Remember in the movie the jerk when Steve Martin’s character stated jumping around like a loon while yelling “The NEW PHONE BOOK’S HERE! The NEW PHONE BOOK’S HERE?!” Well, that’s how I get when the new issue of Cigar Magazine hits the stands! Much like when Navin R. Johnson got his name in print, I am fortunate enough to have the same experience with Cigar Magazine. The only difference is that I write a lengthy article and get paid to do so – which just adds to the entire pleasure.

The Spring Issue of Cigar Magazine has arrived and I’m proud as all hell to have one of my finest articles published to date, entitled: The Smoking Life of Mr. Christian.

I’m very fortunate to have met and befriended some of the cigar industry’s biggest names and brightest stars, such as Lew Rothman, Daniel Nunez, Steve Saka, Gene Arganese, Rocky Patel, Benji Menendez, and of course, Christian Eiroa and the wonderful people at Camacho Cigars. This past July I attended the International Premium Cigars and Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) show at the Venetian in Vegas and spent three full days smoking my friggin’ brains out while shmoozin’ and hanging with so many good people. But I was most grateful to Christian, Dylan Austin and the Camacho gang for allowing me to make the comfy leather couch at their booth, my home base for three days.

Each night after the show, Camacho held a private party at the swank V-Bar, and all the beautiful people attended. Of course the million-dollar question is, “How the hell did I get in?”, but for some peculiar reason, the young Eiroa has a soft spot in his heart for me – probably to match the soft spot on my head. Fortunately we talked a lot and I was just blown away by the unbridled passion this man has for his craft. Christian has a tremendous sense of humor and can be a real ball breaker (and it’s most fun when you’re NOT the target), but most of all he’s a true Latin American born gentleman. While he’s great conversationalist and has a lot to say, it’s when you get him talking about blending cigars – then you see a fire in his eyes while turning very serious about the only thing he claims he was born to do.

Naturally when I got back home, I pitched Cigar Magazine on writing an article on the guy who is one of the new pioneers in an industry that so badly needs good people to step up and lead the charge. Not only am I quite happy with this most recent piece, but maybe the nicest satisfaction of all was Christian’s personal phone call to me yesterday, thanking me and the Cigar Mag staff so sincerely for doing him and his father proud. You can only imagine what that meant to me.

So I invite you to get your hands on the new Spring Issue that has some wonderful articles that you can light one up to and relax. My pal Miranda “Maduro Mistress” Osborne has a really nice story on CAO’s cigar dame, Aylin Ozgener. The Connecticut Valley, Then and Now is a wonderful journey through America’s north east cigar country. A Stroll Through Tampa’s Cigar Past is nostalgia at its finest, bringing you the history of our county’s most historic cigar manufacturing facilities. A Brief Recollection of Politics and Cigars waxes poetically about political power and handrolled stogies. The Art of the Cigar displays some beautiful Spring motifs from days past. Our Man in Havana, Simon Chase looks at The Origin of the Churchill Cigar. My bud, Steve Nathan reminisces about Drug Stores from old days who carried the finest and most fragrant pipe tobacco in the land. And the cover story is an excellent one by Frankie Seltzer, about Theo Folz and Jim Colluci, the Dynamic Duo of Altadis. And of course, Lew’s parting words always cap the entire read so nicely.

You can visit the website for a subscription, or go to JR Cigars site for a single issue. May as well purchase some sticks while you’re there. No they didn’t pay me to say that, but it sure doesn’t hurt.

- ZMAN

Subscriptions can be ordered by clicking the link below…

http://www.cigar-magazine.com

Individual copies of Cigar Magazine can be ordered by> CLICKING HERE!