The first step is to go to a tobacconist or cigar store. This store will ideally have a walk-in humidor that is maintained properly, and ideally have a knowledgeable staff. It’s easier to smoke cigars that are store bought early on in your cigar-smoking career because it gives you the chance to closely inspect and smell the different sticks.

You’re going to want to ask yourself several questions when picking out a cigar; the most important question is how long you have to smoke. You should never rush smoking a cigar, and so you should always choose a cigar with a size appropriate to your time constraints; if you have 50 minutes, a robusto would be good for you. If you have an hour or more, a double robusto or churchill might be more your style. Also, remember that the ring gauge effects how intense the smoke is; if you want to really feel the fullness of a cigar, bigger ring gauges are better; if you’re a lighter smoker, try a lancero or petite corona.

Next, you need to identify what flavors you want in a cigar. I would say that in my experience, there are two types of cigars, or two main flavor profiles: spicy, and sweet. Spicy cigars tend to have flavors like black pepper, leather, white pepper, paprika, cumin, dull salt, hickory, oak, cedar, occasionally a very mild creamy coffee flavor, and things of that nature. Sweet cigars tend to taste like dark fruits, chocolate, espresso, coffee, earth, bark, peat, latte, mocha, vanilla, and caramel. Decide which is right for you. I know that, personally, the spicy cigars are my favorite. Things like the Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic and the Nub Habano are right up my alley. For sweeter cigars, you could try a Nica Libre or a 5 Vegas ‘A.’

This actually brings me to my final point on choosing cigars, or second to final, I suppose; as you smoke, you’ll develop a taste for different types of tobacco. Doing your research and knowing what countries the tobacco you’re smoking comes from will go a long ways toward helping you smoke good cigars. The big growing regions tend to be Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Connecticut, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Italy, India, and Africa. You’ll see other, rare tobaccos from time to time, and those are always a treat, but certain countries seem to have different characteristics in their tobacco. Nicaragua and Honduras grow very strong, spicy tobacco whereas Peru and Mexico seem to produce dark, rough, sweet tobacco with citrus or fruit flavors.

Finally, comes price. A higher price does not mean the cigar will be better; there are exceptions to this (such as the Opus X, the God of Fire, etc.) but perfectly good cigars come in the 5 dollar range all the time. Good brands to check are 5 Vegas, Tatjuaje, and often enough CAO.

If you have any questions about cigars, feel free to post them in the comments section below!

Size/Vitola: Belicoso (6.2×52)

Cost: $10.00

Wrapper: Dominican Corojo

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano, Dominican Corojo

So here it is, the first cool day of summer (August 27th) sitting at a pleasent 57 degrees. I’ve got in my hand, the 5 Vegas Limitada 2009. I had one before, and was thoroughly unimpressed. It just looks, and smells, like such a great cigar, though; to this end, I’m testing it again with two or three months of age on it. Smells like sweet coffee, almost Ecuadorian Coffee (if you’ve never had it, get it; amazing aroma and flavor.)

The first couple of puffs do have a bit of a brown sugar and oatmeal sort of taste. It’s pleasent but the cigar has already started to canoe badly. This means that one side is burning quicker then the others, creating a canoe shape. Having to touch the limitada up so early is really disappointing and means that it’s going to burn hot, and taste a little burnt for a few drags; bummer. After the flavor of hot tobacco clears up a little, I’m left with a bit of light vanilla on top of tobacco. The cigar also has very clean cedar in it.

One thing I have noticed is that this is a sight stronger then the Limitada 2008. A little digging around insists that this is the strongest limitada yet, making me think this might have been born to appeal to the US Market, which currently seems to favor strong cigars. This might explain why it isn’t so great; I can compare it, as an opposite, to Rocky Patel’s Connecticut blend. If you’ve had any of the high-end Rocky Patel cigars (Decade, Olde World Reserve, The Edge) then you’ll know he makes a strong, mean stick. The Connecticut by Rocky Patel was very poor, in my opinion. My guess is his palette isn’t really suitable for light cigars; so is it true with 5 Vegas, perhaps the blenders there just don’t make great strong cigars (though the 5 Vegas Cask Strength and Series A would sort of throw that into question.)

Now that this 5 Vegas has stopped cannoing near the end of the first third, the flavor is really very good; light sugar, with a distinguished tobacco overtone. There is a little bit of a maple-honey flavor as well. I noticed that this cigar has a very peculiar aroma; to me it smells a big like bananas, and the flavor has a bit of a plaintain flavor to it, though it’s really hard to distinguish.

