“What’s You Favorite Cigar?”

When I meet fellow B/SOTLs, that’s a question that’s invariably asked of me. I usually answer with a shrug and say, “I don’t really have one because I smoke so many different ones.” And I explain that I’m not trying to be flip. It’s just hard for me to point to a specific blend; plus, I smoke according to my mood, so I pull out what fits my mood at the time. In light of that, I never ask the question myself because there are others just like me.

Furthermore, the idea of “favorite” implies a single thing. To me, “favorite” needs some context. For instance, a more appropriate question would be, “What’s you’re favorite cigar to pair with your morning coffee?” Or, “What’s your favorite cigar for just hanging out and reading?” My answer still would be that it depends on my mood, but the list gets narrowed down significantly.

But that said, I thought I’d break down the cigars I have into my own categories and how I think of them.

Desert Island Cigars – If I were stranded on a desert island, I’d be fine if all I could smoke was these.

• Undercrown Maduro Corona Viva
• Cuban Montecristo #2/#4
• Liga Privada #9
• CAO Brazilia
• Paul Stulac Post Script
• La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Diamond Broadleaf or Ruby Maduro

Gems – These are cigars that are so good to me that I reserve them for when I can devote my full attention to smoking them. I suppose they could fall into the desert island category, but I hesitate to smoke them because I want the experience to be special.

• Paul Stulac White Blinding Light
• Don Emmanuel Annunaki Ki/Anu
• La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Diamond Broadleaf
• La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Ruby Maduro
• Curivari Reserva Limitada Cafe Noir
• Definition Cigars “The Chairman”

Anytime – This is like what many folks call “daily drivers” in which the convention is that daily drivers are less expensive cigars (read: cheap) that you don’t mind smoking often or don’t mind chucking. But I’ve always hated the idea of waste, and I’ve had my share of cheap, shit cigars that I just won’t buy them. Instead, I buy great cigars at low prices; sometimes, at prices that are as cheap as cheapos. So, my thinking is why bother with cheapos when I can have so much more for the same or just a bit higher price? Here are some of my anytime smokes:

• Undercrown Maduro Corona Viva
• La Gloria Cubana Serie R Maduro or Natural
• CAO Brazilia
• Alec Bradley Magic Toast
• AJ Fernandez New World Puro Especial
• Martinez NYC Blend Queens
• Don Pepin Garcia Original (Blue)
• Montecristo White

This list is larger than the others as expected.

Unicorns – Unicorns are sticks that are so difficult to get or expensive that I may smoke just one of these a year. A Unicorn may not be expensive relative to others, but their rarity or the effort it takes to get them make it so I will invariably overlook them – even when I’m in the mood. However, there have been exceptions, like the time I got in a big argument with my wife and decided to smoke a Behike in defiance of the argument. 🙂

• Cohiba Behike
• La Sirena Super Sea Monkeys
• Zino Platinum Crown Series

The lists above aren’t exhaustive, but simply there as examples of what fall into my own categories.