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Rest Your Pipe Here
Our good friends from Two Cousins Pipe Racks have just dropped off these beauties. If you're looking for a nice piece of furniture to display your pipe collection then you'll want to see these up close. Custom 
made and painted in faux finish to look antique, they'll dress up any smoker's room, living room or office. These guys are willing to make a pipe rack for your specific needs as well - if you have a need for this, then get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with them. Two Cousins will be featured in the Fall Issue of Pipes & Tobaccos magazine, but you can see them at the Tobacco Bowl immediatelly. Before you throw your Dunhills, Bjarnes, 
Savinellis or Ardors into a drawer, stop in and see these racks - this may even be the first piece from your pipe collecting hobby that your wife approves of!
Posted by Richard Alley at 06:39 PM | Comments (0)
RTDA in New Orleans
Next weekend I'll be hopping the City of New Orleans train to visit beautiful New Orleans for this year's Retail Tobacco Dealers of America trade show. This is the big show where every cigar, pipe, tobacco and accessories dealer will be hawking their wares, handing out a multitude of free smokes and showing us 
what's new and hot in the world of tobacco. If there is anything any of you would like to see on the shelves here at the Tobacco Bowl then please let me know now so I can keep and eye out for it and talk to those who supply it. The past years' shows have always produced some great new products and lines, as well as great deals. Stay tuned here for me to give you the scoop on the show, what's new and what is on its way.
Posted by Richard Alley at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
Top 5 Selling Cigars, July 30, 2005
10% off any of these cigars when you come in this week only and mention you read it on the blog. One visit per week only.
The Top 5 Selling Cigars for this week were:
1) La Gloria Cubana Serie R
2) Gran Habano
3) Romey y Julieta
4) Camacho Corojo
5) Quorum bundles*
*10% off bundle price only
Posted by Richard Alley at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)
Coming from Perdomo...
Tabacalera Perdomo will be unveiling several new cigars this year at the RTDA show in New Orleans. The first is the Estate Seleccion Vintage 1991, or ESV 1991, which "is comprised of vintage 1991 Nicaraguan fillers purchased by the late Nick Perdomo, 
Sr. in 1995. Stored in a bodega on the outskirts of Esteli, the existence of these rare tobaccos was discovered after Nick, Sr. passed away on July 2, 2004."
The second addition to the Perdomo family will be the Edicion de Silvio Maduro, "a secretive blend of all-Cuban seed tobaccos balanced with a rich mosaic of delicate, complex flavors derived from rare, deeply aged superior grade maduro wrapper."
Lastly will be the Edicion de Silvio Cameroon MT, a cigar created by Nick Perdomo Jr. to "honor two significant cigar making influences: his late father and legendary cigar maker Nicholas Grovy Perdomo, Sr. and his uncle Antonio Keeney Perdomo, Tabacalera Perdomo’s factory manager in Esteli, Nicaragua."
All three of these cigars sound like fine smokes and great additions to the Perdomo family. However, while you may find the Estate Seleccion Vintage 1991 on the shelves here at the Tobacco Bowl, don't expect to find the two Edicion de Silvio blends here. I'd love to try them, and I'd love for you to try them, but with a retail price in the $20 range, I just don't see the need for it. What we need are more good cigars in the $5-$10 range and just a few special ones in the $10+ range, but the manufacturers seem to think differenly.
We do currently carry the Perdomo Champagne line, just added last Spring, and it has done very well for us in the $6-$9 category. I certainly recommend this cigar to everyone who enjoys a medium-bodied cigar.
Posted by Richard Alley at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
Next door to Cinnabon?
The Commercial Appeal is reporting that Jose Gutierrez, 
longtime chef at world reknowned Chez Philippe in The Peabody Hotel, is leaving after 22 years to open his own place, Encore, in the food court at the Peabody Place Mall. Going out on your own is a heady, courageous endeavor, but why not have some balls and leave the fervid womb of Jack Belz? There are plenty of empty buildings and vibrant areas of downtown awaiting new ventures.
Posted by Richard Alley at 04:52 PM | Comments (0)
cx2
I mentioned in a recent post that CAO's new release this summer will be the Cx2, a cigar with a cameroon wrapper 
and binder. I really have nothing more to add to that other than luxist says it will be available in a robusto, toro and belicoso - which is not that surprising since they did the same with the Mx2 and Italia the past couple of years. Oh, and I took this cool logo from the luxist site as well.
