By Fred Lunt
The time-tested tradition of lighting up on graduation is an earmark of academia and it’s no secret that new grads enjoy their stogies. Like the turning of the tassel, the cigar represents both growth and maturity as the once students now begin a new chapter of their lives. Thinking back, it doesn’t seem so long ago that I celebrated with my very own graduation cigars: My Father Flor De Las Antillas, paired with Johnny Blue. Boy, those were the days…
Buying for a young scholar isn’t as easy as it’s cracked up to be; which is why I’ve compiled my suggestions for new grads – a cigar for each degree ranging from Trade School all the way up to Doctorate’s. While your grads are holding those hot-off-the-presses diplomas, I guarantee they’ll be loving these graduation cigars before the ink’s dry.
Most folks coming out of trade schools are typically young and may be new to cigars; therefore, you’ll want a mild-medium cigar that’s not too hard on the wallet. Alec Bradley’s 1633 is a smooth medium-bodied blend of Panamanian, Honduran, and Nicaraguan long filler with a flavorful Costa Rican binder with a layering of creamy Connecticut wrapper. This creamy smoke makes for a perfect starter cigar and comes at a price that can’t be beat. The band says “First Crop”, but with any luck this won’t be the last your grad’s smoking.
Achieving an Associate’s is no easy feat, whether you’re good to go with an Associate’s or using it as a stepping stone toward the full-blown Bachelor’s. Either way, this is one special occasion that calls for a toast of Champagne…Perdomo Champagne, that is. While the graduates themselves are the next class of working professionals, the Champagne was created by Nick Perdomo to celebrate his next generation of cigars. Featuring a mellow blend of aged Nicaraguan long filler and shade grown Connecticut wrapper, this premium is layered with complex flavors in a creamy-smooth medium body. While it costs a touch more, Nick Perdomo keeps even his best cigars affordable.
So, your new baccalaureate recipient put, conservatively, several thousand into getting their Bachelor’s, so they might as well smoke a thousand, right? The Davidoff Thousand series is one seriously decadent smoke. Its highly rated blend features a complex yet smooth combination of all Dominican filler and binder with a flawless Connecticut wrapper, packaged in a mild body with notes of soft chocolate. While the new grad is looking at entry level jobs, he may as well smoke like a boss.
When it takes a Master to know one, Oliva’s Master Blend No. 3 has the full-flavored strength to add a classy touch to the new grad’s celebration. Master Blend No.3 comes matched up in all Nicaraguan binder and filler with a dark and sensuous looking sun grown Broadleaf wrapper. While this cigar has flown under the radar in recent years, it remains a richly full-flavored smoke with notes of chocolate, leather, and a caramel sweetness in a full-bodied yet smooth profile. This all Nicaraguan blend offers complex and subtle flavors for the educated palate, much like our new alum.
So, the doctor is in the house? There’s no doubt getting a doctorate is a big friggin’ deal, whether you fought tooth and nail over a thesis or put countless hours in labs or doing research. This is the highest degree in academia for good reason and achieving it calls for a celebration if I have any say on the matter. So, because it takes nearly a decade of schooling to get a doctorate, Rocky Patel’s Decade is a no brainer. An Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, robust yet creamy, adorns the full-flavored Nicaraguan binder and filler – making for a hugely flavorful full-bodied smoke. Decade provides a richly satisfying smoke with a doctor’s touch of pepper. Get your grad a fistful of these premium graduation cigars and send your diplomate off right.
Bonus tip-
Remember, you throw the cap in the air, not the cigar!
Copywriter
Fred Lunt was discovered to be the youngest cigar smoker in his family shortly after setting his crib ablaze; today, he's added an avid whiskey and craft beer appetite to his lineup. Fred has worked in marketing, blogging and communications at boutique PR agencies across New York and has personally had the pleasure of witnessing over four breakdancing shows in a single commute on the NYC subway. Prior to his work in marketing Fred was a student of communications at Temple University and still holds illusions that Temple has a better football program than Penn State.
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Oh my lord. Economic discrimination at the very first level, a better cigar for the BA than for the PhD and no real Super-Premium Cigar Of Reputation anywhere (you could count the Davidoff, but not at that level). When one gets a doctoral degree, a dissertation is required. What is another name for a dissertation? A Doctoral Thesis? Yes, but a Magnum Opus is more personal. And you choose an RP Decade??? For Shame. When I got my PhD, the woman bought me (us) a good vintage of Dom Perignon, dinner at a French Restaurant, and a Padron 1964 Anniversario “A” Maduro — because a doctorate, with all the bull you’ve got to put up with in getting it, deserves an “A” if anything does. (It should really earn a B-52 [as in Behike], but a trip abroad to buy a present is a bit much. Unless it’s Paris, Prague, or Cardiff & you plan to stay a few weeks.
Baccarat 1871 Dolce Far Niente The Game. Blessed to have four very promising college men visiting me for two weeks. Thought I would expose him to some fine mild cigars. Expensive mistake. One of their dads sent eight Baccarat 1871s down with them. That proved to be their go to Cigar during their short visit here.
TomzCigarz
The Opus X ought to be the cigar for a PhD.
I spent so much time writing my huge Semester long Psychology research term paper outside smoking this past Winter, I thought it was only fair to include Rocky Patel in the front page acknowledgements section. Probably should have included A.J. Fernandez, too, but I didn’t want my professor to think I wasn’t taking things seriously.
I think we had Davidoff Nicaraguan for oldest kid on med school graduation.
A RP Decade for a doctorate? 1926 Padron 80th perhaps