You should know by now that cigars have different flavors depending on the blend of tobacco used inside. That also means blenders can create an experience that matches a certain profile, event, or holiday. Take, for example, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
There are unequivocally cigars out there that align with the festive spirit. From cinnamon and hints of cream, or even eggnog, to clove, baking spices, and woodsy pine. If you’re looking for something to light up during the holiday break, I got you.
Aganorsa Rare Leaf Reserve Maduro
Source: Aganorsa
Profile: Medium-Full
Complexity: Medium
This is one you’ll have to get used to, along with the Rare Leaf Reserve Corojo. Why? Because Aganorsa is hands down one of my favorite brands. These cigars are like a dessert and I will recommend them every chance I get. But it’s not just frivolous either.
The Mexican San Andres wrapper adds a little spice to the mix, but it’s not overpowering. More importantly, you’ll pick up flavors like cocoa, white pepper, earth, dark chocolate, cedar, and leather. The dark and toasty profile is definitely aligned with the holidays, in my opinion.
I just had one of these today. Wait a minute. What day is it again? Honestly, it doesn’t matter I’m sure I’ve had another one. They are delicious. I know I use that word a lot but you’ll pick up some spice, earth, dark chocolate, leather, and lots of nuanced flavors I didn’t mention. That’s because this bad boy features a San Andres Maduro wrapper and a Jalapa 99 binder. Of course, the mixed filler of Seco 98 Esteli, Ligero 99 Jalapa, and Viso 99 Jalapa adds even more complexity.
You may already know this but the JFR Lunatic brand is Aganorsa’s. Why does that matter? This one was also made by Aganorsa. I don’t need to say anything else. You already know it’s going to be good.
The Davidoff Yamasa is one of my favorite cigars from the brand. It’s full-bodied, super delicious, and has a dark and toasty flavor profile that’s perfect for the holiday season. Offering a mixture of spicy and sweet flavors, this signature Dominican cigar is a flavor bomb. You’ll taste notes of leather, cedar, coffee, chocolate, fresh spice, earth, and beyond.
It pairs extremely well with a glass of bourbon or whiskey, but rum would work great, too. I’ve paired it with eggnog before and that’s also fantastic. Hint hint.
Let’s go over the flavors here, because that’s the biggest tell that this cigar is perfect for the festive holiday season. You’ll get lots of spice, pepper, hazelnut, cedar, sweetness, cream, and citrus. Also, while it’s burning there are definitely aromas of honey and sugar. A lot of that can be attributed to the Brazilian wrapper or the Nicaraguan binder.
Whatever the case, you can pair this one with some hot chocolate, eggnog, whiskey, or your favorite sweet drink of choice. You won’t piss anyone off hanging out with you either because it smells amazing.
Covered in a gorgeous Brazilian wrapper, and atop a Nicaraguan Habano binder, this spicy stogie is going to give you a small kick, but in a good way. You’ll taste lots of nuttiness, earth, oak, leather, coffee, some cream, and even a sweet aftertaste. It pairs well with coffee, at any time of the day. Although, I don’t like to burn my palate in the morning so I’d probably have one later in the day.
It has all the dark and toasty flavors that work well during the holiday season. Also, I don’t think there’s a bad beverage you can pair with this. It works well with pretty much everything.
As the name implies, the HVC Hot Cake features some delicious dough-ey notes, milk chocolate, wood, pepper, earth, and creamy caramel. It’s legit like having a hot cake. Now, I will say I’ve had the Hot Cake in several vitolas and I prefer the smaller sizes — they give you a bit more flavor to chew on. Laguito or Half Corona are the sizes I’m talking about. But if you like the bigger ring gauges, go for it, baby.
This is a wonderful cigar to smoke during the holidays and if you pair it up with the right beverage you’ll be singing Jingle Bells all night long.
Talk about a toasty and fragrant smoke. The Plasencia Alma Del Fuego is rich in flavor, for an incredible holiday cigar. You’ll get some earth, dark coffee, leather, chocolate, spice, and sweetness, plus lots of cream. That’s all thanks to the Nicaraguan puros binder and wrapper from Ometepe and Jalapa.
If you do get some of these you’ll want to grab some extras. I can almost guarantee when friends or family smell one burning they’ll ask to try.
This one right here is a unique experience through and through. The Southern Draw Firethorn features a Habano Rosado wrapper, Mexican San Andres binder, and Nicaraguan filler. The reddish-brown hue of the wrapper alone is very Christmas-y. But the flavors. Man, the flavors are something else. You’ll get a mix of cinnamon, baking spices, cocoa, caramel, nuttiness — like pecans — and a smooth creamy finish.
Southern Draw specifically blended this one to be paired with some strong spirits, wines, craft brews, and beyond. But it also works wonderfully with some hot cocoa, coffee, or eggnog. Save the neck for me, Clark.
I did want to include the Viaje Candy Cane, but that’s sold out pretty much everywhere. If you have one, hell yeah, light it up. For everyone else, it didn’t seem fair to include something on the list that’s tough to find.
Briley has over 16 years in the publishing and content marketing business. He's been writing about cigars for nearly half that in various forms. What makes him a tour de force is he also smokes them.
Source: Aganorsa
Source: Boneshaker
Source: Davidoff
Source: H. Upmann
Source: HVC
Source: Plasencia
Source: Southern Draw
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