Hiram and Solomon Traveling Man Lancero

Hiram and Solomon LanceroHiram and Solomon popped up on my radar a couple years ago when I was looking for a smoke in a not so pleasant downtown cigar shop and I spotted their band. Since at the time it was something new to me I picked up a few sticks and gave them a try. Turned out they were pretty good and next time I was back downtown I went into the same shop to get some more and for some reason they had stopped carrying them. Bummed I left the store empty handed and started looking elsewhere, and of course it didn’t take long to find them. Recently I ran into Fouad, George and their rep Heather (who just happens to also be a DR Member) in town and as we were talking the conversation lead to the new Traveling Man lancero that is being released. After smoking one with them I knew I wanted to write about it so I brought a couple more back to try and this is what I found.

Construction wise, it doesn’t have that traditional rigid nearly hard feeling that most lanceros have, this has a bit of give to it. The wrapper has a lovey milk chocolate color to it with a nice velvet sheen and there is very minimal veining. The seams are tight and there are no areas that fill unfilled. The smell from the body and the foot reminds me of smoked foods and hay. The cap cuts off easily and with no damage to the cigar, pre-light flavor has a slight sweetness on the tongue along with rich tobacco flavors. The draw is easy and offers little resistance. It lights easily and burns evenly. For a lancero it produces plenty of medium weighted smoke with a bread like consistency. The initial flavor is mild but well balanced.

The first half is slightly sweet and creamy with a bit of barnyard notes. There is a hint of pepper hidden in the finish but is not very noticeable. The smoke production for this cigar is fantastic giving large amounts of the same medium weight smoke noticed from the initial light. While the ash does drop off fairly easily the burn is even.

Once reaching the second half of the cigar the sweet and creamy taste remains but now the pepper flavor is more apparent along with other spices and a light woodsy taste. The burn continues to be razor sharp and the smoke is full. At no time did I need to touch up or re-light this cigar.

This really did end up being a great cigar. Hiram and Solomon describe it as being a “medium body blend that is masterfully encased in a silky Sumatran wrapper from the island of Indonsia. The thick smoke is rich in aroma with a hint of spice and coffee on the palate. The Finish is soft and subtle as a creamy texture melds with notes of cocoa leather.” While I enjoy most things from Hiram and Solomon this one has become a quick go to for me. It has a great construction, great flavor and a great burn time. If you haven’t had a chance to try their line yet I would recommend starting with the Traveling Man lancero, its strong enough for someone that likes a fuller body but the creaminess of it makes it feel light enough for everyone.

Size – 7 x 38

Wrapper – Sumatra Indonesian

Binder – Indonesian

Filler – Arapiraca, Habano Jalapa, Habano Ometepe and Dominican

Price: $8.50

Website: Hiramandsolomoncigars.com

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 pints

Cigar Scanner WiFi Hydrometer and Thermometer

Cigar Scanner HydrometerSo as cigar smokers we all want to keep tabs on the humidity levels and temperature to make sure our settings are ideal. There are of course several items on the market for doing such and can be placed around your humidor so they can be seen easily when you walk up to the humidor or when you open it and peak inside. This is all well fine and good if you want to know the level of humidity at either the top of your desktop humidor or the front of your stand up humidor or if you want to lose a multitude of humidity by opening the humidor every time you want to get a reading. But what about those of us who don’t want to get up off the couch to check? Seriously though,many of us cigar smokers are in essence collectors and become very neurotic about our collections. We like to monitor the readings throughout the day and it would be great to do this even when not at home. This is where the Cigar Scanner WiFi Hydrometer and Thermometer comes in.

I received the Cigar Scanner WiFi Hydrometer and Thermometer at the beginning of December and got to work setting it up. Now the system is a bit old fashioned having a standalone gateway (I mean this is 2019 after all) and the other thing that I didn’t care for was that it did come with the USB cord to connect to the gateway but no power block to plug it into the wall. So after rummaging through all of my old iPhone chargers I managed to dig one up that wasn’t being used and plugged it in. Now I could say that getting the gateway connected was as simple as stated in the instructions but that just wouldn’t be true, after about two hours or so of fighting to get it to connect and resetting the gateway and admin passwords I did finally have success. From thCigar Scanner Hydrometerere a simple press of the button activates the sensor and in the humidor it went.

