New to cigars? Feeling overwhelmed about picking the perfect first cigar?
Don't worry! We've curated a top ten list of beginner-friendly cigars, considering brand, size, color, and flavor.
Ideal for first-timers, this guide simplifies your choice and ensures a great start to your cigar journey.
Editor's Note: Ready to level up? Check out our list for Best Cigar Subscription!
jack's top picks
Product | Details | Our Rating |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
 | ||
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"Cuban-heritage, smooth flavor, excellent construction and burn" |
"Medium-bodied profile blended for all levels of cigar smokers" |
"Affordable fan favorite, Cuban-heritage, floral and smooth, best seller" |
10 Best Cigars For Beginners
Here is our list of the top cigars for those just beginning, or looking for their first smoke.
1. Montecristo White Especial No. 1
Montecristo’s long-standing Cuban-heritage legacy lives on in the Dominican Republic as well as in their newest state-of-the-art plants.
It is recognized for its status as providing the finest cigars and standard by which other cigars are assessed by using the world’s most highly talented cigar blenders and rollers.
Montecristo is combined with a high-graded Connecticut shade wrapper with the best Dominican binder and filler to create a work of art.
It is a mild cigar with flavors of nuts, grass, and cedar.
Moreover, the palate is blessed with a slight hint of sweetness, being a good choice for beginner smokers.
COUNTRY: Dominican Republic
WRAPPER: Ecuador Connecticut or Cameroon
BINDER: Peru
FILLER: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
STRENGTH: medium
COLOR: Natural
LENGTH: 6 5/8
RING SIZE: 44
2. Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure No. 2
Cigar enthusiasts of all levels choose this very cigar.
It has delicate nuance and aroma but is not precisely a mild cigar. It has crisp and fruity overtones all year round.
Hoyo De Monterrey can be an excellent introduction for newbies being mild, with a creamy texture.
It is a perfect example of how a cigar can give layers of flavor without sacrificing delicacy or finesse.
Hoyo Epicure No.2 is a traditional cigar that has remained relatively unchanged over the years.
These mild cigars are to date, packaged in hardwood slide-lid cabinets that allow for optimal airflow during long-term maturing.
They are still wrapped in a ribbon and 50 count cabinets are available as an alternative to normal 25 count boxes.
COUNTRY: Honduras
WRAPPER: Indonesian
BINDER: Hondura, Mexico
FILLER: Honduras
STRENGTH: Medium
COLOR: Natural
LENGTH: 4 7/8
RING SIZE: 50
SHAPE: Robusto
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3. Romeo Y Julieta Capulet
If you are looking for something more than just mild, as a beginner, Romeo Y Julieta as medium-bodied premium cigars can be your perfect choice.
The Cuban-heritage stallworth, has a vibrant orange and yellow tint is tightly veined and has a handful of minor imperfections along with the wrapper.
It is easy on the tongue and has a traditional tobacco flavor.
On the foot and predraw, there are notes of fragrant wood, dirt, and subtle pepper.
In addition, such mild cigars generate a lot of creamy thick smoke giving you the best smoking experience and surely suits your needs.
COUNTRY: Dominican Republic
WRAPPER: Ecuador or Connecticut, Cameroon
BINDER: Peru
FILLER: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
STRENGTH: Medium
COLOR: Natural
LENGTH: 5 1/2
RING SIZE: 44
4. Ashton Classic
Ashton classic can be the ideal choice for beginners as it is a mild choice of cigar widely recognized in the US market.
It can be one of the best choices for smokers seeking a luxurious smoke.
It is handcrafted utilizing the highest quality, well-aged (3-4 years) tobaccos with a mild and smooth blend that leaves you with a creamy cedar tincture.
Moreover, buttered crackers, sweet honey, barnyard hay, and subtle cabinet spices combine to create a pleasant flavor making it one of the choicest beginner cigars.
Brand – Ashton
Origin- Dominican Republic
Wrapper – Connecticut
Strength – medium
Ring gauge – 44, 55, and 52
Length – 5, 5, ½, 7 ½
Weight – 3kg 100g
5. Larutan Natural
Larutan is a medium-bodied cigar with a sweet profile with incredible tobacco blend.
These natural cigars are of the same high quality as the flavored cigars and can compete with the traditional manufacturers.
This natural series takes cigar-smoking construction to new heights.
From natural NDB’s extreme length to tiny juicy, strong yet subtle flavors, there is something for everyone.
This as a result makes it one of the best beginner cigars as well as an experienced cigar smoker.
Brand - Acid
Origin- Nicaragua
Wrapper – Sumatra
Strength – medium
Ring gauge – 46
Length – 5 inches
Weight – 28 grams
6. Oliva Connecticut Reserve
Oliva is a mild-medium-bodied quality cigar recognized for its spicy blends.
It has the profile of buttered toast, coffee, and cedar with a great dosage of spices.
The cigars wrap the palate in a layer of thick flavor after the substantial maturing.
It hides a tantalizing Nicaraguan tobacco blend beneath a silky, creamy Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed wrapper.
This cigar delivers on its promise, and Olivia cigar lovers will appreciate the change of pace.
It has a luxurious flavor, can be enjoyed with a mild drink, and comes at an affordable price.
