Some of My Favorite Short Smokes

Winter held off for us here in East Tennessee this year. I’m used to a chill settling in during November and by mid-December, I’m having to bundle up or head indoors to get any cigar enjoyment whatsoever. We ended up with a record-warm December, with a Christmas high temp that exceeded Southern California’s. But now we’re starting to see some winter weather rolling in.

As I write this the temperature outside has been stuck at 35 for pretty much all the daylight hours. It was supposed to get to 43 or so, but it doesn’t look good. Snow flurries are flying, although the ground temp is way too high for anything to stick or build up. The next few nights will be in the 20s…or less. So it appears winter is actually finally here.

I thought it would be a good time to talk again about some of my favorite short smokes…cigars that are tailor made for maximum enjoyment in a short amount of time. I got to looking at what my favorite shorties are these days and have found that some of them haven’t varied much in the last 4 or 5 years.

Petite Tatuaje

The Petite Tatuaje is part of the Seleccion de Cazador line (Brown label) from Tat and has been around since about 2009 or 2010, if memory serves. They come unbanded in a box of 50 and measure 4.5” long by 32 ring gauge. At about $4 apiece the price seems a little much until you actually smoke one. It will last 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how quickly you smoke it, and the flavor is just fantastic.

This little smoke starts off with intense flavors of earth and a searing pepper spice that comes through on the palate and the nose. Lesser notes of cedar and leather are apparent and overall, this is just a great example of the Tat Brown series that is perfect for about 35 to 40 minutes of smoking time.

Petite Cazadores

This cigar starts off with a blast of sweet earth that parts to reveal notes of cocoa powder and espresso bean, followed soon after with red pepper and deeper earth notes. The Petite Cazador is very close in flavor to the Noellas Reserva (same blend, similar ring gauge) and that’s a very good thing for me. This clocked in at a solid 30 minutes of smoking time, mostly because the draw was more open than on the Petite Tat.

Don Pepin Garcia Original (Blue) Demi-Tasse

The Demi-Tasse uses the exact same size as the Petite Tatuaje…and since it comes from the same factory, it might share molds and even rollers with that line. Based on the Blue Label blend from Don Pepin Garcia (now called “Original”) and the My Father Cigar Company, I first remember having one of these about 3 years ago and being stunned at how good it was. Since then, I’ve made a habit of having a few a year, but now they’ve made it even easier by releasing them in a 6-pack box. While the individual sticks are still available for about $4 each, a 6-pack will set you back about $20…so it’s like a “Buy 5/Get 1…and a Box to Keep Them In!” deal.

The DPG Blue is naturally sweet and a little earthy on the prelight. When I lit it up, I got a mix of earth, dried berries, cedar and pepper spice. This cigar burned through in just about 35 minutes and was delicious every minute of that time.

Davidoff Nicaragua Mini Cigarillos

In the past 6 months or so, Davidoff added a “Mini Cigarillo” format to their Nicaragua line. While the regular Nicaraguas are known for being puros, this Cigarillo is a mixture of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, a Sumatran binder, and a Nicaraguan Jalapa wrapper leaf. At 3.3125” long by 20 ring gauge, they aren’t designed to last long, but for about $20 for a box of 20, they don’t cost an arm and a leg, either. They are dry-cured so you don’t have to worry about humidification and come in a handy box that fits pretty perfectly in shirt or suit jacket pockets.

These Nicaragua Mini Cigarillos look rough and ready, but they are a Davidoff product so they have a fairly smooth smoke with earthy and leathery flavor notes. Being dry-cured, they light and burn quickly. I would be surprised at anyone getting more than 10 to 12 minutes from one of these, but if it’s 30 degrees outside, you have to ask yourself if you want to spend more than that long outside.

So there you have four very good options for smoking during the cold winter months. If time allows and more options come to mind, I might revisit this subject in the coming weeks.