Happy Monday, folks! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is gearing up for a great week ahead.  After stopping by the lounge last week, I realized just how vast preferences are.  What’s popular in one region may be unheard of in another, and what we consider the underrated cigar of the century in one online community may be unsmokable in another.  

I figure this is an excellent opportunity for folks wanting to broaden their horizons to take some pointers from the crowd!

Which cigars or brands do you believe should get more love?

Login and comment below for a chance to win a Small Batch gift card this Sunday!

For the Boutique Only Folks: My Father, Oliva

It’s really easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to cigars, particularly in chasing new cigars or always reaching for what we see friends reaching for on social media.  And there’s nothing wrong with that! Small batch, boutique brands are what a lot of us see online and visualization is a huge part of desire. 

At the end of the day, however, we all love a cigar that performs well and tastes great.  Sometimes it’s worth going back to some classics and remembering the cigars that we first fell in love with.  Or, if you haven’t smoked these before, they’ll open a door into iconic cigars that every enthusiast will appreciate being familiar with.   

My Father’s La Gran Oferta and Oliva’s Serie V also held up very well in our Blind Reviews, which is a hard thing to do.  These guys already smoke the best of the best in their daily lives, and are known to tell it straight every Friday without knowing what the cigar is until the reveal.  And last year, La Gran Oferta received the best score of 2018. 

For the High-End Folks: Atabey, Byron, Casdagli

If you’re a high-end Davidoff, Fuente, or Padron smoker, I’d highly suggest that you sample United Cigars and Casdagli – if you haven’t already.  It’s entirely possible that I’m preaching to the choir! 

The level of sophistication in these two brands is on another level, and they definitely deserve to be put in the same class.  Whereas Atabey and Byron speak fluently to the Davidoff and Fuente fans, Casdagli has multiple refined selections for everything in between, including the higher-octane Padroniacs.  

And, Casdagli has more than one cigar that was highly rated by our Blind Review panel as well, with the Traditional Cotton Tail remaining in our Top 10 Blind Reviews of all time.  

For the Small Batch Folks: Patina, Campesino, Jas Sum Kral

If you pride yourself on finding excellent cigars that haven’t reached mainstream adoption yet, I’d highly recommend that you try Patina, Campesino, or Jas Sum Kral.  You might have to hurry, though, as Patina and JSK are working their asses off to be a name brand that we’ll all recognize in years to come.

Each of these brands are spearheaded by incredible folks that focus tirelessly on their craft and offer something unique to the market.  Campesino represents an incredible Dominican puro that also kills the value proposition with their regular line averaging an MSRP of $7.40.  

Patina showcases eight different facings with eight different expressions and has everything from the face-punch factor to the silky smooth, luxury experience.  Since these are brought to us by Mo Maali, you can use #Motique on Instagram for a little extra street cred too.  

JSK coined the phrase “Boutique as F*&k,” and caters to a wide variety of cigar enthusiasts with one of the best $6 cigars around as well as the highly rated Red Knight.  Both of these also reviewed really well with our Blind Review Panel, earning two box recommendations each – a feat that has only been accomplished nine or so times.  

Tell Us!  Which cigars do YOU believe are under-appreciated? 

CONTEST DETAILS

One of the comments below will win a $25 gift card.  The gift card will automatically be sent to the email address that you login to comment with, so please use your regular sign-in.   

I’ll be randomly selecting a comment below this Sunday before sending out the Weekly Newsletter. The winner can expect a comment with his or her name in it, a congratulations email, and an email with the $25 gift card information.  The actual gift card email takes some time to generate from the system and may lag behind by a couple hours. 

Only available to U.S. customers.