THE BEST CIGARS FOR THE GALLANTRY MAN IN 2021

“You like reading about the best cigars, too? Stick around. It’s Best Cigars 2021 time.”

"If I cannot smoke cigars in heaven, I shall not go!"

- Mark Twain

Cohiba. Padron. Romeo y Julieta. TNT. These are just some of the classic cigar heavy-hitter labels that we really dig here at Gallantry. After all, there’s nothing better than lighting up a stogie during a round of golf as you shoot the breeze with your buddies, at the end of a long day as you leisurely watch the sunset and sip on a neat cask-strength whiskey, or just because you’re in the mood to exhale some smoke rings while treating yourself to one of life’s greatest simple pleasures.

Does it hurt our affinity for good smokes that drawing from a sharp cigar instantly makes you look like a total badass? That the act of smoking a cigar in and of itself just radiates coolness, machismo, and charisma? It does not. See, whether you’re brand new to the cigar world or you’ve been subscribing to Cigar Aficionado for decades, the bottom line remains the same - puffing a premium cigar is one of the most masculine activities that a Gallantry Man can partake it.

Nevertheless, with so many awesome cigars out there to choose from these days, selecting the right one can be overwhelming, intimidating, and confusing, even for the veteran cigar lover. We get it. The good news is that we’re here to eliminate all that noise. After reading our list of the best sticks that you can get in 2021, you’ll be looking like a boss and feeling like the money in no time.

"This is a big advantage in life. Your wife can't complain about your cigars. You can always say, 'Look, honey, your father wouldn't have introduced me to something that's bad.'”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cigar Aficionado

“Do yourself a favor, slick. Take a gander at Gallantry’s list of best cigars for the Gallantry Man in 2021.”

It’s time to get lit. Evenly lit. So, without further adieu, let’s run through the cigars that are really grabbing our attention in 2021.

“[I] started smoking a cigar going to the games in 1993. It became a ritual for every home game. It became such a relaxing thing to do each and every day … I wanted that feeling of success and relaxation. It’s the most relaxing thing.”
- Michael Jordan, Cigar Aficionado

PARTAGAS LUSITANIA

Branded in 1845 by Don Jaime Partagas, Partagas is one of the oldest and most renowned of all Havana cigar brands. It’s also the operation behind Michael Jordan’s favorite Cuban cigar. Makes sense when you think about it, really. A legendary, larger-than-life cigar for an absolute larger-than-life legend is nothing if not fitting.

When you’re the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time), you tend to enjoy the finer things in life. Jordan himself enjoys a fine cigar a whopping six times a day!

With its full, robust, rich, and earthy flavors, this is one cigar that lets the people around you know that you mean business. Because so many people want to be “Like Mike,” finding a box of these sticks isn’t always easy, but, in the end, the juice is always worth the squeeze. If you’re looking for the perfect cigar to light up and unwind with after a steak dinner where serious matters are discussed, this is the one.

We mean, c’mon. MJ has got one in his mouth for nearly every appearance in ESPN’s The Last Dance for a reason.

Looking for something awesome to watch before you light up one of these bad boys? A cigar fit for a king calls for content fit for a king, after all, so check out Cigar Aficionado publisher and editor Marvin R Shanken’s complete “Uncut Interview with Michael Jordan” HERE.

"The only thing I got in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break 'em for nobody."
- Tony Montana (Al Pacino), Scarface (1983)

COHIBA ROBUSTO

Puffing on a nice cigar with confidence radiates power. Consider Tony Montana (Al Pacino) in Scarface, one of the most iconic characters of all-time. The creative decision to make Montana a cigar-lover was a conscious one. Oliver Stone (Screenwriter) and Brian De Palma (Director) did in fact set out to make a movie about the “King of the World,” after all. While Tony mostly smokes Cubans throughout the flick, you can also notice the occasional Cohiba getting lit from time-to-time.

Handmade in the Dominican Republic with specially selected Cuban seed tobaccos and Indonesian Jember binder, and surrounded by a vintage, aromatic Cameroon wrappers, Cohiba Robusto cigars don’t just deliver a rich, balanced, and incredibly satisfying (not to mention great-tasting) smoke, but they do so with an even burn like you wouldn’t believe.

Say hello to your new little friend, you know what we mean?

“Having a cigar in your hands, whether it’s during a scene or in real life, makes arguing your point much more effective.”
- Vince Vaughn, Cigar Aficionado

COHIBA ROYALE

If you’re looking for a little bit of a different Cohiba experience, check out the remarkably luxurious Royale, the fullest-bodied Cohiba there is. Hand-rolled in Honduras with roughly textured yet silky-smooth Nicaraguan broadleaf wrapper that blankets a Dominican Piloto Cubano binder, this medium-full-bodied cigar is the cigar equivalent of a Lamborghini or a Maybach. In other words, it’s got class, class, class.

