How to Choose Your First Premium Cigar

Most people's first premium cigar is chosen by accident — a gift, a wedding, a leftover from a friend's box. With a bit of guidance, your first deliberate purchase can be much better. Here is what we tell newcomers to Chaveta.

Start with body, not brand

Cigars are classified by body (the impact on the palate) and strength (the nicotine effect). For a first cigar you want mild to medium body. Full-bodied cigars are not 'better' — they are an acquired taste, and starting there is the surest way to put a beginner off cigars forever.

Look for Connecticut or Ecuadorian Connecticut wrappers. They are typically lighter, smoother and more forgiving than Maduro or Corojo wrappers.

Cohiba cigar with tasting journal, fountain pen and ashtray on wood, a guide to choosing your first premium cigar — A cigar, tasting notebook and pen — the ritual of learning what you enjoy.

Pick a size you will actually finish

A cigar is measured in ring gauge (diameter, in 64ths of an inch) and length (in inches). For a first cigar, choose:

Robusto (around 50 × 5") — 45-minute smoke. The most common 'first cigar' size for good reason.
Petit Corona (around 42 × 4 1/2") — 30-minute smoke. Even more approachable.

Avoid Churchill (47 × 7") and Double Corona (49 × 7 5/8") as a first cigar — they take 90+ minutes and the flavour can become heavy as you progress.

Premium cigar resting on an ornate blue-and-gold ashtray over rustic wood, choosing your first premium cigar — An elegant ashtray on weathered wood frames the slow ritual of a fine cigar.

Four reliable starting cigars

Davidoff Grand Cru Robusto

Mild-to-medium, refined, complex without being challenging. A textbook first-class cigar. See it in our Davidoff Grand Cru Robusto listing.

Aladino Connecticut Toro

Honduran puro with a Connecticut wrapper. Creamy, mild, well-constructed. Available from our Aladino range — try the Aladino Connecticut Toro.

Camacho Connecticut Robusto

Slightly more body than the Aladino, with a pleasant nutty finish. The Camacho Connecticut Robusto is a strong recommendation.

Davidoff Primeros

If you want to ease in with something smaller and less expensive, the Davidoff Primeros Dominican is a 4-inch petit corona that delivers most of the Davidoff experience in 30 minutes.

Premium cigar resting on a stand by a carved bowl in warm lounge light, choosing your first premium cigar — Soft lounge light and a resting cigar — the unhurried moment of a great smoke.

What you need beyond the cigar

You will need a cigar cutter — a basic guillotine cutter is fine to start. You will need a lighter with butane (never petrol, never a paper match — they taint the flavour). And if you don't intend to smoke the cigar within a couple of days, you'll want a humidified pouch or small humidor.

Buy one, not a box

Boxes typically contain 10, 20 or 25 cigars. Don't commit to that volume of one blend until you've tried it. Use our Single Cigars collection to sample three or four different blends before deciding what to stock.