The more I smoke into the second third, the more this reminds me of the Padilla Obsidian; they both have good flavor when you get it to burn correctly, but it takes a ton of maintence and touching up that leaves it hot most of the time, and thus bland. Not even really into the middle of the second third, I needed to toss this one. Too hot, developed a mean plug I couldn’t seem to work out, and a burnt flavor. I’m disappointed in this cigar, since it’s so beautiful and smells so good.
Appearance: 9/10

Construction: 5/10

Draw/Smoke: 5/10

Flavor: 7/10

Impression: 6/10

Overall: 32/50.

Size/Vitola: Perfecto (5.7×54)

Cost: $12.95

Wrapper: Dominican

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan Habano

Alright. So first, I’d like to let you guys know where I’ve been: home. I’ve had this wonderful time at my parent’s house, spending time with my Nephew and family, and I’ve had the fantastic opportunity to smoke some stogies with my father, the man who I believe I owe my taste in cigars to. It’s been incredibly enjoyable, and I just want to really highlight how much I enjoy the times I get to smoke with him. It’s a really fantastic bonding experience.

Now down to business, eh? In my hands, I hold the fantastic-feeling Matasa 30th Anniversary Edition. It’s made by Fonseca, and is hailed as a very fantastic cigar. It features fillers from 1995, and a Dominican wrapper. To many, this may not seem odd, but remember that the Fuente Fuente Opus X (the standard for cigars, most would say) was one of the first cigars to use a Dominican wrapper. Another cigar featuring a similar wrapper is the stellarly-ranked La Aurora 100 Anos.  Now, let’s light this bad boy up.

To start,this cigar has a deep, sweet, fruity smell to it off the bat. The cigar itself is a wonderfully-shaped perfecto with only a single seam to it; it’s solid in construction with no noticable soft or hard spots. I’m cutting off the cap, but I think I’ll just burn through the foot of the cigar. I remember that many people do this for the similarly-shaped 5 Vegas Relic, so it might make sense to do it here, too.

The flavor is phenomenal. Paprika flavors, along with a hint of white pepper storm out from the get-go. The draw is absolutely perfect, and it lets of a pleasing amount of smoke. It’s incredibly complex, and I could swear there is a little bit of a horse-raddish flavor creeping in. It’s an unbelivable smoke, and I’ve just had a few puffs. Generally, it’s hard for me to be okay with a cigar that costs much more then seven dollars MSRP. This cigar is nearly twice that, but it justifys itself marvelously.

The smoke smells fantastic as well, very sweet, and incredibly full. The flavors coming out of the cigar after about an inch of smoking includes brown sugar, and all the spices mentioned above. It’s a full-bodied cigar, and I’d expect nothing less from a cigar using all ligero fillers, but it delivers the power in such a smooth way, that any harshness that might be associated with such a powerful stogie is undetectable. I could swear that there is the subtelest taste of cumin in there as well, now that we’re deep into the first third.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the burn tends to sort of become uneven from time to time. I haven’t actually had to touch it up, as a simple rotation of the cigar has sufficed so far. After the first ash, the spice stays in the front of my mouth, but the finish is very sweet. The second third changes it up quite a bit. It now reminds me more of the 100 Anos by La Arora, with a bit more of a mellow taste. There are dull notes of coffee in the finish now, which is actually quite enjoyable. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s an entirely different cigar, but I love how it changes directions. For me, any cigar that can make you notice that the flavors not only develop, but change entirely, is a very fun cigar.

I’ve also noticed a distinct lack of harshness. After each puff, the spice lingers, but it doesn’t dry out my mouth; it’s very smooth, and very buttery. It takes on distinct flavors of wood; not cedar really, but more like pine (not in a sour, bad way; just when you smell pine trees, that’s the taste.) Also, a very destinct nutty taste comes in; I’d say a mix of peanuts and cashews, though the aroma, and I use that word on purpose because it’s a fantastic smell, is so sweet, it makes me think a little bit of nutella.

The last third developed a bit of a plug for me, and made the draw tough. The taste as well got pretty ashy, just around where the band is, so I regretably let this wonderful cigar go out. All in all, this was a fantastic cigar, and a reminder of how lucky I am to be a cigar smoker.

