Small Cigars
Posted: 23 Apr 2022, 05:57
Share your reviews and opinions on Parodi, Red Lion, Kentucky Cheroots & etc.
I know enough to know that I don't know anything.
I know enough to know that I don't know anything.
Back around 2005, when civilized men would still smoke in dive bars and classier establishments, I used to frequent an Irish pub after work for pipe and Guinness. I settled down with a young European businessman (Sweden, I think), who was going bonkers over how cheap it is to drink in Wisconsin.
He introduced me to little Toscanello Italian cigars. These are topped with some pipe tobacco flavors, and I fell in love. They were hard to find in America, back then. I binged on them while I was on pilgrimage in Rome (2013), and brought a bunch home. Pipeson fell in love with them.
=============================================
De Nobili cigars are now a staple in our home. Pipeson buys them by the 100-count sleeve. They are wound very tightly, and last a satisfyingly long time for their size. They lack the pipe-flavor topping of Toscanello. We all love natural tobacco flavor too, right?
And the price is great -- under $1 per stick. About the same price as drugstore cigars, but quality like a Caribbean. (The leaf is Kentucky burley, so it doesn't taste like a virginia-based Caribbean. Very good, just different.)
They are the perfect grab-and-go smoke. They don't need tender loving humidification, so a box of five can live in your truck for a week and accompany your drive home from work.
JR Cigars offers this reflection:
https://www.jrcigars.com/blending-room/ ... ili-cigar/
The Legendary De Nobili Cigar
I remember walking to the local park in my town as a kid, and watching these old men playing bocce ball and smoking these crooked little stogies. The aroma was pungent and filled the air with the essence of beef jerky, hay, and anisette. Now, that may not sound appealing but this wafting aroma was like perfume to my senses and really piqued my curiosity as to how they must taste.
As I got older (legal smoking age), I remember a local candy store had these little white, green, and red boxes on the counter with the name De Nobili on them. Upon opening this box of stogies, which at the time were know by non-Italians as “stinkers,” I first noticed how crude and brittle they looked, yet when I squeezed them, I felt some moisture. So of course, I lit one up and—boom!—they tasted just liked they smelled! The essence of charred wood, beef jerky, hay, and anisette filled my palate along with the air around me. Now I had a good idea what those old bocce-ball-wielding paisanos were smoking!
The famous Avanti company manufactures De Nobili cigars in Scranton, Pennsylvania, right here in the U.S.A. Since 1896, these distinctive dry-cured cigars are machine-made with a mellow, medium-bodied blend of 100% dark-fire-cured Kentucky and Tennessee tobaccos. From the Avanti website: “The De Nobili brand has always been New York’s Italian cigar, and a favorite of Frank Sinatra, who claimed he couldn’t handle fresh air. He’d ‘rather be around three De Nobili cigars blowing in my face all night.’”
Fast-forward years later, and the top-quality De Nobli stogie remains one of my favorite little smokes. I must admit that they are not for everyone, but if you are curious to experience that old Americana taste that millions of smokers still adore, I suggest you give them a try. And best of all, no bocce ball required!