Cheap Ass Cigar Inquiry

[jaytex1969]

I'm about 3/4 through a box of Arturo Fuente Exquisitos and the P&C sale prompted me to try a few others.

I grabbed some Rocky Patel Cargo Robustos and Don Rafael Natural #57 Robustos.

Who has tried these and what did you think?


Thanks.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I think in general with cigars, you get what you pay for. N is like pipe tobacco too, it is personal taste. For me, the two best bargain cigars are the Padron 2000 and Brick House Robusto Maduro. Oliva Cigars can often be picked up at a bargain and are very good.

 

[seanv]

Haven't tried either but they sure are cheaply priced.

 

[LOREN]

do you mean only hand-rolled

 

[saltedplug]

Olivia's cigars are cheaper and consistently good. The good $5 cigar is a myth, but a box of Olivia might get you close. Rocky Patels can be good, but if you smoke them and want more, he may not have the same tobacco on hand at that point. If I find a winner I would have wanted to be able to go back and get more.

 

[ChickenT00th]

I haven't had those particular cigars but I agree with hoosierpipeguy, Padron cigars are incredible and can often be found for affordable prices. You will never have bad burn, bad construction, or bad flavor experiences with any Padron. They also age very well. I find the Padron Londres & Delicias to be my personal favorite as there's a bit more wrapper to filler ratio with those. Their Maduro wrappers are great.
cigarmonster.com can have some good deals on Padron.

I've found that you can find Roma Craft cigars for very good prices as well, they are exceptional cigars and the owners have both quality and budget in mind. Check out cigarpage.com for good deals on these.

If you're looking for a true budget cigar, I hear people really enjoy the Drew Estate Factory Smokes and can be found for around $2-3 each. Usually come in large bundles. I haven't gotten around to trying them myself yet.

 

[mityahicks]

I love the MUWAT cigars. Pretty cheap too. I am far from an expert on cigars though.

 

[alaskanpiper]

As @hoosierpipeguy said, hard to beat Oliva sticks at their price. Especially the Series G maduros and Series V. I would throw Hoyo de Monterrey Maduros out there as a good bargain stick as well.

 

[pitchfork]

I've had the Exquisitos. They're great for the price. I prefer the Fuente Brevas, though. The Natural is great, but I think the Maduro is better. It's short filler, but the tobaccos used are really good. My go-to yard cigars.

 

[cshubhra]

I think I pay a low amount for my cigars. My strategy

1. Smoke a variety of samples to have a large no of cigars I like
2. I make sure I have space in humidor
3. I go to a cigar auction site - Bid on a HUGE no of auctions of cigars I like
4. At the end, I win some, lose some and end up a load of good cigars I like

Some of the good deals

1. 601 Blue Label Maduro is an exceptionally good budget cigar. I got a box of 20 for 70$
2. I like Monte Christo Classic for a mild smoke. I got around 50$ for a pack of 10 Churchill’s
3. Rocky Patel Vintage 1999 Connecticut- Not very highly rated, but I like it. Bought multiple times at an average price of 3.50$ per stick. Toro and Gordo sizes
4. NUB Maduro is excellent. It is only 4 inches, but lasts almost as long as a full size cigar. Paid about 30$ for a pack of 10.
Even the expensive cigars- I wait for a deal. Padron 1926 is very strong so a short #6 is good enough. Never on sale, it is 14.40$ per stick. I bought a bunch during smoking pipes 20% sale

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

I have smoked Consuegras for decades, stock up when JR puts them on sale, like when they have a 20% or 30% site wide discount or a similar prom. They are supposedly “seconds” of a Punch, Hoyo, El Rey del Munro, etc sticks, but I almost never see an issue. Back in the day, those were considered to be good cigars. They still are to me.

