How to choose your first cigar

A first cigar should be mild, well made, and smoked without a stopwatch. That single sentence does most of the work; the rest of this page explains the three words on every cigar shelf: strength, size, and wrapper.

Strength: start mild, and mean it

Strength is the nicotine weight of the tobacco, not the amount of flavor. A mild cigar can taste of cream, cedar, and toast; a full cigar can flatten a newcomer in twenty minutes. Nothing about starting mild is beginner shame: plenty of thirty-year smokers live happily at mild-to-medium. Look for the words Connecticut or mild on our shelf talkers, or just ask.

Size: pick the time, not the cigar

Sizes (vitolas) mostly decide duration. A Robusto, around five inches, gives you a 45-minute smoke and is the standard first choice. A Corona runs a touch slimmer and shorter. Skip the seven-inch Churchills until a Sunday afternoon has your name on it. Thicker ring gauges smoke cooler but ask more of your draw; medium is the honest middle.

Wrapper: the color tells you most of it

The outside leaf carries a surprising share of the flavor. Pale tan Connecticut shade wrappers lean creamy and gentle. Reddish-brown Habano and Corojo bring spice. Near-black Maduro is fermented longer and tastes of coffee and dark chocolate; rich, but usually stronger. First time out, stay pale.

Three first cigars we hand people weekly

1. Macanudo Cafe: the definition of gentle; cream and cedar.
2. Arturo Fuente Chateau (natural): mild, immaculately built, a step more flavor.
3. Oliva Connecticut: smooth with a little toast and nut; the one people reorder.

All three live in our humidor. Tell us it's your first and we will check the draw and clip it for you at the counter.

The two rules that save the evening

1. Do not inhale. Taste the smoke in your mouth, then let it go.
2. Smoke on a full stomach, with something sweet to drink nearby. Nicotine on an empty stomach is how first cigars become last cigars.