Posted by Richard Alley at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
JB's got the rums
While winter time is bourbon time, summer is rum time for me. For those into a thick, dark rum look no further than the new release from Cruzan. Cruzan Black Strap is a nearly black, thick rum full of molasses and caramel flavors with a nice vanilla finish. For a long time, Cruzan, outside of the single barrel line, has been known as bottom shelf mixing-type rum. This release is anything but. It's actually not much good for mixing. Its thick, heavy flavor will overpower anything it's mixed with. For drinking neat, this is a winner. Try an ice cube if you must, but cutting this with any water or ice is a shame. It compares to Gosling's Black Seal, which until now was the best dark rum in the Jamaican style. For me, the Black Strap even beats the Gosling. Another plus, it's widely available for around $15 a liter.
When it gets too hot though, it's time to switch to light rums. La Flor de Cana Platino is one to try. Nice peppery oak flavors with a hot finish, it's surprising that a clear rum can have this much body. Ron Matusalem 4-year is another winner. Vanilla oak with slightly less bite on the finish than the LFDC, it's a pleasant straight sipping rum, guaranteed to beat the heat. Both of these are available for under $20 per 750 ml, another nice plus of the summertime switch to rum!
Posted by JB at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)
Top 5 Selling Cigars, July 23 2005
This is a new weekly feature where we highlight the top selling cigars for the previous week. For one week only the top 5 selling cigars here will be 10% off. You must mention this blog to receive the 10% off. Good for one purchase only.
The top selling cigars for the week ending July 23, 2005, are:
1) CAO Criollo
2) H. Upman Vintage Cameroon
3) Gran Habano VL
4) Perdomo Champagne
5) Quorum bundle*
*whole bundle only
Posted by Richard Alley at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
Am I Old Yet?
I’ve been keeping up with a discussion in the on-line forum area at pipes.org on the topic of young people who are of age being “too young” to smoke a pipe, and when exactly you start feeling old. It’s got me to wondering at what age a person considers himself old. I’m not talking about the AARP’s or the Social Security Administration’s definition of old because I believe that old age, and many of its limitations, is largely a mindset. I’m less than a month away from my 35th birthday and I remember feeling a definite change at 25. I’m not saying I was old at 25, but something felt different – new aches and pains, longer recovery from a night of drinking, and a sense of urgency about life, career, family, etc. I feel some of those aches and pains now, when I check a young customer’s ID here at work only to find that, yes, they are old enough to purchase tobacco and, yes, they were born in 1987, when I was staring at the light at the end of the tunnel that was high school.
Today, at the round table here at the shop, we had a conversation about the bedroom furniture of yesterday and I waxed nostalgic about the futon I slept on in my early 20s. This would be the prehistoric ancestor of today’s fancy, high-dollar futons with their armrests and their ability to keep a person’s ass above their feet when using it as a couch. I’m talking about a platform on the ground made of pine planks and a mattress roughly the thickness of this Apple laptop I’m typing on right now. Its one special feature was that one end could raise up in an incline like a piece of lawn furniture for reading or sitting up in bed to eat your Ramen noodles. Scattered around the room as well were the requisite candles, posters hung as art, cassette tapes, and bookshelves built of cinder blocks and one by eights. I believe the block and wood shelves stood at the head of the futon even, which would have left me dead in the event of something as slight as a 4.0 magnitude quake.
Remembering all of this seemed quaint, and almost had me longing for 1990, and then when I got home and stepped on the little pedal to open the kitchen garbage, I found myself staring down at an entire Pop Tart, minus one little corner chewed off. I stared down in disbelief before turning to my three children, ages two, four and seven, and explained to them that one day they would all owe me money. Why? they asked. Not for the food they eat, I assured them, for I recognize it as my duty to keep them fed, but for the food they don’t eat. They’ll owe me for the food they unwrap and almost immediately throw out or, more often, leave laying around, just like the entire package of strawberries I found later on in the living room as I was heading to bed. And for the food they order when we’re out that goes untouched while they play with condiments on the table and request a trip to the bathroom for the fourth and fifth time. And I’ll want cash, I told them. I don’t want them coming to me one day with grocery bags full of food. I’ll be able to make it to the market just fine on my own, even in my old age, which I feel is rapidly approaching. My oldest said he had some money now if I wanted it but I told him I wouldn’t dream of taking any birthday moneys received as gifts in childhood, but that one day, when they are established with careers and regular paychecks, then I would present a bill to them and I expect to be paid. And I will need that money when I “retire” from owning a small business, because I plan to sit in my rented room, on my futon, eating Pop Tarts covered with strawberries.
Posted by Richard Alley at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
G'day mate!
At a press conference held today with Prime Minister Blair on the latest terrorist bombings in London, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia had this to say as plainly as possible to what must have been a disoriented press ready with their usual inane questions. I like that Australian's moxie!
