A good first cigar is cheap. The 12 highest-rated mild and mild-medium cigars under $12 in our catalog run from $5.00 to $11.25, and the whole ranking is separated by 0.10 of a rating point — 4.7 at the top, 4.6 at the bottom — with the $11.25 cigar scoring lower than the $5.00 one.
These 12 came out of a pool of 144 mild and mild-medium cigars under $12, ranked by catalog rating. The best-rated cigar on the page costs $8.50. The cheapest costs $5.00 and outscores eight of the other eleven, every one of which costs more than it does. Nothing in the data argues for spending more on a first cigar.
Price of all 12 beginner picks
Ratings across the whole list move 0.10 of a point (4.60 to 4.70) while price moves 2.3×. The best-rated cigar here is the Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2 at $8.50 — and the dearest, the Blackened S84 Shade To Black by Drew Estate Corona Doble at $11.25, carries the lowest rating on the list.
best rating (4.70) — $8.50the other 11 picks
- Charter Oak CT Shade Rothschild$5.00
- Gilberto Oliva Reserva Blanc 5.75x43$5.75
- 601 Robusto$7.50
- Alec Bradley Sanctum Toro$7.75
- Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2$8.50
- 7-20-4 1874 Series Corona Especial$8.50
- Brick House Double Connecticut Churchill$8.85
- Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie Churchill$8.99
- Ashton Panetela$10.00
- Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid$10.84
- Avo XO Notturno (Tubo)$11.20
- Blackened S84 Shade To Black by Drew Estate Corona Doble$11.25
The 12 Best Beginner Cigars, Ranked
Ranked by catalog rating. Two cigars tie at 4.7, two at 4.65, and the remaining eight all tie at 4.6 — inside a tie the order is alphabetical, not a verdict, so choose on price and size instead. Every price is for a single cigar.
1. Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2
- Rating: 4.7
- Price: $8.50
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 4.88 x 49 Belicoso, Cameroon wrapper, Dominican Republic
The Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2 is rated 4.7 at $8.50. It is the joint best-rated cigar here and the shorter of the two, under five inches against a seven-inch churchill. It is also the only Cameroon wrapper in the twelve, where four are Connecticut shade and five are Ecuadorian.
Start here if you want the top of the list without an evening-long cigar. The tapered head takes an ordinary straight cut.
2. Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie Churchill
- Rating: 4.7
- Price: $8.99
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 7 x 48 Churchill, Ecuador wrapper, Dominican Republic
The Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie Churchill is rated 4.7 at $8.99. Forty-nine cents more than the cigar above it buys the same rating in a format more than two inches longer. At 7 x 48 it is a long, narrow churchill, so the extra length does not come with a wider mouthful of smoke.
Start here if you know you want to sit down for a while. Skip it if you are unsure — a long first cigar is a long time to find out you do not like it.
3. Alec Bradley Sanctum Toro
- Rating: 4.65
- Price: $7.75
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 6 x 52 Toro, Honduran wrapper, Honduras
The Alec Bradley Sanctum Toro is rated 4.65 at $7.75. Six inches on a 52 ring is the most conventional shape on this page, and this is the only Honduran-wrapped cigar in the ranking. Its price sits below the middle of the twelve.
Start here if you want the default cigar — the size and shape a shop hands you when you do not specify one.
4. Charter Oak CT Shade Rothschild
- Rating: 4.65
- Price: $5.00
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 4.5 x 50 Robusto, U.S.A. Connecticut shade wrapper, Nicaragua
The Charter Oak CT Shade Rothschild is rated 4.65 at $5.00. This is the cigar the whole page argues for: cheapest of the twelve, shortest of the twelve at 4.5 inches, and rated above eight cigars here that all cost more. A Connecticut shade wrapper is the pale, mild-tasting leaf most people picture when they hear "beginner cigar", and this is the cheapest of the four here that wear one.
Start here if you have never smoked one. Buy three; they cost $5.00 each.
5. 601 Robusto
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $7.50
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 5 x 50 Robusto, Ecuador wrapper, Nicaragua
The 601 Robusto is rated 4.6 at $7.50. Five inches on a 50 ring is the reference robusto, the size every other format on this page gets compared against. It is the third cheapest cigar in the ranking.
Start here if you want a robusto but want half an inch more than the Charter Oak.
6. 7-20-4 1874 Series Corona Especial
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $8.50
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 6 x 46 Toro, Nicaraguan wrapper, Nicaragua
The 7-20-4 1874 Series Corona Especial is rated 4.6 at $8.50. It is a Nicaraguan puro: Nicaraguan wrapper on Nicaraguan tobacco, and one of only two cigars here whose wrapper comes from the same country as the cigar. A 46 ring on a six-inch body is narrow for the length, so it gives a smaller mouthful than the 52-ring toro three entries up.
