Good For Your Humidor; And Your Pocketbook
By Ann Knapp
With the economy in the shape it’’s in, even the wealthiest cigar smokers may begin to feel the pinch. Even dedicated cigar lovers may be reconsidering their selections.
Cigar aficionados, after all, tend to choose the very best. (That’’s the reason why magazines targeted at cigar smokers tend to be full of premium products of every description.) However if, for the moment, it’’s not really practical to be buying a box of the finest aged premium hand-rolled limited-edition hard-to-hunt-down super-smokes,
there are options short of taking a temporary cessation (until that stock market begins to climb again).
You can enjoy rare taste without paying rarified prices. Plenty of premium cigar-makers create excellent smokes that are intended for the person who doesn”t want to break the bank. If you”ve been reluctant to try them out, now may be an excellent time to stock up–and stimulate the economy while you”re at it!
A search for reasonably-priced cigars turns up quite a few Little Companies That Could–cigar makers that aren”t as famous as, maybe, they deserve to be, but which offer hand-rolled fine cigars at an excellent price. Cuban Twist, for example, is not (as you may be thinking) that obscure follow-up Chubby Checker single that failed to chart, but an excellent premium cigar company with decades in the business. Cuban Twist is not a Cuban company but a Honduran one–but, like so many Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Dominican cigar companies, it benefited from the “tobacco diaspora” created by Fidel Castro’’s 1959 conquest of Cuba (as many Cuban cigar families fled the island, and as the Cuban government offered the cigar-making expertise of the cigar makers that remained to several of its nearby neighbors in following years). Like a great distance runner, a Cuban Twist cigar (made entirely in Honduras from all-Honduran tobacco) stays strong all the way to its excellent finish.
Consider also the storied Mexican cigar company, Te-Amo. These cigars may well have suffered, in previous years, from the trade regulations that prohibited Mexican cigar makers from making anything but puro cigars–that is, cigars made entirely from Mexican-grown tobacco. Mexican tobacco is excellent stuff, but you can”t get the full-flavored richness that comes when tobaccos from many places are blended together under such a trade restriction. Luckily, that law was reversed during the mid-1990s–and now Te-Amo, whose name means “I Love You” in Spanish, is free to make cigars that reflect the company’’s many decades making hand-rolled cigars (rather than reflecting the arbitrary nature of some trade law). Premium cigar lovers are beginning to notice–and they”re saying, “Te-Amo? Te amo!”
You may be surprised to learn that Arturo Fuente is among the premium cigar makers whose product line includes excellent-but-reasonably-priced cigar tastes. Arturo Fuente (now run by Carlos Fuente, the fourth in the family line and most recent to inherit the company) is possibly the most popular cigar maker in the Dominican Republic, itself the one country that could seriously be said to rival Cuba in the race for the title cigar capital of the world. Not only that, but Fuente cigars have, more specifically, a reputation for being sort of rare. They”re one cigar company whose wares you can”t assume will be available every single time you trek to your local cigar store (or point your browser to your favorite online cigar retailer, as the case may be).
But contain your surprise. The Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva is just one of several Arturo Fuente cigars that go for five dollars or under (at least in some places). Fans report a slightly almondy aftertaste–and an even burn. Despite its low price, this is a connoisseur’’s smoke–not a cigar to waste on those who don”t know Maduro from Madonna.
Camacho is another well-respected cigar company that makes some surprisingly easy-on-the-pocketbook smokes. For example, try the full-flavored Camacho El Legend. Made entirely from Honduran tobacco (its wrapper, binder and filler all hail from this legendarily cigar-producing Central American country), this cigar wins accolades for its firm construction, woodish flavor, and general good craftsmanship.
About The Author
CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.