With all of that out of the way, let’s get into it.

My top 10 favorite cigars

I have arranged this list in alphabetical order to appease my compulsions, but nothing more. So, don’t approach this list as if it’s best to worst or vice versa. All of these cigars are delicious and will provide you with an exceptional experience — that’s why I love them.

That doesn’t mean I won’t smoke anything else, in case it needs to be said. These are just my regulars.

Aganorsa Rare Leaf Reserve Corojo and Maduro

Source: Aganorsa

• Strength: Full-bodied
• Favorite Size: Toro (6×54)

I always say these cigars are like a dessert because they are. The Criollo 98 and 99 tobaccos add lots of sweetness, pepper, cinnamon, and beyond. You’ll also get baking spices, cocoa, leather, and a lot of incredibly creamy flavors. The Maduro version is very much the same, except with darker flavors like espresso, black cherry, black pepper, and dark chocolate. You can’t go wrong with either one. Hell, get them both if you can.

Boneshaker Full Body Cast

Source: Boneshaker

• Strength: Full-bodied
• Favorite Size: Maul (6×54)

I first tried these towards the end of last year and as soon as I did I bought a ton. They’re priced well normally, but in a deal they’re incredible. They smell amazing, like pure chocolate when lit. You’ll also get flavors like chocolate, spice, pepper, and leather. I legitimately smoke one of these almost every day, that’s how good they are.

E.P. Carrillo Pledge

Source: E.P. Carrillo

• Strength: Full-bodied
• Favorite Size: Sojourn (6×54)

I know, I know. E.P. Carrillo is a fan-favorite brand and a lot of cigar enthusiasts love talking about it, but it’s for good reason. The entire Carrillo lineup is fantastic, but one I keep coming back to is the Pledge. It was named the #1 Cigar of the Year in 2020 with a thick, creamy experience that offers tons of dark flavors, pepper, and spice. If I’m feeling like a stronger cigar but I don’t want to burn my face off, I reach for this one. It pairs remarkably well with coffee or any warm beverage, even hot cocoa.

HVC Hot Cake

Source: HVC

• Strength: Medium-Full
• Favorite Size: Laguito No. 4 (4×52)

Sometimes, a cigar has a name that just goes so well with the experience. If there’s only one on the market that serves as an excellent example, let it be HVC’s Hot Cake. It tastes like a doughy, delicious hot cake. It’s also a flavor bomb with chocolate, cream, pepper, wood, earth, and sugary pastry notes.

H. Upmann by AJ Fernandez

Source: H. Upmann

• Strength: Medium
• Favorite Size: Toro (6×54)

The citrus flavors in this cigar are something to behold. Dried apricots or dried fruit with lots of sweetness permeates with every puff. But you’ll also taste cedar, hazelnut, baking spices, cream, and coffee. AJ Fernandez rarely blends a bad cigar, if at all, and this one is one of his greats.

La Aurora 120th Anniversary

Source: La Aurora

• Strength: Medium-Full
• Favorite Size: Robusto (5×50)

This absolutely delicious and sweet cigar offers a mesh of graham-crackery and cocoa flavors. It is one of the best Dominican blends I’ve had in a long while. I tried it during a virtual tasting experience for the first time, guided by the brand’s Master Blender Manual Inoa. You’ll get cocoa, cinnamon, coffee, cream, and even a hint of fruit or citrus. It’s incredible. Every single cigar lover should try this one at least once. I mean it.

Plasencia Alma Fuerte Sixto II Hexagon

Source: Plasencia

• Strength: Full
• Favorite Size: Gordo (6×60)

Now, I’ve had this cigar in several sizes, but I keep coming back to the big, Gordo with a large ring gauge. It smooths out the experience and makes it super pleasant, not that this cigar isn’t pleasant either way. Plasencia is the master of dark, leathery flavors and this one does not disappoint. You’ll get lots of dark chocolate, earth, vanilla, and spices.

San Lotano Requiem Habano by AJ Fernandez

Source: AJ Fernandez

• Strength: Medium-Full
• Favorite Size: Toro (6×54)

The San Lotano Requiem has this incredible delicious, tropical-beachy flavor that I cannot get enough of. It kicks in about midway through — the flavor is also in the My Father Number 1 — but you’ll also pick up lots of wood, leather, spice, and a bit of pepper. The creamy afterfinish is also enjoyable.

Southern Draw Kudzu

Source: Southern Draw

• Strength: Medium
• Favorite Size: Toro (6×52)

While the flavors in the Kudzu are typical, with spice, cedar, chocolate, and earth, the experience is certainly unique. I haven’t been able to find a comparable cigar to this one, so I keep them stocked in my humidor at all times. It’s a solid medium to full-bodied experience, and the Habano Oscuro wrapper is nice and toasty. Pair it with something sweet and you’ll be in bliss.

