Short answer: start mild, start short, and buy singles rather than a box. A Connecticut Shade cigar in a robusto size is the easiest first cigar to enjoy.
Start with body, not brand
Strength is the thing beginners get wrong. A full-bodied cigar on an empty stomach is how people decide they do not like cigars. Mild to medium first, and work up.
Good first cigars we carry
- Ashton Classic — Connecticut Shade, mild, cream and cedar.
- Padrón Dámaso — the mild Padrón, and the only one with a Connecticut wrapper.
- Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story — four inches, Cameroon wrapper, about thirty minutes.
- AVO Classic — mild and balanced.
- Nub Connecticut — short, thick and forgiving.
Pick a size you will finish
A robusto runs about 45 minutes to an hour. A churchill or double corona can run two. Start short: an unfinished cigar teaches you nothing.
Six things that make the first one better
- Eat first. Nicotine on an empty stomach is the usual culprit behind feeling unwell.
- Cut above the cap line, and only as much as you need.
- Toast the foot, then light slowly.
- Draw about once a minute. Overheating turns any cigar bitter.
- Do not inhale. Cigar smoke is tasted, not taken into the lungs.
- Let the ash fall on its own, around an inch.
Buy singles
Every cigar we sell online is available as a single, so you can try four different cigars for the price of one box and learn what you actually like.
Ask
Call 928-276-3500 or walk the humidor with a tobacconist on FaceTime. Tell us what you drink and we will match a cigar to it.
$9.99 flat shipping, free on orders of $125 or more; orders ship within 1–2 business days from Yuma, Arizona. You must be 21 or older.
