Best Short Smokes
Sometimes you don’t have an entire afternoon to dedicate to smoking a premium cigar, but you can squeeze a smaller size in if you manage the clock. Or, maybe it’s just a little too cold to stand outside for very long. Short cigars satisfy the craving without zapping an hour of your time. Plus, smaller cigars are full of unique nuances larger shapes don’t offer. The intensity kicks in quicker in a short cigar because the smoke is traveling a shorter distance to reach your palate. Here are the top short cigars you should reach for when you want to relax but you haven’t got all day.
1. Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story
Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story may be the greatest short cigar of all time. Its petite, bulbous silhouette is handcrafted in a gorgeous and unmistakable 4 x 49 Figurado. Legendary cigar-maker Carlito Fuente has been blending the Hemingway line for several decades. Its luscious profile of coffee beans, cedar, and baking spices is drawn from a toothy Cameroon wrapper leaf and a premium amalgam of Dominican long-fillers aged to perfection.
2. Ashton VSG Tres Mystique
Ashton VSG echoes the pinnacle of full-bodied taste with incredible balance more than two decades after its 1999 debut. The concentrated 4.375 x 44 dimensions of Tres Mystique achieve unbelievable transitions of taste in a short amount of time. An oily Ecuador Sumatra wrapper conceals a premium aged marriage of rare Dominican binder and filler tobaccos handmade at the Fuente factory in the Dominican Republic. Set your stop watch. In no time a brilliant profile of leather, cedar, espresso beans, and spices will mesmerize your palate before a lingering finish teases you to indulge in a second cigar.
3. Padrón 1964 Anniversary Principe
An eloquent profile of cocoa, cayenne, black pepper, and cedar is packed into the 4.5 x 46 box-pressed Padrón 1964 Anniversary Principe. Few cigars can compete with Padrón’s prestigious reputation. The brand has scored three ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ titles and dozens of ultra-high ratings in Cigar Aficionado. Padrón 1964 Anniversary debuted in 1994 and kick-started a craze for the brand. Taste an iconic blend in the compressed shape of Principe for focused flavor and aroma in a short format.
4. Nub
Nub isn’t just a short cigar, it’s fat too. The pudgy shape of Nub cigars first stirred the attention of cigar lovers in 2008. The most popular size is 4 x 60. Today, the brand is far more than a quirky curiosity. Nub is a legit premium brand with loads of demand. Nub cigars are handmade in Estelí, Nicaragua, at the award-winning Oliva factory in five core blends: Cameroon, Connecticut, Habano, Maduro, and Corojo. What sets Nub apart from other short cigars is its thickness. Sixty-ring-gauge cigars burn cool and slow and last for a deceptively long amount of time. Don’t overlook Nub if you can handle a little more girth in a short format.
5. Oliva Serie V Melanio Petite Corona
In 2014, Oliva scored 96 points and Cigar Aficionado’s coveted ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ honors with Serie V Melanio. Taste a top-rated classic in the 4.5 x 46 Petite Corona format. The soft box-pressed shape is drafted from a glistening Ecuador Sumatra wrapper leaf and a well-aged interior of Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Tasting notes of peppers, cocoa, cedar, and fresh-ground coffee culminate in a well-rounded finish with creamy and rich aroma. Olive Serie V Melanio hit the ground running and continues to sit atop our sales charts on a regular basis.
