The Best Cigar Accessories of 2026: The Complete Kit, Piece by Piece
24 Oct
Magazine — the leaf, the markets, the people.
69 essays · free to read
Cohiba Talismán Becomes a Regular Cigar: What Habanos Announced
The Cohiba Talismán, a limited edition in 2017, is now the ninth size in Cohiba's Línea Clásica. Habanos launched it in London on 7 October 2026 to open Cohiba's 60th year. Size, packaging, the UK-only gift pack, and what it means for European availability.
By Cristian Ortiz Suárez · 26 October 2026
How to Calibrate a Cigar Hygrometer: The Salt Test and the Boveda Kit
21 Oct
Why Your Torch Lighter Won't Light (and How to Fix It)
21 Oct
Xikar vs Colibri: Which Cigar Cutter Should You Buy? (2026)
21 Oct
The archive · back numbers
64 moreOctober 2026
- Gifts for the Cigar Smoker Who Has Everything (2026)
What to give a cigar smoker who already owns a cutter, a lighter and a humidor: the upgrades they won't buy for themselv…
- Cigar Gifts Under $50: 9 Stocking Stuffers a Smoker Will Use
Nine cigar gifts under $50 that a smoker will actually use: a guillotine cutter, a triple-jet lighter, a travel case, a …
- Best Cigar Humidors of 2026: Desktop, Budget & Cabinet Picks
The best desktop cigar humidors of 2026, from a $36 starter box to a 150-cigar cabinet, plus the two cheap extras that m…
- Sweden's Cuban Cigar Importer Is Being Wound Up. What It Means for Cuban Cigars in Europe.
Elite Trading Scandinavia, the exclusive Habanos importer for Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Baltics,…
September 2026
- Cohiba Behike vs Siglo VI: What You Pay For, Cigar by Cigar
Same ring gauge, same factory, same brand, and one costs twice the other per cigar. A Cuban smoker's honest read on wher…
- How to Read a Cuban Cigar Box Code and Date (With Worked Examples)
Two lines of ink on the bottom of every Habanos box. One is a date you can read in ten seconds once you know the Spanish…
- How to Store Cuban Cigars: Why I Keep Mine at 65%, Not 70%
Habanos says 65–70% and 16–18°C. After years of humidors in Havana and Malmö, here is why the low end of that range is t…
- V-Cut or Straight Cut? A Table by Cuban Vitola and Ring Gauge
Which cut for a Behike 56, a Montecristo No. 2 or a Lancero: a table of Habanos vitolas by ring gauge with the cut that …
- How to Read a Cuban Cigar Box: Seals, Stamps, Codes and the One Tell That Never Lies
Turn the box over. Two marks burnt into the cedar, two inked underneath, a warranty seal with a hologram and a barcode, …
- Germany Has Run Out of Cuban Cigars. Here Is What the Board Shows.
On 15 September, Germany's two biggest online cigar shops list one of the 43 Cuban vitolas we track as in stock. The dis…
- Cigar Travel Cases in 2026: Leather Fingers, Tubes or a Hard Humidor?
Three kinds of case, one honest question for each: what happens to the cigars inside after 36 hours in a bag. The cedar …
- Fewer Cigars, Costlier Cigars: Where Habanos Goes From Here
Cuba exported about 50 million cigars in 2024, against 94 million in 2018. The festival is cancelled, the grid has colla…
- The Man Who Owned a Quarter of Habanos
Cuba never sold its half of Habanos. It sold the other half — and by 2025 the largest private shareholder in the company…
May 2026
- Cohiba Behike 52 vs 54 vs 56 — Which Habanos Flagship to Buy in 2026
Three Behike sizes, one signature wrapper. The 52 is the most-stocked and €349/cigar. The 54 is the all-rounder at ~€420…
- Cuban Cigar Import Duty: Germany vs Switzerland vs UK Explained (2026)
Buy a box of Cohiba Robustos in Germany for €1,930 and ship to the UK? Expect £350–£500 in UK Tobacco Products Duty + VA…
- Cuban Cigar Sizes (Vitolas) Explained — The 2026 Guide
A vitola is the size + shape spec of a Cuban cigar. There are over 70 named vitolas in the Habanos catalogue. This guide…
- What Is a Habano? The Complete Guide to Cuban Cigars (2026)
A Habano is a cigar that is 100% Cuban-grown, Cuban-rolled, and licensed by Habanos S.A. Every other 'Cuban-style' cigar…
- The Cohiba Price Spread: Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, UK Compared (May 2026 Snapshot)
A box of Cohiba Robustos costs €1,930 in Germany, CHF 2,040 in Switzerland, 19,200 SEK in Sweden, and £2,650 in the UK. …
