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Stanton HankinsThe Smokeable Shelf

Practical cigar counsel from Louisville

Judge the cigar by its draw and burn

Three plainspoken ebooks on choosing, storing, cutting, lighting, and smoking cigars without letting ratings or borrowed prestige do the thinking.

Sound on — Stanton Hankins explains everything in 3 minutes

Press play with the sound on; Stanton will show you what he judges before the label and rating.

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3PDF ebooks
356pages
$27one payment, no subscription
30 daysmoney back, keep the files

The Smokeable Shelf

When the label starts doing the judging

A famous band can make a cigar look decided before you check the things that matter. I wrote these books for the counter moments when draw, construction, storage, and pace need a plain answer.

  • You are standing at a humidor with famous names in front of you, but no clear way to judge wrapper integrity, firmness, foot packing, or the pre-light draw.
  • A beginner takes several puffs in quick succession, overheats the cigar, and mistakes a harsh burn for the cigar's character.
  • Mail-order cigars arrive and get smoked immediately, without the one or two weeks Stanton recommends for them to rest.
  • A long ash or a high rating starts doing the judging while price, construction, and whether you want another cigar get ignored.

What the band costs you

One box you regret costs more than the shelf.

A famous band can make a cigar look decided before you have checked anything that matters. The arithmetic is not complicated.

  • A box bought on a name and a rating, opened, and not enjoyedup to $200
  • Mail-order cigars smoked the day they land, before the rest they needthe whole box, judged wrong
  • A humidor held at the wrong humidity for a seasoneverything in it
  • Three books that tell you what to check before any of that$27

The books cost less than one box you would rather not have bought.

The pre-light check. Wrapper integrity, firmness, foot packing, pre-light draw. Four things you can check at the counter before the band, the rating or the price says a word. Every chapter comes back to them.

The books

The Smokeable Shelf

The First Fifty

The books / 01

The First Fifty

Start with a mild, medium-sized cigar from a staffed tobacconist; learn what your own palate says before chasing famous names.

The First Fifty is the sensible starting shelf for a new smoker who would rather learn at a staffed tobacconist than guess from a famous band. It lays out the useful first checks—wrapper integrity, firmness, foot packing, and pre-light draw—then keeps taste and strength in their proper places: wrapper leads flavor, filler leads strength. Stanton points beginners toward a mild, medium-sized cigar, suggests leaving it in cellophane until smoking day, and advises resting mail-order cigars for one to two weeks. He also recommends comparing natural and maduro versions, watching price per stick, and avoiding Cuban cigars until personal taste has had time to form. It is a calmer way to begin.

115 · PDF

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Dont Pay For The Band

The books / 02

Dont Pay For The Band

Price per stick is the cleaner value test: tobacco and construction first, packaging and prestige last.

Dont Pay For The Band is for the shopper who has learned that a famous name can do more talking than the tobacco. Stanton uses the cigar counter's real tests—price per stick, wrapper integrity, firmness, draw, construction, burn, and the desire for another—to separate value from packaging and borrowed prestige. He makes room for house-brand cigars, which can match famous names, and for honest exceptions: higher Padron prices can reflect older tobacco and longer aging, while box-to-box inconsistency can make a once-trusted line less certain. Along the way, he treats ratings culture with a raised eyebrow and keeps personal experience above every review. The job is not to hate brands; it is to pay for the cigar.

121 · PDF

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Keep it Smokeable

The books / 03

Keep it Smokeable

Keep the cigar near 70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, then take roughly one puff per minute.

Keep it Smokeable is the working manual for everything that happens after a cigar reaches your hand. It covers storage near 70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, keeping a cigar in its cellophane until smoking day, and resting mail-order cigars for one to two weeks. Stanton recommends a backstopped double-blade guillotine, leaves bands in place until heat softens the glue, and has little patience for the slow-side-up theory after testing it across many cigars. He explains why beginners overheat a cigar, why roughly one puff per minute helps, and how to trim, purge, and relight an extinguished cigar. Lounge manners stay local: ask first, follow the house, clean up, buy a cigar, and mind your own business.

120 · PDF

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Selected contents

How the work fits together

Three entry points, each with a different job: choose with clearer eyes, judge value without the band, then protect the hour once the cigar is yours.

  1. Begin with The First Fifty: make a sensible first choice

    Open this book when the humidor feels like a wall of names. Begin by checking wrapper integrity, firmness, foot packing, and pre-light draw; then compare natural and maduro versions while keeping flavor, strength, and price per stick separate.

  2. Use Dont Pay For The Band: separate value from prestige

    Turn here when a famous name is doing too much of the selling. Judge tobacco and construction first, leave room for house brands, and remember that a higher price can be honest in one line while box-to-box performance makes another less certain.

  3. Keep it Smokeable: protect the cigar and the hour

    Use this book for the practical handling: storage near 70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, a backstopped double-blade guillotine, a gentle lighting pace, and the simple lounge rules of asking first, cleaning up, buying a cigar, and minding your own business.

From the channel comments

What viewers say

These are public comments left under the videos, quoted as they were written. They are about the videos, not the books — nobody quoted here has read them. Buyer reviews will go here as they come in.