Once I finally had that all connected I opened up the Cigar Scanner app which, until getting this, I had not used before. The app itself is pretty well laid out, there’s a social side to it for posting photos and giving ratings of what you’re smoking, a tools section with a decent amount of information, a my humidor section which is where you will find the readouts from the hydrometer/thermometer as well as adding cigars to your collection so you know what you have on hand. Don’t want to type in all that info for each cigar you have? Not a problem, just take a photo of the cigar and let the app figure out what you have. But back to the hydrometer.

Cigar Scanner HydrometerCigar Scanner HydrometerCigar Scanner HydrometerI chose to test this out in my newer large floor humidor to make sure I could move the sensor around and check how it would read in various areas. Each time I moved it I made sure to move my standalone Xicar hydrometer as well the attached Cigar Oasis hydrometer sensor to verify its readings. After a month of moving the sensors around and tracking the data from all three units I found that the Cigar Scanner WiFi Hydrometer and Thermometer read accurately and I had no problems with losing connection to my phone when checking the reading from the app.

In all I’m pleased with the functionality of the hydrometer and thermometer, given that it is a bit odd to have a standalone gateway and the set up is a bit tricky, it still wasn’t that bad to deal with. The app is a fun novelty to play around with, keep track of your collection in a relativity easy manner and can track your your humidity and temperature readings anytime you like. You can even look at the readouts in graph form by day or for a given length of time that you choose to look for unwanted fluctuations. While the $99.00 price tag does seem a bit high for what it is at least, unlike Cigar Oasis, there isn’t a subscription required to utilize the product and app after you’ve purchased it. So if you’re in the market for a WiFi enabled hydrometer/thermometer system the Cigar Scanner WiFi Hydrometer and Thermometer is a safe bet.

Price: $99.00

Available for purchase from various outlets

Rating: 4.4 out of 5 pints

 

Debonaire Takes Over US Distribution Early

Debonaire CigarsDebonaire House was poised to take over distribution, sales and marketing of its products in the U.S. at the beginning of next year. Yesterday I get a message from Phil saying he’s has decided to do so a bit earlier, as in right now kind of earlier.

In a press release the company announced that it would end its U.S. distribution agreement with Drew Estate effective Jan. 1, 2019, choosing to distribute cigars out of a facility in the Dominican Republic. For distribution Debonaire will now be using the United Parcel Service (UPS) Cigars Direct shipping meathod, which will allow the company to ship cigars directly from its factory in the Dominican Republic to its tobacco retailers in the U.S.

In the press release Phill Zanghi III (President of Debonaire) said this about working with the DE team. “Working with the great team at Drew Estate over the past two and a half years has been a rewarding experience, I am blessed and humbled by the successful partnership our companies have enjoyed together, and likewise blessed by a twenty-year plus friendship with Jonathan Drew. Many blessings to Jonathan and Drew Estate for their partnership and support over the years.”

“Debonaire House has now reached the point where we need to possess captive distribution for our Debonaire Ultra Premium, Indian Motorcycle and Debonaire House brands, and today’s announcement is an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of our company. We are very excited about the future of the Debonaire Ideal and look forward to the next chapter in our company’s journey.”

From the Drew Estate side Jonathan Drew, President of Drew Estate had this to say “The relationship of Debonaire House and Drew Estate goes back over 20 years. We are super excited to have played a role in bringing Debonaire House Products to Market and being part of the Debonaire Ideal journey.”

Glenn Wolfson, ceo of Drew Estate also had positive words about this change in distribution. “Drew Estate will continue working with Phil and his team to help them prepare for a successful launch of their new business operations after the first of the year. Phil is a great friend, a truly honorable businessman, and he will always remain part of our Drew Estate family. I have no doubt that he and his team will be very successful in their new business venture, and we wish Debonaire House all the best.”

Debonaires catalog consists of Debonaire Ultra Premium, Indian Motorcycle and Debonaire House brands and are produced by De Los Reyes in the Dominican Republic. For more information on their lines be sure to check out some of the previous articles such as Debonaire Sagita Petite Lancero, Debonaire Daybreak Toro, Debonaire Habano Belicoso, or visit their website at www.debonairehouse.com