Start here if you want to taste Nicaraguan tobacco without the strength Nicaragua is usually sold on.
7. Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $10.84
- Strength: Mild
- Size: 6 x 52 Figurado, U.S.A. Connecticut shade wrapper, Dominican Republic
The Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid is rated 4.6 at $10.84. This is the only cigar in the twelve our catalog rates Mild rather than Mild-Medium, which makes it the literal answer to "what is the mildest thing on the list". It is also the third most expensive of the twelve, which is the trade.
Start here if mild is the thing you care about most and the price is not the deciding factor.
8. Ashton Panetela
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $10.00
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 6 x 36 Panetela, U.S.A. Connecticut shade wrapper, Dominican Republic
The Ashton Panetela is rated 4.6 at $10.00. Its 36 ring gauge is far and away the narrowest here; the next narrowest is 42. A narrow cigar carries less tobacco at the same length, so each draw is a smaller mouthful of smoke — which is the one variable a first-timer notices immediately.
Start here if you tried a fat cigar, found it too much at once, and want the same length with less of it.
9. Avo XO Notturno (Tubo)
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $11.20
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 5 x 42 Petit Corona, Ecuador wrapper, Dominican Republic
The Avo XO Notturno (Tubo) is rated 4.6 at $11.20. It ships in an aluminium tube, so it survives a jacket pocket and a warm evening better than anything else here. At 5 x 42 it is one of the smallest cigars in the ranking: only two are shorter and only one is narrower. It is also the second most expensive, five cents under the top of the page.
Start here if you are carrying it somewhere rather than smoking it where you bought it.
10. Blackened S84 Shade To Black by Drew Estate Corona Doble
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $11.25
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 7 x 50 Churchill, Ecuador wrapper, Nicaragua
The Blackened S84 Shade To Black by Drew Estate Corona Doble is rated 4.6 at $11.25. It is the most expensive cigar on this page and it is rated 0.05 below the cheapest one. That single comparison is the argument against spending up on a first cigar, and it is not a close call: 2.25 times the money, a lower score.
Start here if you want the Drew Estate name specifically. On the numbers alone there is no case for it over the entry below.
11. Brick House Double Connecticut Churchill
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $8.85
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 7.25 x 50 Churchill, U.S.A. Connecticut shade wrapper, Nicaragua
The Brick House Double Connecticut Churchill is rated 4.6 at $8.85. It is the longest cigar in the ranking at 7.25 inches, on the same 50 ring and the same 4.6 rating as the churchill one entry above — for $2.40 less. If you want the long format, this is the one to buy.
Start here if you want the biggest cigar here and do not want to pay the most for it.
12. Gilberto Oliva Reserva Blanc 5.75x43
- Rating: 4.6
- Price: $5.75
- Strength: Mild-Medium
- Size: 5.75 x 43 Corona, Ecuador wrapper, Nicaragua
The Gilberto Oliva Reserva Blanc 5.75x43 is rated 4.6 at $5.75. It is the second cheapest cigar on the page and the cheapest of the eight that tie at 4.6. A 43-ring corona is the traditional everyday shape — long enough to last, narrow enough that it never becomes a project.
Start here if the Charter Oak is sold out, or you want a corona rather than a stubby robusto.
Which One Should You Actually Start With
Buy the Charter Oak CT Shade Rothschild, rated 4.65 at $5.00. It is the cheapest and the shortest cigar on the page, and eight cigars here that cost more than it are rated lower than it is.
Three reasons to buy something else:
- You want the best-rated one. That is the Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2, rated 4.7 at $8.50. You are paying $3.50 more than the Charter Oak for 0.05 of a rating point.
- You want mild by the catalog's own label. Only one of the twelve is rated Mild rather than Mild-Medium. It is the Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid, rated 4.6 at $10.84.
- You want the smallest mouthful of smoke. The Ashton Panetela, rated 4.6 at $10.00, is a 36 ring gauge. Nothing else here is narrower than 42.
Set your ceiling below and the picker names the best cigar in the twelve you can actually buy for it.
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Pick your first cigar
All 12 ranked cigars, $5.00 to $11.25, drawn from 144 mild and mild-medium cigars under $12. Set your ceiling and it names the best one you can actually buy.
Start with Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2 — rated 4.7 at $8.50, 4.88" x 49 Belicoso, mild-medium.
6 of the 12 cigars match at or under $8.75. Top 5 shown.
- Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2
- Charter Oak CT Shade Rothschild
- Alec Bradley Sanctum Toro
- Gilberto Oliva Reserva Blanc 5.75x43
- 601 Robusto
Nothing in this ranking scores higher than 4.7 on these filters. Spending more here buys size and wrapper, not a better score.
What Mild Means, and What Size Changes
Strength is not flavour. Mild describes how hard the tobacco pushes back, not how much taste it gives you. A mild cigar can be full of flavour and a full-strength one can be dull. Our catalog carries strength as its own field, and that field is what this list is cut on: the 144-cigar pool behind these picks is every cigar we hold at Mild or Mild-Medium for $12 or less.
Inside the twelve the split is lopsided. Eleven are Mild-Medium and one is Mild — the Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid, which is also the third most expensive here. If someone tells you to start on the mildest thing in the shop, that is what it costs.
Size changes two things. Length sets how long you are committed for; ring gauge sets how much smoke arrives per draw. This ranking runs from 4.5 x 50 to 7.25 x 50 on length and from 36 to 52 on ring gauge, and those are independent choices — the 36-ring Ashton Panetela is a full six inches long. Our guide to how long a cigar takes has the size-by-size times.
How to Cut It
Cut the cap, not the shoulder. The cap is the small round piece of leaf covering the closed end; take off about an eighth of an inch and stop. Go past the shoulder — the line where the cigar stops being straight-sided — and the wrapper starts to unravel while you smoke it.
A double-guillotine cutter is the one to own, because it works on everything. A punch works on a round head and not on a tapered one. Two cigars in this ranking have tapered heads, the Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2 and the Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid, and both take an ordinary straight cut across the tip. Full technique is in our guide to how to cut, light and smoke a cigar.
How to Light It
Toast the foot before you draw on it. Hold the flame just below the open end and turn the cigar until the rim glows evenly all the way round, without letting the flame sit on the leaf. Then put it in your mouth, draw, and keep turning until the whole foot is alight.
A butane torch and a soft butane flame both work. A cedar spill lit off a candle is slower and looks better. What matters is that the light is even: a cigar lit on one side burns down one side, and once it is running crooked it stays crooked for the rest of the cigar.
The Draw and the Pace
Taste it in your mouth. Draw the smoke in, let it sit for a second, let it go. A cigar is not a cigarette and nothing about it works if you treat it like one.
Slow down. One puff every 30 to 60 seconds is the rhythm. Smoke faster and the cigar runs hot, which is what makes it turn harsh. If it goes out between puffs, tap off the ash, re-toast the foot and carry on — a relight is normal.
Stop when it stops being good. Most people put a cigar down somewhere around the band. Nothing requires you to finish it, and a $5.00 cigar you put down half-smoked has still told you what you wanted to know.
Do Not Judge Cigars by the First One
One cigar tells you about one cigar. Buy three different ones off this page rather than three of the same — the twelve cover five wrapper origins, three countries of origin, and everything from a 4.5-inch robusto to a 7.25-inch churchill. That is a wider set of variables than any one cigar can teach you, and it is cheap: three of the $5.00 pick is 3 x $5.00 = $15.00.
More for a first cigar: Best cigars under $5 · Best cigars under $10 · How long a cigar takes · Cigar finder quiz · Cigar price index
What cigar should a beginner start with?
The Charter Oak CT Shade Rothschild, rated 4.65 at $5.00. It is the cheapest and the shortest of the 12 cigars ranked here, and eight cigars on this page that cost more than it are rated lower than it is. Nothing about a first cigar improves when you spend more.
If you would rather start on the best-rated one, that is the Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Belicoso No. 2 at 4.7 and $8.50.
How much should a beginner spend on a cigar?
Five dollars. The 12 cigars ranked here span $5.00 to $11.25 and only 0.10 of a rating point, and the $5.00 one is rated higher than the $11.25 one. Inside this band, paying more buys size and wrapper, not a better score.
Buy three cheap ones rather than one expensive one. If you want to go lower still, our best cigars under $5 list is the next stop.
What does mild actually mean on a cigar?
It describes strength, not flavour — how hard the tobacco pushes back, not how much taste it delivers. Our catalog carries strength as its own field, and of the 12 cigars here, 11 are labelled Mild-Medium and exactly one is labelled Mild.
That one is the Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente Pyramid, rated 4.6 at $10.84.
How long does a first cigar take?
That depends on the size, and the sizes here are not close. The shortest cigar in this ranking is 4.5 inches on a 50 ring gauge and the longest is 7.25 inches on the same 50 ring, so one is a fraction of the other before anything else is considered.
Ring gauge matters too: at the same length a wider cigar holds more tobacco. Our guide to how long a cigar takes has the size-by-size times.