Appearence: 8/10

Construction: 9/10

Draw/Smoke: 9.5/10

Flavor: 9.5/10

Impression: 10/10

Overall: 46/50

Size/Vitola: Toro  (6×50)

Cost: $5.60

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano

Binder: Costa Rica

Filler: Blend of Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, and Columbia

Alright, I’ve had the other MAXX’s before and I adore them. Great smokes, each one, and I’m expecting something similar here. Alec Bradley, in my opinion, has some fantastic blending skills (the Tempus really wowed me) so I’m excited to try this spin-off of the MAXX line.

The cigar smells sweet, like sugar cane. It’s a nice, medium-dark wrapper that has a few very thin veins. Immediately, within the first two puffs, a hazelnut coffee bursts into my mouth. Fantastic flavor, very smooth smoke. A sugar in the front end fades into a cedar-like finish. Destinctive hickory flavor with that sweetness now transfered to the front. In the middle of the first inch or so, a nice pepper comes in to balance this cigar out. Very strong coffee flavors come out after the first inch. Sweet in the smoke. but spicy on the finish. I personally love cigars that have two flavors that balance out like that. The end of the third tastes very much like Mexican chocolate; the cocoa is there, and it’s insanely sweet. The tobacco can be tasted too, and it’s very pleasent all around.  The second third takes on a new tone, and really comes out with strong peat, a very earthy, coffee-like flavor with a bit of spice, and I mean a very subtle hint. The last third is sublimely creamy, like a mocha latte, and incredibly wonderful.

All in all, this was a great cigar, one I will be sure to enjoy again. Try it if you liked the Rocky Patel Fusion MM, or the Nica Libre.

Appearance: 8/10

Construction: 10/10

Draw/Smoke: 9/10

Flavor: 8/10

Impression: 8/10

Overall: 43/50

Size/vitola: Robusto (5×50)

Price: $6.00

Wrapper: Coyolar Honduran

Binder: Coyolar Honduran

Filler: Coyolar Honduran

If you’re anything like me at all, you’re looking at the statistics above and saying, “What the hell is coyolar?” I took the liberty to look it up, and peiced together a theory that it’s the name for the cigar wrapper crop of tobacco grown in a particular part of Danli, Honduras. Interesting. I’ve read that this is a seriously fully cigar, so I ate a delicious philly-cheesesteak in anticipation. I’m going to be using a punch cutter and long matches (so I can burn off the tips) to light it.

The cigar smells sweet, very dark and rich. Cold taste is a light barnyard. The light was beautiful and even, the first flavors are an intense pepper, almost like chewing on unground black pepper. This is all on top of a very nice cedar taste, it tastes almost like peppercorn that had been smoked. Very nice flavor. After the first inch, maybe a little less, the pepper mellows out a little, and a very subtle sweetness seems to come in. I would say, if you’ve ever had something grilled on cherry wood, this would be similar in flavor. Pepper stays on the tongue, but as it burns its way into the middle of the first third, the intesnity dies down a little. You begin to see a little coffee through the nose once you get past the first third. It’s actually a really nice touch, very subtle. So far I have noticed that the burn is a bit uneven. This irks me a bit, since it seems like the opposite side of whichever I’m trying to fix suddenly goes out. Coffee becomes a bit more intense in the end of the second third. It is a lot lighter, as a cigar, then I expected it to be. Again, if you can man up an exhale through the nose, the coffee explodes. Now, it really hits with a strong coffee flavor. Totally different flavor then the first third. Now, this is fantastic. Coffee, pepper, and cedar all start to converge in the last third. There is this amazing ‘wow’ moment, a few puffs, and then it seems to die down to a simple cedar flavor. I was incredibly excited, but I’m going to nub this cigar for sure. The cedar is a nice, clean, finishing note at least. I would kill for a cigar with more of that few puffs worth of flavor, though. Finally, ended with great cedary notes.

Appearance: 8/10

Construction: 7.5

Smoke/Draw: 9/10

Flavor: 8.5/10

Impression: 7/10

Overall: 40/50

Size/Vitola: Robusto (5.2×50)

Cost: $22.00

Wrapper:Ecuadorian Colorado

Binder:Dominican Republic

Filler: Dominican Republic

Alrighty, so I’ve had this stick in my humidor for a few months, and tonight just felt like a good night to try it. That, and I ordered a tubos GoF by Don Carlos, so I figured I might as well burn this one. Smells and feels fantastic, with only a single vein running through it.

