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!

CAMACHO CIGARS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN OFFICIAL CELEBRITY LOUNGE FOR THE 51st ANNUAL GRAMMY® AWARDS

Los Angeles, Calif., February 2, 2009 – Camacho Cigars is pleased to announce that the company has been selected as the exclusive cigar sponsor for the official celebrity gift lounge at the 51st annual GRAMMY Awards. The event takes place from February 5-7, at the Staples Center, which is also the location for the 2009 GRAMMY Awards.

Camacho Cigars will be gifting boxes of its award-winning ultra-premium cigar, Camacho Select, to Grammy nominees, presenters, and executives. “We are honored and excited to be selected as the exclusive cigar of the Grammy Awards backstage celebrity gift lounge,” said Dylan Austin, Marketing Director of Camacho Cigars. “Our Camacho Select cigars are some of our highest rated and most popular ultra-premium cigars and I look forward to showcasing them to the Grammy nominees, presenters, and executives.”

Performances by: Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Jennifer Hudson, Jay-Z, Jonas Brother, Kid Rock, Lil Wayne, Kate Perry, Robert Plant, Radiohead, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen, T.I., Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, U2, and Kanye West.

About Camacho Cigars
Founded in 1961 by Simon Camacho, Camacho Cigars was acquired by the Eiroa family in 1995. Now part of the Oettinger Davidoff Group, Camacho Cigars is one of the key players in the international cigar market. The flagship Camacho brand, made at Rancho Jamastran in Danli, Honduras, is comprised of 9 premium and super-premium line extensions: (Super-Premium: Diploma, 10th Anniversary Corojo, Liberty Series, Triple Maduro, Select )(Premium: Corojo, Coyolar, Havana, SLR). Camacho Cigars also has 7 core brands, including Baccarat The Game, America’s #1 selling premium cigar.

From 6pm to 8pm pst, the V-bar was one hell of a swinging place as Christian Eiroa hosted a bash that you wish just wouldn’t end. High end drinks, gourmet appetizers, sensationally gorgeous cigar girls and bar maids, and some of the finest smokes in the world were the setting for this three night, lavish soiree.

The best thing about a party like this is meeting all the wonderful friends and employees that Christian and the Camacho family have – and this truly is a family. Of course Sal Fontana was there, and at the age of 83, the guy is mentally quicker than almost anybody I know. Listening to him spin a story is priceless and the man can make you laugh for hours on end. He has literally seen everything in the cigar business over the past 8 decades. Amazing.

And Carlos Escalona, the Scorpion King was in rare form, trying to convince the ladies that he was the Latin Sean Connery, “Tommy, the pop-a-rot-she’s are everywhere!” The man literally wears a sewer cover for a wristwatch and I got the feeling that he is oddly intrigued by midgets – but THAT is a story for another time. (Remember, What happens in Vegas…)

I got to tell some good jokes and do my Jersey routine – and although no one got whacked, I did have to keep a few mid-west yahoos in line. The popular Cigar Jack and his lovely lady were there as well as the Houston dudes from Cigar Live and the crazies from Social Cigar.com – Eric, Nick, Ray, Pablo and Tommy Boy. And the redhead with the rock hard body in the photo drove our hormones to screeching levels. (Remember …it stays in Vegas…)

A personal thank you to the gracious Mr. Eiroa for his hospitality and friendship. I had a friggin blast and there’s only one thing possibly left to say…

Wait ‘til next year!

-Z