The Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

This cigar had been resting in one of my humidors for about four years before I lit it up last night. It features a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper around an Indonesian Sumatra binder and filler tobaccos from Ecuador and Nicaragua. It is handmade made in Miami at Santiago Cabana Cigars with production limited to 800 cigars per month (only one roller is used to make the Sosa Limitado Stout Torpedo). With an asking price of about $15, you’d expect quite a lot. Unfortunately, while the Torpedo’s soft, rounded flavors of oak, raisin bread, and sweet cream are enjoyable enough, they’re simply too flat and too lacking in complexity or depth to make this a worthwhile investment.

Verdict = Sell.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

La Aurora’s super-premium Preferidos line doesn’t seem to have the luster it once did. (For example, I bought this single from a well-known internet retailer for under $5.) That doesn’t mean it isn’t a well-made cigar. The small, 5-inch perfecto has a ring gauge of 54 at its widest point. It features a slightly mottled Habano sun-grown wrapper from Ecuador with a Dominican binder and filler from the Dominican Republic, Cameroon, and Brazil. The cigar’s bold flavors include leather, cedar, coffee, and tannic notes. If you can find it for around $5, like I did, it is well worth it.

Verdict = Buy.

– Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

I’ve been on a bit of an Antaño 1970 kick lately. Can you blame me? I find this Joya de Nicaragua line delivers outstanding performance and value time and again. Most recently, I picked up a Robusto Grande (5.5 x 52) from my local tobacconist for $6.95. This Nicaraguan puro sports a dark Habano-seed Criollo wrapper and a full-bodied profile of dark cherry, leather, espresso, and both red and black pepper. With outstanding combustion properties and a sub-$7 price, the Antaño 1970 Robusto Grande is very easy to recommend—especially to veteran cigar enthusiasts who crave body, spice, and a balanced, smooth delivery.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Drew Estate cigar production expertise meets a Cubanesque approach to blending. That’s what you get when you fire up Herrera Estelí, a line blended by Willy Herrera that sports Ecuadorian, Honduran, and Nicaraguan tobaccos. The Short Corona (4.9 x 46, about $8) is my favorite vitola. It packs a profile of syrup, creamy nut, dry wood, and white pepper into a short, compact, concentrated format. And, as I’ve come to expect from Drew Estate, the combustion properties are sublime.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

This H-Town Lancero (7.5 x 38) was made by Crowned Heads for retailer Stogies World Class in Houston. The cigar is made in the Dominican Republic at Ernie Carrillo’s La Alianza SA factory using an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler. It’s a well-balanced, medium- to full-bodied cigar with woody spice, earth, and coffee notes. It was a little spongy, but it showed no ill effects with a steady, even burn.

Verdict = Buy.

– Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Yes, there are still good-tasting cigars out there that sell for less than a latte. The next time you feel like every cigar worth smoking costs north of $10, try a Maria Mancini Robusto Larga (6 x 50). This softly box-pressed, spongy smoke—which sports a Nicaraguan Habana 2000 wrapper around a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers—can be found for less than $3. While it absolutely won’t wow you, it will deliver a classic, no-frills, medium-bodied profile of cereals, coffee, cashew, leather, and a little white pepper spice. My only caution is to expect a somewhat erratic burn line (Habana 2000 is notorious for this). For the price, though, you really can’t complain.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys