Author: absolutecigdev

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New to Cigars? Let’s Get Started!

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A quick primer to get you started in the world of premium cigars

When it comes to the world of premium cigars, there are countless options, and making those first few buys can be overwhelming as you see so many options in front of you – various sizes, shapes, countless cigars brands, styles, strengths, and just…where do you start? So let’s take a quick look at the different types of cigars and what makes them unique, as well as consider some tips for finding that perfect cigar to suit your personal tastes.

Types of Premium Cigars

There are three main types of cigars: hand-rolled, machine-made, and blended. Hand-rolled cigars are made by skilled artisans who carefully craft each cigar by hand. What our Spanish speaking friends call “Hecho a Mano” cigars are considered to be the finest and most sought-after, as they are typically crafted with the highest quality tobacco and the greatest attention to detail. Next up we have Machine-made cigars, which, obviously are made using a machine that rolls and shapes the tobacco. These cigars are less expensive and typically less complex in flavor than hand-rolled cigars. That said, they can still be a great option for those looking to try something new. Finally blended cigars are a combination of hand-rolled and machine-made cigars.

Generally, what you’ll find here on AC is only hand-rolled premium cigars. There are plenty of shops out there that have a wide range of machine-made sticks. It’s just not our domain or expertise, but we’d be happy to refer you to quality merchants who can serve you with machine-made cigars.

Finding the Perfect Cigar

When looking for the perfect cigar, there are a few key factors to consider. First, think about your personal taste preferences. Do you prefer a milder cigar or something with a bolder flavor? Are you looking for a particular type of tobacco or origin? Once you’ve narrowed down your options based on taste, it’s important to consider the cigar’s construction and appearance. A well-constructed cigar should have a smooth, even burn and a consistent ash. The wrapper should be free of blemishes and have a nice sheen.

Premium Cigar Brands

There are hundreds of premium cigar brands on the market, each with its own unique style and flavor profile. Some of the best known brands include Cohiba, Arturo Fuente, Montecristo, and Romeo y Julieta. Cohiba cigars are known for their smooth, rich flavor and are considered to be one of the finest cigars in the world. Montecristo cigars are known for their complex flavor and perfect construction, while Romeo y Julieta cigars are known for their smooth, creamy flavor and excellent burn.

Cigar Samplers

A terrific way to learn your tastes, try brands, sizes, strengths and learn what you like and what you don’t is to buy cigar samplers. Rather than spend your hard-earned cash on full boxes, bundles of even 5 packs of just one type of cigar, a sampler offers you the opportunity to sample multiple different cigars.

Samplers can be made up of cigars of…

– A particular size, for example our popular 12 Robusto Cigar Sampler
– A particular wrapper, for example our 10 Maduro Cigar Sampler
– A particular strength, for example our Mild Cigar Sampler, 10 Cigars
Plus we offer samplers, handpicked by our experienced staff here, for example our Smoke Mikes Cigars Sampler, created by our longest serving staff member Mike, who’s been picking cigars, creating samplers and serving our web customers since 1996.
– A particular brand, for example our Partagas 10 Cigar Sampler

Whether you’re a seasoned smoker or just starting out, the world of premium cigars has something for everyone. With so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming to navigate the various types, brands, and styles available. By considering your personal taste preferences, the cigar’s construction and appearance, and the brand, you’ll be able to find the perfect cigar to suit your needs.

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Singapore Cigar Shipping? Yes!

As any regular Absolute Cigars customer knows, we’ve been shipping cigars worldwide here for close to 25 years, including to the beautiful city/state of Singapore where we’re proud to have so many cigar fans trust us with their international cigar purchases.

In 2020 new packaging and Singapore specific labeling regulations were passed in Singapore. We get a lot of questions on this, so let’s take a look at how all this works and how have these regulations affected shipping cigars to Singapore.

The good news is, yes, we’re still shipping cigars to Singapore every day. Of course, Singaporeans importing cigars, for personal use is perfectly legal.

The slightly unfortunate aspect is that these new regulations require those cigars to have their bands removed and all other graphic packaging (boxes and any labels) removed, and require them have labels added: both a Singapore specific health warning label as well as an age restriction label. Cigars not re-packaged this way are not admitted into the country and are returned or even confiscated upon arrival. Not good. But, not a problem when you order from us.

So, back to the good news – here at Absolute Cigars we do the work to prepare your cigars exactly according to the Singapore regulations and we re-package them as required. We do label them with the required labels, and we ship them in full adherence to your regulations.

So, how do we re-package them? After removing all the bands and packaging, we re-package in sealed ziplock bags, containing a Boveda HumiPack and we add all the required Singapore health and age restriction labels. On orders where multiple different cigars are ordered, we manually identify each bag so you know what’s in each ziplock. This is in compliance with the regulations as detailed in the following Singapore Government Publications:

  • The Standardised Packaging Guidance Booklet, Section 11, Retail packaging for Other Tobacco Products (Cigars).
  • We comply with the removal of cigars bands based on guidance in The Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Appearance, Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 2019 (September 30, 2022 Update) Section 30 (5a) regarding removal of non-compliant cigar bands.
  • Our use of ziplock bags as a protective wrapper is in compliance based on section 31a and 31b of The Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Appearance, Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 2019 (September 30, 2022 Update).

