This question is asked quite frequently by new smokers as well as the experienced smoker.

One theory on the term herf started around 1996 in the cigar news groups.  Someone thought it was a good term to use for when you “draw” on the cigar, instead of the term “sucking.” This is the most common definition often used to describe a social gathering where others can share their love of cigars with a group of friends. 

If you happen to be a member of a cigar fourm, which you definitely should be (check out Cigar Asylum), you may come across a post announcing a herf.  This would be several people getting together to smoke cigars at a restaurant, club, smoke shop or even another member’s house.  Think of it as a “cigar party.”

So now you know, a herf is a cigar gathering, a smoking event or cigar tasting. If you’ve sat down with a group of friends smoking cigars, then you’ve already experienced a herf and didn’t even know it until now.

The next time someone asks you if you want to go to a herf and you haven’t yet experienced this, give it a try.  It’s more than likely if you’re with others that share the same passion, you’ll enjoy it.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee has passed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill.

The excise tax on large cigars will be 52.75% now and caps out at 40.26 cents per cigar.  It was previously reported to be a 50.4% increase.

Additionally, “small” cigars will go up to $1.066 per pack, or $50.33 per 1,000 without any phase-in period.

Check out our previous coverage of this bill found here.

Excerpt from famous-smoke.com:

Shot during a visit to a tobacco warehouse and cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, this video shows you something most cigar smokers never get to see – how a master blender selects the tobaccos for his cigars. Watch as Abdel Fernandez, known for his high-quality premium cigars such as the Rocky Patel 10th Anniversary, among others, goes through the process of finding good wrapper leaf.

Enjoy!

Arturo Fuente Hemingway Best Seller

Size: 5×55 Perfecto

The Hemingway line from Arturo Fuente is a highly sought after cigar handmade by only the most experienced cigar makers, with a production limited to only 75 cigars per day, and finally aged for six months to fully enhance the flavor and aroma in cedar lined aging rooms.  The entire line is a perfecto shape and made with carefully fermented and aged tobaccos, specially selected from only the best crop years.

Appearance & Construction

The tobacco used consists of an African Cameroon wrapper, and a secret blend of Dominican tobacco for the filler and binder.  The construction was excellent.  I did however, find a patch with glue hidden under the cigar band once I slid the band off.  The pre-light draw felt just right with a slight resistance after clipping the cigar with a V-cutter I borrowed at my local shop.

Nose & Taste

The flavor of the draw was of a sweetness, almost like honey along with a slight spice.  I couldn’t detect much more.  Upon lighting the cigar, you really get the sweetness from the Cameroon wrapper.  Once you get past the nipple of the cigar, the draw opens up a bit more.  The initial flavors were those from the pre-light draw.  Mostly sweetness with a bit of spice and a cedar base.  The halfway point let the spice and some of the sweetness fall into the background while the cedar taste became dominant. I began to pick up some leather at this point that continued throughout the final third of the cigar along with the cedar flavor.

Final Notes

The Hemingway Best Seller is a very nice cigar with classic Cameroon flavors.  The cigar really opens up once you hit the bulge.  The construction was perfect, minus the patch neatly hidden away under the band, and the burn wavered just slightly but did not require any touch-ups.  The Best Seller is easily a recommended cigar to try.

Score: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Overall Smoking Time: ~1 hour at local cigar shop

On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to extend and expand the SCHIP bill.  The tax on large cigars will include a 750% tax hike.   The wholesale price is being increased from 5 to 40 cents, a  52.4% tax increase.  As unfortunate as it is, this is far lower than the original proposal from the Senate of $10 per cigar and $3 proposed by the House.

Here is an excerpt:

SCHIP Legislation Details

The new tax rates are effective April 1, 2009;

The cigarette tax rate goes from $.39 per pack to $1.00 per pack;
The tax on snuff goes from $.585 per pound to $1.50 per pound;
The tax on pipe tobacco goes from $1.0969 per pound to $2.8126 per pound;
The tax on RYO goes from $1.0969 per pound to $24.62 per pound (not a typo).

If you wish to read the Tax portion of the SCHIP bill, click here.
If you wish to read the Full SCHIP bill, click here.

Colibri, manufacturer of lighters and jewelry has closed it’s doors on January 15th.

PROVIDENCE—The Colibri Group, a long-time cigarette lighter and jewelry manufacturer with locations in Providence and East Providence, abruptly closed its doors. Much of the company’s manufacturing moved overseas years ago, though warehouse, office and repair staff remained in Rhode Island. A letter was posted informing employees of the closing. Workers said they were shocked when…

You can read more of the story here

Rocky Patel Renaissance Toro
Size: 6×52

I am a Rocky Patel whore.  I haven’t tried all of his blends (there are so many who could?), but of those I have had, I tend to buy boxes of them.  The Decade is by far my favorite blend by Rocky to date.  I just wanted to issue that warning before the review started. 

There, I feel better now.

Now, the Renaissance is made at the El Paraiso factory in Danli, Honduras.  The cigar features a silky four year old Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper surrounding a binder from Jalapa, Nicaragua, and a blend of rare Nicaraguan filler tobaccos including a rare ligero leaf from an “undisclosed” region of Central America.  Not much else could be found about this blend during my research.

Appearance & Construction

I have been holding onto this Toro sized cigar since mid-October.  It has been resting in my humidor for about 3 months now.  The cigar looks great, the wrapper is a nice light to medium brown.  There are no flaws that I could see; the wrapper leaf was pretty smooth with very fine veins.  The cap was almost seamless.  I had to look closely when cutting the head as not to snip too far down.  The cigar was nice and firm with no soft spots to be found.  The band was what I would call “classy,” a very nice gold leaf with Rocky’s signature RP in the middle.

Nose & Taste

The cigar gave off a very nice tobacco smell, a faint sweetness and some earth with a touch of barnyard.  I couldn’t wait to fire this baby up.  I used a single torch lighter and the foot toasted evenly.  Took a few puffs and we were ready to go.  Right away there was some pepper that hit me and I was expecting this to be a full-bodied smoke.  Once I got about an inch and a half into the cigar, the pepper began to fade and turned into a nice mellow, creamy flavor.  Almost like a creamy vanilla.  A little over 2 inches in, it fully settled and continued the rest of the length of the cigar with the creaminess along with a nutty-like earthiness. 

 Final Notes

 Overall, this was a very nice cigar.  It has great construction and some nice complex flavors.  I would have no problems starting my morning smoking one of these.  Another thing I have to say is that this cigar put off huge billows of smoke without even trying.  You’ve gotta love that.  I will definitely be trying more of these and if they all give consistent results, I’ll probably be purchasing a box of these as well.

Score: 4 out of 5 Stars
Overall Smoking Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Here’s a letter written by Keith Raboin.  It’s a great article discussing the stupidity of smoking bans.  Check out the link below, it’s definitely worth a read. 

Dear Cigar Bar Bannings and Other Such Shenanigans,

I appreciate you, I really do. You have my best interests in mind, want me to stay healthy and fit. Freedom is a small price to pay for my well being. Let’s take the issue with cigar bars. I personally hate walking into a cigar bar and smelling smoke. I just want to admire the furniture, and I have some mean spirited people…

http://www.examiner.com/x-1898-Boston-Independent-Examiner~y2008m12d19-A-letter-to-the-smoking-bans

With the New Year, we have launched HoosierHerfers.com!

 We hope to contribute by posting some of the newest information related to cigars, cigar reviews, accessory reviews and eventually even some great podcasts.  Since cigar reviews are very subjective, we’re hoping to just throw our two cents in.