Gallantry Man legend Vince Vaughn himself, a former heavy-smoker, even ditched his who-even-knows-how-many pack a day habit for cigars. The passion was always there (see him lighting cigars in numerous scenes in Swingers), but it’s only gotten fiercer with time. A true man’s man, indeed.

"I like to have a cigar with a group of friends, just hanging around and talking. You talk about things and commune after dinner. It just kind of goes with the moment."
- Vince Vaughn, Cigar Aficionado

With a heavy, full-bodied flavor profile that includes notes of espresso, earth, leather, smoked hickory, and dried cherry, the smoky, traditional finish of the Royale makes it a perfect pairing for a scotch.

Sorry we’re not sorry. The Cohiba Royale is a great cigar.

Sir Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) deliberates while enjoying one of his beloved Romeo y Julieta cigars in Joe Wright’s The Darkest Hour (2017).

ROMEO Y JULIETA RESERVA REAL NICARAGUA ROBUSTO

"I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
– Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill wasn’t just one of the most courageous, commanding, and brilliant men of the 20^th century, but he was also a real cigar buff. Typically smoking around ten cigars a day, he also had a penchant for cigar-smoking that, by comparison, makes Michael Jordan’s six-stogie-a-day routine seem like child’s play. If you can believe it, it’s rumored that in his ninety years of life, the legendary British Statesman smoked a whopping quarter-of-a-million stogies! Man, that’s a lot of cigars.

Churchill was a man with impeccable taste, so it’s no great surprise that his favorite cigar was a nice Romeo Y Julieta. In fact, nothing brought him more joy than pairing one with some nice Champagne or some brandy.

If Churchill was around today, he’d have boxes of Romeo Y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua Robustos up the wazoo.

The Robusto, the product of a collaboration between master blenders Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez, is a flavorful, beautiful Nicaraguan puro that contains rich, layered notes of earth, spice, citrus and pepper, allowing it to pack loads of flavor without overpowering your smoke in the process.

If you’re ready to get your Sir Winston Churchill on with a well-balanced, solidly constructed stick that delivers a genuinely wonderful crisp burn, you’ve met your match.

“I'm not really a connoisseur. I just know I love Montecristos.”
- Jack Nicholson, Cigar Aficionado

MONTECRISTO YELLOW NO. 2 TORPEDO

Once known for being a heavy cigarette smoker, Jack paved the way for future Gallantry Man legends like Vince Vaughn with his method of quitting the nasty habit cold turkey, famously proclaiming that he took up cigar smoking because "The only way to break a bad habit was to replace it with a better habit." Hey, whatever works!

While being as cool as Jack is no easy task, with a classic character-building Montecristo #2 in your mouth, you’ll definitely be on your way. Crafted with only the choicest, aged Dominican tobacco, this mellow torpedo is hand rolled for that smooth, even burn you crave. Furthermore, each one packs more flavor than you’d initially expect from a Connecticut-wrapped cigar, delivering a signature stately smoke with a potent note bouquet of cinnamon, spiced nutmeg, and leather.

You might not know Jack, but you can sure as hell smoke a cigar like him!

Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen, King of Cool) lights up a stogie after pulling of the heist of a lifetime in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).

PUROS HUERFANOS CHURCHILL

This full-strength cigar, which features a vintage leather-brown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that’s evenly and eloquently rolled, would most certainly be a favorite of King of Cool Steve McQueen in 2021.

With a wide array of base flavors that include salt, wood, malty sweetness, nut, earth, leather, fig newton, partially fermented tobacco, and pepper, Puros Huerfanos (translation 'cigar orphans') are definitely unique. Flawlessly constructed to deliver even burns with creamy ash, these are absolutely sticks that you should have in your humidor for those impromptu moments when you just need to kick back and enjoy an ideal smoking experience for a nice change of pace.

I very much love cigars. I went to Spain with a friend about eight or nine years ago, and that's where I discovered them. I hadn't really smoked them much before, but I found them incredibly relaxing. Now I'll smoke maybe three or four a week. I'll sit in the same place and not move for 45 minutes. It's a ritual I really enjoy.
- James Gandolfini, Cigar Aficionado (2001)

CAO MADURO L’ANNIVERSAIRE ROBUSTO

Considering CAO created a line of cigars specifically in conjuction with The Sopranos, it’s only fitting that we include our favorite CAO stick in this list. After all, on the show, Tony always had a stogie nearby (and, most of the time, said stogie was one of these delights).