- Where to Buy Cuban Cigars in Europe: the 2026 Retailer Map
A country-by-country directory of Cuban cigar retailers across 18 European countries, how online sale works in each mark…
- Smoke Your First Cuban Before 2028
Habanos S.A. is changing hands. The cigars coming out of the rebuilding period won't be the cigars on the shelf today. I…
- Your Humidor Will Betray You This Summer — Here's How to Survive It
Summer is the hardest season on a humidor. The reason is boring physics, the fix is four simple moves, and the trick is …
- The Cigar Travel Kit: What to Pack for a Weekend Abroad
Three cigars, the right case, a lighter that doesn't get confiscated. The seven things every cigar traveler quietly carr…
- 5 Underrated Cigar Cities for 2026 (Before They Get Crowded)
Everyone goes to Havana, Madrid, and Miami. These are the five cities where the cigar scene is quietly better — and the …
- The EU Tobacco Tax Will Quietly Kill the Independent Cigar Shop
Brussels is debating a €1,000-per-1,000-cigarettes minimum excise. The headline scares smokers. The real victims are the…
- Best Cigar Gifts Under $100 (2026): What Actually Gets Used
Affordable cigar gifts under $100 that smokers actually keep using: the V-cutter, the travel humidor, the outdoor lighte…
- Best Cigar Lighters of 2026: 5 Torch Lighters Worth Owning
Five cigar torch lighters worth owning in 2026: the windproof single jet, the all-weather double jet, the under-$20 trip…
- King Charles Signs The Tobacco Ban That Will Outlast Him: What The UK's Generational Law Means For Cigars
Royal assent makes it official. Anyone born in Britain after January 1, 2009 will never legally buy a cigar in their lif…
- Best Cigar Cutters of 2026: V-Cut, Guillotine, Budget & Tabletop
The cigar cutters worth owning in 2026: the V-cut our readers buy most, two double guillotines, a well-rated cutter unde…
- Beyond the Smoke: Your Guide to Sweden's Premier Cigar Retailers & Lounges
A working guide to Sweden's cigar scene — the Habanos Specialists in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, the members-only l…
March 2026
- Collecting Vintage Cigars: A Guide for the Serious Aficionado
How to actually build a vintage cigar collection — where to source pre-embargo Cubans, what humidity and temperature rea…
- Habanos 2026: What to Expect from the World's Most Coveted Cigars
A working preview of the 2026 Habanos slate — Cohiba's 60th anniversary leading the year, H. Upmann and Trinidad in the …
- Habanos S.A.: Unpacking the 2020 Ownership Change
Imperial Brands' 2020 sale of its 50% stake in Habanos S.A. to a Hong Kong-based investor group changed the strategic di…
- How Sustainability is Reshaping the Cigar World
Sustainable cigars aren't a marketing claim anymore — they're a measurable shift in how the world's best tobacco is grow…
- La Casa del Habano: The Global Embassy of Cuban Cigars
La Casa del Habano is the only retail concept Habanos S.A. operates worldwide. Here's what makes the franchise different…
- Montecristo Elba: A 90-Year Legacy Smoked in Style
Montecristo Elba marks 90 years of Cuba's most iconic brand with a 54 × 146mm Edición Limitada release. Inside the vitol…
- My Cigar Selection : A Leader's Guide to Shape, Size, and Shade
A practical guide to cigar selection — how shape (vitola), size (length and ring gauge), and wrapper color shape your sm…
- Punch Princesas: Celebrating 185 Years of British Wit and Cuban Craft
Punch Princesas marks 185 years of one of Cuba's most undervalued brands. A 52 × 135mm aged Edición Limitada — vitola, f…
- Smoke in Place: How Climate and Setting Change the Cigar in Your Hand
The same cigar smokes differently in a London lounge than on a Havana terrace. A working guide to humidity, temperature,…
- The Cigar Band: Origins, Design, and the Quiet Hobby of Collecting Them
The cigar band started as a 19th-century anti-counterfeit measure and became one of the most collected pieces of printed…
- The Tax Man Cometh: A New EU Directive Could Change Cigar Prices Forever
Big news brewing from Brussels that could change the game for cigar lovers across Europe! Rumors of a new EU Tobacco Pro…
- What's the Best Way to Cut a Cigar? We Settle the Debate.
