My ongoing search for a tasty everyday (read: affordable) cigar hasn’t gone too well. (It seems I have a taste for cigars that generally cost $5-$6 a pop.)

Last October, Mollie’s dad, a fellow cigar fan, gave me an Occidental Reserve cigar, and I was impressed. It was light, almost buttery, but it had soul. Not only was this an extremely tasty cigar; It burned well, smelled good and had a good feel.

I recently picked up a couple of OR robusto cigars to give them another try, and I was once again very impressed. The Occidental Reserve robusto has a complex, creamy taste that’s almost like a high-end Davidoff Special R. (This should be no surprise, as Davidoff’s Hendrik Kelner produces it.) . The cigar itself was solidly constructed, burned evenly (it didn’t go out once!) and was a pleasure to smoke.

And then there’s the cost. These babies will only run you $2.50 or so. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a good daily smoke, but it holds its own against more expensive cigars.

The Occidental Reserve Robusto

Mmm. Tasty.

The Rocky Patel 1999 Vintage Connecticut

This is the first of what I hope will be a regular feature on DanielHonigman.com: a Cigar of the Week post. I love a good cigar, so it generally made sense to me to start blogging about them.

The first cigar up (please disregard the camera phone photo–I’ll have regular photos up in the future) is the Rocky Patel 1999 Vintage Connecticut. I picked up a Torpedo (think of a cigar that’s actually shaped like a torpedo) and lit up after a rib dinner at Gibson’s Steakhouse in Chicago.

(For you aficionados, the cigar has a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler tobacco with a Connecticut wrapper, and all of the tobaccos were aged for seven years.)

There are a couple of great things about this cigar. First, it tastes wonderful. It’s extremely smooth and a bit nutty. I also thought it had a slightly minty aftertaste, which I enjoyed, so I gave it to Mollie to try out, and she agreed.

The ash was almost white (but you can’t see that from the photo, really) and it burned evenly all around.

All in all, this is definitely one of the better sticks I’ve smoked, and it would be perfect for cigar beginners, but it’s also complex enough for seasoned smokers. Enjoy!