Weekend Poll Comp: The importance of Vitola in your current rotation...

[MoeFOH]

This week's Weekend Poll comp is all about Vitola... What's its importance to your rotation right now? Could be related to your traditional smoking preference or it might be driven by other factors: brand/marca presently excelling, price/availability, weather and/or smoke time, Cuban/NC... etc. 

Answer the the poll and/or post up a pic/discussion below of what your go-to vitola/cigar is at the moment! 

All participants will go into a draw to win a Bundle (25) MOFOH Piramide Corta Suave!!  

Poll closes midnight Mon 14th Bris time - draw done Tues morning. 

Have fun with it and have a great weekend - enjoy! 

[TacoSauce]

In large part I base what to smoke on a queue system. First-in, first-out type of thing. Of course, if I have time constraints (or weather constraints) I will make adjustments as needed.

[Tunkat92]

Profile and combustion are 2 huge factors for me. I do love lanceros, lonsdales, minutos, pantelas, etc., but I don’t seem to smoke them any more or less than other vitolas. 

[mikejh]

I'm trying to move away from any toro/churchill sizes or anything with an excessively large ring gauge.

Trying only to buy coronas, petit coronas, lonsdales, robustos, and other things on the smaller side.

If a cigar is only available in a larger size and I really enjoy it or its a great deal, I'll still go for it though.

[TacoSauce]

11 minutes ago, mikejh said:

Trying only to buy coronas, petit coronas, lonsdales, robustos, and other things on the smaller side.

 

 

[Lucas Buck]

I love the thinnies with ninfas being my favorite but I will smoke anything. Lately been trying lots of the new jumbo ring Havanas and many of them are outstanding. Would much prefer they were figurados or at least 109 style tapered head but I’ll enjoy a jawbreaker if it’s a great smoke. 

[WestCoastSmokin]

Definitely noticed I tend to lean towards a Robusto more often than not. Mainly because of smoke time. 
 

Petit Robusto

Robusto 

[loose_axle]

Found that I really enjoyed thicker ring gauges. 50 good. 52-56 better. Still have plenty of time for a lancero but unless looking for a mild morning smoke haven't been dropping below a 48 ring gauge. 

[Li Bai]

Lonsdales, Double Coronas and Lanceros are my sweet spots but anything under a 52 RG will do right now. 

[cnov]

Being in the UK I'm very conscious of the weather at all times, not a huge fan of smoking indoors as I don't have a great ventilation system in the garage and will not doubt be told my wife I stink. That all goes out the window when I have friends over sniffing around my small collection, but usually I like sitting outside if weather permits.

Vitola is probably much higher on my list than it should be, early spring and I'm generally reaching for HUHC, Carlota, PSDP but if there's a standout day with little wind I'll dip into something more time consuming.

Lovely clear evening here yesterday, I had this Mag 46 from a turbo while the kids rode their bikes up and down the lane, beautiful cigar but my fingers were frozen near the end. Hat's off to those of you that smoke with snow at your feet! You guys are heroes.

[Meklown]

I believe there's a time and place for all vitolas - when deciding what to smoke my first consideration is usually time. Following which, I will consider what I feel like in terms of taste and ring gauge. Secondary consideration is also given to ambient humidity. If it's high, best to smoke something short and fat - a skinny will get too much water build-up too soon! 

Edited April 12 by Meklown
clarified "ambient" humidity

[BJack]

My go-to has been robusto, but lately I have been trying out toros. I was thinking the other day about flavor and how the size of the stick affects it. I love a flavorful stick and if anyone has an opinion on what sizes brings it out the most would be much appreciated.


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[Bagman]

Why anyone would not want to smoke a Churchill is beyond me. Perfect RG and length. Best ratio for the best blend. People's rush and desire for a shorter smoke killed the Churchill and the best of what Cuban cigars used to be. Why anyone would want to smoke a Petit Corona or a Grande is beyond me.

I now smoke 80% non-Cuban (down from nearly 100% cuban) as there are so many wonderful Churchill sized cigars in the NC world.

[joeypots]

8 hours ago, Bagman said:

Why anyone would not want to smoke a Churchill is beyond me. Perfect RG and length. Best ratio for the best blend. People's rush and desire for a shorter smoke killed the Churchill and the best of what Cuban cigars used to be. Why anyone would want to smoke a Petit Corona or a Grande is beyond me.