Brand - Olivia
Origin- Nicaragua
Wrapper – Connecticut
Strength – mellow to medium
Ring gauge – 7 x 50
Length – 7 x 8 x 2
Weight – 2 lbs
7. Punch Petit Coronations Tubos
Punch petit is a finely crafted, mild-bodied cigar small, and gentle cigar.
Its coronations are bent in the Maduro Colorado leaf. This leaf lends a delightful sweetness like caramel, hazelnut, and chocolate notes.
If you are a beginner cigar smoker, its subtle flavors with fruity notes makes it a great choice for after-lunch smoke.
Due to the easy cigar-smoking profile and decent size, you can enjoy it for about 30 minutes.
They are sold in boxes of 25 tubes and are packaged in a cedar-lined aluminum tube.
It is a pleasant smoke for all levels of cigar smokers, however; the mildness makes it awesome cigars for beginners.
Brand - Olivia
Origin- Cuba
Wrapper – Corojo
Strength – Mild to medium
Ring gauge – 40
Length – 4 5/8”
Weight – N/A
8. Cohiba Siglo I
Cohiba Siglo is little in size yet does not fall short in flavor, delivering a medium full-bodied smoke.
Up to three of Cohiba’s leaves, the Seco, Ligero, and the unusual Medio Tiempo are fermented in barrels, which is unique among Habanos.
If you smoke cigars, this one-of-a-kind method creates a distinct scent and flavor that can only be found in Cohiba and can be an amazing travel partner.
With similar tastes like the Siglo line coronas, these Cuban cigars are creamy sweet in flavor with mocha along with medium-bodied tobacco taste, being a good choice for non-mild beginners.
Brand - Cohiba
Origin- Cuba
Wrapper – Corojo
Strength – medium
Ring gauge – 40
Length – 4”
Weight – 6 grams
CUBAN CIGARS NOT SOLD IN US: Read why here.
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9. H. Upmann Reserve Corona
The H. Upmann Reserve corona is one of the most popular of the brand.
Its distinct look sets the tone for the rest of the senses and is expertly crafted.
The fragrances of warm grassy aromas blended with honey were the first to greet this good cigar.
It is short in size with a nice balance of flavor for a short duration of smoke for the new cigar smoker.
This smoke will give you sweet floral notes with thick creamy undertones that evolve into coffee flavors.
This 20 minutes smoke is ideal for lunch or pre-prandial due to the slightly thicker gauge and H. Upmann’s trademark light to mix.
However, because of its great quality, this small cigar can be smoked at any time of the day or night.
The filler and binder tobaccos in H. Upmann’s mix are all grown in the Vuelta Abaja zone.
Brand – H Upmann
Origin- Cuban
Wrapper – Ecuador
Strength – mild-medium
Ring gauge – 44
Length – 5 1/2”
Weight – 6 grams
10. Gispert
Gispert cigar is a wonderful choice for all types of smokers, with its roots in the nineteenth century.
Gispert creates handcrafted cigars using Honduran and Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos to keep their history alive.
It is a mellow-to-medium-bodied cigar with a toasty flavor, naturally sweet with a hint of chocolate and dry wood notes.
This is a milder cigar option, full of rich flavor, naturally creamy and nicely balanced, with enough taste to satisfy even the most seasoned enthusiast.
Brand – Gispert
Origin- Honduras
Wrapper – Ecuador-grown, Connecticut-seed or Maduro
Strength – medium
Ring gauge – 44
Length – 3 1/2”
Weight – 6 grams
Facts About Cigars
- The highest quality handcrafted cigars are created with leaves of tobacco that stretch the entire length of the cigar.
- The cigars are rolled together with filling, binder, and wrapper to offer you an extremely unforgettable smoke.
- The less expensive cigars are mostly machine-made. They contain short filler tobacco, or scraps and are fragmented manually blended by high-speed machines.
- Then there are cigars, which are a combination of the hand-rolling outer wrapper and machine bunching of long-filler tobacco. These are referred to as hand-rolled cigars.
- Taste being a subjective topic, a costly cigar does not always guarantee a good smoke. Smoking preferences can be regardless of cost, as you might like an inexpensive machine-made cigar better than an expensive one.
F.A.Q
What are good cigars for beginners?
It is good to start from a mild to a medium-bodied cigar as a beginner. As strong-bodied cigars, become difficult to handle for a new smoker. For example, Ashton classic and such.
What is the smoothest cigar to smoke?
Some of the smoothest cigars can be Ashton classic, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta Capulet, and Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure No. 2
How much should you pay for a decent cigar?
There is a range of prices from $5 to $40 since taste is completely subjective. Hand made cigars can be more expensive than machine-made. In general, as a beginner, you can find a good variety of mild-medium cigars in the range of $5 to $8.
Are there sweet cigars for beginners?
If you like sweet flavors there are sweet cigars for beginners , like the Macanudo, that give you flavors like vanilla cookies and caramel. Or you can try flavored cigars like the popular Russian Creme by Backwoods.
Verdict: Which Beginner Cigar Should I Choose?
Smoking cigars can be one of the finest pleasures, but you cannot just start smoking a random cigar without knowing anything about the brand.
However, it takes the cigar enthusiast doing some research to find out the cigars that work best for beginners depending on various factors.
Pick a few and enjoy the ride. Welcome to the cigar club!
- Jack