While many in our industry look to Italy, England, or New York for the latest in fashion, for the past year and a half, I have regularly kept tabs on Pulaski, Wisconsin. Why Pulaski? Because it is from there that the Magnificent Bastard hands down pronouncements and advice related to all of things we sell: clothing, accessories, liquor, golf, and today: cigars.

The site is worth a read to see if you agree with most of his opinions. Personally, I'd say I stronly agree with about 90% of his posts, and only slightly disagree with 10% which is not bad considering we both have very strong opinions on things. He has written the seminal work on sleeve-rolling, a solid list of faux-pas that can turn you into a "toolbag", and when he puts his mind to Photoshop he develops some handy charts and decision trees to make his point. Areas where I disagree include my belief that Oakleys can be worn on a golf course, linen is great if you know what you're getting into, and over-the-calf socks are preferred to mid-calfs everyday of the week except weekends. 

I reached out to the bastard - I hope I can call him that - about a year ago, but never heard back. He never calls; he never writes. But what can you expect from a bastard? His site has a blogroll of 60+ stores, but for reasons unknown to us, there is no link to onthefly.com, or our Sale items. A boy can dream...

If I'm going to promote movies that aren't even being shot yet, I might as well link to a trailer for a movie coming soon: Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. Stars Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams. From the trailer, it seems to bear little resemblance to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels, but I will (1) go back and re-read one with an eye out for fist-fights, and (2) keep an open mind. If the movie attracts to new fans to the detective, surely that can't be a bad thing. 

(h/t kottke.org)

In the interests of transparency, here were my ballpark assumptions: 

A typical Double Corona is almost 8 inches long
A typical Double Corona takes about 90 minutes to smoke assuming a reasonable pace
The cigar mentioned below is 1704 inches
More controversially, I assumed there were 12 inches in a foot, and 60 minutes in an hour

All that math in order to justify posting this item from Luxist about a new world record for rolling the longest cigar at 142 feet. Previous record? 67 feet. Goal for next record? 6 miles. I'm still crunching the numbers on how long that would take to smoke. Stand by...

The industry jargon for them is "continuity programs", but to most people, they're known as some form of "_____-of-the-Month" clubs. Continuity programs make a great gift because the recipient is reminded of your gift over and over. Today, On The Fly offers three different continuity programs with more to come in the future.

Since we believe the modern gentleman has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, we created the Not Oprah's Book-of-the-Month Club. The selections cover a wide variety of genres (business, politics, pop culture, sports, men's fashion) in the hopes of exposing him to titles that may not make the New York Times Best Seller List (although a couple of selections have topped that list in the past).

Last month, we sent out The Snowball: The Business and Life of Warren Buffet. This month's Book-of-the-Month selection is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell has quickly become one of those must-read authors whose works are sometimes referred to as "pop sociology". Regardless of whether you agree with the central premise of the book - which we will neither spoil, nor explain in a single blog entry - it is safe to say that enough people you know and respect will have read it, that you should read it too. 

Our Sock-of-the-Month Club is for the gentleman that doesn't mind a little personality on his feet. We switch up brands, colors, patterns (stripes, dots, windowpanes, and more), and fabrics (wool, Sea Island Cotton, cotton, cashmere). This month's selection, as every December, is cashmere, and over-the-calf cashmere at that!

For cigar smokers, we have a very special "Occasion" Cigar-of-the-Month club. Each month, members receive just one very special cigar. These cigars are often bought at cigar auctions, from the top cigar retailers in the country, and anywhere else we find rare cigars. December's selection is Padron's 80th Anniversary Maduro Perfecto. Not sure what needs to be said about Padron's cigars -- even their least expensive cigars are deliciously spicy and a great value. This cigar is arguably the finest they've made, and received a score of 95 from Cigar Aficionado (disagree with them as we might on occasion, but a 95 is a very special score).

Sign him up for to receive a carefully selected book, cigar, or sock from On The Fly and he'll be thanking you every month till next November.

We have covered several different guidelines for shopping for "the guy who has everything". Today's idea incorporates a couple of those rules, and introduces a new one.

1. Gift him something he wouldn't buy himself.
   
2. Gift for his hobbies or passions.
   

And a new suggestion is: Gift him the impractical version of the practical something he already owns. 

The Desktop Lighter is an excellent example of this principle in practice. The serious cigar smoker already owns a cutter, a cigar case, a humidor, and a lighter. Each dutifully executes its objective. The Desktop Lighter, on the other hand, is all about symbolism. It is a brilliant gift idea precisely because of its impracticality. 

First of all, few men (or women for that matter) work in an office that allows cigar smoking (ironically, the nation's lawmakers are still allowed to smoke cigars in Capitol offices although that has gotten some of them in trouble). Those that "work from home" may also be prohibited from smoking cigars in the house by their SO's. So what purpose does it fulfill? Well, it signals to anyone around his desk that he enjoys fine cigars (and all of the connotations - positive & negative - that come with it). And, it's so Old School to reach across a desk with a substantial lighter in your hand to light someone else's smoke.

The only real risk to giving a Desktop Lighter is that a crazy salesperson uses it to demonstrate his brake pads: 

We have weighed the risks...it's worth taking.

Other gift ideas that follow this theme include Champagne Sabres, gold-plated tape dispensers, Sterling Silver razor sets, 100% cashmere socks, and tumbled crocodile gym bags, to name a few. Sure there are less expensive, more practical alternatives but what's the fun in that?

May's Cigar-of-the-Month selection is already in the mail -- the 2005 God of Fire Carlito Blend -- but we may have discovered June's cigar in this morning's New York Times. 

The inside page of the Business section features a small story about a Minnesota company called Ruyan America that has invented a cigar that produces water vapor instead of smoke. Whaa?

According to the company, the "E-Cigar" is "a revolutionary product and new to the world of electronic smoking substitutes/cigarettes alternatives".  To really grasp the complexity of this product, you should visit the company's site and check out the internal view of the cigar that illustrates the "nicotine-infused cartridge", "atomizer", "airflow sensor", "lithium battery", "red LED", and other components you have never, ever heard of in a cigar. Then again, I was not aware of a "world of electronic smoking" existed.

The cigar is 5 1/2" long with a 50 ring gauge, and "looks and feels like a premium traditional cigar". Each cigar is good for 1,800 "mouthfuls of vapor" (a flavor I have been dying to find in a cigar), and costs about $40.

Feeling like it was my duty to buy one of these "cigars" and try it, I immediately clicked the "Where to Buy" button. To my dismay, there is only one online retailer, and they seem to only have the E-Cigarette products, and lord knows I ain't ever smoked no cigarette.

In their defense, the company's President acknowledges that a real cigar aficionado will not be "blown away" by the cigar, but with specs like these, the casual smoker may be a centrifuge away from a dirty bomb. God help us.