As we head into warmer temps, herf season is upon us, and that means it’s time to stock up on some great barbecue cigars. When you’re hosting a barbecue for your neighbors or beer-drinking buddies, your best bet is to pick up a box of mellow and versatile cigars you can pass out to everyone. Check out our best cigar and barbecue pairings if you’ve got a specific kind of meat you’re tossing on the fire. Because you can’t grill out without good cigars, here are five surefire blends you can share regardless of whether your guests include beginner cigar smokers or experienced aficionados. 1. Ash ..read more

Don Pepin Garcia Vintage cigars debuted in 2023 as an exclusive blend for the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA), a small group of retailers who pool their buying power together. In 2024, the DPG Vintage blend was released to stores nationally, and today I’m reviewing it in a 5-by-54 Robusto. Don Pepin Garcia cigars are named for the family patriarch of My Father Cigars, José ‘Pepin’ Garcia, aka Pepin. Before My Father became the world-famous brand it is today, Don Pepin Garcia was the first brand Pepin launched after arriving in Miami from Cuba in the early 2000s. A master cigar-make ..read more

The most surprising thing I remember ever hearing about Tom Selleck is that he was the original choice to play Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. He had to turn down the role because he had just signed a contract to play the TV role that would launch his career, Thomas Magnum in Magnum P.I. The TV show’s producers wouldn’t let Selleck take time off to do the movie. As it happened, the show’s debut was delayed by six months due to a writers’ strike. He could have done Raiders. Sure, but then where would Harrison Ford be? The most unsurprising thing I ever learned about Selleck is that ..read more

I’ve smoked plenty of Rocky Patel cigars before, and today I’m smoking a top-shelf blend, Rocky Patel White Label in a traditional 5-by-50 Robusto. I’ve known Rocky as long as I’ve been in the cigar business, and I had the pleasure of hanging out with him when he visited Holt’s for our annual Rocky Patel event a few weeks ago.  Rocky is a busy fellow. He travels all over the country meeting with retailers and customers and visiting the chain of Rocky Patel Burn lounges he opened over the past ten years. He’s always focused on his business, growing his audience of cigar lovers, and creati ..read more

When you’re getting together with your best buddies for a bachelor party, cigars are mandatory. You and your groomsmen may or may not smoke cigars regularly, so deciding on what brand or how many cigars to buy can be a challenge. Are you smoking cigars earlier in the day on the golf course or late at night after dinner with a round of whiskey? We’ve put together our top recommendations below. You can purchase a handful of singles or order a full box. Most cigars come in boxes of 20 or 25. Even if your group isn’t that large, you get a break on the price when you buy a box, and you can save t ..read more

“Leave the Don Lino. Take the cannoli.” It’s my favorite movie quote of all time. I’m no hitman, but I replay the scene in my head every time I’m tucking a box of Don Lino cigars under my arm, like I’m packing heat, enroute from the blowout bin to the checkout counter. This lesser known, underappreciated, and Italian-sounding brand is insanely popular with budget-fanatics, i.e., me, thanks to inexpensive gems like the Don Lino Fumas I’m smoking in a 6-by-50 Toro for today’s review. I’ve been devoted to the Don Lino franchise for years. You can peruse the past flattery I’ve showered on Don Lin ..read more

Aging cigars is one of the main reasons cigar lovers eventually buy a humidor and start a cigar collection. You can buy your favorite cigars by the box, now that you’ve got a place to store them, and experience the difference in the way they taste as they rest. Not all cigars mature the same. Most will mellow out if you’re wondering if cigars get better with age. The best way to find out is to lay them down to rest in your humidor for several weeks, months, or years. Here are five excellent full-bodied cigars that age wonderfully over both short and long periods of time.   1. Ashton VSG ..read more

The iconic Montecristo brand originated in Cuba in the 1930s and has been among the most recognizable cigar labels in the world for generations. Today, Montecristo cigars are also produced in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, and I’m smoking a 6-by-52 Toro in the Montecristo Epic blend, a richer and stronger smoke from this traditionally mild brand. Montecristo Epic cigars debuted in 2012 and were blended by a team of the longest tenured cigar-makers, called “Grupo de Maestros,” at the Tabacalara de Garcia cigar factory in the Dominican Republic. Altadis U.S.A., the parent company of Mont ..read more

Previously, we explained what Cuban sandwich cigars are and how they’re different from traditional long-filler smokes. Cuban sandwich cigars are also called “mixed-filler” cigars or Fumas. Premium Cuban sandwich cigars consist of mixed-filler tobaccos (short and medium-length filler tobaccos) placed inside long-filler (whole-leaf) tobaccos. Cuban sandwich cigars do not consist of “chopped-filler” tobaccos and are not to be confused with machine-made cigars. Mixed-filler cigars are far closer to traditional long-filler smokes than cheap machine-made brands and, as a result, they represent a t ..read more

I’m smoking a CAO Pilón in a 5-by-52 Robusto. The cigar is named for the heavy circular piles, or pilóns, the tobaccos are assembled in during a labor-intensive fermentation process before they’re sorted and sent to the rolling gallery to be rolled into cigars by skilled cigar rollers. CAO cigars belong to cigar-making giant General Cigar Company, the parent company of Macanudo and several Cuban-heritage brands sold in the U.S., including Punch, Partagas, and Cohiba. CAO isn’t a Cuban-legacy brand, but it’s been a staple in many premium shops for twenty-five years. General has organized the C ..read more