Stogie Tips: Cinco de Cigars

Yesterday, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to drink cinco margaritas. After all, I’ve written before how margaritas can be an excellent cigar pairing.

Those margaritas meant I didn’t finish writing up the review I had planned. They did, however, help me do some thinking about what cigars go best with margaritas, tequila, and Mexican cerveza. To that end, I present five Cinco de Mayo-approved cigars:

A. Turrent — It’s hard to discuss Mexican cigars without talking about the Turrents, makers of most south-of-the-border cigars including Te-Amos. Te-Amos have somewhat of a mixed reputation, but the A. Turrent is an overlooked smoke made with Mexican wrapper and filler tobaccos sandwiched around a Nicaraguan binder. It has plenty of creamy notes which combine nicely with such other flavors as cedar, spice, and roast nut.

Macanudo Vintage 2000 — Considering they’re the best selling cigar in America, Macanudos don’t get a lot of respect from seasoned smokers. Still, the Macanudo Vintage (made with Mexican binder and filler tobaccos) is a cut above the regular line when it comes to depth and flavor.

Murcielago — Eddie Ortega told me he’d never seen Don Pepin Garcia so excited about new tobacco than he was about the jet black Mexican San Andreas wrapper on the Murcielago. The resulting cigar is a mouth-watering combination of coffee, earth, and spice.

Opus X Chili Pepper — Unlike the other cigars on this list, there’s no Mexican leaf on this smoke. But given its expertly crafted chili pepper shape, this Opus X embodies the Cinco de Mayo spirit. It features excellent construction and plenty of the full-bodied spice that makes Opus X one of the most sought-after cigars in the world.

Avo Limited Edition 2010 — This newcomer features a Mexican Sumatra-seed binder with an Ecuadorian binder and a Dominican ligero filler. It’s the strongest and largest of the Avo annual releases, and it’s chock full of delicious espresso flavor. But you don’t have to drink coffee with the Avo LE 2010; a fine tequila on the rocks will work quite well.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys