Oliva Nub 464 Habano

  A truly unique cigar, Nub is the brainchild of Sam Leccia, a former Oliva sales rep, and Jose Oliva. The theory behind the Nub is that the “sweet spot” on a cigar is somewhere between 3.5 – 4 inches. So with that in mind, they experimented with hundreds of different sizes in that range and came up with a short, thick cigar that contains as much tobacco as anything you’re used to, and will probably smoke just as long. The 464 Habano is a Nicaraguan puro at 4″ long with a 64 ring gauge and a torpedo shape.
Official Nub Habano page

Oliva Nub 466 Cameroon

  Another Oliva Nub, but featuring the Cameroon wrapper this time. Arguably the Nub’s inclusion could contrast some of the search criteria, but I needed an excuse to really try these cigars out. Also, I view the Nub as the highpoint of these comparisons and it will serve as a good benchmark for the rest of the cigars. The 466 is a 4″ long 66 ring gauge box pressed torpedo with a Nicaraguan filler and binder beautifully wrapped in Cameroon tobacco leaf.
Official Nub Cameroon page

Cupido Criollo Revolucion

  Allegedly the “Best Cigars in the World”, the Cupido Criollo Revolucion is a box pressed 5 x 50 Nicaraguan puro from Cuban Crafters. This cigar came to me recommended by a friend as he would use this as his “friendly give-away” at parties.
Official Cupido page

Oliva Serie G 4.5 x 50

  Recognized as one of Cigar Aficianado’s best cigars for 2006, the Serie G is yet another well received cigars from Oliva. Featuring both a Nicaraguan filler and binder with an African Cameroon wrapper. I would often overlook this series in favor of the bigger named (and bigger priced) Serie O and Serie V relatives, but I think this habit might be proven to be a long standing error on my part. I’m not saying the Serie G will replace his bigger name brothers, but why not buy an O and G or a V and G together.
Official Oliva Serie G page

Flor De Oliva Gold

  Started in 1996, the Flor De Oliva line is another cigar from the Oliva family. This cigar features Nicaraguan filler with a “golden” Connecticut seed wrapper. This came to me as a second-hand recommendation. This low-priced often bundled cigar boasts premium quality at discount prices (summarized marketing speech from most internet retailers). Lets hope the tales are true, because at these prices I could smoke these for a month for the same price as one tank of gas.

Punch Double Maduro Rothschild

  A beautiful smoke at a phenomenal price, the Punch Double Maduro Rothschild is 4.5″ long and has a 50 ring gauge. As the name describes the Double Maduro Rothschild has a beautiful Honduran maduro wrapper with fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras. This cigar comes into the “dog walker” experiment with a leg up on the competition, no pun intended. This is already the standard and expected cigar for any dog walking activities while the Cigars Everyday group is together. Can’t wait for an excuse to smoke another one.

  So these are the contenders and I must say I have a big task ahead of me. It is my privilege, no my responsibility to smoke as many of each of these cigars as I can. This is an Oliva heavy list of cigars, but with the Cupido, a boutique brand, and the Punch, an old standard, I think this should prove to be an interesting project. Now excuse me, I should take the dog out.

  With this mindset I have come up with an interesting quest suited for the Blog Of The Leaf. The search for a high quality “dog walker”. Now I know the term dog walker already has some negative connotations in the cigar world, but I’m taking a more literal viewpoint with this. I want a low priced—high quality cigar to smoke while walking my dog at night. Below are the guidelines that I’ll be using in this search.

1. The cigar has to be considered a fine cigar/quality cigar. Any asshole can buy a three-pack of Philly Blunts or Lysol flavored Dutch Masters, but we’re not animals so we’re not going to travel that path.
2. The first half of the cigar should be the dominant half. At any point this cigar can fall in a puddle, down a sewer drain or into a pile of my dog’s fresh work. It shouldn’t be a catastrophe if the smoke is cut short.
3. In constrast, the second half shouldn’t be painful or pointless. I should be able continue the cigar to completion, with or without a glass of scotch.
4. The price should be south of the $5 line.

  This is my mission for the next couple months or until the new england nights get too cold. Stay tuned, I expect to have the first list of contenders ready and hopefully in-hand for next week.

Edit: The Contenders have been announced.