PRIME MIN. HOWARD: Could I start by saying the prime minister and I were having a discussion when we heard about it. My first reaction was to get some more information. And I really don't want to add to what the prime minister has said. It's a matter for the police and a matter for the British authorities to talk in detail about what has happened here.
Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen.
Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.
And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.
Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?
When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?
When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq -- a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations -- when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.
Now I don't know the mind of the terrorists. By definition, you can't put yourself in the mind of a successful suicide bomber. I can only look at objective facts, and the objective facts are as I've cited. The objective evidence is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq. And indeed, all the evidence, as distinct from the suppositions, suggests to me that this is about hatred of a way of life, this is about the perverted use of principles of the great world religion that, at its root, preaches peace and cooperation. And I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.
Thanks to halfbakered.com for this nugget.
Posted by Richard Alley at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)
A Night Out...sort of
A new entry from the Cigar Savant.
[DISCLAIMER: While the Savant has been known to partake of cigars from an island just to the south of the Keys, these cigars were not purchased from, nor are they in anyway associated with Memphis Tobacco Bowl. I don't know where he gets them, and I don't want to know where he gets them. Thank you.]
A man can only clean house for so long before he must either put his
thong on and toss his nuts in a jewelry box, OR say screw it and sit
down on the deck for a fine cigar. Between the company coming this
week, the simultaneous invasion of fleas on my dog with the exploding
hot water heater, the great timing of the wifey who has pulled all
the wallpaper off the kitchen wall and decided that guess who will be
putting up new paper, AND the new furniture she bought last night, I
NEEDED A CIGAR! 
About 9 last night, the new furniture was in the living room. The new
kitchen table was assembled. The house was cleaned, and most
importantly, hot water had been restored. So I headed for the comfy
chair out back. The one thing that had been beautiful this week was
the weather. Last night was no exception. The mercury hovered around
65, and the slight, cool breeze was pleasant but not too chilly. I'd
grabbed this Trini (courtesy of Coach ) as I knew I finally had a
couple hours to devote to it. The wrapper was a beautiful dark and
almost reddish. I love those pigtail caps! Almost couldn't make myself
cut it! The prelight draw was excellent! Hints of sweet cocoa and
vanilla prelight made me think of a twist cone all rolled up. It lit
easily, and I was delighted two hours later when I had never relit
the cigar once! Thick, chewy smoke billowed from the Trini, overtaking
the back porch. This cigar was a dream to smoke. Smooth, creamy, with
a unique flavor unlike other habanos. I've noticed that the San
Cristobals and the Trinidads seem to have unique properties not found
in other habanos, but I digress. This cigar never got hot, never went
out. The flavors of cocoa, then a pronounced mingling of vanilla and
cocoa bean continued throughtout the cigar. It never went out or
soured when I fell asleep briefly in the chair. It never went out when
the overpowering spirit of evil "Are you coming to bed?" darkened the
doorway. My Trini and I, we chilled down to the nub as the clock
brought in a new day. As I smoked it, I thought to myself that this is
what a cigar is supposed to be. I thought of enjoying cigars with
friends, and the solitude of enjoying a relaxing moment alone. I
thanked the Lord the I have the freedom to do what I do. As I laid
down the nub and went inside, I was at peace, relaxed. This great
cigar had been much anticipated and it did not disappoint.
Posted by Richard Alley at 04:16 PM | Comments (1)
If I had my druthers...
Is there any way for me to get rid of this customer 
and somehow get this one 
back?
Posted by Richard Alley at 04:41 PM | Comments (2)
CAO Expansion
We are really into the CAO line of cigars here at the Tobacco Bowl. I just received some CAO Gold, which brings the lines of this brand to CAO Brazilia, CAO Criollo, CAO Mx2 and CAO Gold. I think these cigars run the spectrum from light to strong and my personal favorite is the Criollo which is right in the middle - right there in the sweet spot - of my taste buds, but you'll want to try them all to see which one fits your taste.
I'm looking forward to the RTDA show in August to see what they'll roll out next. I hear it's called the CAO Cx2, and like the Mx2 which utilizes a maduro wrapper and Brazilian maduro binder, the Cx2 will have a Cameroon wrapper and binder. CAO always does well with their new lines for several reasons, 1) they're good cigars, 2) they roll them out in just a few sizes at a time so adding an entire line is manageable for a guy like me, and 3) nice swag.
Posted by Richard Alley at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
Sell, sell, sell!
