A friend of mine used to ask “do you know the difference between a $2 cigar and a $6 cigar?” To a cigar novice like myself, the difference was $4; to someone with more experience, the difference includes factors such as flavor, type of wrapper, and smoke time. So how do I pick a cigar? Well there are as many cigars to choose from as there are brews to taste, so besides wandering around the large humidor looking for the inexpensive ones, I do have some criteria. My preferences usually work out to be a Robusto style with the following elements:
Wrapper – Natural
Flavor Strength – Medium
Length – 5”-6”
Gauge – 50
After visiting the Doña Elba cigar factory a few years ago, I have a tendency to pick Nicaraguan cigars. I recently tried a Perdomo Lot 23 Gordito Maduro cigar. Now that is quite a description, so let’s break it down. The name Perdomo Lot 23 is actually a great story. Perdomo, a cigar expert who liked to experiment with different seeds, blends, soils, aging processes, etc., planted some seed on Lot 23 on the company farm in Esteli, Nicaragua, which was unused land. The result of the experiment turned out to be one the best new releases in 2006. Gordito is short length at 4 ½”. Maduro is the wrapper, which is very dark.
Read more about Perdomo at www.perdomocigars.net
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