The band removal process can be a slow and tedious task for our staff. I does take time as we must be extremely careful removing bands. Some do not come off easily and cigar wrappers can get damaged if care is not taken. We do this for every cigar in your order, and we do not charge any service fee for our time on this.

Can the cigar wrappers get damaged from removing the bands? Cigar bands are affixed to cigars with just the slightest amount of all-natural vegetable glue. Most come off easily with no problem and zero damage to the cigar. However some manufacturers or individual cigar rollers may use more glue than others, and from time to time we do see minor wrapper damage to a given cigar. Of course we do our best to minimize this, but yes, you may see the the odd cigar with some minor wrapper flaw.

We then heavily wrap the ziplock bags, so as to minimize or eliminate loose cigars moving around during shipment. To be honest, generally we get no complaints about the condition of re-packaged cigars shipped to Singapore.

It’s important to note that the re-packaging process has no effect on possible customs tax & duty that may be applied upon landing in Singapore, and indeed some customers are asked by Singapore Customs to take care of that payment prior to release of their package. Our re-packaging and shipping process does not affect the taxable nature of the product at all. So, as with all countries, we advise Singapore customers to be aware of the potential for tax.

We have had customers ask us to ship their cigar bands separately. Unfortunately we cannot do this.

How much is shipping to Singapore? This simply depends on the size of your order and the products included. Shipping is calculated live when you put items in your cart, and you’re able to see your shipping charge before you need to click final checkout.

Do other merchants ship to Singapore? No doubt you can find another merchant that will ship there, but as of writing we are not aware of other retailers that will take the time and effort to meet the Singapore packaging requirement and do this at no additional cost to the customer.

What cigars are available for shipment to Singapore? Everything you see on our site. Here’s just a small sampling of cigar brands available to you with our Singapore cigar delivery service, these and many, many more!:

5 Vegas Classic cigars
Aging Room Quattro cigars
Arturo Fuente cigars
Ashton cigars
Camacho Corojo cigars
H. Upmann 1844 cigars
Joya de Nicaragua Antano cigars
La Aroma de Cuba cigars
Montecristo
My Father Le Bijou 1922 cigars
Padron cigars
Rocky Patel Decade cigars
San Cristobal cigars
VegaFina cigars

Thanks for taking the time to learn about our Singapore cigar service. We appreciate our loyal customers in Singapore, many who have been with us for decades! Thank you and, as always, please feel free to reach out to us if you need any assistance with products or have questions about cigars delivered to Singapore by AbsoluteCigars.com.
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Cigar Weights Guide

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We frequently get asked about the physical weights of the cigars we ship.  In some countries the cigar weight matters when importing cigars.

The actual tobacco weight varies between individual cigars, samplers, bundles, and units of 20, or 25 cigars, etc.  Of course 25 robustos don’t weight the same as 25 churchills or Gordos. So here follows just a few sample products with their actual weights. We’ll add to this post from time to time to include more typical weights of commonly ordered products and formats:

1 single petit corona (5 x 38): 0.42 ounces or 0.012 kg
1 single corona (5 x 46): 0.47 ounces or 0.014 kg
1 single churchill (7 x 52) sized cigar: 0.77 ounces or 0.022 kg
1 single Robusto cigar: 0.499 ounces or 0.01417 kg
1 single Toro cigar (6 x 54): 0.67 ounces or 0.019 kg
1 single Gordo (6 x 60) cigars: 0.747 ounces or 0.0212 kg
1 individual mini/cigarillo: 0.15oz or 0.00425 kg

5 pack of Arturo Fuente Rothschilds (robusto size, or 5 x 50) is 2.5 ounces or 0.07 kg
5 pack of Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature: 2.0 ounces or 0.056 kg
5 pack of typical Lancero (7 x 38) cigars: 1.75 ounces or 0.049 kg
10 pack of typical Toros (6 x 50) cigars: 6 ounces or 0.19kg

20 Coronas (5 x 46) cigars: 0.28 kg
25 Coronas (5 x 46) cigars: 0.35 kg
20 Robustos (5 x 50) cigars: 8.99 ounces or 0.255 kg
25 Robustos (5 x 50) cigars: 10.47 ounces or 0.297 kg
Toros (6 x 50) cigars: 13.40 ounces or 0.38 kg
25 Toros (6 x 50) cigars: 16.75 ounces or 0.475 kg
25 Churchills (7 x 50) cigars: 17.49 ounces or 0.496 kg
20 Gordos (6 x 60) cigars: 1 pound or 0.45 kg
24 “Nub” sized cigars (4 x 60): 13 ounces or 0.37 kg

1 individual mini/cigarillo: 0.15 ounces or 0.00425 kg
1 tin of ten minis/cigarillos: 1.5 ounces or 0.0425 kg
10 tins of ten minis/cigarillos: 15 ounces or 0.425 kg

Our Minis sampler (28 small cigars): 2.8 ounces or 0.079 kg
Cohiba 6 cigar sampler: 4.02 ounces or 0.114 kg
Montecristo 7 cigar sampler: 4.93 ounces or 0.14 kg
Churchill, 6 cigar sampler: 4.72 ounces or 0.134 kg
Our 25 cigar Mega Sampler: 15 ounces or 0.425 kg

If you need the actual tobacco weight of your order, or of any product you see on our site, just fire off an email to us, and we’ll reply with the weight, and we’ll continue to add add to the above for reference of other customers.