Top 10 box recommendations to start a collection

[tjkoala]

I wouldn't say that I'm new to cigars nor would I even go as far to say I'm new to CC but I've been starting to build a stash to sit on for a while. What recommendations would you have for the top 10 boxes you'd prioritize if you had to start all over? No wrong answers just curious to where the FOH community would start!

[Chas.Alpha]

50 cab of RASS, 2 cabs BBF, 50 cab PLPC, box of Fundadores if you can find them, Hdm DC, Punch DC, Partagas Lusitania, Pd4, Monte 2 and Monte 1.

[Juliano88]

Depends on what flavor profile you prefer and what vitolas you enjoy. With cuban cigars, going with what's hot as far as current production is a good rule of thumb. 20/21 batches are smoking out of this world due to the aging, fermentation and attention to quality control which has greatly improved over the years. Not to mention the great harvests the farmers have had over the last few years. I would say check out the top 25 thread going on right now. As far as recommendations from me:

Bolivar Belicosos Finos - complex and nice kick to them.

RASS - stone fruits and citrus throughout, very complex.

Partagas D4 - big flavors especially 19/21 boxes.

Upmann Magnum 46 - bakery flavors..biscuit,shortbread,baking spices and cream.

Partagsa Lusitanias - iconic cigar for a nice occasion.

Montecristo no 2 - also iconic and 20/21 are giving pre boom boxes a run for their money.

Hdm epi 2 - great morning cigar, inconsistent but new batch is smoking well.

Juan Lopez Sel 2 - most cuban twang in the catalogue, orange citrus and cream soda galore.

SCDH El Principe - great small format for winter, a lot of nice creamy and caramel flavors.

PLMC - cheap, give them 5 years and they become caramel powerhouses. 

 

Hope this helps! 

 

 

[La_Tigre]

Fundadores

Sir Winston

LGC MDO4

Siglo III / V

Partagas E2

SLR Regios

Monte Supremos

QdO Coronas Claro

HdM Epi 1

Principe

RASS

In No order with +1 honorable mention 

[DrStogie]

Where do you live? Australia? I ask because my own collection is just starting to take form nicely, but I live in the states and it’s been very hard to do. Guys are recommending Trinidad fundadores, for instance which is a great suggestion I’m sure, but they’re almost never available for me. What I have going so far is 

Partagas shorts, 25 dress box (50 cabs are probably better if you can get them, but the dress box was ironically cheaper and I didn’t have a lot to spend at the time)

Por Larranaga Petit Coronas, 50 cab

Por Larranaga Montecarlos, 25 dress box

Juan Lopez No. 2, 25 cab 

Cohiba Robustos, 25 cab 

Montecristo No. 3s, 25 dress box (very good cigar, but I’m reluctant to buy more myself because there was a lot of subpar cigars in my box) 

It’s a pretty good beginner collection though I’m missing a few key elements, I’d like some DCs or Churchills preferably lusitanias, some corona gordas, which I’ve never had before, and lonsdales which I also have never had.  

 

[coug28]

If I was building/growing my collection today…this is what I would purchase based on where my own taste/profile preferences sit. 

 

PSD4, E2

Trinidad (pick a size - hard to go wrong)

CORO

Cohiba Siglos (pick a size - 2, 3, 4 & 6 for me…5s seem hardest to find, but none are readily accessible) 

H Upmann (Mag 46, 2, Sir Winston) 

 

Most interested in but haven’t pulled the trigger….yet.

 

SLR Regios 

SCdLH La Fuerza 

 

That’s pretty much what I’ve grabbed over the past year. Humi is now full again and I’m committed to not adding more storage as I know the rabbit hole all to well . My list would likely be far longer if my storage was more vast. 

 

And yes, check out that FOH top 25 list Rob put together, awesome resource, especially for a question like this. 

 

Good luck and happy hunting/smoking! 

 

[tjkoala]

17 minutes ago, DrStogie said:

Where do you live? Australia? 

 

I'm in the US as well. I've smoked plenty of CCs but have only in the past 9 months started collecting by the box. I'm really just curious to what others like and what I can learn at this point in terms of what ages well. Hoping to land a good box of Trinidad's once 24:24 starts back up in 2022.

Current Collection of Boxes and Tubos:

- Partagas Lusitanias (2019)

- PLPC (2017)

- Partagas P2 (2021)

- Montecristo PE (2021)

- H. Upmann Magnum 54 (2019)

- Punch 898 (2021)

- HDM de Rio Seco (2021)

-Partagas Serie D4 (2021) 

- Siglo III (2020)

[GolfT3]

45 minutes ago, tjkoala said:

I'm in the US as well. I've smoked plenty of CCs but have only in the past 9 months started collecting by the box. I'm really just curious to what others like and what I can learn at this point in terms of what ages well. Hoping to land a good box of Trinidad's once 24:24 starts back up in 2022.