I quit chasing Cubans in the mid 1990’s when I got a box of 50 Partagas Lusitanias from my reliable supplier in Geneva that had about a half dozen plugs. The cigar boom played havoc on what was always a somewhat inconsistent item. IMO, based on limited samples since then, Cubans still have a distinctive taste advantage over sticks made elsewhere, but consistency has not improved.

Lew Rothman, the now retired founder of JR, once said of (non Cuban) cigars, “a $10 cigar is a $2 or $3 cigar that someone suckered you into paying $10 for.” The numbers might have changed due to overall inflation, but still.....

funny thing to me is that all my friends into high $ cigars have Perfect Draws or similar contraptions. I haven’t had a plug in a Consuegra in at least the last 200 sticks I have gone through. I just threw that one away and lit another one. YMMV

 

[weezell]

I have smoked Consuegras for decades

Back when I smoked a lot of cigars these were very good for the cost! Agree completely with you back then, are they still pretty good?...

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Back when I smoked a lot of cigars these were very good for the cost! Agree completely with you back then, are they still pretty good?...

Been smoking Consuegra’s for a long time, haven’t noticed any changes. Lot’s of “seconds” of Punch/Hoyo etc., are out there, all made in the same General Cigar factory, I personally think these are the most consistent available.

Hilands Cigar has as deep a stock of General Cigar over runs (their term) as anywhere I’ve seen, and I’ve smoked a few from a friend’s stash, and they taste fine. He doesn’t have any complaint about the construction. If you look at the listings for the individual cigars, their stock levels seem to consistently hold at well over 700 or 800 Bundles for each Shape they carry, so I would hazard that they get good quality, too.

But when JR has a promo, they can’t be touched on price.

 

[pitchfork]

I have smoked Consuegras for decades, stock up when JR puts them on sale, like when they have a 20% or 30% site wide discount or a similar prom. They are supposedly “seconds” of a Punch, Hoyo, El Rey del Munro, etc sticks, but I almost never see an issue. Back in the day, those were considered to be good cigars. They still are to me.

I quit chasing Cubans in the mid 1990’s when I got a box of 50 Partagas Lusitanias from my reliable supplier in Geneva that had about a half dozen plugs. The cigar boom played havoc on what was always a somewhat inconsistent item. IMO, based on limited samples since then, Cubans still have a distinctive taste advantage over sticks made elsewhere, but consistency has not improved.

Lew Rothman, the now retired founder of JR, once said of (non Cuban) cigars, “a $10 cigar is a $2 or $3 cigar that someone suckered you into paying $10 for.” The numbers might have changed due to overall inflation, but still.....

funny thing to me is that all my friends into high $ cigars have Perfect Draws or similar contraptions. I haven’t had a plug in a Consuegra in at least the last 200 sticks I have gone through. I just threw that one away and lit another one. YMMV

I've never heard that term - what's a "plug"?

 

[Rockyrepose]

Joya Red Robusto is a good $5 cigar IMO.

 

[Rockyrepose]

I've never heard that term - what's a "plug"?

It's a tight roll that completely prevents flow. It's a rarity outside of Cuban cigars. A lot of factories have a test vacuum gauge station.

 

[pitchfork]

It's a tight roll that completely prevents flow. It's a rarity outside of Cuban cigars. A lot of factories have a test vacuum gauge station.

Got it. Many thanks.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

I noticed that JR is pretty much out of stock on Consuegras. Assume factory closings/slowdowns are the underlying issue.

 

[shanez]

My favorite cheap cigars are Nica Libre:

Up For Bid

I like to think of them as Padrons on the cheap.

They're always cheap and sometimes you can stumble across a really low price or get lucky on a bid.

 

[mso489]

I rarely smoke cigars these days, though I'd be happy to be offered one, but I haven't heard much enthusiasm about the Rocky Patel brand cigars or pipe tobaccos. I think he does pretty good marketing but the products don't click with consumers, or at least the ones I've heard from. However, he seems to sell quite a bit, so maybe that is an affirmation. Tell us what you think!