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by CigarCraig | December 12, 2015 · 7:12 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2015 Day 2: Selected Tobacco

Day two features some very special cigars courtesy of David Garofalo and the fine folks at 2 Guys Smokeshop, United Cigar Retailers and Selected Tobacco. It’s Saturday, so don’t forget to tune in to The Cigar Authority show at Noon Eastern Time, maybe the boys there give us a little shout-out? Anyway, today’s present is a 3 cigar sampler consisting of an Atabey, a Byron and a Bandolero cigar in re-usable humitubes, and a super cool Atabey porcelain ashtray. Retail value before taxes is $200. I’ve had the good fortune to have smoked each of these cigars and they are of exceptional quality, all made in Costa Rica under the watchful eye and ridiculously high standards of Nelson Alphonso. These are special occasion cigars that are a real treat!

We are off to a fine start! I need to get in the swing of getting up early and writing a little something and choosing a winner, but that’s my problem! It’ll get easier right up until it’s time to wrap the whole thing up! I hope everyone enjoyed day one, there’s plenty more to come! The lucky recipient of the Duality cigars from Best Cigar Prices is David Nichols! Please send me a message with your address so I can send these goodies out to you! The Cabinet is jam-packed and I need to make room! Thanks again to Jason and everyone at Best Cigar Prices, and keep in mind you can get 10% of and $.99 shipping every day with the discount code CRAIG1099.

Now is the Time to Contact

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan & Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

Since the Tobacco Control Act took effect, cigar patrons, retail tobacconists and manufacturers from across the premium cigar industry have been fighting in Washington, D.C. to preserve the simple enjoyment of a premium cigar – to protect that enjoyment from a threatening bureaucracy at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

At this very moment, Congress is debating the federal budget, and regulations that can be addressed to prevent massive loss of jobs and the destruction of the cigar industry is a part of that debate.

The House of Representatives and the Senate needs to hear from you! Now is the time to add your voice to the fight to preserve premium cigars.

Please contact today, the Office of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

and tell them Premium Cigars Must Be Exempt From FDA Regulation!

Please note, the lines may be busy, and voice mail box may be full, but please continue to reach out until your voice is heard!

If the FDA has their way, where will be no more giveaways like this! Take a few minutes and make the calls!

You know what to do now, leave a comment here, check back tomorrow to see if you won!

RULES

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the post of the day, if you can, try to post what you know or how you feel about today’s present, the folks donating the gift should get some feedback for their troubles! It’s not a condition to win, but it’s nice to have something to read. We did this last year and it benefits everyone. Once you’ve won, you’re out, let everyone else have a chance. Must be over 18 to win. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

88 Comments

Filed under Contest

Tagged as 12 days, 2 Guys Smokeshop, Atabey, Bandolero, Byron, cigar, cigars, Contest

by CigarCraig | October 7, 2013 · 12:53 am

2 Guys Smoke Shop and The Cigar Authority

Editor’s Note: I warned you last time that today’s post might be late! I was writing this on my tablet on the road, and somehow, I inadvertently posted the first paragraph last night. Sorry for the false start! It’s not quite as easy posting from the tablet. So here’s the real deal, better late than never.

This weekend my wife and I got in the car and drove north to New Hampshire for a weekend getaway. One of the destinations on our list was the 2 Guys Smoke Shop in Nashua. I’ve been hearing about this chain of shops for years through various channels, it was about time I paid a visit. Dave Garofalo just celebrated his 28th year in business. As well as running the three stores in New Hampshire, he has a mail order business and sits on the boards of the IPCPR, the TAA, and the CANH (Cigar Association of New Hampshire). The store in Nashua is impressive. They have 1100 open boxes in display cases surrounding the shop, a huge walk-in humidor filled with boxes, and a Diamond Crown Lounge. The pricing is excellent considering there is no cigar tax in New Hampshire, and they do my home state of Pennsylvania one better by not having sales tax. I bought a handful of cigars and settled in with a Bandolero Traviesos robusto and chatted with Dave. The Bandolero is an exceptional smoke. It was sweet, smooth and had a curious little twang in the background. This cigar is made by Nelson Alfonso, the guy behind a lot of Habanos S.A.’s packaging like the ceramic jars and such. The packaging for these is equally as cool. These are offered in tin “jars” each of which has a picture and the story (in Spanish) of the Bandolero, who was someone who kind of black marketed tobacco in the days when Spain had a monopoly on cigar production. The tins even have a humidifying element in the lid. It’s a terrific cigar with great presentation.

One of the things Dave does in his free time is a two hour radio show every Saturday called The Cigar Authority. I’ve been listening to the podcasted version of the show for a couple years and have corresponded with Dave several times about things that have come up. I was excited when Dave invited me on the show, clearly it was a slow week for them. The first cigar we smoked was a Psyko 7 from Ventura Cigars, which was very nice. It was medium bodied and had a nice sweetness. It was quite enjoyable. I’m not going to go into what was discussed, you can listen yourself at TheCigarAuthority.com or find it on iTunes. I ended up sitting in on the rest of the show. In the second half we smoked one of Dave’s own brands, La Gianna Havana, in honor of his daughter’s birthday. He gave me a Maduro which was a really nice, tasty mild cigar. While I was sorry to put the Psyko 7 down, this was a suitable replacement. It was a great time, an I was honored to ba able to participate. My one regret was that I wasn’t able to follow the chat-room or Facebook and failed to give a shout out to my old friends Mike Perry and Mark Williams (and maybe Dan Poe). Sorry guys! Jenn was trying to type it in a large enough font on her tablet for me to see but the show was over by then. Next time, I promise. I also had the pleasure of meeting a Facebook friend, Charlie Pitarys, who has a cigar lounge in Tennessee. He was there celebrating his birthday. Many thanks to Dave and Mr. Jonathan for their generosity! They made us feel like family and that we belonged there.

I’m not sure when I’ll visit New Hampshire again, but you better believe I’ll be visiting one of the three 2 Guys shops while I’m there. In a funny coincidence, we ran into Johnny Brooke, the PR guy for Drew Estate, who just moved to the Boston area from Miami. He was there with Derek Stewart from the reddit.com/r/cigars forum. I had no idea John had moved north and it was a bit of a “what the f*** are you doing here” moment for both of us! Small world. Jenn and I said our goodbyes and headed to Maine for a lobstah dinnah, and passed the 2 Guys Seabrook store on the way. Today we headed to Burlington, Vermont, then home to PA. We had a whirlwind weekend, covering eight states! Lots of fun and lots of great friends and cigars.