Amish Cigars Part 4: Dutch Maid

Dutch Maid Cigars are constructed of Connecticut broadleaf wrappers & binders surrounding imported & domestic fillers. They are machine made with, I assume, short filler, and measure 5 1/2" x 47. The taste is a combination of mild Connecticut and sharp Pennsylvania tobacco flavors. It reminds me of a Muniemaker Dark Maduro, but with a little more oomph. This is a nice cigar.

Photo: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Tobacco graded and ready for packing on Amish FSA (Farm Security Administration) client's farm, 1942 (John Collier/Library of Congress).

Amish Cigars Part 3: A Pennsylvania Puro

The Amish Pennsylvanian #1 cigar is a step up from the cheaper "Amish" models I tried last time, being "all tobacco." This one surprised me, I expected a cigar made of all Pennsylvania tobacco to be quite strong, and perhaps a little pungent. I waited for the first cool night of the season to try it out, in case I needed to open some windows. But in fact, it was mild in strength and smelled just as good as any cigar does in a room. It was full of flavor, that great rustic leathery taste that makes Pennsylvania tobacco worth smoking. My sample was well constructed and machine made, with one of those little holes in the cap, providing an ample draw. The cigar measures 45 x 6 and is, I assume, made with short filler. They cost $109.00 for a box of fifty at the only website I know that sells them. I found this cigar to be superior to the cheaper Amish cigars, and more to my liking than the semi-Amish "Handmade President's Private Stock" cigars, sold on the same site.

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. 

Top Photo: Mennonite farmer putting tobacco into his barn, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1941 (Marion Post Wolcott/FSA/Library of Congress).

 

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. 

Amish Cigars

There is a place, and it may only be a place on the internet, called Ricardo's Pennsylvania Amish Cigar Shop which sells "Amish cigars."
A lot of tobacco is grown by Amish farmers in and around York/Lancaster counties, not far from my home, so it's natural that somebody would brand their cigars as "Amish." And while I doubt they have the official Amish seal of approval (because I doubt there is such a thing), there is undoubtedly a lot of Amish grown tobacco in these cigars.
I like cigars rolled with Pennsylvania tobacco. They remind me of eating Necco Wafers in a fire station: barely sweet, wrapped in a fog of wet canvas and diesel. It's not something I hanker after every day, but when I want one, nothing else will do.
Ricardo (I wonder if he's Amish?), sells an Amish cigar sampler ($59.95) consisting of 14 varieties, which I figure on plowing through, over the next week or two. Says Ricardo: "Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has been famed for its tobaccos since before the American Revolution. Now, just as in early days, Lancaster County's Amish and other traditional family farmers grow the rich, full-bodied Pennsylvania Seedleaf for our cigars. This sampler consists of 14 different Amish grown tobacco cigars. Included are Amish Palma, Amish Lancaster Palma, Amish Gold Fancy Tails, Amish Panatela, Amish Sweet Panatela, Amish Exceptionales, Amish Lancaster Corona, Amish Natural Broadleaf, Dutch Maid, House of Amish, Amish PA.#1, Amish PA#2, President's Private Stock Lonsdale, Robusto, and Special Select. All have a great mild smoke. All are non-flavored cigars except the Amish Palma which is made with honey-cured tobacco."
Tonight, I had an Amish "Handmade President's Private Stock Lonsdale," which is manufactured in Honduras with a Pennsylvania wrapper and a PA/Mexican/Dominican blended filler. It's a good starter for the seasoned PA smoker, those unused to PA tobacco (or fire stations), may want to start with the Robusto. I couldn't find a price for these on the website, but the President's Private Stock sampler (9 cigars) is $55.95, making it the most expensive brand offered, the rest being in the $2 range. Though there is one Pennsylvania Puro in the batch, the rest are a combination of PA, Connecticut, and imported tobaccos. A few of the cheaper selections have homogenized wrappers and/or binders, which may not please the purist, but we can't all afford to be connoisseurs, especially those of us who like to smoke more than one cigar a week. Stay tuned for more on Amish cigars in the days to follow.

Click here for Amish Cigars Part 2: The Cheapies

 

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.