I now smoke 80% non-Cuban (down from nearly 100%) as there are so many wonderful Churchill sized cigars in the NC world.

I was thinking exactly this. It’s a tie between Julieta #2 and the Coronas Gordas for me. Not too thick or thin. I’m surprised by the overwhelming popularity of Robustos. There are fantastic cigars in the vitola but it’s always been a 2nd best for me. Given the popularity of the vitola, the quality of recent production, and availability, I do have more of them in the stash than any other size.

[cleelv]

It's a combination of factors for me. Available time to smoke, what's available and ready age-wise, and what I've been meaning to try. I tend to hover around PC to Robusto sized sticks, with the occasional Toro/Churchill if time allows.

[WestCoastSmokin]

8 hours ago, Bagman said:

Why anyone would not want to smoke a Churchill is beyond me. Perfect RG and length. Best ratio for the best blend. People's rush and desire for a shorter smoke killed the Churchill and the best of what Cuban cigars used to be. Why anyone would want to smoke a Petit Corona or a Grande is beyond me.

I now smoke 80% non-Cuban (down from nearly 100%) as there are so many wonderful Churchill sized cigars in the NC world.

I would love to sit down and smoke a Churchill every time if I had the time. I think amount of time is all it comes down to now a days. If I only smoked when I had the time for a Churchill I would smoke maybe once a month. 😂 I guess that would be great for my collection, lol.

[Namisgr11]

My decision on what to choose to smoke is, like for others, based more on the weather/season and on my tendency to go on mini-runs of the same or very similar vitolas for a period of time. So I tend to smoke thinner gauge and shorter cigars in the cold months and progressively those with longer and longer smoking times as it warms up. Now that it's early Spring here, I've had a robusto/hermoso #4 binge, with mostly corona gordas, lonsdales/dahlias, lanceros, grande robustos, and eventually churchills, piramides, and grand toros coming through summer.

[BrightonCorgi]

Julieta No. 2, Prominentes, Robustos, and Piramides sum up 90% of the cigars I smoke. Occasional Salomon or Gran Corona to spice it up.

[wjs]

My schedule is irregular at best (married, kids, job, etc), so I stock the range and will choose on time available.

[JohnS]

Maintaining a Smoking blog here on FoH means that (for me) the question of vitola is not a consideration, in general. However, I still have the words of @PigFish ringing in my ears in regards to this issue and I well remember him saying many years ago that, "42 ring gauge is God's perfect vitola!" (I.e. two-thirds of an inch in circumference.) So, when I am not maintaining my blog I do have preference for cigars around this size (e.g. petit coronas, minutos, perlas etc.)

However, I do concur with @Bagman that a good Churchill is 'something else' indeed. It's a pity there's so few of them in regular production nowadays.

[Capn_Jackson]

I have a couple of sweet spot ranges. Corona gorda-Hermoso 4-Robusto is one of them. The other is long skinnies. MdO 1 size on up to cazadores. However, if time only permits a petit corona or minuto, I have plenty to choose from.

I don’t grab a stick based on those size prefs, though. I usually decide whether I want rich with spice, stout fruit, funky shroomy, coffee and cocoa, or whatever, and then go from there. If I am taking too long to decide, a problem that happens more than I’d like to admit, I’ll sometimes just grab the oldest stick of the ones I’m debating.

[Deeg]

It plays a role, to a large extent based on the context of where and when I’m going to get the chance to smoke. But based purely on preference I’ve always been a robusto and PC guy. In recent years skinnies have increasingly appealed to me, however.

[griller]

14 hours ago, wjs said:

My schedule is irregular at best (married, kids, job, etc), so I stock the range and will choose on time available.

This is pretty much me, too. My preference when all the planets align & time isn't a concern, I do tend to reach for a Lancero, corona gorga/toro, corona, and on occasion the Churchill. Where I live there is about a 4 week window in Spring and Fall where rain, heat, humidity, or cold aren't a negative concern (smoking inside at home not an option), so weather can strongly influence my choice vs. a taste or session preference. 

[MagicalBikeRide]

It’s always been little guys (HC, PC, etc) in the winter for me - but find myself wanting them more and more since we’ve had kids too.

[DaBoot]

A good stick is a good stick!!