Today was one of those days where, on top of everything else there is to do - waiting on customers, answering phones, making orders, watching the Tour de France - you also have to deal with cigar company sales reps who just show up. This morning I visited with Dan from Davidoff Cigars. Dan is a really nice guy and he's been coming in here regularly for almost a year now and for that year I've 
been putting him off. He has the patience of Job. I've told him that I'm interested in adding one facet of their line and it will probably be the Avo Classic tubo. In fact, I almost bit today but the RTDA show is coming up in a few weeks and they'll have specials then so I'll make the order in New Orleans. He tried to sell me on the Zino Platinum and the special deal they're having - when the customer (you) pruchases 15 of these cigars and sends the bands in to Davidoff then they will send you a free Swiss Army knife with Zino logo and cigar cutter feature. It's a nice tool, but it would be a $225 piece by the time you bought 15 of the $15 cigars. He seemed perplexed as to why I didn't want to stock Zino Platinums...I think they're just a little pricey for what they are and that most of you would think so too. These reps may know marketing and deals, but I know my customers. But I think the Avo cigar will be a nice fit at the $7-$9 range.
Later in the day Ashton Imported Cigars stopped by in the form of Lee and Gus. Gus is my new rep, which is good because Lee has been my rep for five or so years and I've seen his face about three times in those five years. Most of the cigars on the humidor shelf have a face to go along with it. If you want me to carry your cigar, you've got to make an effort to stop by. I'm not saying I'm such a big buyer that you need to come into town and wine and dine me, but you have to stop in fairly regulary and call or E-mail every once in a while. Anyway, Ashton has a huge selection of goods - cigars, pipes, tobaccos, accessories - a real one-stop shop. I've carried the 
Ashton cigars since day one and added the La Aroma de Cuba line some time back and it's done well for me. They tried to sell me today on the Peterson cigar. The Peterson cigar, like La Aroma, is made for them by Altadis U.S.A. It's not bad, earthy and burned really well, and is priced reasonably between the LAdC and Ashton lines. I'm thinking about it and may add it at the show.
So those are the two cigars I smoked today: a Davidoff Zino Platinum torpedo and a Peterson toro. Both were good, but only one is close to being found for sale here. Thanks, Dan, Lee and Gus.
Posted by Richard Alley at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)
Downtown Bookstore?
Those of you who know me know that along with my interest in cigars, pipes and tobaccos, I am also passionate about chess, Jazz, the Tour de France (which I will take an untold amount of abuse for for three weeks every year) and books. In the vein of books, I've been talking with Hugh Hollowell of Midtown Books on Madison Avenue at Overton Square. We're concocting a plan to put a mini-bookstore - a satellite shop, if you will - on the mezzanine level here at the Tobacco Bowl. Downtown Memphis, sadly, does not currently have a bookstore and this enterprise will not have near the selection of your major players, but we're hoping to have 1,000 - 1,500 titles on hand...and possibly more if the demand is there. The main focus will be regional interest books and used newer books. I get asked countless times in a week, mainly by tourists to our fair city, where the bookstore downtown is, and have to tell them there's not one. They always seem perplexed that a downtown making the kind of comeback ours is does not have something as necessary as a bookstore.
So, if all goes right, you'll have under one roof a tobacco shop, coffee shop, lottery playhouse, free wireless internet, Tour de France on three TVs and the downtown branch of Midtown Books. I'll be sure to keep you up to date with all of the plans and happenings.
Posted by Richard Alley at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)
Website + Blog = WebsiteBlog
This is the new look of our website. I requested a site that combined all the static qualities of an informational website with the ease of use of a weblog and it was delivered. Thank you, Toby, for that! Let me show you around...up top there is a nice new masthead, and if you'll look over in the upper right there you'll see our hours of operation followed by some links to some useful info - the Merchandise page will be updated regularly to keep you up to date on what's in stock - and an E-mail link so you can keep in touch. There's the RSS Feed and I'm not sure what that is, or who Russ is, but he needs to be fed and that's the link to do that. Just under that is the calendar, which is handy so you'll know what day it is. And below all of that are some links that makes it easy for you to keep up with what you may have missed, though I'm sure you'll bookmark this address and check it daily...and I'll do my best to keep it fresh so you'll never get bored. The commenting on a particular post is free, but you need to be registered, which is easy enough to do and, again, I ask that you keep in touch that way as well. If there is anything you'd like to see discussed, just drop us a line.
In this blog I aim to keep you up to date with new product arrivals, any upcoming in-store events, industry news, as well as happenings around downtown Memphis and thoughts for the day. You'll want to catch regular features as well, such as cigar and product reviews from the Cigar Savant.
The idea is to get this blog out there into the world of blogs, so please forward the address to your friends and, fellow bloggers, please add me to your page.
Thanks again for looking and please check back regularly.
Posted by Richard Alley at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)