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Monday, May 25, 2026

Cigar Culture

8 stories

Collecting Vintage Cigars: A Guide for the Serious Aficionado

Cigar Culture

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 really age cigars rather than ruin them, and which factors drive the value at auction.

Mar 30, 2026

La Casa del Habano: The Global Embassy of Cuban Cigars

Cigar Culture

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, where the best ones are, and why the LCDH-Exclusive bands are quietly the most interesting cigars in Cuban tobacco.

Mar 30, 2026

The Cigar Band: Origins, Design, and the Quiet Hobby of Collecting Them

Cigar Culture

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 paper in the world. A look at vitolphilia, lithography, and why some bands are now worth more than the cigars.

Mar 30, 2026

Decoding Habanos: A Guide to Reserva, Gran Reserva, Regional, and Limited Edition Cigars

Cigar Culture

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 different reasons to spend more. Here's what each tier actually delivers and where the real value sits.

Aug 12, 2025

Long-Filler vs. Short-Filler Cigars: A Deep Cut into Tobacco Craftsmanship

Cigar Culture

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-made smokes. Understand the difference and you understand why a $4 cigar tastes like a $4 cigar.

Aug 7, 2025

Cuban vs. Dominican Cigar Wrappers: A Tale of Two Leaves

Cigar Culture

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 leaves grown 700 miles apart taste like different products.

Aug 7, 2025

Beyond Strength: How the Cigar Palate Moved From Bold to Complex

Cigar Culture

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 the blenders driving the shift.

Jul 16, 2025

From Sik’ar to Status: Charting the Rich History of Cigars

Cigar Culture

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 sacred Mesoamerican plant became the world's most refined smoke.

Jun 1, 2025

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