Expert: James Yee - 2/2/2008

Question
Hi James, I was wondering if you could recommend any good cigar books.  Of course, I'm still waiting on yours to be released so I hope that it won't be too much longer!!  Any word on how that’s coming along?

Until then though, I recently picked up a copy of Min Ron Nee's re-released "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" and am in love with it.  (By the way, I was able to snag it for 40 Euro brand new compared to the average $125 it's selling for in the U.S. so I think I got a pretty sweet deal).

As much as I love it though, it was released in 2002.  It’s supposed to be the end-all/be-all of Cuban cigar books, but since it’s about five years old now, even it is a little out-dated.  Additionally, Mr. Nee constantly stresses that cigars should never be smoked new and that most of them should be matured for at least five years as a minimum, but preferably for much, much, much longer in general.  Considering that most of us don’t have thousands of dollars to invest in cigars for long term smoking, or the space to harbor as many smokes for 20-30 years, I was a little disappointed in reading that.

I would love to get my hands on some newer books (preferably about Cubans).  It seems like the majority of what’s available now (from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.) are somewhat outdated though.

As always, thanks for your help.  

Answer
Hi Robert,

I’m glad you picked up Min Ron Nee’s book.  Without a doubt, it’s the ultimate book on Cuban cigar brand history.  I love this book as well and I actually wore out my first copy so now I’m trying to find another copy, hopefully at a good price.

Another good book is “The Connoisseur’s book of the Cigar” by Zino Davidoff.  This book is extremely outdated (first printed in 1969) but it’s still considered one of the “must read” books if you’re a cigar enthusiast.  In the cigar industry, many people consider this book a pioneer and THE “cigar bible”.

“Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars” and “Cyclopedia of Cigars” by Richard Perelman are also reputable and popular books.  Cigar stores and tobacconists commonly use these books as a reference guide for cigar brands and sizes.  The book is printed annually and I tend to avoid annual guidebooks because they all have the same info but it’s good to have one copy on hand.

Again, these books are outdated but definitely worth reading.  The problem that I find with current cigar books is that they don’t discuss everything and readers are often left with questions and not know where to go for answers.  Many of these books are rather formulaic, unoriginal and repeat information from other remedial cigar books.

My book on the other hand, will be a fresh look into cigars and cigar smoking.  I’ve decided to pour all my knowledge, experience, industry, commercial and personal trade secrets into this book.  It won’t be as history-intensive as Min Ron Nee’s book but it will certainly cover far more topics than what most cigar books discuss in terms of cigar etiquette, collecting, aging, maintenance and general topics.  I’m hoping it will be the ultimate cigar book for beginning, intermediate and expert enthusiasts.

I’m busy working away on my book and if everything remains on schedule, it should be ready in Q3-Q4 2008.

Hope this answers your question and thank you for your support.  As always, if you have any more questions, please just ask.

Kind regards,
James

P.S. - Another really fantastic book if you can find it is called “Cultivating a tradition of Perfection”.  Though this book is fairly small (only 57 pages!), the book was written for Habanos SA (written by Mark Brutton, edited by Habanos SA & Hunters & Frankau) and has more relevant information I’ve seen in a 57-page book than most 250+ page cigar books.  As a bonus, this book also contains a ring gauge chart with ruler and a full-size poster showing all the available Cuban cigar sizes (in actual size) and brands up to the year 2002.  This book takes a close look at Cuban cigar production but is still worth getting just for the supplement material alone.