Phase 1: Core Six
The Complete Beginner's Guide to Cigars
Finally, a cigar book that actually makes sense. Nearly three decades of factory knowledge, blind-tasting data, and straight answers. No gatekeeping. No pretension.
Brands & Pairing Guide
Phase 1: Core Six
Brands & Pairing Guide
2026 Edition: Which Cigar Should You Actually Smoke?
Miguel Solano has been smoking cigars since 1997 and working in the industry for nearly three decades. He's walked factory floors from Estelí to Santiago, attended every major trade show since RTDA became IPCPR became PCA, and maintains relationships with producers, distributors, and retailers across the Americas. He knows which brands are worth your money and which ones are marketing hype.
Launches 2026-03-31. Drop your email and we will tell you the day it goes live on Amazon.
Inside this book
- 60+ brand profiles: Cuban legacy, Nicaraguan powerhouses, Dominican prestige, boutique, and value champions
- Honest assessments of what each brand does well (and what they don't)
- Pairing recommendations for bourbon, scotch, coffee, beer, wine, cocktails, and food
- Ratings demystified: what Cigar Aficionado scores actually mean
- New releases worth trying and heritage lines worth revisiting
- How to navigate pricing tiers from $5 value smokes to $50 investment pieces
- Regional wrapper characteristics (Connecticut, Habano, Maduro, Sumatra, Cameroon)
About the author
Miguel Solano
Lead Author, The Modern Cigar Library
Miguel Solano started smoking cigars in 1997 when his friend Augusto Reyes handed him a Fuente Hemingway Short Story at a lounge in Coral Gables. That cigar changed his life. Since then he has built a career in the premium cigar industry that has taken him to factories in Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, to fermentation warehouses in Cuba, and to every PCA trade show since the late 1990s. He consults with boutique producers, maintains relationships with distributors and retailers across the Americas, and writes the books he wishes had existed when he was learning. He lives in South Florida with his wife Liliana, who manages the spreadsheets that track his cigar spending, and their cigar friends who fill the screened porch his late father Gerardo used to sit on every night.
More about Miguel SolanoOther books in the Phase 1: The Core Six series
Phase 1: Core Six
Tobacco Science & Origins
Why does a Padrón taste like cocoa while a Liga Privada hits like dark chocolate ganache? The answer is tobacco science. Most cigar books skip it.
Phase 1: Core Six
Lifestyle & Culture
Cigars aren't just about tobacco. They're about people. The lounge conversations, the herfs, the community, and the culture that forms around a shared ritual.
Phase 1: Core Six
Storage & Collecting Manual
Most cigar storage advice is outdated, overcomplicated, or flat-out wrong. This manual is the system Miguel wishes he had read twenty years ago.
Phase 1: Core Six
Industry Intelligence Report
The premium cigar industry is a $10 billion global market most people don't understand. This report tells you what's actually happening and why it matters.
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Drop your email and we will tell you when Brands & Pairing Guide goes live, plus updates on the rest of the series.