Asking the cigar smoking community on hexbear, what are your favourites? How you usually enjoy them and perhaps with what?
I personally don’t smoke that much, like to get a good one(be that Romeo and Juliet or other brand, don’t really have big preferences, much just the quality of it and Cuban origin) and then smoke it trough a hike. Goes nice together while sightseeing.
I love seeing more of this content on Hexbear.
For those who are curious but don’t know much about cigars, something I usually tell people is that just because it’s a Cuban cigar doesn’t mean it’s good and just because it’s a non-Cuban cigar doesn’t mean it’s bad. I love both Cuban (Old World) and non-Cuban (New World) cigars for different reasons.
One of my favorite New Worlds will probably always be Arturo Fuente. I love Añejos the most, even more than their Opus line. I’m currently smoking an Arturo Fuente Añejo #48 as I type this with some water. The #49 double corona is my favorite Añejo but am not lucky enough to have a box, just a few singles. Although I do have a box of the Añejo Sharks, still love the #49’s more though. I also really love their Don Carlos (especially #2, my backup or next cigar for today) and their Opus X (double corona, in particular), but also even their simpler 858 line with the Sungrowns especially but also Maduros. Another obviously great non-Cuban marca is Padrón. I love Padrón 1964 Naturals, I have a box of the Diplomaticos which are my favorite viotla. All of the Padróns are excellent and consistent. It goes without saying that their 50th Anniversary the Hammer is amazing, but I also love the Family Reserve and 1926. I can only smoke the 1964s in Natural, though, the Maduros are somehow way too peppery for me and really fuck me up. I dislike very peppery or very strong cigars, they tend to overwhelm me. But My Fathers are also great, as well as so many lines from Foundation. But AF and Padrón are my favorites. Some lesser known but absolutely incredible lines for those in-the-know which are my other favorites are P.G. and Casdagli. I absolutely love the Casdagli Traditional Cafe lancero in natural. Just an incredibly complex and rich and gorgeous cigar. Probably the best non-Cuban cigar I’ve ever smoked.
I love Cubans most of all though. They are the perfect cigars for me. So creamy and light. RASS are my favorite. I first fell in love with cigars with a RASS. When I get a cream bomb RASS, I know why I smoke cigars. RyJ Churchills are also incredible, have half a box left of those and aging them. H Upmann’s are also delicious and love a Half Corona in the morning. I have a nice box of Montecriso No 1’s I’m working through, love their lancero-type vitola. Partagas Lusitanias go without introduction, probably the best box of Cubans I have the honor of owning. I love all of these and more. There isn’t a handrolled, long-filler Cuban marca I would turn down. I can keep going on and on.
For vitolas, I love double coronas and lanceros the most and will always buy a cigar in that vitola if possible. Lanceros get characterized as “girly” or “feminine” by chuds who want a big, thick cigar to show off how… manly they are? But lanceros are the quintessential form of the cigar for me and are so complex require only master rollers to create them. Anyone who skips on them is skipping the experience of cigars. It is nice to have discussions about cigars with comrades or with people who really love cigars because the pretensions of chuds are ignored and we can enjoy cigars for what they are without having to prove something. Large ring-gauge (thick) cigars kinda miss some taste for me because it is mostly filler and I love tasting the binder and wrapper as much as possible so I love thin cigars like lanceros. If you notice in pictures, most of the time Che and Fidel are usually smoking coronas or double coronas—not particularly thick cigars. But I’ll take a double corona or a churchill anyday.
Whisky (scotch) was usually my go-to for cigar pairing, but eventually I found that, although I love whisky, the whisky really overwhelms the cigar for me. I don’t have such advanced palate that I can drink an Islay or a sherried Highland whisky and still taste a delicate Cuban. So, for hard alcohol, I go for rum which pairs excellently as a traditional drink for a cigar but also because of its high-sugar content that allows the nicotine hit of a cigar to be softened a little. Otherwise, some light red wine or port. A cocktail if I’m lucky enough. But usually, and always if I’m tasting a rare or expensive or new cigar, just water. And, if possible, always preferred with good company. Otherwise, a good book. Currently being kept company by Marx himself as I am re-reading Das Kapital.
If anyone has any questions or wants recommendations, please ask.
