Asking the cigar smoking community on hexbear, what are your favourites? How you usually enjoy them and perhaps with what?
I personally don’t smoke that much, like to get a good one(be that Romeo and Juliet or other brand, don’t really have big preferences, much just the quality of it and Cuban origin) and then smoke it trough a hike. Goes nice together while sightseeing.
Cool! That’s a good question.
I’ll preface this by saying it’s a little difficult for me because I don’t have experience with Backwoods nor any pipe tobacco (smells delicious though) so I am just approximating here but I think I understand what you mean.
I think your best bet if you want something sweet and maybe “punchy” would be maduros generally. There are many different types of cigars based on the fermentation of the wrapper (outermost part of the cigar, basically what is seen) but the common two are: Natural and Maduro. Naturals are what you probably mostly think of when you think cigar: light brown, almost khaki beige color. Maduros can vary in intensity of color but are usually dark brown to black.
You should take Cigar Aficionado with a grain of salt, all the reviews are purchased, but they are right here:
Because of their dark wrappers, maduros can scare off less seasoned smokers, who assume a dark brown or black exterior means the cigar will be strong. “The newer people tend to see maduros as very strong and tend to shy away from them,” says Pesh.
The fear is largely unfounded. Most cigars that are sold with the word “maduro” on the box aren’t strong at all. In various Cigar Aficionado taste tests, maduros have exhibited largely mellow, toasty and often sweet flavors. “It’s kind of like molasses,” says Samuel Russell, senior marketing manager for Davidoff of Geneva, describing the taste of maduro wrapper.
https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/that-old-black-magic-8470
After that, I would say stay away from Nicaraguans for a while. Some may disagree but I find them strong and peppery, sometimes with a strong black coffee taste. I’d recommend gravitating to Dominicans to start.
A very, very decent and good starter Dominican Maduro that hopefully won’t set you back too much should be Arturo Fuente 858 Maduro.
Coincidentally also one of the first cigars that convinced me to keep with it and were my “daily” cigar for a long time. They’re not too strong and can have that nice, sweet taste to it at times. Every individual cigar taste depends on many things from how they’re kept to how well they are lit, though, so your experience may differ. But I think that is a good place for you to start! Enjoy!
Awesome! I’ll try and hit up my local spot this weekend and see if they’ve got something in stock!
Meant to reply earlier, but it was a hell of a week. I did manage to pick up the cigar you mentioned (on mobile, not gonna try and spell it and totally butcher the spelling), as well as another similar cigar recommended by the clerk in charge of the humidor.
Was definitely enjoyable! Didn’t go so great with bourbon, but I liked them both! Oddly enough, the second one went with some pink lemonade, and the sour contrast kinda added to the whole experience.
Anyways, that’s my layman’s casual take on dipping my feet into real cigars. Thank you for the recommendation!
