Groomsmen Cigars: The Gift Box Your Groomsmen Will Actually Keep

Groomsmen cigars are the one groomsmen gift that gets opened on the day and kept afterwards, and the box is easier to build than it looks: one good cutter, one case or tube, and two or three cigars chosen so that everyone in the party can enjoy them. Start with the cutter collection, because the cutter is the piece that outlasts the wedding, and if you already know what your groomsmen smoke, our Cigar Finder will get you to the right cigar in a few clicks.

This guide is for the groom, the best man doing the buying, or the bride who has been handed the job. It covers how many cigars to order for the wedding itself, the three pieces that make a groomsmen gift box, the cigars we would actually put inside and what they taste like, three budgets, and how to have the cutters engraved. Every product here is on our shelves today with live pricing on the cards.

Why groomsmen cigars work when other gifts do not

Most groomsmen gifts are chosen to match: six of the same flask, six of the same watch box. They photograph well on the morning of the wedding and then they disappear. Cigars work differently, because the gift is also a plan. It says: after the ceremony, when the photos are done and the speeches are over, we are going to step outside together for forty minutes. The gift box is the invitation, and the cutter is what he keeps.

We will say this plainly, because we would rather be accurate than romantic. Cigars at a wedding are a modern habit, not an old tradition, and nobody needs a story to justify it. What we see across the wedding orders that come through our shop is simple: the groom who hands his groomsmen a proper box with a real cutter in it gets a different reaction than the groom who hands out a bundle of singles in a rubber band. The first one is a gift. The second one is a party favor.

How many cigars for a wedding: the arithmetic

Count first, then choose. Two separate numbers matter. The first is the gift box: two or three cigars per groomsman, so six groomsmen need twelve to eighteen sticks for their boxes alone, before the groom or anyone else is counted. The second is the wedding-day hand-round: the fathers, the brothers who are not in the party, the uncle who will absolutely want one, and a handful of guests who step outside when they see the group go. That number is almost always bigger than the groom expects.

The clean way to do it is to buy full boxes of twenty rather than loose singles. A box is cheaper per cigar, it arrives protected, and anything left over goes into the groom's humidor for the first anniversary. Here is how the math tends to land.

If the reception runs outdoors and the group will smoke for real rather than posing with them, plan on the higher end of each range. Our guide to how long a cigar lasts by size will help you match the cigar to the gap in the schedule: a robusto for a forty-minute break between dinner and dancing, a toro if the evening is open.

The three pieces of a groomsmen gift box

Every good groomsmen cigar gift we have packed has the same three parts. The order matters, because the first piece is the one that lasts.

1. The cutter, which is the actual gift

A cutter is the object he will still have when the cigars are long gone, so it is where the money should go first. For a party of five or six, the Brizard and Co V cutter in black leather or antique saddle leather is what we hand people first: a spring-loaded V cut wrapped in leather that Brizard works by hand, and a shape that fits a suit pocket. The step up is the Elite Series 2 in rosewood, a double guillotine with wood inlays that feels like a piece of furniture in the hand. For the best man, or for a groom who wants the box to carry the house he smokes, the El Septimo Emperor Napoleon guillotine cutter matches the bands on the cigars. If you want the reasoning behind blade types before you decide, our cutter and lighter guide lays it out without the jargon.

2. The case or tube, which keeps the cigars whole

Cigars handed over loose get cracked in a jacket pocket before the ceremony is over. A single tube solves that for the one cigar he will smoke on the day; a three-finger case solves it for the two or three in the gift. The Brizard single cigar tube in black leather and rosewood is the piece we sell most for this, because it matches the V cutter and slips into the inside pocket of a suit. For a fuller box, the Show Band 3 case in rosewood holds three and looks like it belongs on a dresser. The whole range is in our travel cases and tubes collection, and our travel case guide explains what the leathers and woods actually change.

3. The flame, if the venue is outdoors

Most groomsmen boxes do not need a lighter, because one good torch handles the whole group. That torch should be a real one: the El Septimo Double-Jet torch lighter with a built-in punch lights in a breeze and doubles as a second cutter for the hand-round. For the groom's own box, the Emperor Napoleon triple torch is the piece that gets noticed at the table. Both are in the lighter collection with everything else we carry.

Here are the accessories together, priced live.

The cigars: what to put in the box, and what they taste like

A wedding party is a mixed room. Two of the groomsmen smoke every week, three have had a cigar twice in their lives, and one will pretend. The mistake is buying one strong, expensive cigar for everyone. The right move is a mild or medium cigar for the box and a fuller one held back for the men who ask for it. Everything below comes from the houses we carry deepest, El Septimo and the Davidoff family, and we have tasted every one of them ourselves.

The Augustus Connecticut Robusto in its box of 20 is the one we reach for first when a groom tells us half his party has never smoked. It is the gentlest cigar El Septimo makes: cedar, hay and cream, with a light floral note, and it never turns bitter in the last third, which is the thing that puts a first-timer off for life. Made in Costa Rica like the rest of the house.

