I need to get serious here for a moment. (Well as serious as a sarcastic bastard can get). As many of you know, the SCHIP tax (State Children’s Health Insurance Program). Now mind you I am not above healthcare reform. As a country we are grossly behind the curve, and we are the only industrialized nation where a citizen can go bankrupt due to medical bills. I will actually go into detail the importance of all cigar smokers (customers & industry) joining together to keep the item of our enjoyment, the glorious cigar from being an easy political target in the near future. Today I want to talk about what is going on in Florida. Last night I received a message from Darlene at Tampa Sweethearts (http://www.tampasweetheart.com/) informing me of a new bill that is picking up steam in the Florida Senate. They already have their pound of flesh. As a consumer, every cigar that we buy will be at an additional $0.40 increase minimum (an increase of 700%), but now the State is presenting another tax that would be at a rate of $1.00 a ounce! Yep now your favorite cigar may be increased to almost $2.00 more a stick. For Joe smokers like us where we pay around $6.00 or so a cigar, we are looking at a 33% increase on our enjoyment. I don’t know about you, but I have not received a 33% pay raise in the last few years.

This new proposed tax can be a detriment to the Florida Cigar industry. These taxes can lead to production slowdowns, layoffs, or even complete shutdowns. Florida residents, please contact your Senator to state your outrage over this additional tax proposal.

I need to point out an ignorant quote from Paul Hull, spokesmen from the American Cancer Society in Florida:

“For the most part, connoisseurs of cigars tend to be in a higher socio-economic class anyway,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine this will have an effect on them.” Associated Press April 1, 2009

Really? We are all from a higher economic class? That is a pretty ignorant statement. As most educated people know when you make generalized statements against a population that just leads to discrimination. (Wait a minute, as cigar smokers, our rights are in trouble!) I know as I try to stay ahead of my bills I think to myself, “Gee, I am a little worried here, but wait, it’s going to be ok, I smoke cigars, I must be from a higher socio-economic class, I won’t be affected by this new tax!”

If you read this site please go to Cigar Rights of America’s page at http://www.cigarrights.org. The Joes here have all joined, and we hope you do as well. There is a lot of work to be done to protect smokers rights, and it is not going to happen by being upset, and letting these taxes compound. As a cigar smoker we need to stand up for our rights.

A nice dark double wrapped Maduro

Give yourself time to enjoy this one. It had a great draw, with a slow burn. The nice dark ash is a testament of the double Maduro wrapper that holds this beauty together. The filler is a combination of Dominican, Peruvian, Honduran, and Nicaraguan long fillers. This tasty treat has more multi-national Latin flavor then that girl who’s G-string you have been stuffing singles all those nights that you told your girl that you were working late! (I know, I know, she really cares about you, and she is using the money to pay for school. I am not the person you need to convince).

Something for the Joe’s to talk about: MX2 stands for Maduro times two. This cigar is wrapped inside two different leafs. The outside is a Connecticut Broad leaf Maduro, which is dark & oily, while the inner wrapper consists of the strong and tasty Brazilian Maduro.

Size: Torro, 6 inches with Ring gauge of 54.
Time needed: 45 to 60 minutes to enjoy this one.
Shelf Rating: 4/5 points for the Average Joe
Price: $5 to $8 a Cigar / $100.00 to $160 a box

Should you buy: Yes. It is a strong, yet smooth smoke that will leave you satisfied (unlike that Latin stripper girl, no I haven’t forgotten what you do at night!). I had the MX2 with a glass of B&B, and the mix was smoother then a fresh bikini wax. It may be too bold for some, so if you are not a Maduro smoker, give this one a pass. But if you are ready to step up to something a little stronger give this a go, but don’t wait too long, this dark sensation from CAO has been released in a limited production run.

The MX2 with some B&B

I just wanted to give a quick heads up to all of our Joe & Jane smokers out there for 2 great events that are being promoted by our friends at Buttheads Tobacco Emporium. What two great things are happening for sports fans this Monday? Well The Yankee Season opens (Look for the Joes at the home games every Sunday, and join us for a quick smoke in the lot!), and the NCAA Championship is played (am I alone in having their brackets destroyed?) In celebration of these two events, Kevin from Buttheads has Oliva coming to the store. The Yankee game will be on, and as always they will be running vendor specials for Oliva & Nubs. The real treat comes after the Yankee game. The March Madness dinner will be a private party at Gary’s Rib House in Danbury. Check the site for full details, (http://www.buttheadstobacco.com/MarchMadnessCigarDinner.html) but $40 gets you dinner, and some Oliva & Nub cigars. The real treat; they are making the Rib House smoke friendly for one night, and one night only! Taking us back to the days where you could have a cigar after your meal, and not be forced outside like some kind of criminal! (Remember when cigar smokers were treated like “People” in Connecticut? Next thing you know someone is going to tell me that the SCHIP tax is just a big joke!)

The event that I am really excited for is on Wednesday April 8^th. They have the one & only Manny Ferraro from Ashton cigars coming to the store to talk shop, tell you what is coming down the line, and yeah sell you a cigar or 4!. This event is $20, but that entry is applied to you purchase. (If you plan on going, I’m sure you are going to buy something, so to me that is a non-issue). The kicker, you will be entered into a raffle to be one of 2 people to have dinner with Manny!

I know we all work, but if you can make it to the Danbury area, these are 2 events worth attending. See you there.