Arganese

It says something about the quality of a cigar when the guy who makes them smokes them, and Gene Arganese originally made Arganese cigars specifically for himself. After passing them out as gifts during the holidays, he was bombarded with people asking him if they could purchase some of these smokes. Eventually, he bought a 13,500 square foot factory in the Dominican Republic so that he could personally oversee production.

Arganese cigars are available in countless sizes and several different wrapper shades, including Connecticut, Maduro, and Double Wrapped, which features alternating stripes of Maduro and Connecticut wrappers. There`s also the unique FDW, which stands for First Draw Wrapper. In these cigars, the wrapper is tucked into the foot so that the smoke from the first draw of the cigar is solely from the wrapper. This shape also ensures greater durability of the cigar.

The company has truly set the bar for affordability with its Estilo Dominicano line. These cigars come in bundles of 20 and are ``Cuban sandwich`` style, which means that they are constructed with a long leaf in the center sandwiched between two layers of short filler tobacco. This style ensures greater stability and a better burn. This, along with the mild, creamy flavor of the cigar, makes these an excellent budget smoke.

No matter which cigar you choose in the Arganese lineup, you`re going to get a unique, well-constucted, and flavorful smoke with a modest price tag.