Today Show | CigarCraig's Blog

My wife and I happened to be in Manhattan yesterday for the Today Show, where they were celebrating Melanoma Monday and trying to break a Guinness record for the number of people applying sunscreen simultaneously. It’s hard to believe NBC couldn’t get 1823 people there in Rockefeller Center to get a free t-shirt and sunscreen and be a part of it. I doubt there were 500 people there. Obviously Melanoma is something we all have to worry about, especially if you’re like me and love sitting in the sun smoking a cigar. I have enough class (Id like to think) to not light up a cigar at a cancer event) We were right up front, and I thought I set the DVR to record, but haven’t checked to see if it did yet. After the show was over we went for breakfast and some entertainment at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, where the wait staff sings between waiting tables and it’s a lot of fun. The food was IHOP grade at 4x the price, but it’s Broadway, and you’re paying for the entertainment. As long as we were there, we figured we’d walk a few blocks to the Nat Sherman Townhouse on 42nd street. This is a top-notch, high-class operation, where an associate walks into the humidor with a tray and notes the cigars you select in a very helpful and unobtrusive manner. Jeff was a great salesperson and very knowledgeable, and, although I have few needs in the cigar department, I did pick up a couple goodies I hadn’t smoked before. They have an excellent selection, including accessories. The Laguiole Cigar Cutters they had were incredible works of art, if I weren’t unemployed I’d be lusting after one of those! I’f you find yourself in Manhattan, this should be a place to stop for a smoke. I usually link to a manufacturer’s website, but NatSherman.com seems to be just cigarette-centric, and requires one to log in to see that. It didn’t seem that Altria purchasing Nat Sherman had impacted the cigars or the operations of the Townhouse, but, unless I’m just not finding it, they don’t seem to have a cigar and associated accouterments website.

One cigar that caught my eye and I bought a few of was the Epoca Perfecto. I think I was drawn to this cigar because the whole theme of the brand is that it’s a throwback to the Epoca brand of the 1920s, and the box of perfectos just looked like a vintage cigar ad. It’s a classic shape, and fit the classic image of the brand. I know these are available all over, but I never see them locally, and I seem to buy Epocas every time I visit the Townhouse. The Perfecto is 5 ¾” x 52 with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Dominican binder and filler from the DR and Nicaragua. The NYC price of this was $14, I’m sure it can be found for less. I always find this line to have a unique flavor and feel. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of the branding, but it smokes like a vintage cigar, and has what I imagine to be flavors of well aged tobacco. I suspect that the tobaccos are well aged, and the construction is perfect, withe the exception of some cracks I had in the very thin Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, which were from fumbling the football shaped cigar at one point. I really like this cigar, although I won’t pay $14 very often (everything is expensive in NYC!). It was a fun cigar to smoke, I really enjoyed it, especially after getting up at 3am, driving to NYC, hanging out for 6 hours, then driving home.