  • “Excellent analysis of what is a marketing and advertising strategy. Find a cigar you really like, and assess all other cigars against it. It works for me.”
    Comment under “Why I Don't Trust Cigar Ratings”
  • “Most all ratings are subjective. Especially numerical 1-100. Simple objective ratings come from the smoker based on preferences, experience and biases.”
    Comment under “Why I Don't Trust Cigar Ratings”
  • “Prefer V cut larger cigars 52-60. Punch for box pressed less than 50. I will try the multiple punch technique. That is new to me. TY”
    Comment under “5 Ways to Cut a Cigar”
  • “Enjoying your channel. Informative and educational. Thanks for making me a more informed cigar enthusiast.”
    Comment under “5 Cigars I'd Buy by the Box”

Look inside

See the work before you buy

Open a page and read it. The four interior page previews show the actual ebook pages; the three covers identify The First Fifty, Dont Pay For The Band, and Keep it Smokeable, with Stanton's portrait alongside the work. The offer itself is three English-language PDF ebooks across 356 pages.

The First Fifty
The First Fifty ↗
The First Fifty
The First Fifty ↗
Dont Pay For The Band
Dont Pay For The Band ↗
Dont Pay For The Band
Dont Pay For The Band ↗

What's included

The complete offer

The Cigar Trilogy brings together The First Fifty (115 pages), Dont Pay For The Band (121 pages), and Keep it Smokeable (120 pages). Together, the three English-language PDF ebooks make 356 pages on choosing, valuing, storing, cutting, lighting, and smoking cigars, with lounge manners and a healthy suspicion of hype. That is the complete three-book set described here.

The First FiftyDont Pay For The BandKeep it Smokeable

Your order

The Smokeable Shelf

$27

Three English-language PDF ebooks: The First Fifty (115 pages), Dont Pay For The Band (121 pages), and Keep it Smokeable (120 pages); 356 pages total.

  • The First Fifty · 115 · PDF
  • Dont Pay For The Band · 121 · PDF
  • Keep it Smokeable · 120 · PDF
Get The Cigar Trilogy $27

Instant PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.

Stanton Hankins

My guarantee

Read them for 30 days. If they are no use to you, I give the money back.

Use the support form within 30 days and you get every dollar back. You keep the PDFs. I would rather lose the sale than have you keep a book you do not need.

From the author

What I learned behind the counter

I spent decades managing a neighborhood tobacconist in Louisville, Kentucky, and maintaining walk-in humidors for private lounges. I have smoked through thousands of cigars, and I still trust the draw, wrapper quality, construction, and burn before I trust a tasting-note poem. A long ash is pleasant theatre; it is not a character reference.

I have changed my mind plenty: pale wrappers won me over through loyal smokers, Umbagog survived my suspicion, Tatuaje Brown Label corrected my view of small brands, and Rico Barato Maduro corrected my view of short-filler cigars. I tested slow-side-up smoking across many cigars and found it did nothing. These books collect that sort of counter-side judgment. Your experience outranks mine, every reviewer, and every rating; I am here to give you better things to look at.

— Stanton Hankins

This is for you if

Who I wrote this for

This is for you if

  • You want a practical starting point for buying, storing, cutting, lighting, and smoking cigars.
  • You would rather inspect draw, wrapper, construction, and burn than recite tasting notes.
  • You are willing to form your own palate by comparing natural and maduro versions and keeping value in view.

A different starting point if

  • You want ratings and prestige to make every cigar choice for you.
  • You need a promise that one brand, cut, or cigar will perform the same for every smoker.

The Smokeable Shelf

Questions

Is The Cigar Trilogy suitable for a beginner?

Yes. I point a beginner toward a mild, medium-sized cigar from a staffed tobacconist and suggest avoiding Cuban cigars until personal taste has had time to form. Experienced smokers can use the same construction, draw, storage, and value tests to tidy up their own habits.

What exactly is included in the bundle?

The Cigar Trilogy includes The First Fifty at 115 pages, Dont Pay For The Band at 121 pages, and Keep it Smokeable at 120 pages—356 pages total across three English-language ebooks.

Which file format is included?

Each of the three ebooks is supplied as a PDF. The complete set is in English.

How should I store or rest cigars before smoking?

I recommend storage near 70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave a cigar in its cellophane until smoking day, and let mail-order cigars rest for one to two weeks before judging them.

How does Stanton judge whether a cigar is good?

I start with wrapper integrity, firmness, foot packing, and the pre-light draw. During the smoke, I care about construction, burn, balance, and the plain question of whether I want another cigar; ratings and long ash come later, if they come at all.

What cutter does Stanton recommend?

For varied cigars, I recommend a backstopped double-blade guillotine. A sharp, straightforward cutter does the job, and I have never reliably tasted a difference between straight, V, and punch cuts on the same cigar.

What does Stanton mean by lounge etiquette?

Ask first, follow the lounge's staff and house rules, clean up, buy a cigar, and mind your own business. To my mind, cigar snobbery is the most serious breach of the lot.

Where can I review delivery and refund terms?

Instant PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.

Start with the cigar in front of you

If you want to judge a cigar by its draw, wrapper, construction, burn, and the simple question of whether you want another, The Cigar Trilogy gives you three places to start. Open a page, read it, and decide at the counter.

Get The Cigar Trilogy $27

Instant PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.