Warped La Colmena

Source: Warped Cigars

• Strength: Medium
• Favorite Size: Amada No. 44 (5.5 x 44)

One of the best things about this cigar is it’s remarkably close to an authentic Cuban, without being one. You’ll definitely pick up a hint of that Cuban twang if you’re paying attention. The La Colmena has so much complexity and so much flavor, it’s unreal. You’ll taste lots of honey, cream, vanilla, white pepper, and wood notes like cedar. The name “La Colmena” quite literally translates to “the beehive.”

Some honorable mentions

Source: Boneshaker

Here are a few other cigars I smoke regularly that didn’t make it on my top 10 favorite cigars list.

• Boneshaker Lunatic
• Guardian of the Farm Cerberus by Aganorsa
• JFR Corojo
• La Aurora 107 Nicaragua
• Southern Draw Rose of Sharon
• Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Solomon (CDM Exclusive vitola)

The post My top 10 favorite cigars appeared first on The BS Lounge.

Something from Davidoff, for example, comes from the same fields, the same type of tobacco, and the same hands as any other brand. So, why is it considered a premium?

It all comes down to experience

Source: Swanky Fella / Unsplash

A premium cigar is crafted to offer quality over quantity. That doesn’t mean premium cigars aren’t mass-produced, the reality is quite the contrary. But, for the most part, you shouldn’t ever have a poor experience with a premium cigar, and if you do, it’s the exception rather than the rule. In other words, smoking or experiential problems should be rare.

That experience, from cutting the cigar to lighting it up, makes it a premium-grade offering. Right down to the flavors you taste when you smoke, how it burns, whether or not you have draw issues, and how you feel as you’re smoking it.

That being said, I think it’s fairly obvious that a cheap, no-name bundle cigar will be a very different experience than a $30 cigar from a premium or boutique brand. What about a $30 cigar versus a $75 cigar? Or, a $100 cigar versus a $15 cigar?

Is a $100 cigar worth it?

Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge

In my opinion, no, a $100 cigar is not worth it, unless you have money to blow. And because some people do have money to blow on a cigar that price, the real answer is subjective. It’s all about preference.

A $5 cigar, made to be cheap, is certainly going to offer a unique experience, probably sub-par to a $15 or $20 cigar. Anything above $10 tends to be held to a higher standard. Cigars in the range of $20 to $30 are somewhat pricey for the average smoker, but still worth it.

Anything above $50, even $100 or above, is made with the same tobacco, the same methods, and by the same people as the cheaper options. The biggest difference from cigar to cigar is the blend of tobacco used inside, usually crafted by master blenders. That blend — made up of the fillers, binder, and wrapper — is what gives every cigar its unique flavor profile.

Since a flavor profile, or the blend, is more indicative of the tobacco used inside, it’s not correlated to cost. At least not in the way you might think. Moreover, several big tobacco growers and suppliers sell their tobacco to other companies for use in their cigars — including some of the biggest brands on the market. That means there’s a regular mixture or influx of tobacco used across brands and labels, and exclusivity is rarer than one might think.

That’s all to say, a $100 cigar is probably made with the same tobacco as many $20 or $30 cigars. It’s rolled the same way, by the same people, probably even within the same factories. There’s a lot of collaboration and community in the cigar industry that’s not often talked about. Aganorsa and Plasencia, for instance, supply a ton of tobacco to other brands.

Get to the point: Is a $100 cigar worth it?

Tying it all together, most $100 cigars are made the same way, with the same tobacco, by the same people as something that costs $12 to $30. The tobacco used inside is the same, as well. Some premium cigars may use aged tobacco that has been aged or fermented longer than usual. If that’s the case, the experience really will be different.

But otherwise, smoking a $100 cigar is no different than smoking a $15 or $20 cigar that you really love. It’s all preference and relies on the experience.

Does that mean you shouldn’t buy or smoke $100+ cigars? No. That’s all up to you. It’s all up to how much you want to spend and what kind of experience you want to have. Besides, if you go to a high-end lounge that’s jacking up the price of your average cigar, you’ll probably spend that much anyway.

Just don’t do that unless you have the money. There are far better cigars that will offer a comparable experience at a more reasonable price point.

The post Is a $100 cigar worth it? appeared first on The BS Lounge.

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.

Boneshaker Lunatic

Source: Boneshaker

• Profile: Full-bodied
• Complexity: High

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.

Davidoff Yamasa

Source: Davidoff

• Profile: Full-bodied
• Complexity: High

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.

Espinosa Laranja Reserva

• Profile: Medium-Full
• Complexity: Medium

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.

H. Upmann Nicaragua Heritage

Source: H. Upmann

• Profile: Medium-Full
• Complexity: High

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.

HVC Hot Cake

Source: HVC

• Profile: Mellow-Medium
• Complexity: Medium

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.

Plasencia Alma Del Fuego

Source: Plasencia

• Profile: Medium-Full
• Complexity: Medium-High

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.

Southern Draw Firethorn

Source: Southern Draw

• Profile: Medium-Full
• Complexity: Medium

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.

What’s not on the list?

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.

The post 8 festive holiday cigars for that winter wonderland feeling appeared first on The BS Lounge.