Many of us have purchased a premium cigar, sat back, clipped it and lit up expecting an enjoyable experience only to find out that whoever made it wrapped the contents so tight you couldn’t even draw on it. It’s not an uncommon event. Some folks have made tools to poke through the cigar to clear an opening for the smoke. I keep an old fashioned ice pick at the ready if it happens to me. This is a great example of a bad cigar.

I owned a Deli decades ago and had a customer that stopped by every morning at 6 am. He asked me to cut a 2 inch chunk of hard Italian salami to go with the bottle of Guinness Stout he purchased. He’d go out to his car and consume the salami, wash it down with the beer then light up a Punch Double Maduro Rothschild and smoke it down to the ring. I used to call it the “Breakfast of Champions!”

While I have enjoyed many terrific Punch Cigars over the years, the one he favored was always a tough one for me. It’s intense strength and extremely robust flavor didn’t agree with my palate. When I asked him why he preferred it he told me, “They’re smooth as silk.”

I remember recommending one of my favorite cigars to a friend of mine. Several days later I asked him how he liked it. “It sucked” was his quick response.

As you shop around our great website, you’ll see a lot of time tested main stream brands as well as new ones. Many smokers want at least a basic idea of what they can expect if they try a new cigar. That’s one of the reasons I’m here at our great company! I’ll be more than happy to try and give you as many simply said, unbiased opinions about the cigars and companies that make them or the folks that own the brands. Keep in mind an important item, it’s my opinion. That’s why I’ll keep the thoughts I share with you very broad. Your opinion of any cigar is all that matters to you. In short, if you like it, it’s good and if you don’t, you won’t smoke another one.

While I admire and respect most of the cigar based Internet sites, publications and their coverage of all facets of the cigar industry, I’ve often marveled at the complex and intricately detailed reviews such as the one below:

• Initially light bitter cocoa notes with a peppery background
• Settles in quick as the cocoa smooths out and becomes more prominent
• Pleasant floral aromas waft off the foot early in the burn
• A solid white ash develops with a slightly wavy and medium char line
• Cedar notes join the profile
• The cocoa notes morph into vanilla
• Fruit notes brighten the profile moving into the second third
• Aroma shifts to a hint of sweet nut
• Mild spice enters midway
• Bitter notes enter deep in the second third
• Spice ratchets up in the end of the second third
• As the burn enters the final third, it burns a tad hot to the touch

Two of my friends smoked this particular cigar. When I asked them about hints of cocoa, floral scents, vanilla and nuts, one said it was OK the other said it tasted like shit.

I recently met a fellow cigar smoker in my Arizona car club. I noticed he was smoking a Padron. I commended him on his great choice and mentioned a few different cigars I’ve similarly enjoyed for a whole lot less money. “I’ve tried everything and always come back to these even though it costs me $1,200.00 a month to smoke them.”

Wow! What a loyal one-brand customer. I then asked him when he stopped trying different cigars and he said three years ago. When I think of all the great cigars that came to market since then I lose count.

I’ve often said you can’t sleep with a thousand partners in your lifetime but you can smoke a lot of different cigars. Don’t be afraid to try new cigars. There are dozens of companies making new and unique products year after year. Like me, you may very well discover some real contenders to enjoy immensely. Keep your eye out for new cigars on our website and don’t hesitate to reach out for our help!

Cheers!

Richie

Greetings to our valued Cigar Thief friends. In May I entered the Jaguar I had in a local car show sponsored by a great regional charity and won Best In Class! As much fun as that was, the real reward was meeting a local personality by the name of Eric Isaacsen who put this event together. This Michigan native who migrated to Arizona with his wife Dawn has been producing and posting terrific videos for car enthusiasts on YouTube for years. It turns out that Eric is also a huge cigar lover. It didn’t take long for us to hit it off.

When he suggested that The Cigar Thief and myself be the topics of one of his episodes, I was flattered, excited and heartily agreed. We met at his home, sat down and spoke candidly about my background while enjoying one of our sites exclusive cigars, the A.J. Fernandez Enclave Connecticut.

So if you’d like a birds-eye view of me in person and how we enjoyed this great cigar, follow the link below. And please feel free to post your comments.

It’s hard to believe over two years have passed since I joined our small family owned business. Since then, Cigar Thief has grown through thick and thin. We’ve had to compete with multi billion dollar companies, dealt with Covid-19’s effects ( I almost died from it in 2020), navigated manufacturer back orders, price increases, product shortages and as all of you know……seeing historically high inflation affect nearly everything in our lives.

With that being said, we here are grateful for your patronage through all this.

Together, we’ve all learned a lot about cigars over the years. I’ve enjoyed communicating with so many of you to share thoughts about our favorites as well as answering a wide variety of your questions.

In January and July of this year I visited the two biggest cigar trade shows in the US. While navigating throughout the huge amount of aisles, I was amazed to see the vast arrays of new and lesser known cigar brands on display. These company owners were eager to explain why their creations were the next great products to get behind. Keep a close eye out for some of these manufacturers that we’ve decided to support. You can be rest assured if we feel confident enough to partner with these manufacturers that their cigars will be worth a try. So stay tuned!