Lit this bad boy up with my Xikar Element, which is actually acting up a little bit, and was immediately greeted with a strong, smoky wood flavor. The spice is very present in the aftertaste only, which is a little unusual but surprisingly nice! I could taste a complex variety of spices, including pepper, cinnamon, white pepper, along with a floral note or two. It has a very liquid taste, and the flavor stays toward the back of the mouth, not the front, which really takes away from the harshness some cigars can create. Hints of anise are also present, with almost a peppermint flavor. Toward the end of the first third, a distinct sancha green tea flavor. The second third kicks off with stronger wood flavors, and a leather that seems almost buttery, in a great way. The last third really brings a sweetness out into the front. The spices stay in the background, and the herbal notes mix well with the sweet flavor. It ends on a very, very dark chocolaty flavor.

Appearance: 9/10

Construction: 10/10

Draw/Smoke: 9/10

Flavor: 9.5/10

Impression: 9/10

Overall: 46.5/50

Size/Vitola: Robusto (5.5×50)

Cost: $8.50

Wrapper: Honduras Corojo

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Alright. I’m a fan of Rocky, and after having gifted Stan one of my precious Summer ’09 collection cigars, I was in the mood for an old favorite: The Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve. To be fair, I’ve never had the corojo version; it was gifted to me VIA one of my esteemed BoTLs at cigar.com. I used my Xikar Xi2 and found the cut to be a little hard. Upon inspection, I noticed a good number of stems in the head; I wonder if this’ll be a problem later on. The prelight draw gives me a little spice, and toast. The cigar itself smells pretty sweet.

I get right down to work, match-lighting the cigar, since my Xikar Element is out of butane, and my butane supply is all the way over in my car. The cap starts to peel immediately, but not too badly. The smoke is plentiful, earthy, with a beautiful peppery finish. Toasty taste, with a lot of peat coming through; It’s strong. The smoke is very heavy, plentiful, and compliments a near-perfect draw. Great spice on this cigar, and I have to say, the draw is as good as you could ask for. The primary tastes are earthy, peaty, with a nice subtle hint of pepper staying on the finish. At around the second third, a smokey flavor with a bit of a maple flavor sort of sneaks in. Definitely maintains the flavors, with the smokey syrup melting it’s way through. The flavor is very consistent, and just seems to build into a stronger version of itself. It doesn’t change much, but it’s a great cigar anyhow. I smoked this one to the nub.

Appearence: 9/10

Construction: 8.5/10

Draw/Smoke: 9/10

Flavor: 9/10

Impression: 9/10

Overall: 44.5/50

Size/Vitola: Toro (6.5×52)

Price: $11.00

Wrapper; Ecuadorian Maduro

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Alright; So I’ve smoked this baby before, in the lancero size, and I couldn’t see what the big deal was. I am not a big fan of thin ring guages, and I can safely say, thats what impeded my enjoyment the first time around. The smell of the cigar (which is big for a toro) is similar to a 5 Vegas ‘A’ in that it has a bitter chocolate smell to it. I used my xikar cutter to snip the tip, and the prelight draw was so beautifully open. The taste was of… ocean. It’s hard to describe, but it’s faint and pleasent. After a smooth, even light, it’s immediately noticable that this cigar creates a HUGE amount of smoke. Combined with an easy, dare I say perfect, draw, this cigar is already going great. The opening flavor was a spicy, rich peppery overtone with some notes of oak drifting pleasently throughout. The first third is characterized perfectly as a leathery/oak flavor with some light spice on the finish. This is literally the perfect leather and spice combo, though I could see it being maybe more of a medium cigar. The smoke is incredibly smooth, and actually made my mouth water; a chocolate flavor creeps in toward the second third. Very quickly that flavor turns to a slow-roasted, home-made coffee flavor. It’s perfect, and that spice remains soley on the finish. I cannot stress how pleasent it is. The second third is easily the best of the cigar, as the final third fades off into a light tobacco and chocolate flavor. Smoke Time: 80 Minutes.

Appearance: 9/10

Construction: 10/10

Smoke/Draw: 10/10

Flavor: 9/10

Impression: 9/10

Overall: 47/50!

