Category: Choosing the right cigar
Read our best tips when choosing a cigar. Cigars are a taste experience and choosing the right cigar for the moment elevates the moment.
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What Is a Connecticut Cigar? The Wrapper Explained
A Connecticut cigar is named after its wrapper. Not the country it was made in, not the filler inside it. The tobacco in the middle usually comes from Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic, and the band says Connecticut because of the leaf on the outside. That is the simple answer. Two complications follow, and both…
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Robusto vs Toro: Real Smoke Times, Flavor and Which One to Choose
Robusto vs toro. Stand in front of any walk-in humidor long enough and you will face that choice. Two shelves. Two sizes. Often the same band on both. Most guides answer it in two lines. The robusto is short and bold. The toro is long and complex. Pick one. That is not wrong. It is…
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The Robusto: Why It Became the World’s Most Popular Cigar Size
Walk into any cigar shop in the world and the robusto will be the size filling most of the humidor. Every major brand produces one. Most produce several. It is the format blenders reach for first when launching a new line and the cigar that sits in more humidors than any other vitola on earth.…
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Small Batch vs Large Production Cigars: Does Scale Affect Quality?
By Peter | VDG Cigars | Certified Cigar Sommelier I’ll tell you where I stand: I love small batch cigars. It comes down to two things — the tobacco and the craftsmanship. When a blender gets hold of leaf that has been aging for seven, eight, ten years and builds a cigar around it with…
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Boutique vs Mass-Market Cigars: What’s Actually Different
Boutique cigars and mass-market cigars are not separated by quality of construction or price alone. They are separated by who made the blending decisions, why, and for whom. That is the short answer. Everything below explains why that distinction matters more than anything else you will read on this topic. I’ve been smoking premium cigars…
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Hand-Rolled vs Machine-Made Cigars: What Every New Smoker Should Know
If you are just getting into cigars, one of the first things worth understanding is the difference between a hand-rolled cigar and a machine-made one. Price is part of it, but the construction method goes deeper than that. It affects the tobacco inside, the way the cigar burns, the flavors you experience, and whether resting…
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Buying Cigars by the Box vs. Singles: Which Is Worth It?
Every cigar smoker reaches the same crossroads eventually. Box or single cigars — do you commit to a full box or keep it flexible with singles? You’ve found a blend you like, your humidor has room, and the math on a box looks appealing. So you pull the trigger — or you don’t, because singles…
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Best Time of Day to Smoke a Cigar
There is no universal answer. But there is a right answer for you — and finding it changes everything about how a cigar feels, tastes, and stays with you. Most people who ask “when is the best time to smoke a cigar?” are really asking something deeper: when will this actually be worth it? When…
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Are expensive cigars worth it?
There’s a moment every cigar smoker hits eventually. You’re standing in a humidor, holding an expensive cigar, and a voice in your head says: what the hell am I doing? I’ve been there. More than once. After reviewing cigars across the full price spectrum – from $4 sticks to $25+ boutique releases – here’s my…
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The 10 Best Cigars for Groomsmen: Reviewed and Ready to Light
Finding the best cigars for groomsmen means balancing quality, body, and smoke time for a group with different experience levels. The morning of a wedding moves fast. Someone’s tie is crooked, the photographer is running late, and the champagne is already open before noon. But there is that one moment, right after the ceremony or…