The CAO L'Anniversaire Maduro Robusto, a medium to full-bodied celebration of the 30th year of conducting business for the CAO brand, has hints of espresso, honey, pepper to accompany its rich and toasty finish.

When you’re looking for some cigars that are literally fitting for a boss, take these fellas into consideration.

“I don’t throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun Tzu, ‘The Art of War.’ Every war is won before it is ever fought.”
- Gordan Gekko (Michael Douglas), Wall Street (1987)

VIAJE TNT

Though the world-class, full-flavored, medium-plus strength/body, dark-papered Viaje TNT hasn’t been around for that long (it debuted in 2010), there’s a reason it’s become such a hot item in such a short amount of time, a ‘sure thing’ for the cigar enthusiast set.

In addition to looking like a stick of dynamite suited for the likes of Gordan Gekko, this Nicaraguan puro has unreal flavors reminiscent of sweet chocolate ice cream, walnut, sour cream, cinnamon, French bread, blueberry, white pepper, and unripe tomato.

In other words, grab a box of these fresh sticks pronto if you want to do yourself a favor and see what a real even ash looks like.

“Gallantry never sleeps, pal.”

“Those who want respect, give respect.”
- Tony Soprano, The Sopranos

PADRON 1964 ANNIVERSARY

We’re not going to lie to you. Sometimes we like to ‘give respect’ to cigars by lighting up a nice legacy, full-strength Padron 1964 Anniversary on the back patio of Gallantry HQ to take the edge off and just, you know, relax. This incredible cigar is particularly well-aged with an all-Nicaraguan blend that boasts an exquisite array of dark, earthy flavors and creamy, leathery notes (think sweet chocolate, cedar, and cream).

If you want respect, you’ve got to give it. You’ve got to light up one of these winners.

“John, what do you say you and I head out to the deck and light up a couple of cigars?”
- Secretary Cleary (Christopher Walken), Wedding Crashers (2005)

“Stogies? Why not?!”
- John Beckwith (Owen Wilson)

GOT A LIGHT?

GRAB SOME FRESH ZIPPO EDC

In addition to having a good cutter, pocket case, and a travel humidor, no everyday carry enthusiast can travel with their most beloved cigars without an outstanding, proper butane torch to complete the package.

Enter Zippo. Made in the USA, these Americana lighters have stood the test of time for nearly a century - and for good reason, too. For the best in durability and reliability, a Zippo lighter is where it’s at, plain and simple.

You’re already a Gallantry Man icon. With some good company, dedicated space, and a brand new EDC Zappo, you’ll be an even greater legend than you already are. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even run into Michael Jordan one of these days and enjoy one of the pristine hand-rolled cigars that we’ve featured with him. All we’re saying is name-dropping Gallantry can’t hurt your chances (and we’ll just leave it at that).

“Trust me, pal. Just order a couple of Zippos from Gallantry and you’ll be gold.”

SALOON SKULL EMBLEM ZIPPO

Zippo is the quintessential American lighter, the household name you automatically think of, because it stands for quality and is lifetime guaranteed by Zippo. The all-metal construction of each Zippo and windproof design mean you can use your lighter anywhere, any time. Zippos are refillable for a lifetime of enjoyment. This edition features a gunslinging skeleton, ready to duel, attached to a classic Street Chrome™ lighter.

Saloon Skull Zippo Lighter

$44.95

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DON’T TREAD ON ME

This edition features the famous Gadsden Flag, reminding anyone who crosses your path not to tread on you, or on your freedom.

Don't Tread On Me Zippo Lighter

$26.95

[tab-section data-sc-active-background="#ffffff" data-sc-other-background="#ffffff" data-sc-color="#555555"][tab title="Details"] Zippo is the quintessential American lighter, the household name you automatically think of, because it stands for quality and is lifetime guaranteed by Zippo.  The all-metal construction of each Zippo and windproof design mean you… read more

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SLIM HIGH POLISH BLACK

Want something a little slimmer?  This Slim High Polish Black Lighter from Zippo features a more svelte form factor and a high polish finish.  Light your stogie in style.

Slim High Polish Zippo Lighter

$29.00

[tab-section data-sc-active-background="#ffffff" data-sc-other-background="#ffffff" data-sc-color="#555555"][tab title="Details"] Zippo is the quintessential American lighter, the household name you automatically think of, because it stands for quality and is lifetime guaranteed by Zippo.  The all-metal construction of each Zippo and windproof design mean you… read more

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