Current Collection of Boxes and Tubos:

- Partagas Lusitanias (2019)

- PLPC (2017)

- Partagas P2 (2021)

- Montecristo PE (2021)

- H. Upmann Magnum 54 (2019)

- Punch 898 (2021)

- HDM de Rio Seco (2021)

-Partagas Serie D4 (2021) 

- Siglo III (2020)

Considering what you have I think these would fill some gaps with different sizes/marcas smoking well:

RASS/RA Superiores

BBF

Boli PC

Punch Punch

Monte 1 (I would say Especiales but too hard to find right now)

CoRo or Medio Siglo (expensive as hell but such great profiles)

Trini Media Lunas (great profile, smoking well, won’t break the bank)

R&J wide Churchill (don’t love the size but they have been smoking really well lately in my experience)

For the last two I’d double down on one of the above or hold out for some special occasion cigars (Sir Winston, CoLa, Fundi, Monte Especiales, Sig VI, etc.)

 

[Bri Fi]

Honestly just look at the FOH 25 cigars of 2021 thread. It’s pretty spot on. 

[CptGoodTimes]

Loving the Piramides right now (and I’ll group the BBF in with those for listing purposes).

 

Piramides

1. Monte2

2. P2

3. Up2

4. Dip2 

5. BBF

Robusto

6. CoRo

7. PSD4

8. Epi2 (50cab)

Special Occasions 

9. Sir Winnie

10. Esplendido

 

 

 

[SCgarman]

1. RASS  2. PSD4  3. JL#2  4. Upmann Con1  5. Upmann 2  6. Monte 4  7. RGPC 8. SCdLH Principe  9. Partagas shorts  10. Sancho Beli

[tjkoala]

1 hour ago, GolfT3 said:

Considering what you have I think these would fill some gaps with different sizes/marcas smoking well:

RASS/RA Superiores

BBF

Boli PC

Punch Punch

Monte 1 (I would say Especiales but too hard to find right now)

CoRo or Medio Siglo (expensive as hell but such great profiles)

Trini Media Lunas (great profile, smoking well, won’t break the bank)

R&J wide Churchill (don’t love the size but they have been smoking really well lately in my experience)

For the last two I’d double down on one of the above or hold out for some special occasion cigars (Sir Winston, CoLa, Fundi, Monte Especiales, Sig VI, etc.)

 

I've had the Especiales #2 and it was phenominal, would look to add those or the longer #1 to the stash. Might need to get my hands on some BBF unless the Fundi pops up. Just always seems like the box you really want is the one that pops up the day or two after throwing some coin on 24:24.

[Chibearsv]

Ah, what a question.  I'm terribly impatient, so the only way I'm getting age on a cigar is by having so many in my inventory that I can't get at them all within 5 years.  You might think I'm joking but I know plenty of others on this forum that use that same method.  10 boxes is truly only a start.  Hello, my name is Scott and I'm a cigaraholic.  Welcome to the group 😁

 

 

 

[ChangBang]

I'm assembling my own list too of cigars that I really like!  Varying sizes since my stock will need to be able to accommodate my time constraints.  If I were to start over I'd stock these:

PC - Party Short

Corona/ Long Corona - Siglo III

Robusto - BRC, EPI 2, Fuerza(?)

Corona Gorda - Siglo IV

Pyramid - La Punta(?)

DC - Lusi, SW

Skinnies - CoLa, PLMC

Right now deciding between the fuerza and la punta for my San Cristobal marca.  

[Jfeath74]

PSD4

RASS

Monte 2

PLPC

H. Upmann Mag 46

H. Upmann Epi 2

Bolivar BBF

Partagas Short

RyJ Churchill

Cohiba - anything from the classic or siglo range 

[gustavehenne]

It really depends on what you like smoking, what strength you can cope with (or wait for the cigar to level out) and how long you tend to smoke for. For me and in no particular order - the must have ten boxes in a collection are:

1. Cohiba Lanceros
2. H Upmann Connie A or Connie B
3. San Cristobal de La Habana La Fuerza
4. Partagas 8-9-8 Varnished (or Ramon Allones 8-9-8, if you can get it)
5. La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No. 4
6. Cohiba Siglo III or V (preferably V)
7. Trinidad Topes or Hoyo de Monterrey Hoyo de Rio Seco
8. Bolivar Libertadores or Trinidad La Trova
9. Montecristo 1 or Montecristo Especiales 2
10. Partagas Lusitania (50 cab)

To be honest I could go on and on and on but my best advice here, is expand out to the top thirty boxes 🤣🤣 because top ten is just way too restrictive. It was more difficult than I thought to trim it down to ten.

Good luck!

[LordAnubis]

7 hours ago, tjkoala said:

 I'm really just curious to what others like and what I can learn at this point in terms of what ages well. 

