Stocking Up...
One of the things I love about the Big Stinkin' Cigar Party is that it's when I really start looking at my cigar suppliers and get a chance to start drooling over adding to my stash. Plus, I don't know how the timing could have been any better: one day after I distribute the invitations, the latest catalog from J.R. Cigar comes in the mail.
I love this company. The catalog alone is a great read -- it's written by (or supposedly so) Lew Rothman, the owner of J.R. Cigar. The catalog is beautiful, the photography succulent, and you'd expect an elegant turn of phrase on each page expounding on the virutes of the cigars. That's not what you get with J.R. Cigar.
You get Rothman talking about his Magnum Force brand: "The world's first universally disliked premium cigar -- well, let me qualify that...almost universally disliked. As I recall, there's a guy in Missouri that actually reordered a box of these."
You get the lead off sales page, page 2: " We get a lot of complaints. (yeah...we do. People are always complaining about something or other. I don’t know why they can’t just relax and ignore little mistakes the same way we ignore their letters... but apparently, they feel better if they write me a letter with all kinds of stuff underlined or highlighted with yellow magic markers.)"
This isn't the way most marketers would handle this. But J.R. Cigar makes you feel like you're having a conversation with your buddy. Your no B.S. buddy. I remember one entry from a few years ago. J.R. Cigar was offering something like a bundle of 20 cigars for $5. "They taste like you're smokin' the Wall St. Journal," the copy said, "but what do you want for $5?"
So the catalog is fun to read, but the prices and service are great. They have terrific specials, pretty good prices everyday on most items, and an online or phone order service that's fast and efficient.
So what can I say? I'm a sucker for good marketing. I put in an order for Dominican "Red Dot" Cohiba Robusto's--a nice mild smoke with a 4.75 length and a 47 ring gauge. The ring gauge--which measures how fat the cigar is--is a little small for my tastes (I generally like ring gauges of 50 plus), but not so small that I wouldn't want to light up one of these babies.
But, ummm, I didn't stop there. I also ordered a box of Arturo Fuente Chateu Fuente's (4.5 x 50), which are just heavenly (but since it's from Arturo Fuente, that's being redundant). I grabbed a five-pack Romeo & Julieta Reserva, which comes with a very nice R&J branded cigar ashtray. And since a lot of folks like smaller (I read that to mean shorter) smokes, I also picked up a nice 10 pack Robusto sampler. I got one of these last year, and I enjoyed the variety and opportunity to have such a nice selection.
Since I was already paying shipping charges, I figured why not go all out, and throw in an order for another box of Hoyo Excalibur No. 1's. These are not fancy cigars, but they're my all-time favorite smoke. They're Churchill-sized--7.25 inches long with a 54 ring gauge--and even though they're Honduran, they draw and taste like one of the best Dominican's. Summer evenings on the patio, there's nothing better for me than an Excalibur.
Of course, this is all to complement the few hundred other cigars I've already got. Frankly, I think Linda's gonna kill me.
Well, now to try to get my port tasting lined up. This hasn't been going as smoothly as I'd hoped. If only there were a www.jrport.com...
I love this company. The catalog alone is a great read -- it's written by (or supposedly so) Lew Rothman, the owner of J.R. Cigar. The catalog is beautiful, the photography succulent, and you'd expect an elegant turn of phrase on each page expounding on the virutes of the cigars. That's not what you get with J.R. Cigar.
You get Rothman talking about his Magnum Force brand: "The world's first universally disliked premium cigar -- well, let me qualify that...almost universally disliked. As I recall, there's a guy in Missouri that actually reordered a box of these."
You get the lead off sales page, page 2: " We get a lot of complaints. (yeah...we do. People are always complaining about something or other. I don’t know why they can’t just relax and ignore little mistakes the same way we ignore their letters... but apparently, they feel better if they write me a letter with all kinds of stuff underlined or highlighted with yellow magic markers.)"
This isn't the way most marketers would handle this. But J.R. Cigar makes you feel like you're having a conversation with your buddy. Your no B.S. buddy. I remember one entry from a few years ago. J.R. Cigar was offering something like a bundle of 20 cigars for $5. "They taste like you're smokin' the Wall St. Journal," the copy said, "but what do you want for $5?"
So the catalog is fun to read, but the prices and service are great. They have terrific specials, pretty good prices everyday on most items, and an online or phone order service that's fast and efficient.
So what can I say? I'm a sucker for good marketing. I put in an order for Dominican "Red Dot" Cohiba Robusto's--a nice mild smoke with a 4.75 length and a 47 ring gauge. The ring gauge--which measures how fat the cigar is--is a little small for my tastes (I generally like ring gauges of 50 plus), but not so small that I wouldn't want to light up one of these babies.
But, ummm, I didn't stop there. I also ordered a box of Arturo Fuente Chateu Fuente's (4.5 x 50), which are just heavenly (but since it's from Arturo Fuente, that's being redundant). I grabbed a five-pack Romeo & Julieta Reserva, which comes with a very nice R&J branded cigar ashtray. And since a lot of folks like smaller (I read that to mean shorter) smokes, I also picked up a nice 10 pack Robusto sampler. I got one of these last year, and I enjoyed the variety and opportunity to have such a nice selection.
Since I was already paying shipping charges, I figured why not go all out, and throw in an order for another box of Hoyo Excalibur No. 1's. These are not fancy cigars, but they're my all-time favorite smoke. They're Churchill-sized--7.25 inches long with a 54 ring gauge--and even though they're Honduran, they draw and taste like one of the best Dominican's. Summer evenings on the patio, there's nothing better for me than an Excalibur.
Of course, this is all to complement the few hundred other cigars I've already got. Frankly, I think Linda's gonna kill me.
Well, now to try to get my port tasting lined up. This hasn't been going as smoothly as I'd hoped. If only there were a www.jrport.com...
posted by Vincent Michael Valvo at 7:33 PM
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