Truly, genuinely, iconic cigars.

[Briandg]

I'd like to discuss brands that are at least 10 years old, it seems hard to call something that hasn't even been around since the boom ended (and maybe even survived it) as being an absolute classic.

Iconic, to me, would be the punch roth in maduro. Monte #2. Romeo bully, and maybe churchill. Punch double corona. La gloria cubana wavell. Trinidad robusto. cohiba robusto. Obviously, cuban versions would be included.

What else? 10 years or older, store or national brand, cuban or otherwise, what brand and vitola make the grade as iconic, classic, memorable things that everyone should smoke at some time in their lifetime? Which of the fuentes? which of the 5 vegas? which ashton? padron?

Think about this as being the core stock list for the best cigar store you could ever find, all to be collected in a room reserved the patrons who hate to browse, and just want to walk in and grab something that they know and love?

[TommyBB]

Most of my submissions would be Cuban for TRULY timeless and iconic.

Now if you want to discuss newer things, since the boom, and on the cigar forums there are some, but I don't think they'd measure up to the Romeo y Julieta Churchill,
Partagás Lusitania
Montecristo #2
Hoyo de Monterey Double Corona
H. Upmann Petit Upmanns (due to JFK)
El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme
Ramon Allones Specially Selected

From these here forums, from then until now and back:

CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon from 1996 or 1997, made by Don Douglas Pueringer

Any Villazon-made cigars with an Oscuro wrapper
El Rey del Mundo Robusto Larga
Punch/Hoyo Rothschilds
Original Mayorgas
Carlos Toraño Exodus 1959
Maria Mancini Magic Mountains
Bahia 1997

That's what I have right now, have to leave will return to this post.

[Mad Dawg]

I'm going to stick with cigars that are still in production after 10+ years.

Iconic Cubans: Cohiba Robusto, Lancero, and Esplendido; Trinidad Fundadore; Montecristo #2 and #4; Ramon Allones Specially Selected; Punch Punch; H. Upmann Magnum 46 and Sir Winston; Partagas Serie D No. 4; Romeo y Julieta Churchill A/T; Bolivar Belicoso Fino and Petite Corona; El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme. (A vastly abbreviated list, I'm sure, but those are the ones that come most readily to mind.)

Iconic Non-Cubans: La Gloria Cubana Wavell Maduro; Punch Rothschild Maduro; Padron Anniversary Maduro Diplomatico; Ashton VSG Sorcerer. (Kind of difficult to pick any N/C as "iconic" based on the ever-changing nature of the market and using the 10-year standard, but those came immediately to mind.)

[Briandg]

You guys have got the right idea. When I say limit it to something with age on the name, I'm trying to restrict this to brands that have served more than just a limited number of cigar smokers. The tatuaje brand and all of DPs things are huge, and in 20 years, will be considered iconic in their own right, but now, I'm looking for the things that were smoked by your grandfather and father, and are still hanging in there today, or even something that may not have been around for your grandfather, but have been around long enough to really hold up against the wash of time that scrubs away the papayos, george hamilton, lone Worf and such.

(yep, Lone Worf. You may have never heard of them, they were a lars number. harsh, obnoxious, and smelled like a burning clingon.)

[grtrx]

Fuente Don Carlos
JR Ult Padron Oscuro
Punch Robusto Oscuro
Padron Londres
Puros Indios No 2 (I think, the big torp)
LGC Wavell Maduro
Partagas #10 (whatever happened to this line?)
ERDM Flor de Llaneza
Fuente Opus X


I am not sure I like all these cigars, but I would say they are iconic

[Master Gates]

no amount of time will ever scrub away the Papayo!

[grtrx]

I tell you, papayo and JR Alts certainly are iconic... if you want to start a discussion, and want it to get heated, then talk alt

I would add the Dunhill Special R to the list of iconic, and it may be the most consistant of them all.

[Mad Dawg]

Originally Posted by grtrx

I would add the Dunhill Special R to the list of iconic, and it may be the most consistant of them all.

Davidoff Special R? Excellent cigars, yes, but in my opinion Davidoff (and Dunhill) lost their iconic status when they moved to the DR.

[Briandg]

You've really got to add the bering plaza. There have been countless cigars smoked by countless people over the last 50 years.

The trunk pressed, tissue wrapped, erdm rectangulare.
punch grand cru torp.
henry clay domincan maduro with the broadleaf; breva, or roth?

[TommyBB]

Breva, or Brevas a la Conserva.
Until about eight or ten years ago, three were only three sizes of Henry Clay.

Mad Dawg, thank you for finishing up for me. I had to get up and leave and was not able to return to the thread.

GrtRx, you're so right about Alts and Papayos, especially for getting a good laugh going in a thread. Do not underestimate the power of your Morro Castles, either.

Partagas #10 was one of Rush Limbaugh's favorite smokes in the early 1990s, back when I listened to him and he was falling hard for cigars. This was well before 1994. He also liked La Gloria Cubana, Padron, and Perdomo, iIrc. Have the Partagas #10s disappeared? I know we've not always discussed that line all that much. When the Blacks came out, there was a lot of talk, and many here like the blacks, but I've always been surprised that the regular line is rarely the subject of conversation.

Brian, the Bering Plaza is what it is, I know Lew always talked about these, and I think, perhaps your love for all things Lew may influence your decision. But Lew did say that they were so popular decades ago, that he'd have an open box of them next to the register at all times.

Reading back over the thread, I daresay, any "iconic" decades old brand, here in the States, especially according to Brian's perspective, will be either Cuban or machine-made, with rare exceptions. Those exceptions will be Montecruz, Don Diego, early Fuente, Cuesta-Rey, and maybe Macanudo.

The rest will be White Owl, King Edward, Roi-Tan, Hav-A-Tampa, El Producto (think George Burns and his E.P. Queens.) Look at the cigar boxes your church may use to hold cash at bake sales or whatever. Chances are, they're from machine-made brands.