What Are Cuban Sandwich Cigars?

A Cuban sandwich, my Miami friends maintain, contains the best things you can put between two pieces of bread. It’s a mix of savory (pork), sweet (ham), nutty (Swiss cheese) and sharp (pickles). It’s also too easy to eat. The name ‘Cuban sandwich’ lives in the cigar world as well. It refers to a cigar made with a mix of fillers, some long, some short tobacco. Short-filler cigars, to be clear, are made with chopped tobacco. You’ll find those in gas station shops.

Essentially, premium cigars contain only long-filler. These are tobacco leaves that run the entire length of the cigar. In the Cuban sandwich cigar, there is generally one long-filler binder stuffed with short-filler tobacco. (Wait a minute! Shouldn’t that be a ‘Burrito cigar?’) The short filler is made up of the remains, scraps, of long-filler cigars. So, what you’re getting is some very high quality tobacco usually at a very reasonable price.

Among the better Cuban sandwich cigars I can recommend are Bella Cuba, Rocky Patel Renaissance Fumas, Argyle Fumas, and Don Lino Fumas. An excellent selection of wrappers and sizes is available from these brands and they start at just 99-cents per cigar. You can also find a ton of other impressive Cuban sandwich cigars under the Bundle Heaven category at Holt’s. Not all bundles are Cuban sandwich, but many Cuban sandwich smokes are packaged in bundles to keep the cost low. You’ll even find premium Cuban sandwich cigars in boxes like Padilla Fumas and Alec Bradley White Gold. Consistent flavor and ultra-cheap prices make Cuban sandwich brands tough to pass up when need a solid utility smoke – something to puff on while you’re pushing the snow shovel or the lawn mower around.

The best thing to do is have a Cuban sandwich, then smoke one!