Who knew that outside of America, VEGA FINA is the biggest selling non-Cuban cigar in the world being sold in over 50 countries! You may want to check out this brand to see what the rest of the world loves. They offer both Natural and Nicaraguan blends available in popular sizes. A five pack of robustos is around $30.

The world is a big place, but I had know idea that even today, MACANUDO is the best selling cigar on the planet……PERIOD! Over the decades, this iconic brand has adapted brilliantly in satisfying the never ending wants of the world’s smokers. The success of the Inspirado brand proved they are still a force to be revered and will be dominant in the industry moving forward for sure. Check this extensive line out as well. A five pack of robustos is also around $30.

As many new brands continue appearing, it’s no surprise how familiar names like Romeo y Julieta, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Acid and many others just keep rolling along satisfying countless smokers for decades.

Let us know your favorites as well as what you’ve tried that we haven’t. Our primary goal is to keep you satisfied!

Cheers,

Richie

We are more than excited to add one what I feel is an amazing new brand on our site. Check them out and grab a five pack to try. You’ll thank me after you smoke them for sure!

Antonio Lam founded Reinado Cigars in 2009 after collaborating with Yadi Gonzalez-Vargas of Flor de Gonzales Cigars leading to the company’s first Core Line blend being produced by Master Blender Omar Ortiz’s Agros Tabacos Industriales in Condega, Nicaragua.

Needless to say, Core Line was well received and garnered industry accolades including Cigar Journal’s 92 rating. Reinforcing this initial success, soon came the company’s second Grand Empire Reserve line in 2010 from the same factory. Both Grand Empire’s Original and Ecuadorian box pressed blends were hits as well with multiple 90+ ratings and strong sales. By 2012 Grand Empire Reserve landed on both TOASTED FOOT and STOGIE REVIEW’s top 10 lists in 2012. Not bad for a relative newcomer!

When Antonio’s father was diagnosed with dementia in 2015 he decided to take whatever time was needed to care for and make sure his Dad’s needs were being met. This life altering event re enforced Antonio’s priorities of putting his family’s well being above all else.

In January of 2021 Antonio relaunched the company partnering with Aganorsa Leaf’s famed Tobacos de Jalapa S.A. Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua producing the Grand Apex line. As expected, Grand Apex was successful with 90+ ratings. At this point, it became obvious that Reinado’s focus on overall quality and consistency was being achieved.

In May of 2022 Antonio announced Reinado’s newest creation, the C29 which is affectionately named since it took 29 blend iterations to get to the final product! All the tobacco used to produce C29 has been aged 8 years including the Ecuadorian grown Connecticut leaf wrapper. With Antonio being the primary blender, it’s become very clear his years of research, dedication and passion has been the driving force making the Reinado name
synonymous with desirable, small batch, super premium boutique cigars.

In addition, Reinado Cigars is a proud supporter of the Dementia Society of America with a portion of all sales donated to the organization.

One thing I can say about our great bunch of Cigar Thief smokers is they’re very well informed about most of the major cigar makers and the countless offerings available to us all. It seems like “Boutique” and “Small Batch” companies are springing up all the time. Many come and go while some hang in there hoping to catch on in the marketplace. Others pay their dues in the highly competitive cigar industry and over time attract and keep a devoted fan base. You know that we at Cigar Thief are constantly looking for the next superstars and will continue to do so. Offering our great customers new brands we think are worth trying is a practice we enjoy and feel is very important. As time passes, I’m going to highlight companies I think are worth noting for you. These are cigar makers whose products I smoke and really like, yet you may not be familiar with them. SO……… here we go!

Edition #1 : HIRAM & SOLOMON

What many people may or may not know is how the Hiram and Solomon super premium cigar brand is tied to the fraternal order of the Freemasons. If you’re curious about the world’s oldest and largest fraternity, visit www.freemasonnetwork.org.

With that being said, two members of this organization, Brethren Fouad Kashouty and Brother George Dakrat enjoyed cigars together and often thought about the creation of a cigar good enough to bear the iconic square and compass symbol on its label for all of the groups discerning smokers.

Beginning in 2014, Fouad and George traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet Master Blenders with the firm desire to make their concept for a super premium cigar a reality. From there they made it to Nicaragua with the same goal in mind. More importantly, they wanted to fully participate in the blending and have the final say in the offerings being created.

The first three editions produced were and still are amazing. Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason not only launched this small, boutique company onto the world stage, each brand coincides with the first three steps of participation into the Freemasons organization.

As more brands were produced, countless smokers came to know the Hiram & Solomon brand being synonymous with perfect made, expertly blended masterpieces. After George’s retirement in 2020, Fouad continued the company’s management alongside his wife Romy. It was not a surprise that in 2021 they were ranked #1 boutique cigar by the prestigious Cigar and Spirits magazine . I’ve tried all of their cigars so check out my reviews to see what I think. I highly recommend and feel they deserve a place in your humidors.

Cheers,

Richie