The AVO Classic Robusto Tubos, box of 20 earns its place for a practical reason: each cigar arrives in its own aluminum tube, so you can drop one into each gift box without buying a separate tube and it will survive a jacket pocket, a car and a hotel room. Creamy and nutty, Dominican filler under an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, mild to medium. AVO is part of the Davidoff family and it tastes like it.

The Alexander III Connecticut Toro, box of 20 is the cigar we would put in the groom's own box. It reads as a Connecticut on the outside and smokes richer than it looks: dark chocolate, aged leather and toasted spice on a slow, even burn. Medium in strength, an hour of smoking, and polished enough for a man who has been standing in a suit all day.

The Salvador Dali Toro, box of 20 is the one people photograph. It comes from El Septimo's Sacred Arts collection, the band carries the artist's name, and the cigar is a medium maduro with sweet coffee and a cherry finish that suits the hour after dinner. If the wedding has a signature drink with any sweetness to it, this is the cigar to hand round with it.

The Empress Sheba Maduro Gordo, twenty in a bundle is for the fathers and the men who smoke every week. A dark, oily maduro in a 60 ring gauge, medium to full, with white pepper over a deep tobacco core. It is one of the El Septimo cigars we sell most, and at a wedding it is the cigar the regular smokers will notice you bothered to buy. It also comes in boxes of twenty in three colors of presentation lid, so ask us if you want the box to match the wedding.

The Zino Platinum Crown Series Barrel Gran Toro, box of 10 tubos is the best man's cigar. Zino Platinum is Davidoff's modern luxury line, the Gran Toro comes in an individual tube, and it smokes medium to full with cedar and mixed pepper over a long finish. Ten in a box is exactly right for the groom, the best man and the fathers, with a few left for the honeymoon.

Here they are, priced live. Where a box exists we link the box, because the arithmetic above almost always calls for one.

Three budgets, one box each

Groomsmen boxes are bought in multiples, so the price per box matters more than it would for a single gift. These are the three ways we most often see it done, from the party of eight to the party of three where the groom wants to go all in. Live prices are on the cards above.

The considered box

The Brizard V cutter in black leather, the single tube in black leather and rosewood, and two cigars: an Augustus Connecticut Robusto and an AVO Classic Robusto in its tube. Everything matches, nothing is delicate, and the whole box fits in a suit pocket. This is the box for a large party.

The keeper

The Brizard Elite Series 2 cutter in rosewood, the Show Band 3 case in rosewood to match, and three cigars: the Alexander III Toro, the Salvador Dali Toro and an Empress Sheba for the late hour. The case sits on his dresser afterwards with the cutter inside it. This is the box for a party of four to six.

The best man

One box built differently from the others, because the best man did the work. The El Septimo Emperor Napoleon guillotine cutter and the matching Emperor Napoleon triple torch, a Show Band 3 case in black caiman alligator, and three Zino Platinum Gran Toros in their tubes. If you want the cutter itself to be the statement, the Davidoff double-blade cutter is the piece we would hand him, and we have one on the shelf as we write this.

If you would rather give each groomsman a small mixed set of cigars and let him choose his own night, our cigar samplers are the shortcut, and our guide to cigar gift sets covers what belongs in a set for someone who already has the cigars.

Engraving, presentation and the card

Initials and the wedding date on a cutter turn a good gift into the one he keeps. We engrave and personalize gift pieces where the material allows it, and the leather and wood Brizard pieces above are the ones people most often ask us to mark. Details are on our customization page, and the honest advice is to call us before you order so we can confirm what is possible on the exact piece and how long it adds. Presentation is simpler than people expect: the Show Band case is its own presentation box, and a single tube with a cigar inside, a cutter beside it and a short handwritten card is a finished gift without anything else in the bag.

When to order, and how to keep them fresh until the day

Order once the party is confirmed, not the week of. Allow a week for delivery within the United States and longer if you want engraving, because we would rather the box sit in your closet for a month than arrive the morning after. We ship to adults 21 and over nationwide, the driver hands the box to someone 21 or older who signs for it, and you can also collect from us in Woodland Hills. Our guide to buying cigars online covers what to expect at the door.

Keep the boxes closed and out of the heat until the day. A cigar is fine for a day or two in a closed case or tube; a month is not, so if you are buying early, leave the cigars in their boxes with the humidity packs they arrive with and pack the gift boxes the week of the wedding. If the groom does not own a humidor yet, this is the moment he starts one, and the leftover box of twenty is what goes in it first.

Shop the collection

For the full run of leather, skin and wood pieces at the same level as the cigars above, the Brizard and Co collection is where we keep the cases, cutters and tubes together. If nothing on this page is quite right, call us on 1 818-719-9885 with the headcount and the date and we will put the boxes together.

Frequently asked questions

The short version

Count the party, then count the hand-round, and buy boxes of twenty. Put a cutter, a tube or case and two or three mild-to-medium cigars in each groomsmen box, spend on the cutter first, and keep the fuller cigars in the groom's pocket for the men who ask. The Brizard V cutter and single tube for a big party, the Elite Series 2 and Show Band case for a small one, the El Septimo Emperor Napoleon pieces for the best man. Start with the cutters below, and call us with the headcount if you would like it packed as one order.