The £7 Cigar I Now Buy by the Box: Budget Cigar of The Year?
I think I’ve found the best budget cigar I’ve ever smoked. And I say that as someone who was a complete snob about it at first. When a friend put one in my hand, I wrote it off before I’d even lit it. Cheap, Nicaraguan, budget line, probably junk. I was wrong, and I’ve since bought boxes.
It’s the Curivari Buenaventura Maduro Mini BV. A compact 3½ x 50, so short but with a proper chunky ring gauge rather than the pencil format you’d expect at this length. Underneath it’s predominantly Nicaraguan, Criollo and Corojo, finished with a triple cap. The fancy bit is the top leaf: a Mexican San Andrés Maduro wrapper.
- Line: Curivari Buenaventura Maduro
- Vitola: Mini BV, 3½ x 50
- Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro
- Binder and filler: Nicaraguan
- Strength: Medium to full
- Price: around £7 UK (varies by retailer), about $5 US
Now let’s talk about that number. Around seven pounds in Britain, give or take depending on where you buy, and with the duty we pay here. I never expected to smoke a £7 cigar in this country and think that was good, let alone reach for a second box. For scale, put it next to an H. Upmann Half Corona of near identical length (3½”, 90mm) but a slimmer 44 ring gauge. A single Half Corona runs you around £20 in the UK right now. Shorter money, thicker cigar. The fact the comparison is even worth making tells you something.
As for how it smokes, the cigar offers a healthy dose of cocoa and spices with a smooth finish, and it’s become my morning cigar. This is the one I look forward to waking up for, and it earns that spot every single time.
That San Andrés wrapper deserves a word, because it carries a lovely bit of history of its own. Mexican San Andrés comes from the volcanic valley of the same name in Veracruz, and the leaf traces back to the Turrent family, who arrived there in 1880 and, six generations on, still supply most of the San Andrés wrapper in the industry. Once dismissed as cheap Mexican tobacco, it’s now one of the most sought after maduro leaves going, prized because it pairs so well with bold Nicaraguan filler, holding its own without overwhelming the blend.
In short, this is the best budget cigar I’ve come across, without a doubt.
