Fall Season Cigar Buying Guide
As much as we love being on the golf course and the beach during the summer, fall is one of the best times of the year to smoke cigars for many—inside or outside. Kicking back on the porch in cooler weather, watching football, and pouring a snifter of cognac beside a roaring fireplace are picture-perfect scenes for smoking a cigar. Restock your humidor with the best cigars to smoke this fall. We’ve outlined some excellent choices in our fall season cigar buying guide.
1. Ashton
The “Original Fall Classic” is an Ashton Churchill. This iconic smoke lasts for over an hour and boasts an elegant profile of cashew, cedar, coffee bean, and almond with hints of spice throughout a smooth and creamy gem. A seamless, golden-blond Connecticut Shade wrapper surrounds the finest Dominican long-filler tobaccos from head to foot. Every leaf of tobacco is aged for three to five years, and you can pair this approachable, 92-rated smoke with a wide variety of hot or cold drinks. Savor an Ashton Classic with an Angel’s Envy bourbon finished in Port wine barrels. It’s an ideal cigar to fire up while you watch the World Series.
2. Arturo Fuente Hemingway
Legendary cigarmaker Carlito Fuente blends Arturo Fuente Hemingway in the Dominican Republic from a vintage Cameroon wrapper leaf and a balanced recipe of premium Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. A luscious profile of cinnamon, cedar, nuts, and baking spices complements a bourbon or cognac nightcap just as well as a hot toddy. The blend is handmade in a collection of famous Figurado formats, including the Short Story, Signature, and Work of Art, which scored 94 points and a ‘Top 10’ ranking in Cigar Aficionado in 2019.
3. La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse
Award-winning father-and-son cigarmakers Pepin and Jaime Garcia blend La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse from a dark and toothy San Andrés wrapper and vintage Nicaraguan long-fillers harvested on their estates in Estelí, Jalapa, and Namanji. Delectable tasting notes of dark chocolate lava cake, espresso bean, and Turkish fig mingle with a touch of salt and pepper throughout a robust but smooth portrait. Sip an Old Fashioned cocktail with the big, indulgent flavor of La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse. Fire up this mature smoke in four meticulously handcrafted box-pressed sizes.
4. San Cristobal
A spicy, woody, and hearty profile of black pepper, espresso bean, black cherry, and earth emerges, accompanied by a leathery texture and aroma in a full-bodied finish. Master cigarmaker Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia blends San Cristobal from a bold recipe of vintage Nicaraguan long-fillers beneath a dark and lustrous Ecuador Habano Oscuro wrapper leaf. The bold taste of the Oscuro wrapper, which harbors more oil than other wrapper leaves, punches through with unrivaled finesse. Break out a peaty Scotch like Laphroaig or Lagavulin and ignite the fireplace before you get cozy with the 93-rated original San Cristobal in your favorite armchair.
5. Oliva Monticello
Oliva Monticello is a small-batch cigar of the highest quality, handcrafted from select reserves of the company’s oldest and rarest tobaccos. An oily Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper leaf conceals premium Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos in five flawless sizes. Luxurious notes of dark cocoa, cashew, coffee bean, and cinnamon impart a mouthwatering zest before a long finish bathes the palate. Oliva Monticello matches up with a glass of Blanton’s or a Graham’s Tawny Port wonderfully and stands out in the vast Oliva portfolio for its flavorful nuances.
6. My Father The Judge
The critics at Cigar Aficionado awarded My Father The Judge a stellar 98-point rating. They ranked it as their ‘Cigar of the Year’ for 2024, marking the third title for the Garcia family, one of today’s most celebrated cigar-making families. The Judge is blended from an oily Ecuador Sumatra wrapper and well-aged Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos grown in Estelí, Jalapa, and Namanji. Woody notes of leather, cedar, earth, and pepper impart nutty nuances, while a toasty aftertaste lingers. The Judge comes in a series of box-pressed classics, including the chunky 6-by-56 Toro.
7. Padrón 1926 Series No. 90
Padrón 1926 Series No. 90 is drawn from a hearty Nicaraguan wrapper leaf over a full-bodied core of well-aged Nicaraguan binder and fillers from some of the oldest tobacco reserves the Padrón family possesses. An intricate profile of cocoa, cedar, cayenne pepper, coffee bean, and baking spices characterizes a top-rated Nicaraguan smoke available in a Natural or a Maduro wrapper leaf, which develops with a touch more sweetness. The No. 90 was blended to commemorate the 90th birthday of company founder José Orlando Padrón. Padrón 1926 Series No. 90 cigars are handmade in a round 5.5-by-52 size that comes in a classy tube.
