Top 5 Road Trip Cigars
“Get your motor runnin’.” Driving and smoking a cigar in the car is a form of meditation and reflection. Nothing beats a fun road trip when you’re traveling with the right cigars. Who doesn’t love to get out of town to go camping, hiking, or hunting? And why wait to make it to your destination to fire up a cigar? Start smoking when you pull out of the driveway. But before you go, load your travel humidor with some of our best road trip cigars. We’re suggesting some bigger cigars that burn for a while and taste amazing from beginning to end.
1. Ashton VSG Spellbound
As far as I’m concerned, Ashton VSG, in a big and blocky, 7.5-by-54 box-pressed Double Corona called the Spellbound is the ultimate road trip cigar. Dense and delicious tasting notes of espresso bean, cedar, leather, and pepper unfold over the course of more than an hour before a long and commanding finish. World-renowned cigar-maker Carlito Fuente blends Ashton cigars from the finest tobaccos, and VSG is no exception. A dark and oily Ecuador Sumatra wrapper embraces a bountiful blend of premium Dominican long-fillers matured for several years.
2. La Aroma de Cuba El Jefe
La Aroma de Cuba cigars make up one of today’s biggest-selling Cuban-legacy brands, and the original blend is handmade in Estelí, Nicaragua, where José ‘Pepin’ Garcia blends his best tobaccos under a toothy Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. There are several sizes to smoke, but the big-ring El Jefe, 7 inches long with its chunky 58-ring gauge, burns easy and lasts a good, long time when you’re on a long haul. This 93-rated gem pleases the palate with notes of cedar, cocoa, molasses, pepper, and earth throughout a sweet and spicy finish.
3. Arturo Fuente Hemingway Masterpiece
One of the most famous Arturo Fuente cigars in the world is the Hemingway, and heading down the highway with a 5-by-52 Masterpiece in your mouth is one of the best ways to experience the nuances you can only get from the best Figurado cigars. An oily Cameroon wrapper leaf conceals premium Dominican long-fillers aged for maximum smoothness in a complex profile of cedar, chestnut, and baking spices with hints of molasses and pepper.
4. San Cristobal Quintessence Churchill
Award-winning father-and-son cigar-makers Pepin and Jaime Garcia blend San Cristobal cigars in the traditional Cuban style they mastered before emigrating from Cuba to America nearly twenty-five years ago. In 2021, San Cristobal Quintessence was rated 95 points and ranked in the ‘Top 5 Cigars of the Year’ in Cigar Aficionado. It’s easy to taste why when you indulge in a brilliant profile of coffee bean, cocoa, molasses, and cedar in a traditional 7-by-49 Churchill.
5. Padrón 1964 Anniversary No. 4
A lot of cigar lovers will save Padrón cigars for special occasions, but unwinding behind the wheel with an oversized 1964 Anniversary is a sublime experience. Padrón 1964 Anniversary is handmade in a generous 6.5-by-60 size called the No. 4. Notes of leather, cedar, cocoa powder, almond, and coffee bean mingle with hints of black pepper and cayenne until a long, woody finish resonates. Padrón 1964 Anniversary cigars are blended from the finest Nicaraguan tobaccos after they’ve been aged for several years.
