Deluxstogies all over the place!

[Jitterbugdude]

This past weekend I took my son to a reenactment of the Battle of Antietam (150th anniversary). Many of the sutlers there, and there we probably about 40 were selling boxes of Marsh Wheeling Stogies. Many of the boxes were "Deluxe Stogies".. kinda reminded me of someone here..

I can't vouch for the authenticity of the cigars since Marsh Wheeling was bought out over a decade ago. I supposed these were being sold because that was a pretty common cigar to smoke during that time period. I even took a picture of a box of them but when I got home I realized I didn't snap the Deluxestogies, just the regular stogies. I'd post a picture but I can't figure out my new camera.

Randy B

 

[Chicken]

d-luxstogie,

is a jack of all trades,,,

ive seen him on a billboard on the interstate<

 

[deluxestogie]

Marsh & Sons was selling stogies in 1840. (Says so right on the cigar band.) They were popular fare for the conestoga drivers out of Pittsburgh, heading west. The stogies were probably long, thin and round back then, and were surely rolled by hand, using long filler of PA Red and Little Dutch (both local tobaccos). Today the Deluxe Stogie is square pressed, but still long and thin, though rolled by machine, using shredded filler, homogenized sheet binder, and a natural leaf wrapper. The head is twisted to a point, and must be chewed off, then spit as far as it will go. (Wussies can purchase the "Deluxe II" to avoid the dental indelicacy.) Marsh finally moved from Wheeling, WV a decade ago.

Marsh Wheeling styles and sizes

National Cigar now makes Marsh cigars in Indiana, but they taste pretty much the same as they did in 1970--same machines; same blend. You can once again order them easily from www.jrcigars.com.

If you ever go backpacking, or just for a walk in the woods, you can't do better than a virtually windproof Marsh Wheeling Deluxe Stogie. They come in a "dark" CT Broadleaf wrapper, and a "light" CT Shade wrapper. The former seems to balance better.

Using home-grown tobacco, it's pretty easy to approximate the Marsh Wheeling taste, but rolling a long, thin stogie by hand is a challenge that I have yet to master consistently.

If you manage to purchase a Deluxe Stogie, go by the liquor store and pick up a small bottle of crème de cacao (a chocolate liquor). Light the stogie, and alternate puffs with a tiny sip of crème de cacao. A little bit of heaven. (It doesn't work with other cigars!)

Bob