Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Churchill
Size : 7 x 50
Wrapper : Dominican Republic
Filler : Dominican Republic
Binder : Dominican Republic
Hand-Made
Price : € 2.30 / each

This review is submitted by Tomáš and is participating in our "Share your cheap smoke!" contest. To get a chance to win a box of cigars, you can submit yours here.

From the official website:

Marca Fina is the name of cigars produced under the general management of Federación de Tabaqueros America Central (FTAC), a cooperation between independent tobacco farmers in Central America and the Caribbean. These small family businesses from the poorest rural areas of Central America have been cultivating high-class tobaccos on their plantations for decades and sell their harvest to international tobacco corporations on the tobacco markets at generally very low prices. F.T.A.C. supports these families in manufacturing a part of their annual harvest into high class cigars themselves and selling them directly. For the tobacco farmers this does not only mean significantly higher prices for their hard labour but also price stability and a guaranteed usage of their annual production. This represents an important step towards improved living conditions in countries without social security and health insurance.

One day when I was thinking about cheap but still good smokes I found Marca Fina‘s site with good looking cigars for friendly prices. But mainly I was very interested in its „social policy“ of tobacco farmers in the Central America and the Caribbean. Marca Fina offers you a range of longfiller cigars from Panama, Dominican Republic and Honduras. Each country has a separate selection of sizes. After good feelings about this „policy“ I have found information about free shipping within Europe for orders over 25 €. First one was a package with Panama Coronitas and few Panatelas, also from Panama. It was good but my expectations were rather higher. However I was convinced that Marca Fina do not offer trash cigars and I made another order. I ordered their Panama Robusto Maduro and Churchills from Dominican Republic. And the second cigar was definitely the right choice...

Read the full review of Cheap Smoke: Marca Fina Dominican Churchill...

Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Torpedo
Size : 5 x 56
Wrapper : Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro
Filler : Three regions of Nicaragua; Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : $4-5 each
More info about purchasing Diesel Unholy Cocktail cigars...

I have had several of the Diesel Shorty before. The Shorty is just another size in this line. The Diesel Unholy line consists of the Shorty and this, the Unholy Cocktail. This line is easily one of my favorite.

Read the full review of Diesel Unholy Cocktail...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Robusto
Size : 5 x 50
Price : $4.75 each

This review is submitted by Andrew and is participating in our "Share your cheap smoke!" contest. To get a chance to win a box of cigars, you can submit yours here.

While doing a teaching stint for Bilkent International School in Ankara, Turkey a couple of years back, I discovered that Ankara is not a great place to spend your weekends. So when Lufthansa started offering return flights to Munich, Germany for 99 Turkish Lira, I was all over it. God bless global economic recession!

In Germany I discovered this brand of cigars I had never before heard of. I bought a sampler pack of every Robusto in the Belmore range. And there was one very clear winner: the Cameroon Selection Robusto. Strong yet sweet, spicy yet not so overpowering as to mask a multitude of other flavours, this cigar is really something. If you are familiar with the Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story, which similarly has a Cameroon wrapper and is very very good, then just imagine what a fatter, easier drawing and longer lasting stick will do for you.

Now living in Tokyo Japan, I can buy Cubans off the Internet at great prices. But, this cheap smoke is as good as any mainstream Cuban. Yes, really! I just can’t find anyone out there who stocks the Belmore range and is willing to ship them internationally. Language becomes a problem too, for any European based online retailer. If you’re lucky enough to live in the U.S.A., you can get them at Camino Viejo Tabacos. If anyone out there knows how to get these shipped internationally, please share the knowledge.

Pictured above is the Torpedo at 50 x 6. The Robusto is shorter at 50 x 5. There are two smaller Torpedoes in the range and a Churchill at 48 x 7.

Origin : Honduras
Format : Robusto
Size : 5 x 52
Wrapper : Nicaraguan Habano
Binder : Nicaraguan Habano
Filler : Nicaragua, Mexico and Costa Rica
Hand-Made
Price : ~$4-5 each
More info about purchasing Gran Habano Corojo #5 cigars...

Background Info

Honduran cigar maker Don Guillermo Rico created the Gran Habano line of cigars in 2003, five years after starting his own successful cigar manufacturing business.

Mission Debrief

This is another cigar that has lived in my second humidor for quite a long time, probably before I bought it and its contents from my friend. As I know I have smoked a few of these in the past but couldn’t really remember if I liked it or not, I figured this one was as likely a candidate for interrogation as anything else in the humidor. The only problem with this review was that I started it too late in the evening and ended up not being able to get photos once I started smoking.

Read the full review of Gran Habano Corojo #5...

Origin : Honduras
Format : Toro
Size : 6 x 50
Wrapper : Honduran Connecticut Shade
Filler : Honduras, Nicaragua
Binder : Honduras, Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : $5 MSRP (street price should be considerably less)
More info about purchasing Alec Bradley American Classic cigars...

Every now and then I come across a cigar that really grabs my attention. These choice sticks sometimes become a Joe’s Gem while other times simply an incentive to purchase a box. Right now I am giddy over a sample of the soon-to-be-released Alec Bradley American Classic Blend.

The term “American Classic Blend” is one many cigar makers have used and generally means the cigar has a Conn. Shade wrapper. But these days, some of the best tasting Conn. Shade wrappers are grown outside the US. Such is the case with the new ABC (Alec Bradley Cigars) release. It sports a Honduran grown wrapper from Conn. Shade seed…and it’s gorgeous. With a golden brown hue and leathery feel, this cigar looks like a winner. But its good looks are only the beginning of a wonderful smoking adventure…

Read the full review of Alec Bradley American Classic...

Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Presidente
Size : 8 x 52
Wrapper : Indonesia
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$2.60
More info about purchasing Flor de Oliva cigars...

The Oliva family has a long history of making cigars, but the journey began in 1886 when Melanio Oliva began growing tobacco in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. Today, Melanio’s grandson Gilberto Oliva grows Cuban-seed tobacco in Nicaragua.

Read the full review of Flor de Oliva Presidente...

Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Churchill
Size : 7 x 50
Wrapper : Nicaragua (Natural)
Filler : Nicaragua
Binder : Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$4.70 each
More info about purchasing Perdomo Lot 23 cigars...

In 1992, an enterprising air traffic controller named Nick Perdomo Jr. started a cigar company out of his home garage in Miami, Florida. Today, Tabacalera Perdomo owns the second largest cigar manufacturing facility in Estelí, Nicaragua and produces nine diverse product lines. The Lot 23 line began in 2000 with the clearing of an untouched plot of land in Nicaragua. The tobacco grown there is fermented for one year and bale-aged for a minimum of three years.

Read the full review of Perdomo Lot 23 Churchill...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Corona
Size : 5 x 44
Wrapper : Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade
Binder : Honduran
Filler : Aged Dominican
Hand-Made
Price : ~$5 each
More info about purchasing Jameson Red Label cigars...

Background Info

Striving for the highest quality, Jameson Cigar Co.’s sole strategy is to bring their love and appreciation of cigars and coffee right to the consumer through their product lines.

Mission Debrief

A few weeks ago, a communication came through the wire: Brad Mayo of Jameson Cigars was inquiring about any interested parties wanting to give a tasting to their private-label coffee line. Being that I am never one to pass up a great chance to try test or beta products, I replied back to the message, informing him that I was also interested in their cigars, as no local B&M’s carry their product. Not only did he send along the coffee, a couple of cigars found their way into the shipment as well.

Read the full review of Jameson Red Label...