The two words are interchange and in either case come from the island of Cuba. The term “Made in Havana” is largely due to the fact that most Cuban cigars are made in or around Havana. 

The name Punch was taken from an English humor magazine (and a very popular puppet show)

The character ”Punch” smoked and stogie and repeatedly hit everyone with his club. You may vaguely recall the names “Punch and Judy” as they were seldem apart. 

Columbus did not invent nor create cigars, either. However, he did observe the local natives in the Caribbean smoking an unfamiliar substance, either rolled up inside of a large leaf, or through a tube referred to as a tobago.

Columbus and his sailors packed up some of their newly discovered tobacco and returned to Spain, where the methods of making cigars and pipes were readily perfected.

First you need to look through all that advertising and see what cigars have ads (and how many ads). The reason being is when it comes to cigar ratings, advertising has a lot to do with the point system.

The more ads, sometimes higher the rating.

For example,  Cuban cigars do no advertising and a cigar you really don’t see or never heard of deserves their ratings – so do your homework on the advertising (especially in Cigar Aficionado and other popular, revenue based magazines).

Once you get enough different ratings, you can refer back to your diary for what cigars you may likely enjoy that you have not yet tried (based on your previous taste ratings). 

You can base your rating system from 1-10 or 1-100. When I started rating cigars I quickly discovered that a 1-10 system, although convenient for rating the cigar, proved too limiting as I rated more and more cigars. 

I prefer a 100-point rating system as follows:

• Appearance and Presentation of Cigar (20 points max)
• Wrapper color. Packaging. Ease of cutting, etc.
• Lighting and Burning Properties (15 points max)
• Even initial light? Even burn? Burn fast or slow, etc
• Construction (25 points max)
• Draw. Stay intact?, etc
• Taste (40 points max)
• Mild? Full bodied? Aroma? Flavor, etc. 

You may find that you want more or less emphasis on a particular category than I have chosen. Just remember that more items make up a great smoke than you may think. Certainly your first inclination may be to make 80% of your rating associated with taste, but in the end, it is the whole package that makes the cigar. 

Make sure that you use plenty of comments to describe each of the categories as well as jot down items like size and shape. Lastly, I like to give the cigar a letter grade such as A+, or B-. Although this is very general, I have found this helpful when I am in a hurry. 

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on any of these, find a nice quiet area – or a loud one with friends – and enjoy!

The 2008 List! 

1 H Uphmann Magnum 50

2 Trinidad Ingenos Limited 2007

3 Trinidad Fundaros

4 Juan Lopez Obus France

5 Cohiba 35th Anniversity

6 Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos

7 H Uphmann #2

8 Romeo and Julieta Short Churchill

9 Trinidad Extra Robusto

10 Cohiba Esplendidos

Authors Note: These stories have been shared many times in the Cigar world. Now urban legends, a few are true, a few cigar smokers probably created it late one night. But then again, as a friend of mine says, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”.

Cigars and the Cuban Embargo…

The year is now 1962, and before President John F. Kennedy authorized a trade embargo with Cuba, he instructed his press secretary to acquire as many of his favorite Cuban cigars as he could find. Once the embargo was signed, Cuban products were no longer legally available to United States citizens. 

Cigar Crime Doesn’t Pay…

In Charlotte, North Carolina, a man with a passion for fine cigars figured out a way to get his smokes for free.  He purchased a case of 2 dozen very, rare, very costly cigars.  Like many people with objects of great value, he had them insured.  Nothing odd in that…except he had them insured against fire!  

It took the man less than a month to consume his stockpile, and although he hadn’t even paid a single premium on his new policy, he filed a claim with the insurance company.  He stated that his property had been lost “in a series of small fires.”  

Obviously, the insurance company balked, saying that the cigars had been consumed in a normal fashion. He called in his lawyers, they called in their lawyers.  He sued…and, much to everyone’s surprise, he WON!

In his ruling, the judge stated that the insurance company had issued a valid policy that warranted the cigars as insurable and guaranteed payment in the even of “loss by fire.”  The policy didn’t define an “acceptable” fire, so it was considered to be in force and the company was obliged to compensate the man for his “loss.”

Given the time and costs of a lengthy appeal, the insurance company felt it was more cost-effective to accept the judge’s ruling and paid $15,000 to their client for his “loss.”

But wait.  After our “hero” cashed his check, he was arrested – on 24 counts of arson!  The prosecution used the man’s own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case to prove that he had intentionally destroyed valuable property.  He was sentenced to 2 decades in prison – 24 consecutive l-year terms.

Or Does Cigar Crime Pay?…

The defendant in a lawsuit involving large sums of money was very concerned about the outcome of his case.  ”If I lose, I’ll be ruined,” he said to his lawyer.

“It’s in the judge’s hands now,” his advocate explained.

“Would it help if I sent His Honor a box of cigars?” wondered the defendant.  

His attorney was horrified at the suggestion and urgently counseled his client against such behavior.  ”This judge is a stickler for ethics. You shouldn’t even smile at him!  And sending him a box of cigars would completely prejudice him against your case. He might even find you in contempt of court  ”

Two days later, the judge rendered a decision — in favor of the defendant. As the defendant left the courthouse, he said to his lawyer, “Thanks for the tip about the cigars. It certainly worked.”

“I’m sure we would have lost the case if you’d sent those cigars,” said the lawyer.

“But I did send them!” said the defendant.  ”That’s how we won the case.  I sent the cheapest cigars that I could find and enclosed the plaintiff’s business card.” 

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All the best,

The Godfather @ Cigar Secrets