Best Cigars to Smoke on Your Birthday
What makes a great birthday cigar? Rarity, price, an indulgent flavor profile, a hard-to-roll or unreleased size? All the above. There are several amazing top-shelf smokes worth saving for a special occasion like your birthday. Even better than saving that special cigar for months until your next birthday rolls around is getting someone else to buy it for you and say, “Happy Birthday!” as they hand it over.
Milestone birthdays like your 21st, 30th, 40th, and 50th command a cigar that’s heads and tails above all others. Whatever notch on your belt is coming up next, here are a handful of awesome cigars to smoke on your birthday. Start dropping hints to your friends and family that it’s never too early to start hunting down your favorite birthday smokes. They won’t go wrong with these.
1. Fuente Fuente Opus X
Hold onto your horses if you think you can run down the street and pick up a Fuente Fuente Opus X at the last minute at your local smokeshop. Opus X is a rare commodity. Most premium shops that carry Arturo Fuente cigars receive a small allocation of Opus, and they’re often spoken for in advance. Blended entirely from a recipe of ultra-rare Dominican tobaccos, including its reddish-brown Shade Grown wrapper leaf, the legendary cigar debuted to massive anticipation in 1995. Celebrated cigar-maker Carlito Fuente created Fuente Fuente Opus X – an authentic Dominican Puro – after many said it couldn’t be done. To this day, Opus X retains its reputation as the ultimate special occasion cigar.
2. Ashton ESG
Blended to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the world-renowned Ashton brand, ESG (Estate Sun Grown) debuted in 2006. Legendary cigar-maker Carlito Fuente created Ashton ESG from a premium aged recipe of select tobaccos harvested from his esteemed Chateau de la Fuente Estates in the Dominican Republic. Like Carlito’s pride and joy, Fuente Fuente Opus X, Ashton ESG is one of very few Dominican Puro cigars. Whereas Opus X is spicy and intense, Ashton ESG is rich, creamy, and full-flavored with notes of cedar, graham cracker, molasses, and black pepper. Few cigars match up with vintage bourbon or scotch as dynamically as the 94-rated Ashton ESG. Skip the cake and candles if there’s an ESG waiting.
3. Arturo Fuente Anejo
An impressive profile of dark chocolate, cognac, and coffee bean emerges with buttery Dominican spices in Arturo Fuente Anejo. This hard-to-find Arturo Fuente cigar amounts to a perfect birthday treat, but Anejo is on the sweeter side. Carlito Fuente originally created Anejo as a temporary substitute for his beloved Opus X cigars after Hurricane Georges destroyed several barns harboring precious Opus wrappers in 1998. To distinguish Anejo, Carlito re-blended his Opus tobaccos beneath a lavish Connecticut Broadleaf fermented inside old cognac barrels. Arturo Fuente Anejo is an exceptional follow-up to a slice of chocolate cake with a top-shelf birthday libation.
4. San Cristobal Ovation
A high-profile recipe of full-bodied, vintage Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos rests beneath a dark and glistening San Andrés wrapper leaf. Pepin Garcia blended the annual limited edition San Cristobal Ovation exclusively from stores of his most prized tobaccos. A full-flavored profile of dark chocolate, hickory, earth, cedar, and black pepper entices from the first puff. Save San Cristobal Ovation for your after-dinner birthday cigar. It’s a bit rich for an empty stomach but perfect after a big birthday steak.
5. Padrón Family Reserve
The lauded reputation of Padrón Family Reserve includes some of the highest ratings and rankings ever bestowed on a brand by Cigar Aficionado. A full-bodied blend of all-Nicaraguan tobaccos furnishes the cigar’s now-iconic profile of cedar, cayenne, cinnamon, baking spices, and cocoa. Many cigar lovers specifically save Padrón Family Reserve for birthdays, anniversaries, and job promotions. It’s simply too special (and a bit pricey) for an everyday smoke.
6. My Father La Opulencia
Two-time ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ titleholder Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia blended another hit with My Father La Opulencia, Cigar Aficionado’s ‘#2 Cigar of the Year’ for 2018. Cocoa, wood, and pepper combine in a 95-rated gem drafted from a rich brown San Andrés Oscuro wrapper leaf over a full-bodied amalgam of aged Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Although it’s been around for less time than other award-winning My Father cigars like Flor de las Antillas or Le Bijou 1922, La Opulencia deserves your attention on big occasions.
