Arganese Cigars And Cheeseburgers

[Herf N Turf]

I just wanted to share a great experience I had with two fine BOTL. I got a call last week from my dear friend, Cigar Man Andy, informing me that he was coming to town and inviting me to lunch.

We met at high noon, at our favorite dive, the Anchor Room, in Hopewell, VA. The Anchor Room has been there since 1940 and serves what is simply the best damn cheeseburger on the planet. They actually grind their own steak every morning! To say they are wonderful, is downplaying.

Along for the ride was none other than Gene Arganese, owner of Arganese Cigars. A funnier, more affable guy, you are not likely to meet. Arganese is a relatively new cigar company, but Gene is no newbie. He grew up on a tobacco farm in Connecticut and smoked his first cigar at age 10, freshly rolled for him in the tobacco barn. For the next several years, until he went off to college, his days were spent with tobacco. He knows every cell and molecule when it comes to leaves, soils, nutrients and flavors.

Over lunch, I smoked the Arganese CL3. The "CL3" stands for Corojo Ligero to the third power and mama! there's some power. Strangest thing though, this cigar actually smoked backwards! It started out with good strength, became very peppery, then at about 2/3 through, it went sweet! By sweet, I mean sweetly delicious. I asked Gene about this and he told me, "you hit the third priming." What he meant was, he blends the cigars based on which priming of the plant will deliver the flavor he wants. For those who don't know, "priming" refers to where the branches extend out from the main stalk.

Here's a pic of Cigar Man Andy, Gene and myself:



If you aren't familiar with Arganese Cigars, you're simply missing out. Each offering is a unique and exciting creation from the ground up. Gene began creating cigars for personal use and to hand out to business colleagues and friends. This kind of backfired when they began calling and emailing asking him to get more and more. After a while, he said, "to hell with it" and decided to embark on his life-long dream of creating cigars.

As a successful real estate developer, he knew that to get anything done right, he had to control every aspect from seed to torch. He went to the Dominican Republic and invested in farmland, a 13000sq ft factory and even a home there. He partnered with Gustavos Pena, a fourth generation Cuban tobacco grower and immediately began growing tobacco in the Cuban tradition. Even his curing house is of Cuban origin. It's covered with grasses and stands several stories high, rather than long and flat, as is typically done in the DR. This allows the tobacco to be continuously rotated, low to high.

If there's any doubt that Gene knows how to grow tobacco, well, the DR thinks so. He's won about every award there is to win for best tobacco and his cigars reflect this fact. Every Arganese cigar is carefully blended to each vitola; not just the line. What that means is that if you prefer a robusto, you're getting a cigar that was blended to be a robusto, not a corona, or some other vitola. Each cigar imparts it's own unique and wonderful character and there is no "compromise" size to size.

Another great thing about these sticks is the cost. Gene sounds adamant when he declares that, "No cigar should cost over $12!" As a result, his cigars run $4-7, depending on local taxes. Since he controls every aspect, all the way to the shelf, he can keep costs where he wants them. These are NOT cheap cigars, nope. These are extremely fine, premium cigars that, were anyone else making them, would most certainly cost a lot more.

I've smoked about every blend from Arganese and I can honestly say I've yet to meet one I haven't loved. My current favorite is the ML3 (maduro ligero to the third power). As a comparison, this absolutely blows the Cain maddie out of the water and compares very favorably to the Oliva V. Again, these are high end, hand-rolled premi's, grown from fist generation Cuban tobacco seed, which are replenished for every crop.

Gene's got a lot more moves up his sleeve. He wants to turn what he sees as a "stale and static" cigar industry, on it's ear. He believes people are tired and bored of everyone just doing everything the same old way, simply because that's how great grampa did it.

So far, so good, Gene.

Can you tell I had a great time with these guys?

[bilingue23]

Good read. I have enjoyed many Arganese cigars, especially with the deals CI keeps having on them. They are practically giving them away at $2 each and less. I really enjoy the Cugine (which he no longer makes). Very good construction, burn, and excellent taste. Thanks again for the article. Gene does seem like he would be a very nice guy.

[scottw]

Looks like good times brother. I was with Gene and Andy the next day at Quad State and they expressed what a good time they had as well. I agree about the CL3, it's a great smoke, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Gene smoked the last ML3 so I gotta try to squeeze one out from the good ol' Cigar Man himself.

[Cigar Man Andy]

Glad to see you Don and Scott. Hope it won't be too long before we do it again.

Gene and I are going to be in Cali this week. San Diego, Temecula, Pasadena, Long Beach, Torrance and San Pedro. Hope to see a few of you then.

[Jack Straw]

Nice write up Don! Looks like a good time.

Man, I would love a good cheeseburger right about now.

[fiddlegrin]

What a wonderful write up of a grand outing.

Conratulations on all the joy Gentlemen! ............


Thanks for sharing


.

[Cigary]

Great photo and looks like a good time for sure. Would like to try one of those cheeseburgers as the best one I ever had was in West Palm Beach at the Brass Ring off A1A. They make some amazing burgers that are the best I've had.

[iMarc]

Great read.

I'm pretty new to this whole thing and hadn't heard of Arganese, but am intrigued by your description.

I'll definitely check them out.

[scottw]

Great read.

I'm pretty new to this whole thing and hadn't heard of Arganese, but am intrigued by your description.

I'll definitely check them out.

You really will not be dissapointed.

[Frinkiac7]

Arganese does great work!

[LincolnSmokes]

Arganese does great work!

+1, had a chance to meet him at the Nebraska Cigar Festival, a great guy who bring great smokes!

[JustOneMoreStick]

I will go home and order a box tonight Thanks for the tip off.

[Dread]

Arganese are great cigars that smoke well out of their price range, Ive never been disappointed by an arganese. Even the Uno which is very hit or miss I found to be a nice well rounded smoke, the CT ambassadors were my goto smoke over the summer.

[smelvis]

Damn Don
I want to hang with you, sounds like a great day!

[COYOTE JLR]

Sounds like an awesome day man! I've never heard of Arganese before, so I think I'll have to check them out now that I've heard your impression of them.