Ooh good call on the lanceros. Panetelas are a great format. Not gonna blow you out of the water with nicotine, but still a nice long smoke.
I have questions! I’m a pretty big fan of the punchy and sweet flavors of the cheapo Backwoods and similar cigarillos. If I wanted to make the jump into something that’s actually decent/respectable quality, where would I start? As a side reference, I consider black cavendish pipe tobacco to be my ultimate personal blend. Other than that, the only thing I don’t enjoy is the harsher bitter/coffee flavors. So any recommendations would be awesome!
Cool! That’s a good question.
I’ll preface this by saying it’s a little difficult for me because I don’t have experience with Backwoods nor any pipe tobacco (smells delicious though) so I am just approximating here but I think I understand what you mean.
I think your best bet if you want something sweet and maybe “punchy” would be maduros generally. There are many different types of cigars based on the fermentation of the wrapper (outermost part of the cigar, basically what is seen) but the common two are: Natural and Maduro. Naturals are what you probably mostly think of when you think cigar: light brown, almost khaki beige color. Maduros can vary in intensity of color but are usually dark brown to black.
You should take Cigar Aficionado with a grain of salt, all the reviews are purchased, but they are right here:
https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/that-old-black-magic-8470
After that, I would say stay away from Nicaraguans for a while. Some may disagree but I find them strong and peppery, sometimes with a strong black coffee taste. I’d recommend gravitating to Dominicans to start.
A very, very decent and good starter Dominican Maduro that hopefully won’t set you back too much should be Arturo Fuente 858 Maduro.
Coincidentally also one of the first cigars that convinced me to keep with it and were my “daily” cigar for a long time. They’re not too strong and can have that nice, sweet taste to it at times. Every individual cigar taste depends on many things from how they’re kept to how well they are lit, though, so your experience may differ. But I think that is a good place for you to start! Enjoy!
Awesome! I’ll try and hit up my local spot this weekend and see if they’ve got something in stock!
Cool! Let me know how it goes!
Meant to reply earlier, but it was a hell of a week. I did manage to pick up the cigar you mentioned (on mobile, not gonna try and spell it and totally butcher the spelling), as well as another similar cigar recommended by the clerk in charge of the humidor.
Was definitely enjoyable! Didn’t go so great with bourbon, but I liked them both! Oddly enough, the second one went with some pink lemonade, and the sour contrast kinda added to the whole experience.
Anyways, that’s my layman’s casual take on dipping my feet into real cigars. Thank you for the recommendation!
No worries at all! The last couple of weeks were a tough time for me too, honestly.
But I’m glad you tried it and enjoyed it! I hope it helped you relax. I’ve coincidentally been smoking at least one 858 a day lately. Beautiful cigars.
That is actually a good observation on your part though. I don’t know if I mentioned it above, I don’t want to reread my ramblings, but I usually always drink water with a new cigar or rare cigar. Mostly because a whisky (as much as I love them) will drown out the taste of cigars for me and doing that with a rare or expensive cigar is a waste, but also because sometimes a cigar and whisky will hit harshly and you never know until you smoke the cigar first. Also, the second observation you made is a really popular one. You probably know from smoking before, but many, many people smoke cigars with something sweet. Soda, lemonade, and so on. The sugar in the drink counteracts the strength of the nicotine in the cigar so it’s a common tactic to soften a cigar and avoid nicotine sickness. I don’t do that as much because I’m ironically very sensitive to sugar and I don’t drink many sugary drinks but it’s very popular to do so and scientifically supported. Some prefer it. Maybe pair whichever cigar you try next with a sugary drink again and you’ll enjoy it more.
I’m really glad you liked both though! Out of curiosity, what was the second cigar? Maybe I can make another recommendation based off it.
Always feel free to message me or whatever if you want to chat about it.
Gonna say, the comment is amazing. This may be a gold nugget for those comrades who want to get into smoking cigars!
Gonna agree, Arturo Fuentes are amazing! Meanwhile the Romeo and Juliet Churchills are great too. Was smoking one while typing the post, felt great to hear good words about it.
I’m not much of a cigar aficionado, but your words on Lanceros made me interested in them. I hate the putrid taste of chuds in the hobby, so I will definitely try them again in the nearest future. Smoked them only once and don’t even remember how long ago it was. Thanks for the recommendation, mate!