Cigars for Service
From The [Florida] News-Press:
The nonprofit Cigars for Service has sent more than 7,000 cigars to members of the armed services on overseas assignments since it was organized about six months ago, leader Chuck Ley told the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce today.
The organization also sends personal hygiene items, tools, specialty foods and hometown newspapers, Ley said.
For more information or to get involved:
Website: cigarsforsoldiers.org
Phone (Ley): 239-471-2325
Email (Ley): Chuck@LeydBack.com
Fantasy Baseball 2009
It’s that time of year again. But instead of newly cut grass, roving scouts, big league ballplayers in small towns, pitchers and catchers us fantasy baseball managers have Baseball Prospectus, draft kits, blogs, and rankings. And, maybe if enough of you cigar smokers want to, cigars as well.
I’m offering to host a fantasy baseball league for cigar smokers. We can break it up into two half-season leagues or go for the one whole season; I don’t care. The only thing I do care about is the wager. In order to join we would have to put something valuable at stake – like cigars.
So, if you are interested in starting a fantasy baseball league with the entry fee being cigars then leave a comment or email me at travislindsay@theperfectdraw.com.
I promise to have at least one review up for tomorrow.
I Reached the end of Cigars On the Internet
StumbleUpon has turned out to be fun and educational… mostly.
With StumbleUpon you can click a button and be immediately whisked off to another site, post, picture, video, or news item. You can even pick your category and one night I decided to pick the category “cigars.”
I was directed to some review sites but I have already seen all of those so I didn’t get to see anything new there. I did, however, get introduced to a bunch of retailers. That wasn’t fun or necessary. Not really a good marketing strategy if you ask me. It doesn’t hurt either since it is free to Stumble a site but the conversion rate must be astronomically low.
Anyways, what else did I see? There were a few sites about cigarettes, which AREN’T CIGARS!!! Come on people, they have nothing in common. Stumble correctly.
There was a picture of a smoke cloud but I doubt it came from a cigar. And then it happened. I reached the end of the cigar universe according to StumbleUpon.
How is that even possible? There are dozens of sites that are dedicated to reviewing cigars not to mention all the message boards, cigar maker sites, and retailers. There are instructional videos on YouTube and pictures of people smoking cigars all over the place.
That is why I’m going to start Stumbling every cigar page I like. It just does not make sense to me that you can literally get to the end of the cigar-related Internet in the matter of an hour. It’s a travesty!
From this day on, if you put up a good review, post a great video, or make me laugh about something related to cigars you will be Stumbled by me (that’s a good thing just in case you are still a little fuzzy on exactly what StumbleUpon is). And you should also sign up for StumbleUpon and start spreading the word about your favorite cigar-related sites.
Petition to Cigar Manufacturers
Have you ever had a hard time finding information about a cigar? Want to know where the tobacco you are smoking was physically grown? Want to know how much of your premium cigar is made from tobacco from the Dominican?
I don’t know about you but I would love to know this information and it seems like I’m not the only one. Doc Stogie Fresh has started a petition asking cigar manufacturers to provide this information. Here are the highlights:
Cigar Information: What we’d like to know about the cigars
* List all the tobacco types (varietals) and percentages used in the blend
* Include the placement of leaves on the tobacco plant when listing tobacco types (i.e., ligero, viso, seco, etc.)
* Provide the Nation of origin and the Region of each of the tobaccos used in the blend
Box information: What we’d like to see on the cigar boxes
* Provide all the information listed under Cigar Information (above) on the box
* Provide the harvest date for predominant tobaccos in the blend (especially wrapper)
* Provide the box date (i.e., the date that the finished cigars were packaged in their boxes)
* Update this information when the blend changes or uses tobacco from different harvest years
Web site Information: What we’d like to see on your website
* Provide the Cigar Information (listed above) about ALL the premium cigars you manufacture (under your own brands) on your company website.
* Provide the Cigar Information (listed above) about your new cigars on your web site by the time they are shipping
* Also include information about the climate and weather patterns (where available and appropriate) and how those have affected the crops for that year.
I have already signed the petition and I urge all cigars smokers to sign the petition as well. It is important to know what you are smoking for a couple of reasons.
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1. You can better educate yourself. If you know what kinds of tobacco you like you will be able to pick similar sticks in the future because that information will now be readily available.
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2. Quality control. Once cigar makers start publishing what tobacco goes into their cigars they will have to work to maintain that mix. If they lie about what goes into their cigars it will be possible to catch them lying. (Think C.S.I. for cigars.)
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3. Marketing tool for cigar makers. Think about a 25 year old Scotch or a wine from Burgundy. Consumers are willing to pay a premium just because they know the ingredients come from a great area and/or are aged.
For the good of cigardom, SIGN THE PETITION!
Where Do You Get Your Cigars Online?
I had a question the other day from a friend on Twitter (follow me @Travis_Lindsay) about where I buy my cigars online. The answer is a little complicated.
For the longest time I got my cigars from cigar.com. I’ve also gotten cigars from Finck Cigar Company. There’s also the company that advertises on my site, TSCigar.com. And these sites only sell non-Cuban cigars, so there’s another cigar universe out there that I don’t really know about!
So I’m wondering, where do you buy your cigars online? Do you buy online for the selection, the price, or for some other reason?
