The worldwide search for puros

[LargeFarva51]

Hi Fellas,

As a not so distinguished world traveler, I am in the process of searching/smoking NC/NW puro cigars (indigenous wrappers and fillers) from some lesser-known countries, not known for producing cigars. Would appreciate any additions to this list. I will keep it updated as my travels continue. Thanks!

 - Indonesia - Hound Cigars (claim to be Indonesian puro), Boslucks (not sure, but claims to be an Indo puro)

 - China - Great Wall Cigars (claims to have cigars with Tabacco grown and cultivated in China)

 - El Salvador - La Sigua Cigar company (claims to be El Salvadorian puros) 

 - Guatemala - Guantanamera Cigars, Grand Father

 - Costa Rica - Vegas de Santiago, Tres Hermanos, Skull 77, Cigars 537

 - Panama - Joyus de Panama, Oro de Panama, Cruzero de Panama

 - Mexico - Casa 1910, Casa Turrent 1973 and Te-Amo

 - Colombia - Camino Real, Club de Privada cigars

 - Venezuela - Crispin Patiño

 - Africa (continent)  - Bongani cigars (from several African countries) - Cant seem to find any Cameroon puros, just wrappers

 - Peru - Inca

 - Argentina - Petrus cigars

- Paraguay - Cigarro Po'i, 

- Brazil - Villiger, Monte Pascoal

- Italy - Toscano

- Greece - Vamma del Sol

[El Presidente]

Tambo cigars are an Indonesian Puro, made in Indonesia. It has been a while since I tried them but my memory was mild/medium/creamy/good. 

[ha_banos]

You've covered the ones I know of. One that jumped out is JC Newman's the American? 

 

 

[Cigar Surgeon]

I just want to mention that some Toscano are puro, but Toscano uses a lot of US Kentucky wrapper as well.

[Puros Y Vino]

7 hours ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

I just want to mention that some Toscano are puro, but Toscano uses a lot of US Kentucky wrapper as well.

Yes. But all grown in Italy. IIRC, they used those seeds originally but have been using their offsprings ever since.

And FWIW, Canada has a long tobacco growing history with our Indigenous peoples, who still do it. But I don't know if a full on puro was ever made. The tobacco mostly finds its way to cigarettes.

[BrightonCorgi]

There's one from France that is escaping me.

[Li Bai]

18 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

There's one from France that is escaping me.

Edito cigars, used to be Navarre but they're no longer with us.

[Dadof3]

This is an interesting topic. Thanks for sharing. I'm surprised Meerapfel has not brought out a Cameroon puro.  

[Cigar Surgeon]

6 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Yes. But all grown in Italy. IIRC they used those seeds originally but have been using their offsprings ever since.

And FWIW, Canada has a long tobacco growing history with our Indigenous peoples, who still do it. But I don't know if a full on puro was ever made. The tobacco mostly finds its way to cigarettes.

Some Toscano uses Kentucky grown wrapper. Toscano Originale and Antico for example use Kentucky grown wrapper, I believe the Stilnovo does as well.

[Cigar Surgeon]

4 hours ago, Dadof3 said:

This is an interesting topic. Thanks for sharing. I'm surprised Meerapfel has not brought out a Cameroon puro.

I...would not want to smoke a Cameroon puro 🤣 

The most likely explanation is that Cameroon tobacco is some of the most expensive tobacco in the world. The practical explanation is that it wouldn't taste very good, IMO.

[Dadof3]

4 hours ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

I...would not want to smoke a Cameroon puro 🤣 

The most likely explanation is that Cameroon tobacco is some of the most expensive tobacco in the world. The practical explanation is that it wouldn't taste very good, IMO.

I've always enjoyed it as a wrapper. I know it has also been used as a binder at times. I agree the expense and inability to guarantee a consistent steady supply probably makes it tougher. Anyone who has ever put in the time and effort has managed to coax solid plants from any growing region. The Dominican wrapper was an issue at one point and now it's available from multiple producers. I don't see why with time and effort a grower couldn't create a decent style of filler to go with the wrapper and binder. They probably sell just about all they can produce for wrapper anyway at a better price.

[Droper69]

5 hours ago, Li Bai said:

Les cigares Edito, c'était la marque Navarre, mais ils ne sont plus disponibles.

The Navarre cigars became Hedon. Edito are rolled in France too

[Li Bai]

15 hours ago, Droper69 said:

The Navarre cigars became Hedon. Edito are rolled in France too

My post was a bit unclear, I meant "there used to be Navarre(...)", they later became Hedon cigars but they're not listed anymore on the JO so I assumed they were gone too. Are Hedon cigars still being rolled?

