Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 12/9/2007

Question
Bill,

I would like to get my father say 4-6 cigars for christmas. I know nothing about cigars.  What is good type/brand to get?  How much should I look to spend?  I was thinking in the neighborhood of $20ish per?

Anything you can tell me will be an enormous help.

Thank you very much!!!

Chris

Answer
Chris,
What a great son, buying your dad cigars for Christmas. We should all have kids like you...

Cigars are a lot like wine - personal taste has a lot to do with what you like. If you know what brands your dad smokes I can suggest something similar. Since we don't know if he likes strong, mild... the best thing to do is be conservative and buy cigars that just about anyone will enjoy. There are 2 ways to go - buy some really nice cigars that'll impress him because he knows they were pricey or buy him really good cigars that are not as expensive. Here are my suggestions for both categories:

Expensive and great smokes:
1. Stradivarius
2. Cohiba Black
3. Montecristo White Label
4. Padron Anniversary 1926
5. Ashton Heritage
6. Partagas Decades (limited availability - hard to find)

Less expensive, but still great cigars:
1. Partagas Black Label
2. Romeo Y Julieta Reserva Real
3. Punch Rare Corojo
4. H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon
5. Padron
6. Oliva Serie G
7. Punch
8. Excalibur
9. Arturo Fuente

So, you can take one of those lists to your local tobacconist, tell them how much you want to spend and have them help you pick the cigars (you'll need to know what size you want - if you don't know what he smokes go with the most popular size - 6" x 50 ring gauge) or, if this is still too complicated consider buying him a sampler that is already put together and packaged in a nice box. If you'd like to see some samplers look at our web site at www.finckcigar.com, click on "click here to order on line". On the home page you'll see a sampler called "World Class Collection" which contains 10 great quality premium handmade cigars packed in a beautiful Spanish Cedar box for $49.95. You can also look in the upper left hand corner where it says "select by category" click on the drop down menu and select "samplers" to see lots of other choices.

Let me know if I can help any further.
BF