How to cut a cigar the right way. Guillotine vs V-cut vs punch, the anatomy you need to know, and how to handle torpedoe…
September 2025
- The Secret Lives of Cigars: What 'Puro,' 'Habano,' and 'Tobacco' Really Mean for Your Smoke
Tobacco, puro, habano — three words that get used interchangeably in cigar conversations and shouldn't be. What each ter…
August 2025
- Decoding Habanos: A Guide to Reserva, Gran Reserva, Regional, and Limited Edition Cigars
Reserva, Gran Reserva, Edición Limitada, Edición Regional — four secondary bands, four different programs, four differen…
- Long-Filler vs. Short-Filler Cigars: A Deep Cut into Tobacco Craftsmanship
Long-filler runs whole leaves end to end inside a premium cigar. Short-filler is chopped scrap, the engine of machine-ma…
- Cigar Mold: What It Is and How to Get Rid of It
Cigar mold versus plume — how to tell them apart, what triggers a humidor outbreak, and a step-by-step protocol for savi…
- Cuban vs. Dominican Cigar Wrappers: A Tale of Two Leaves
Cuban vs. Dominican wrappers — the soil, the seed, the fermentation, and the political history that explains why two lea…
- The Aficionado's Nightmare: A Complete Guide to Cigar Beetles
Cigar beetles can destroy a humidor in days. How to spot them, what triggers a hatch, and the freezing protocol every co…
July 2025
- EU Tobacco Tax Proposal: A 1,000% Hike on the Horizon?
The European Commission's July 2025 revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive would raise the minimum cigar tax floor by …
- Cigar Industry Trends & Legislation: Growth in the U.S.
The US cigar industry posted 6.7% import growth through April 2025 — the strongest premium cigar performance in five yea…
- 10 Cigar Essentials Every Aficionado Should Master
Ten cigar essentials that separate beginners from serious aficionados — origin, fermentation, anatomy, cutting, lighting…
- How to Light a Cigar
How to light a cigar properly — toast the foot, get an even cherry, choose the right flame, and avoid the four mistakes …
- The Aficionado's Code: Cigar Etiquette That Actually Matters
Cigar etiquette the way it's practiced — not posted. How to cut, light, smoke, ash, and behave in a lounge without embar…
- Havana's Heartbeat: A Guide to Cigar Factories and Official Shops
Inside Havana's working cigar factories and the official shops that carry their output — Partagás, La Corona, Romeo y Ju…
- Your Guide to Habanos Festival
Everything to know about the Festival del Habano — the week each February when the global cigar industry flies to Havana…
- First Steps Into The Cigar World
A working beginner's guide to your first cigar — what to buy, how to cut and light it, how to pace the smoke, and the et…
- Journey to the Leaf: Your Passport to the Heart of Cigar Creation
Cigar tourism is no longer a niche pursuit. Nicaragua, Cuba, and Honduras now run serious vega-to-rolling tours — and th…
- La Casa del Habano: Your Definitive Guide to Authentic Cuban Cigars in Havana
Where to buy real Cuban cigars in Havana — the LCDH locations that matter, what's actually worth your money in 2026, how…
- Lighting Up Havana: The Definitive Guide to the Cigar Capital of the World
Where to smoke, where to buy, what to skip — a practical Havana cigar guide built around the lounges, factories, and rum…
- Beyond Strength: How the Cigar Palate Moved From Bold to Complex
Cigar smokers used to chase strength. Now they chase structure. A working guide to flavour, wrapper origin, aging, and t…
- Pairings and Gear: Where the Cigar Ritual Has Actually Moved
Mezcal, agricole rum, smart humidors, and the gear that earns its place in a serious lineup. A working guide to pairings…
- How the Toro and Gordo Took Over: The Big-Ring-Gauge Shift in Premium Cigars
Premium cigar production has tilted heavily toward 50+ ring gauge formats over the last decade. How the toro and gordo c…
June 2025
- From Sik’ar to Status: Charting the Rich History of Cigars
The history of cigars runs from Maya ritual leaves through Spanish trade routes to the modern Habanos market. How a sacr…
- Cigar Festivals That Matter: A Field Guide to the Real Ones
Habanos, ProCigar, Puro Sabor, InterTabac, Big Smoke. The cigar festivals worth flying for, what each one actually deliv…
- The Silent Keeper: Why Proper Cigar Storage is Your Secret to Unforgettable Smokes
Proper cigar storage decides whether a $30 stick smokes like one. Humidor humidity, temperature, hygrometer calibration,…
