Cigars..

[F14A-B]

I use to love a great cigar many years ago, had a guy who worked for me who went to Cuba and brought back cigars.. if a stem had poked thru he gave them to me and I gladly smoked them. He’d get 40$ a piece. So what are you guys smoking these days? What’s a very good cigar that doesn’t have a steep price? I’ve been craving for some reason..

[Mike L]

Price is relative.
All so called “Premium” cigars aren’t considered cheap.

I smoked H Upmann for years but they became a scarce for awhile. 
Since then my taste changed and didn’t want a Honduran or Nicaraguan filler anymore plus thier ring size seemed too big. 
As I got older I wanted something a little milder. 
 

Now I smoke a Macanudo Hampton Court. It’s the most mild cigar I ever smoked with a Connecticut wrapper and filler from the Dominican Republic. 
 

It has a 42 ring and being 5” long it’s just right 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

[F14A-B]

4 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Price is relative.
All so called “Premium” cigars aren’t considered cheap.

I smoked H Upmann for years but they became a scarce for awhile. 
Since then my taste changed and didn’t want a Honduran or Nicaraguan filler anymore plus thier ring size seemed too big. 
As I got older I wanted something a little milder. 
 

Now I smoke a Macanudo Hampton Court. It’s the most mild cigar I ever smoked with a Connecticut wrapper and filler from the Dominican Republic. 
 

It has a 42 ring and being 5” long it’s just right 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

I smoked a few Mac’s many years ago, use to pay like 7$ for them, those were Dom. Repub.. they were very good smokes in those days and affordable. 
 

What about Cuban leaves? Are they legal now to import? I mean I’m not gonna drop 30$ on a smoke, but I’d go 20$ easily.. 

[Mike L]

Nope

It’s been illegal to import anything from Cuba since the 60’s. 
I understand that now you can’t import anything that’s made in Cuba even from another country either.  
 

You can find a quality hand made cigar at most locations especially the small  independent makers for a “reasonable” price, but they’re still gonna be more than all machine made mass produced ones 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

[padlin]

Now a days, it’s only once in a while when fishing.

 

Arturo Fuentes Hemmingways and Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real in corona. I also have a few Padron 1926 #35’s in natural, these are kind of strong for me which explains why I still have them, excellent cigar though.

 

Mostly it’s the Romeo y Julieta’s, a little milder, although that may be due to the diameter of a coronas, and more affordable when ordered by the box on line. The Hemmingway’s taste like crap when relit, which is all the time when fishing, the R y J’s do not.

[TnRiver46]

[TOXIC]

My cigar voyage was a fun one while it lasted.  I traveled in some groups when I was working that had access to some pretty exclusive sticks including Cubans.  They weren’t a favorite of mine though.  I started with macanudos because of their mild smoke and very good flavor.  I started experimenting when they had quality issues and inconsistencies with their center flavor leaves.  I started attending a local cigar shop event that was the first Wednesday of every month.  For $30 you got 2 hand rolled cigars made on site by rollers brought in from the different brands.  Along with that you got all the booze you could drink and hors d’oeuvres you could eat.  It was a great time and I learned a lot about cigars from the rollers that spoke English.  I worked my way through all the various wrappers (Connecticut/madero/blonde/natural, etc) and as my palate got more refined, I zero’d in on what I liked.  I ended up really liking PUNCH. I was fly fishing and also bass fishing where there were hoards of mosquitoes, black flys and gnats and I found out a cigar kept them all at bay.  I couldn’t smoke full size sticks all day so I added Hoyo De Monterrey mini smokes to my humidor.  They were great tasting and came in a tin I could store in the boat or my pocket.  They were “dry cured” and didn’t benefit from a humidor.  Unfortunately I liked them so much, I started buying them by the sleeve and smoking them very regularly at home vs the occasional full size stick.  When I was getting ready to retire 5+ years ago both my wife and my best friend fishing partner asked me to give up the cigars generally for my health, not that I had any problems.  The day I retired, I had my last small cigar and while I always said I would allow myself an occasional smoke, I haven’t had one since either full size or small.  I have a tin of small ones and a humidor with some Cubans and Dominicans, but they are for guests.  I do miss them because I truly liked the taste of a good cigar but so far, I haven’t fired one up.  It’s always a possibility. 😂 

[Junger]

I would say my "daily" is a My Father Judge Grand Robusto that runs about $12/stick. It just won CA's 2024 COY. Others in that price range is the Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo and Perdomo 30th Maduro Churchill (sizes I prefer). And if you want something special, but accessible, it's hard to beat the Fuente Anejo Shark #77 or a Padron 1926 #48 for about $25. These are medium-full smokes, so you'll turn green if you haven't had a cigar in a while.