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GuideCigars for a Round of Golf
A golf cigar has three jobs: last the right number of holes, survive being set down on a cart tray, and cost little enough that losing one to a cart path doesn't ruin the hole. Every pick below comes from a full review on this site.
The course is a terrible place for a precious cigar. It gets set down mid-swing, it goes out while you look for a ball, it rides a bouncing cart in the sun. That's not a reason to bring a bad cigar... it's a reason to bring a good, forgiving, fairly-priced one. Here's how I'd stock the bag.
Match the cigar to the holes
The size math this site runs: a corona goes 30-45 minutes, a robusto about an hour, a toro 90 minutes to 2 hours, a Churchill 2 hours and up. Nine holes runs about two hours... that's toro territory, or a robusto if you smoke the front nine and talk the back. Eighteen holes is a two-cigar round, not one giant cigar: light the second when you want it, not because the first has to last five hours.
The bag
The everyday choice... an easy-smoking toro that you can rebuy by the box on its quarterly sales for around $8 a stick, which is exactly the price you want riding in a cart:
The Filthy Viking Toro Review (American Viking Cigars)
Verdict: Five-Pack (3/4)... with a standing exception you should know about: catch these 20-25% off by the box, which they run about quarterly, and it's a Box Buy without a second thought. Verdicts here get judged at street price, and at street this is a very good easy-smoking fi
The step-up... more flavor for a few dollars more, with one course-relevant caveat straight from the review: it asks for a lighter more than it should, so it pairs well with the torch advice below:
Oliva Serie V Toro Review
Verdict: Five-Pack (3/4). A sweet, nutty, medium cigar that punches way above its price tag... and asks for a lighter more than it should. At street this is a stick I want five of in the humidor at all times. It is not a box for me at $13, and it never got anywhere near the "full
The front-nine robusto, right at $10:
Asylum 13 Corojo Robusto Review
Verdict: Five-Pack (3/4)... a mild-to-medium creamy-bread smoke that flipped my "Asylum is a gimmick brand" assumption. My first Asylum ever, and it surprised me the whole way. Near-flawless construction, a self-correcting burn with zero touch-ups, and an ash that survived a 2-fo
And the good-round cigar... when the occasion earns it, this is the box-verdict toro I'd bring instead of gambling course money on something unproven:
Crux Guild Toro Review
Verdict: Five-Pack (3/4)... and the closest a cigar has come to the box without getting one. A five-pack lives in the humidor from here on. This is the most playable cigar I've smoked... the flavor changes depending on how you puff it, and it's not a subtle difference.
The two pieces of gear that matter out there
Wind is the course's whole personality, and a torch handles it the way a soft flame can't. This one is cheap, it's a triple jet, and it's the one I'd hand a beginner anyway:
Vertigo Hawk Triple Jet Flame Lighter Review
Verdict: Buy Again... and if you're just getting into cigars, this is the one I'd hand you first. I'm pretty sure this is the very first torch lighter I ever bought when I got into cigars, and it lit basically my whole first three or four months, tons of cigars, without ever givi
And because golf is where wrappers crack... a cigar rolling around a cart tray or riding a bag pocket takes abuse... ten dollars of field repair insurance earns its slot:
PerfecRepair Cigar Glue Review
Verdict: Buy Again... it's ten bucks, it saves cigars, and one bottle lasts basically forever. Just go get it. This is the easy one. A cracked wrapper, a hole that would wreck your draw, an over-clip that's starting to unravel, a cap that split when you cut it... a dab of this ho
Course rules worth knowing
A cigar that goes out on the course is normal, not a failure... relighting is part of the game, same as it is on the deck. Purpose-built protection matters more in a golf bag than almost anywhere else; the traveling with cigars page covers what actually keeps a stick smokable in heat. And mind the group: smoke drifts, so check before you light, and downwind is good manners even among friends.