Amish Cigars Part 2: The Cheapies

With homogenized wrappers & binders, along with mixed imported & domestic fillers, there doesn't seem like a lot to qualify these cigars as Amish or even all that Pennsylvanian, however, they are made in Pennsylvania by the Domestic Tobacco Co., "a company formerly known as A.K. Mann, dating back more than a century," according to Cigar Aficionado, which goes on to say, "Domestic is a broker for tens of thousands of pounds of Amish-grown tobacco."
They are a good example of the type of inexpensive cigars manufactured in the U.S. over the past few decades - or to put it another way, they're "drugstore cigars."
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Cigars with homogenized wrappers and short fillers are affordable and can be very consistent in taste and quality. They are like McDonald's, nothing special, but no unpleasant surprises either.
The Amish Sweet Panatela Cigar, is mild and lightly sweetened. The cigar itself looked box pressed and has a pre-drilled hole in the end. Despite the hole, I clipped the cap with a cutter, which can be tricky with machine made cigars, but the little panatela was sturdy enough to handle the insult without falling apart.
This is by no means a premium cigar, but taken at face value, it's a good smoke. I'd recommend it to smokers who want a sweetened, inexpensive cigar with a dash of that Pennsylvania tobacco taste. The Amish Sweet Panatela measures 6 1/4" by 34 and sells for around $79.00 for a box of 50.
The Amish Palma cigar is very similar to the sweet panatela, though honey cured. I liked them both, though the Palma was maybe a little sweeter on top, a shade bitter underneath. The Palma measured 6" x 43 and costs $59.95 for a box of 50 or $6.50 for a 5-pack.
Rounding out the group is the Amish Panatela (unsweetened), which was terrible. The thing was in fragile shape and appeared to be lacking filler. It was like smoking a dried cocoon or a tiny sleeping bag. Which is too bad as this one sports a natural wrapper and has a real Pennsylvania taste. Perhaps I got a dud, but I can only report on what's in front of me. The Amish Panatela is 6 1/4" x 34 and costs $79.00 for a box of 50.
Recommendation: Try the Amish Palma 5-pack and go on from there. I can't recommend the unsweetened Amish Panatela, though I do like the sweetened version.

Click here for the first part of the series: Amish Cigars or continue on to Amish Cigars Part 3: A Pennsylvania Puro

 

2019 UPDATE: The only people offering an Amish style cigar anymore is F.X. Smith, an outfit that has been making them in Pennsylvania since the War Between the States. You can buy from them here.