bush, the braai. They are equally at home in the mountains or on your patio. No need to worry about scratches or scars, just relax and enjoy them.
And to fit in with the spirit of giving, we will offer

From 4 December 2008 to 14 January 2009 Less 25% off the Manola 600 pipe - Spot-carved R265.00, Walnut R350.00, Two-tone R450.00

Choose one for yourself, or drop a hint for one to be under the tree – but don’t miss out!

But we know that there may be some hesitancy in choosing a pipe as a gift no matter how many hints are dropped - so Gill and I discussed what else would be appropriate for this time of giving – we thought of a Pipe Knife or Reamer, Tobacco Jar, Pipe Lighter, Ashtray, Pipe Rack or Rest, Pipe Bag, Cleaning Kit – and then settled on an item that every pipesmoker would welcome, especially if going on holiday:

From 4 December 2008 to 14 January 2009 Less 25 % off the very popular Foldover Companion pouch for pipe, tobacco and accessories: Leather 71-Ex795 R360.00 or Soft Synthetic 71-P2217 R82.50

Colin Wesley
No.205 December 4, 2008 – January 7, 2009

You can read previous articles from "Across the Counter" in The Library.

Across the Counter Fortnightly Articles "Conversations with Customers"

Back to: Aspects of Pipe Smoking Aspects of Cigar Smoking Commentary Articles Complete Archives Index

No 206 - December 11, 2008
Choice

It had to happen and I hoped that I would be in the shop when it did.
Well it did – on a Saturday morning, and I was in the shop.
This regular cigar customer of mine breezes in, saying “I’m out of large cigars in my humidor – what have you got to suggest?”

10 minutes later he left the shop smiling. He had in his bag, a packet each of 3 Romeo y Julieta Churchills, 3 Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas, 3 Partagas Lusitanias and 3 Montecristo No.2 – 12 large cigars in 3 sizes covering 4 brands.What a variety of choice he had for his humidor. No wonder he was smiling.

The introduction and development of the “Handy Packs” of 3 or 5 cigars has been a boon to the cigar smoker. In many aspects of life modern man (woman) enjoys changes, and the modern cigar smoker wants different sizes and tastes to suit his mood and the time available – but not boxes of 25 of each!
Packs of 3’s and 5’s are the answer – what a wide choice there is, and it’s expanding all the time.
Do you feel you must smoke the same cigar all the time – no matter what the occasion or your mood?
That’s how it used to be!
In fact that’s how it had to be since you had to buy 25 of each cigar – unless of course you were a 5 cigar a day man.
But now you can open your humidor – and deliberate for some minutes: “what do I feel like this time?”

Because we would like to encourage you to be more adventurous this holiday season, we offer 10% off any  “Handy Pack” of cigars (not Club or Mini). From now until 6 January, 2009

For even better price savings look at our Selections - packs of 3 cigars in glass tubes at very special prices, well below normal retail.
But that’s not the main reason for buying these selections – they offer you the opportunity to experience different flavours; to make your own comparisons between same size cigars in different brands; different size cigars from the same brand, the effect of different ring sizes; cigars from different countries.
The experience that will enable you to make the right choice of the selection of cigars you’d like to keep in your humidor; and from your humidor the right choice of cigar to smoke for the time and occasion.
Each selection comes with its explanatory leaflet – but the experience is subjective and will be yours.
Current Selections are:
International Selection (5 cigars in wood travel case) – Experience the tastes of Dominican (a Davidoff no less), Honduras (Cuban Seed); 2 Cubans (one handmade, one machined); and a top quality short-filler blend from Europe.
Benchmark Petit Corona – how do two top Cuban Petit Corona cigars compare with the benchmark Montecristo No.4?
Triple Taste Robusto  - Compare 3 cigars of the same popular Robusto size: 2 from Dominican Republic – a Natural and a Maduro, and the Cuban El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme.
Dinner Selection Oct.2008 – 2 light Cuban-wrapper cigarillos from Europe to start your evening, a medium size Cuban cigar for between courses, and a great Limited Edition Cuban to relax after the meal - rich and full bodied. Buy more than one pack and share a dinner with a friend.
Churchill Selection – These cigars need a longer time to smoke, but the development of complex flavours is an experience to savour. Three different brands to compare.
Budget Selection – For the beach, the bush, the braai – 2 budget cigars from Cuba to compare with a classic Romeo y Julieta
Selection Edición Limitada – pack of three of these magnificent limited edition cigars in 3 brands and sizes. With a description of the nature and composition of Limited Edition cigars.

If the gift warrants it, just look at the Pyramide and Robusto Selections from Cuba. Each Cedar box contains 5 cigars of the same shape from 5 different top Marques: Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagas, Romeo y Julieta, Hoyo de Monterrey
Or the leather-covered Desk/Travel Humidor – with three great cigars included.

Because it’s good to be able to choose, I’m certain you’ll enjoy these festive season suggestions.

Colin Wesley
No.206 December 11, 2008 – January 7, 2009

You can read previous articles from "Across the Counter" in The Library.