Puros Indios by Rolando Reyes, Sr. is made in Danli, Honduras with no Honduran leaf. For some reason Don Rolando just doesn’t like Honduran tobacco. Instead, he uses Ecuadoran wrapper, Ecuadoran binder, and filler leaves from Nicaragua, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. I’ve smoked a lot of these over the years because they’re decent tasting affordable cigars.

Rolando Reyes has a reputation as a hard-nosed tobacco man who watches his factory like a hawk. He reportedly examines every single cigar produced by his company and can tell a bad batch of cigars merely by weighing them in his hand. After the workers have gone home for the night he looks over the day’s production, and if he finds too many mistakes from a roller he turns that worker’s table upside down and leaves a note reading “ojo” to let that unfortunate soul know that the Don has his eye on him.

Puros Indios cigars are mild to medium in body and have a fine woody aroma with a floral element that makes them easy to smoke just about any time of the day. The flavor is leathery with a very soft finish and aftertaste. The only drawback that I’ve found is a slightly metallic flavor that comes and goes. I find that the flavor goes quickly downhill after the two-thirds point, so if you’re a nubber you might want to look elsewhere.

Most of them have good construction as well, with the exception of some of the smaller ring gauges that have, in my experience, been rolled a bit tight. Time to knock over a couple rolling desks, eh Rolando?

You can find these in most places for under four bucks per stick, sometimes under two if you buy them by the box on one of the auction sites. I always have some on hand for the ride home from work or to hand out to moochers. Because even moochers need love.