Size/Vitola: Toro (6.5×56)

Price: $7.10

Wrapper: Costa Rica Maduro Wrapper

Binder: Mexican

Filler: Nicaraguan

Alright, I love the size of this cigar; a 56 ring guage is fantastic with a 6.5 inch length. It smells sweet, dark, earthy, and chocolatey, and has a prelight draw of a sweetened peat flavor. This cigar was named after Erik Nording, a famous pipe maker that Rocky Patel is good friends with, which I thought was neat.

The first draws are very sweet, a medium body with a smooth finish. Very earthy flavors. Really has a light, chocolaty taste. Maintains the taste well, as it moves into a deeper, medium-realm, and has a very rich tobacco taste. Very strong, nutty aroma and flavor toward the end of the first third. Unbelievably strong flavor, it seems to explode! It’s a very cool sensation. In the second third, keeps this chocolate-nut combination of flavors, and it is the most I’ve ever felt. Has a great toasty taste added to it, something like french toast or maybe lightly syrup-ed waffles. I’m getting more smoke now, though the draw is toughening up just a little bit. Very creamy smoke. It’s refreshing, and toward the end of the second third, gets very woody. The chocolaty, nutty feeling is unrivaled, and I’m hard-pressed to even think of something else that brings out a dull, nutella flavor like this Nording does. As the last third smokes down, I really smell freshly toasted bread. It had a nice finish, and I was sad to see it go. A very unique cigar in my experience so far.

Appearance: 9.5/10

Construction: 8/10

Draw/Smoke: 8/10

Flavor: 9/10

Variability: 10/10

Overall: 43.5/50

Size/Vitola: Belicoso (5.7×52)

Cost: $9.75

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Rosado Corojo

Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo

Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo

The cigar is a gorgeously light-red/brown cigar with a oily wrapper that begs to be smoked. There is only one noticeable vein. It smells strongly sweet, as well as powerful, and a LOT like chocolate. It creates a perfect cut, and draws well, the prelight leaving a chocolate, dark impression. The first view of this cigar is a very spicy flavor, a pepper bomb in the typical Pepin style, but it was oozing with almost a jalapeno level spice, great feeling. Has a fresh, leathery taste, along the now dulling spice, and leaves that flavor on your palate, but really doesn’t dry out your mouth at all. I can safely say, this is the most pleasant I’ve ever experienced the leather flavor; when I first got into cigar-smoking, I always worried about tasting leather because it sounded like chewing on a dirty baseball glove, but this is a very pure, fresh, agricultural taste. It’s refined leather. As if leather were a very delicate food. Lets call it leather medium-rare. Now, in the middle of the first third, leather becomes more apparent on the finish, and a new, more supple taste comes into play. It tastes ALMOST, and I’m really stretching that word, like BBQ. Like a BBQ chicken, maybe, and when I exhale out my nose I REALLY taste it. The burn is razor-sharp, and the smoke, by the way, is incredible. After the first third, the spice is mostly gone, and I am more with a creamy leather then anything else. The smell of the smoke as it exits my nose is really unique and amazing. The second third starts out as a creamy, very relaxed smoke. Still tones of smoke, but it’s become more on the medium side in terms of strength. It has a certain, smokey flavor to it (and I’m not being sarcastic, it’s hard to pin-point.) Regardless, it’s an incredibly great flavor that would go well with an IPA, or a chicken dinner. The one thing that smoking this cigar reminds me most of is the way a barbecue smells from a distance. Pepper starts to creep back in, subtly at first, but it continues to build, and the leather is on it’s way back in as well. It developes a really nice coffee note that tastes a lot like a latte, while maintaining the leathery finish. As the final third kicks up, the leather takes center stage, and a little harshness creeps in. I’m trying to smoke the last third just a bit faster since the smoke is begining to die down, meaning the cigar is getting ready to go out. It IS getting a bit more harsh, but the flavor has sort of faded out now, replaced by a slightly ashy tasting cream which is, in and of itself, not terribly unpleasant. The cigar has burned a PERFECT edge the entire time, and so it will receive the first 10/10 I have EVER given to a cigar in construction; it’s superior. With that said, the flavor doesn’t replace that of my beloved Cuban Classic, by the same guy; still a very excellent smoke; if you’re eating BBQ, I think this would pair PERFECTLY with it. Let me know your thoughts!

Appearance: 9/10

Construction: 10/10

Smoke/Draw: 9/10

Flavor: 7.5/10

Variability: 8/10

Overall: 43.5/50