There are cigar collections that can be a good range of prices, sizes, flavour profiles and strengths and the suggestions already are pretty much it, nothing much to add to them really. However on the sentence above, i offer an opinion. I would be very cautious about the "cigars improve with age" notion. Cigars absolutely change with age, no doubt about it. But what you like in the young D4 might be lost and evolve into something else, that you don't like, after 3 years. My recommendation would be to first try and buy a few aged examples of things you like now, and see if you like the aged examples. I personally do not like cigars with more than 5 years on them. I know people who will not touch a cigar if its not at least 10 years old. So unfortunately my suggestion would be for you and you alone to decide what you like and don't like and base your decisions on that.

[captaincaveman]

PLPC

PSD4

Punch DC

HDM DC

VR Unicos

BBF

Connie 1

Sir Winnie

JL1

Monte 1

bonus round, I like to have a box of RYJ MF on hand as a c&c

[OrangePaw]

My collection has been Robusto focused with Petit Corona a close second.

CoRo, BRC, JL2, Epi2, Connie1, PD4, RASS, PLPC, Monte4, BPC

Enjoy the hobby and have fun, smoke what you enjoy and brings you satisfaction.  Enjoy the wealth of knowledge from the forum participants!

[rcarlson]

Whatever is kicking at the time.  Good rolls come in streaks.  Grab anything that's at the top of its game.  A really good example of anything you'll get to later if you don't like it now -- and be glad you did.  A mediocre example of anything will always be mediocre, regardless of preference.  In other words, go with quality and variety, and let your mood dictate what you have today.  They others will be there when you feel like going for something different.   

[Digi]

11 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said:

50 cab of RASS, 2 cabs BBF, 50 cab PLPC, box of Fundadores if you can find them, Hdm DC, Punch DC, Partagas Lusitania, Pd4, Monte 2 and Monte 1.

This is the way 😎

[Edicion]

18 hours ago, CptGoodTimes said:

Loving the Piramides right now (and I’ll group the BBF in with those for listing purposes).

 

Piramides

1. Monte2

2. P2

3. Up2

4. Dip2 

5. BBF

Robusto

6. CoRo

7. PSD4

8. Epi2 (50cab)

Special Occasions 

9. Sir Winnie

10. Esplendido

 

 

 

I think this is a good list. If I were to do it all over again I would also pick regular production and by vitola.

2-3 Piramide / Belicoso

4-5 Corona / Robusto / Robusto Extra 

1-2 Petit Coronas 

1 Double Corona / Lancero / Churchill

Smaller ring gauge are ok just to buy if needed, I would not include them as part of a collection. 

In terms of brands I would include one of these

Partagas 

Cohiba

Bolivar 

H. Upmann 

Montecristo 

The other 5, I would just freestyle.

[99call]

10 hours ago, rcarlson said:

Whatever is kicking at the time.  Good rolls come in streaks.  Grab anything that's at the top of its game.  A really good example of anything you'll get to later if you don't like it now -- and be glad you did.  A mediocre example of anything will always be mediocre, regardless of preference.  In other words, go with quality and variety, and let your mood dictate what you have today.  They others will be there when you feel like going for something different.   

^^^^^ this.   Absolutely pointless going into a 10 box purchase with preconceived ideas of how good a particular cigar is going to be.  Far better to see whats running hot, and see if anything on that list floats your boat. 

if I was buying anything at the moment is would be Punch Punch, they are on an unreal run

[Greenhorn2]

On 12/23/2021 at 6:19 AM, Chibearsv said:

Ah, what a question.  I'm terribly impatient, so the only way I'm getting age on a cigar is by having so many in my inventory that I can't get at them all within 5 years.  You might think I'm joking but I know plenty of others on this forum that use that same method.  10 boxes is truly only a start.  Hello, my name is Scott and I'm a cigaraholic.  Welcome to the group 😁

 

Exactly.  I started my collection December of 2020. It now is at around 60+ boxes and probably around150 singles. You want to age sticks, buy more than you can smoke. The aging process begins. 

[DrStogie]

On 12/22/2021 at 11:02 AM, tjkoala said:

I'm in the US as well. I've smoked plenty of CCs but have only in the past 9 months started collecting by the box. I'm really just curious to what others like and what I can learn at this point in terms of what ages well. Hoping to land a good box of Trinidad's once 24:24 starts back up in 2022.

Current Collection of Boxes and Tubos:

- Partagas Lusitanias (2019)

- PLPC (2017)

- Partagas P2 (2021)

- Montecristo PE (2021)

- H. Upmann Magnum 54 (2019)

- Punch 898 (2021)

- HDM de Rio Seco (2021)

-Partagas Serie D4 (2021) 

- Siglo III (2020)

I’m jealous of the siglo iiis and your stash in general. That’s a great collection. Cohibas probably age the best, followed by por larranaga and partagas.