OT: Cigar Aficionados - What's your favorite cigar?
It's been a little slow on the board lately, thought I'd throw out a little OT.
I'm sure we've got a few cigar folks on the site, thought I'd get a few opinions as a novice and occasional cigar smoker.
What's your go-to for the following:
Special Occasions?
Golf/Tailgating?
Cheap?
I haven't experienced a lot of different ones yet, but so far I'm a fan of the Rocky Patel 1999 Vintage Connecticuts & Romeo y Julieta's House of Montague(or Capulet for that matter) 6x60s.
Any recommendations on accessories are also more than welcome.
Go Blue!
My go-to cigar -- Romeo y Julieta 1875
My nice occassion cigar -- Olivia Serie V melanio
I haven't had a cigar in ages, but that 1875 was always my favorite.
the v is their best but the o doesn't get as much love as it deserves...big fan of both. prefer torpedos when i'm grilling and churchhills for the golf course
Do the churchhills burn slower than say, a magnum or double toro? I'm still learning about some of this stuff. I have leaned away from the smaller and thinner cigars as a general rule. I guess my preference has been that if I'm going to smoke a cigar, I don't want it to feel like I'm smoking a cigarette.
the churchills are longer so you can smoke them longer (sorry if this is obvious) but i haven't noticed a slower burn. Agree with you on the smaller cigars...i'm not a fan. i find torpedos to be the perfect size.
I usually go for the 6x60's... that's my favorite as of the moment.
Montecristo #2 and a box of Montecristo #4 at my wedding reception 20 years ago. Father-in-law was in Sweden the week before and "smuggled" them into the country. Best stogies I have ever smoked by far.
He also brought some single malt and a bottle of port wine for desert. Both bottles were >$2,000. He was giving away his youngest daughter and spent $$$ like it. Fantastic afternoon.
Sounds like it was quite the event. $2000 in the 80's?.. Damn again! Congrats on your recent 20 year anniversary!
in the late 90s but yes. $4,000+ for 2 bottles alcohol (plus there was other alcohol there, just regular stuff like Crown Royal and Chivas Regal) and whatever he spent on the cuban cigars. Only about 25 people there. Immediate family.
And thanks! We were best friends, who then started dating, who then quickly got married. It has worked out wonderfully and I would not change a thing. She's my soul mate. And she reads MGoBlog.
Good call... I seemly always forget that the 80's were 30(!) years ago, not 20. My fault on that. Congrats on bagging a good one, and working hard to gain those extra mgopoints at home!
Smoking causes all types of cancer.
So does the sun, what's your point? People are free to live as they choose, i'm not a smoker nor have I ever been but I'm not going to go out of my way to tell people it's unhealthy.
I knew this would pop up somewhere... WE KNOW! Thanks DAD! lol
I'm just looking out for my Michigan brethren....or as some people like to say, "bretheren" or "brotheren."
also causes cancer so there ya go.
Cigar smokers have a very small increase in risk of cancer to those who do not smoke. In some categories, there is no significant difference.
But I'll let you do the research on that.
George Burns, Milton Berle, Winston Churchill, ALfred Hitchock and many others lived long lives and smoked cigars.
People forget that Cigars are made from pure tobacco with no additives unlike cigarettes.
davidoff signature or padron 1926 series are the best i've had but they are pricey. Oliva V or O series are good (V is better and more expensive) for a regular smoke. Also Kristoff Maduro is one of my favs that doesn't break the bank...
I am liking Diesels (most varieties) and Punch Bareknuckles are pretty tasty as well.
You got Backwods!?
Nothing but the best for the strongest man.....in the world!
Anything Davidoff is fantastic but a little pricey, LFD Chapter One is my go to.
Henne,
Even as a novice you should really explore the Cuban cigar world. There's a number of reliable sources I could recommend for you that get you fantastic cigars at a far cheaper price than crap cigars in the US (thanks to no taxes on an illegal item). I smoke plenty that are less than $2 a stick and taste far better than Phillies blunts of Swisher Sweets.
Please do tell!
I'd have genuine interest, though I'm not sure I'd classify what I smoke as phillies blunts or swisher sweets.. lol.. I'm not that cheap.
Since there's no DM ability on this site, I'll just post some legit sites. If it violates any rules as a possible endorsement or ad then the mods can delete my comment.
One of the best (and fastest) sites out there is CigarsofHabanos.com. They are based in Hong Kong and ship out of Europe for those in the US. Typically people living east of St Louis will have boxes sent thru JFK and typically won't have things seized by Customs. West of STL will often go thru LAX, and they make it a bit more challenging. Ravi (the owner) guarantees delivery of his product so no need to fret either way. If you need lists of up-to-date box codes that Ravi has in stock, I can usually get those to you.
Another (relatively) local site is BellHopCigars. They're based in Canada and Canadians love to tax the shit out of tobacco products, so they're more expensive. Cool thing about them though is that they ship very fast and you can actually speak to a live person about your order. They're family owned so that's nice. But quite expensive comparatively.
There's other sites that are a bit more exclusive (members only sort of thing) but I'd be glad to help out a fellow Wolverine by sending you the links to those sites.
I saved this post in case it gets modded.... Thanks in advance!
Anytime. It's a great time getting into Cuban cigars. The industry has changed dramatically in the past few years but it's still a great time exploring all the flavors and brands.
I appreciate the feedback on this. I may give it a try. As far as the members only, I do appreciate the offer, but I'm not all that serious about my cigar habit at the moment. Very kind of you though!
Anytime. I meant no offense with the Phillies/Swishers comment, just that for a really cheap price you can get fantastic cigars out of Cuba. It all comes down to the different composition of the cigars being sold. The main ones you'd think of (Cohiba, Montecristo, R&J, etc.) all use long filler tobacco in their blends. It's a more sought after leaf, so it naturally goes into the premium blends. All the rest is called short filler and that's what you get in the cheaper variety of Cubans. It's still grown in the same soil, under the same condition and comes from the same plant. Just typically not as dynamic (no flavor changes throughout the smoke) and often has more smokability issues (less quality control).
Zero offense taken and I certainly didn't mean any in my response. I took it as a joke, and attempted one in return. I appreciate your thoughtful additions to the thread. This post in particular has some really interesting and educational stuff in it. Much appreciated!
None taken either, just don't want to offend.
One of the best resources for furthering your knowledge is CubanCigarWebsite.com. Trevor (the creator) has put tons of time into the site and keeps it very up-to-date.
I'll check in on this thread until it drops off the main page, so if you have questions or anyone else does I'll be glad to help.
just became best friends
It's amazing what can happen when people don't immediately get pissed off at one another during OT season, isn't it?
Agreed.
Also recommend TopCubans. "Friends of mine" have been using TC for years.
but I much prefer the smell of a good cigar over any cigarette I have ever second-handed. Did try Cohibas (¿Esplendidos?) on a Caribbean cruise back in the early 90's; I bought one in each of 4 ports, three of which were definitely genuine, they were quite nice.
Famous JFK/Cuba Petite Upmann (please no politics!) story:
I've been enjoying the Rocky Patel Decades lately.
Is it just Rocky Patel that has a million different varieties, or is that every halfway decent cigar brand?
Double Post
Seems like it. Ashton has a lot too.
It's kind of a pain trying to keep up with all of the different brands, let alone the sub-brands!