Lot’s of things in this life make me happy and among them is having a full humidor. I like to keep a nice mix of some “every day” cigars as well as some nicer ones that I can enjoy on particularly beautiful days. Having only been a regular smoker of cigars since around 2018, I’ve been trying a lot of different brands and styles and sizes and price ranges; getting a feel for what’s out there and what I like. So it’s rare that I order or purchase (I get my cigars both online and at a local cigar store) any specific cigars on a regular basis. That is, until now.
I’ve discovered that I don’t mind infused cigars and there are come CAO and Acid ones that I quite enjoy but I much prefer “sweet” cigars. “Sweet” cigars are ones that have had the outer wrapper sweetened without affecting the taste of the filler. Recently my sister gave me a bundle of Drew Estate Factory Smokes Sweet Toros that I immediately fell in love with. Before that I had been buying boxes of the Drew Estate Deadwood Sweet Jane now and then but the best price I could find for those was around $150.00 USD for a box of 24. I definitely needed to find something I really liked at a little better price point.
So, when it came time to refill my humidor I decided that I would check and see if my favorite online cigar seller, Mike’s Cigars (https://mikescigars.com/), carried the Factory Smokes. Much to my delight I found that they did carry them and had a few different sizes to choose from. I really like the Toros. They’re a great size and I knew I’d be ordering those but I also noticed the Robustos, which are a little bit shorter than the Toros. Sometimes when the weather is a bit on the cool side, I still like to step out on the patio for a smoke but don’t want to be out there for a long time so a Robusto is a nice size to have for just those occasions.
Another inexpensive, sweet, cigar caught my eye as well. They’re called Factory Throwouts No. 59. According to the description, they are cigars that didn’t make the cut due to ununiform coloring or slight defects to the wrapper. They are Lonsdale size which is a new size to me that I had not previously heard of. The best description I can think of for the size is that they are in between a Corona and a Churchhill. At a cost of $25.95 USD for a bundle of 20 I figured what the heck. I also picked up an eight cigar sampler from Oliva just to have a few more “top shelf” smokes on hand.
I’ve smoked one of the Factory Throwouts since receiving my order. The flavor is nice but man, they are a hard draw. I’m hoping it was just the one I grabbed but it was wrapped too tight. I tried pinching it and rolling it between my fingers but that didn’t help much. Oliva is always amazing and I can’t say enough good things about the Factory Smokes. Bundles of 20 nice sized cigars for under $40 is a great deal for a quality product. The Toros were $37.95 USD and the Robustos were $32.95 USD. I have a feeling that Factory Smokes will always be in my humidor from now on.