Comments on: Quelling Cigar Misconceptions: Part 1

By: Joe Bentley

Joe Bentley — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:50:42 +0000

I can honestly say that if every cigar on Earth costs the exact same amount that the lowly Villiger Export Maduro would still be one of my favorites. It’s everything a good cigar isn’t supposed to be, cheap, mass produced, dry cured, machine rolled, not Cuban or Dominican, hell the damn things are square They should be to cigars what a Fish Fillet from McDonalds is to seafood… but damn if I don’t really, really like those little things.

By: Quelling Cigar Misconceptions: Part 2 | The Stogie Review

Quelling Cigar Misconceptions: Part 2 | The Stogie Review — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:58:06 +0000

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By: L2H

L2H — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:45:33 +0000

A couple of notes here.
Early on in my cigar quest I went to a great little shop in Harrisburg PA (Rae’s). This was a Mom and Pop, and Mom was very good at helping me pick out cigars based on what I told her I liked.
I asked her why she was so good at this and she told me that it was because she didn’t smoke! Explaining further she said that she had noticed that most smokers seemed to recommend the cigars that they liked, no matter what the other person said they liked. While her recommendations were based on the descriptions of the cigars vs. what the customer asked for.
That being said, when asked for advise by a 1st timer in a cigar shop I will often suggest a cigar I almost never smoke since it is a nice mild Dominican at a reasonable price.
The cigar? Montesino by Fuente. Why?
Well for one thing the shop owner is always happy to sell one of these, they are pushed to buy them by Fuente if they want other Fuente brands. So the markup isn’t too high.
As a result it will normally have some age on it, a good thing for any smoke and very good for the 1st time smoker.
Being a Fuente it is well made and not subject to burn problems that our new smoker isn’t ready to deal with.
Being mild it won’t overwhelm the new person and will keep them from embarrassing themselves at the end of the evening. Remember that most 1st time smokers aren’t ready for even a medium cigar. Remember that cigar that made you feel a bit ‘green around the gills’? You don’t want that to happen here.
Finally, I guess I should say that while I’ve picked out the Montesino as my 1st time smoker’s suggestion, perhaps each of us should put some thought into what cigar you would suggest.

By: Brian Hewitt

Brian Hewitt — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:35:18 +0000

Another inexpensive smoke to try out: the Ashton Benchmade by Don Pepin Garcia. It is mixed filler, but you probably won't be able to tell. At 3 bucks or less a stick with flavors you expect from a Pepin cigar, you may never smoke anything else ever again!