Cigar Selection
Relaxing with a great cigar is one of life’s great pleasures, yet the search for a cigar can seem overwhelming. How do you know which cigar is right for you? Why are Cubans considered the best? What are the best cigars for beginners?
This guide will answer these questions and more, showing you how to select a cigar for your taste and style.
Choosing your first cigar can be immensely rewarding. It shouldn’t be overwhelming. With just a few helpful tips, you will be able to choose a cigar quickly and confidently. Then you can get down to the business of savoring a great smoke.
Body
The first step is to decide the level of body you want. Body is the characteristic texture of a cigar that falls on the palate.
Body ranges from mild-bodied to full-bodied and everywhere in between. Milder smokes are generally lighter on the palate and ideal cigars for beginners.
Size
Size will determine how long you need to smoke a cigar. Yet different sizes of the same blend will also offer uniquely different experiences. Choose a size that fits the time you have to savor the smoke. As you smoke more cigars you will learn the sizes that offer you the most pleasure in body and taste.
Shape
The shape of a cigar can also affect how a cigar will smoke. Shaped cigars, such as Torpedos or Pyramids, can deliver a smoke quite different from parejos or straight cigars of the same blend. As shaped cigars are more difficult to make, they are also generally more expensive.
Discovering the best level of body, size and shape works will take some trial and error, so don’t worry about trying to find the perfect cigar straight away. Experimentation is fun. Just be sure to do a quick visual inspection of the cigar to check it is not damaged. Take note of the differences between each and what you like or dislike, so you can better focus in on what works best for you.
Judging cigars is subjective, but quality is undoubted. From seed to your humidor, a high-quality cigar requires a great attention to detail, through every step of the cigar making process. The best cigars come from the most experienced cigar makers, using only the highest quality tobaccos. Expert blenders can maximize every nuance of the tobacco to ensure your smoke is satisfying to the last.
How a cigar looks, feels, and even smells can give you a clue to its quality. Familiarizing yourself with how a cigar is made, different tobacco growing regions, tobacco types, and even the most respected cigar manufacturers will help you pick a cigar.
Cuban cigars offer a tremendous range of body, complexity, and taste. They combine some of the most fertile tobacco growing regions in the world with generations of time-honored cigar making techniques. The best Cuban brands, such as Cohiba and Montecristo, are consistently ranked as the very best cigars in the world, setting the standard for all other cigars to follow.
While your own preferences will ultimately decide which cigars are best for you, Cuban cigars offer the quality in tobacco, construction, and smoke necessary to make them the top choice.
Starting your cigar journey with milder cigars will not only help you ease into the world of cigars, but it will also enable your palate to become accustomed with the finer nuances of high-quality tobacco. Mild does not mean less flavor. It simply means lighter in strength. You can still have a mild cigar that is immensely flavorful.
The best mild cigars can deliver deeply flavorful and complex smokes that are every bit as rewarding as stronger cigars. Popular milder smokes include the Dominican-made Davidoff Signature, Macanudo Café, Ashton Classic, and others. Their Cuban-crafted counterparts are even smoother and tastier. Cubans are crafted to deliver elegantly refined yet flavorful smokes.
Contrary to popular myth, most Cuban cigars are not full-bodied, powerhouse smokes. There are wondrously smooth Cuban cigars that touch the milder range. For example, Fonseca, Por Larranaga, and H. Upmann offer some fabulously mellow and delicious options. These milder smokes also provide a gateway to medium-to-full bodied cigars that will bring your palate and tastebuds to a whole new level of cigar smoking enjoyment.
A cigar can become a crowd-favorite due to its size, shape, blend, value, mystique, or simply its marketability. A cigar’s popularity might also be due to the buzz created by a particularly high cigar rating in one of the industry’s top publications. Popular cigars are not necessarily the best cigars. They are just the best known.
The more popular cigar sizes you will encounter are Robusto, Churchill, and Torpedo. The most popular premium brands include Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, Arturo Fuente, Macanudo, Rocky Patel or Partagas. While popularity might rise or fall for many cigars, these are amongst the tried, tested and true favorites.
Popular cigars are not always the best cigars for you. Experiment and try lesser-known cigars as well as popular options, letting your own tastes be the ultimate judge. Take note of cigars that might have slipped under the radar. You never know what hidden treasures are out there. So have fun with the experience. Your perfect cigar is waiting to be discovered!
Those cigars which retain high popularity over the years, do so by consistently delivering an exceptional cigar smoking experience that appeals to a broad audience. These brands are the cream of the crop, the top cigar brands available in the World today.
From Davidoff and La Aurora to Padron, Ashton, Fuente and Tatuaje, there are many great brands from the Dominican
Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, and other cigar-producing regions throughout the world. Yet none can truly compare with the greats that Cuba has to offer.
The character of each cigar is rooted in the brand’s origins, whether it be the age-old Partagas and H. Upmann brands, or the relative newcomers like Cohiba, Trinidad and Vegas Robaina. Cuba’s tobacco, soil, and climate are completely unique. And their cigar making techniques that have been honed to a fine art. These top cigar brands are a mark of greatness.
The absolute best Cuban cigars, such as the storied Montecristo No. 2, have achieved legendary status for their unique blend of high-quality tobacco, expert craftsmanship and deeply rewarding character. While Cuban cigars may not be for everyone’s taste, they deserved to be tried and tasted by everyone.
Choosing a cigar can be incredibly rewarding, and with a little practice, it can become second nature. You have to start somewhere, so take this article as a first little step towards choosing a cigar today. Don’t worry if that first cigar isn’t “the one,” you will find it in time. There is no rush. Just enjoy the journey!