[Droper69]

6 hours ago, Li Bai said:

My post was a bit unclear, I meant "there used to be Navarre(...)", they later became Hedon cigars but they're not listed anymore on the JO so I assumed they were gone too. Are Hedon cigars still being rolled?

Definitely not! The prize was crazy.

[Li Bai]

Yes it was! Rebranding as a luxury premium before it was cool 😁 

[laficion]

Hi all,

Here is a review made a few years ago from "HALFWHEEL" when I sent off a NAVARRE cigar to BROOKS WHITTINGTON on the French cigar at the time.

Amicalement,

Guy

April 8, 2010 

Navarre Double Corona

 

During one of my trades recently with a reader in France, he sent me an unbanded cigar and asked me to review it blind, to see what I thought of it. It was a huge cigar, 8 3/4 inches, to be exact.

I was shocked to find out that it was a very interesting cigar, one called Navarre that uses 100 percent French tobacco. The tobacco plantation is situated in a town called Navarrenx in the region of the Béarn in southern France. This is also where the Tobacco Institute of Bergerac, which is the only European research center that is completely devoted to various uses of the tobacco plant) was founded in 1927.

The tobacco is grown using Cuban seeds, and the cigars are rolled by French rollers who were taught by their counterparts from Cuba…In fact, one of the owners of the brand, Noel Labourdette, “poached” two women rollers — named Greta and Maury — from a Havana factory.

In 2005, Labourdette had this to say about starting the brand:

When I saw Frenchmen were producing caviar, a lightbulb went on upstairs — if they can do that, I can do cigars

• Cigar Reviewed: Navarre Double Corona
• Country of Origin: France
• Factory: Navarre
• Wrapper: France
• Binder: France
• Filler: France
• Size: 8 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Double Corona
• Est. Price: $25.00
• Date of Cigar: Unknown

When I said this cigar was huge, I was not kidding. I could hold it in both hands easily, and still have room left over. In fact, to give you an idea of its size, here is a photo of it next to a Por Larrañaga Los Andes:

The cigar has a cinnamon brown wrapper and has many obvious veins running down the length of it. In fact, I have seen few cigars that have such prominent veins. The wrapper is fairly leathery, but smooth, and smells of barnyard and hay. The first time I smelled it, I immediately thought “dry cow patties,” but I think barnyard is a more accurate description. It also has a great triple cap.

The cigar lights easily and I tasted a bit of spice up front, along with a sweet leather and hay. I was expecting some cedar, but did not taste any at all. The spice was a constant background note throughout the first third. I also had to touch it up many times during the first third.

The second third started with the spice picking up a bit, lots of leather, although not as sweet, and another flavor that stumped me at first, but I finally identified as a potato: starchy and dry. A very interesting note that stayed around a while, but when it was gone, it did not come back. The burn was not as bad as the first third, but still sub-par.

During the last third, the potato flavor disappeared, but the spice level remained about the same. The leather note came back with a vengeance, and underneath was flavors of nuts and wood, but not cedar. It got hot at the end, which did not surprise me, but I was able to get it close to the nub before tossing it.

Final Notes:

• I was expecting this cigar to take a while to finish, but I was not expecting a three-hour smoke. The final smoking time was two hours and 50 minutes. Honestly, it was just too long of a cigar and I would never in my life choose something this big to smoke on my own. At the beginning, I felt like I was smoking a long thin pipe.
• When I got the Navarre in the mail, it was in a glass tube with a cork stopper…The first time I took it out of the tube, it was so spongy, I could literally squeeze the cigar all the way down until my fingers met: way too wet. So, before the review, I dry-boxed it for about two weeks, it was still spongy, but not near as bad as it was before.
• The burn problems on this cigar were abysmal. Even after dryboxing it for two weeks, it was still too wet, and that is most likely what contributed to the problems. I would not be surprised if it were just a characteristic of the tobacco.

 

[Montezüma]

On 4/13/2026 at 2:25 AM, LargeFarva51 said:

 - Indonesia - Hound Cigars (claim to be Indonesian puro), Boslucks (not sure, but claims to be an Indo puro)

On 4/13/2026 at 3:19 AM, El Presidente said:

Tambo cigars are an Indonesian Puro, made in Indonesia. It has been a while since I tried them but my memory was mild/medium/creamy/good. 

90% of Indonesian puros I have tried are mild and rather bland but the main issue is their lingering bitter aftertaste that is characteristic to the origin. Indonesia seem to have many seed varieties, with Sumatra used most instead of the perceived inferior Javanese varieties. I understand that Sumatra seeds were used very successfully to create the wonderfully sweet Cameroon wrappers that we know. If you seek an Indonesian puro, Esperitu is the best I have had so far, mostly Cuban seeds on Indonesian terroir but they appear to have begun experimenting with NW seeds now to increase selection.

https://esperitucigar.com/pages/about-us