Best Filtered Cigars: Sweet, Menthol & Natural Picks

Quick answer: The best filtered cigars split into three flavor lanes, and the right pick depends on which one matches your palate. For sweet, Al Capone Sweets and Djarum Black Cherry (Ruby) lead the pack. For menthol, Djarum Black Ultra Menthol (Sapphire) and Cheyenne Extreme Menthol are the coolest, strongest options. For natural, Djarum Special and Black & Mild Regular give the most honest, unflavored tobacco taste. The full lineup, with what actually separates one from the next, is below.

Most "best filtered cigars" lists online read the same way: a brand name, a shrug, and a "smooth, flavorful, great value" sentence copied across a dozen retailer sites. None of them tell you why one sweet cigar tastes different from another, or which menthol option is actually strongest, or what "natural" even means once you're staring at ten unflavored options in a row. That gap is exactly what this guide fills, organized the way people actually shop: by flavor profile first, brand second.

What "Flavor Profile" Actually Means Here

A filtered cigar has three parts that decide how it tastes and smokes: the filler (the tobacco inside), the wrapper (the leaf around it), and the tip (filter, wood, or plastic). Flavor comes from how that filler is cased and cured, not from the brand name printed on the pack.

1. Sweet profiles use a casing, a liquid flavor coating applied to the tobacco, built around fruit, dessert, or spirit notes: cherry, vanilla, cognac, wine, rum.
2. Menthol profiles add a cooling agent to the casing, sold across a range of intensities from a light touch to an "extreme" strength.
3. Natural profiles skip heavy casing altogether and let the base tobacco (Indonesian kretek-style, Virginia, Burley, or pipe tobacco, depending on the brand) carry the flavor on its own.

Knowing which lane you're in narrows a crowded shelf down to a handful of realistic choices fast.

What Actually Makes One Smoother Than Another

"Smooth" gets thrown around a lot in filtered cigar marketing, but three things genuinely drive it:

1. Tip material. A filter tip softens the draw more than a wood tip does, which is why filtered cigars in general read smoother than their wood-tip cousins.
2. Filler blend. Pipe tobacco filler (Black & Mild's approach) burns milder than a straight Virginia/Burley/Oriental blend. Kretek-style tobacco (Djarum's approach) sits somewhere in between, with clove and fruit notes layered into the burn itself.
3. Casing and curing. Heavier fruit or dessert casings round off tobacco bite; a cognac dip does the same thing from a different angle. Less casing means more of the raw tobacco comes through, which reads as fuller flavor, not necessarily harsher.

With that framework, here's how the actual catalog breaks down.

Best Sweet Filtered Cigars

Al Capone Sweets Filter Cigarillos Java tobacco leaf wrapper over a Virginia, Burley, and Oriental filler, dipped in cognac after rolling. The filtered version rounds that cognac sweetness into something easier to sit with than the unfiltered original. This is the closest thing on the list to a "premium sweet" pick, and it prices accordingly at $74.99 for a 10-pack carton of 100.

Djarum Black Cherry (Ruby) Filtered Cigars and Djarum Black Ivory Vanilla Both sit on Djarum's Indonesian-style kretek base, which brings clove and fruit character into the tobacco itself before any casing is added. Cherry and vanilla notes layer on top rather than replacing that base flavor, which is why Djarum's sweet line tastes noticeably different from a straight fruit-cased cigar. $52.99 per 10-pack carton of 120.

Djarum Splash Filtered Cigars A tropical-leaning casing over the same kretek base, for anyone who wants sweet without going full cherry or vanilla.

Black & Mild Wine (Filter Tip or Wood Tip) A red wine and dark grape casing with a soft vanilla finish, built on Black & Mild's pipe-tobacco filler rather than a whole-leaf blend. That filler is what gives Wine its lighter body compared to the Al Capone and Djarum options above. Filter tip runs $52.99 for a 10-pack of 5; wood tip is $57.99.

Cheyenne's sweet lineup Cheyenne covers more individual sweet flavors than any other brand in the collection: Vanilla, Wild Cherry, Strawberry, Peach, Grape, Xotic Berry, Tropical, and Sweet Tip. Every one of these runs $17.25 for a 10-pack carton of 200, which works out to roughly 9 cents a stick, the lowest per-stick cost in the sweet category by a wide margin. This is the lane to try if you want to sample several flavors before committing to a case of one.

Best Menthol Filtered Cigars

Djarum Black Ultra Menthol (Sapphire) The strongest menthol option in the lineup, built on the same kretek base as the rest of Djarum's Black line. If you want maximum cooling, this is it.

Djarum Black Menthol (Emerald) A lighter-touch menthol on the same base, for anyone who wants the cooling effect without the full intensity of the Ultra version. Both Djarum menthol options run $52.99 for a carton of 120.

Cheyenne Extreme Menthol Cheyenne's strongest cooling option, positioned above its standard Menthol line the same way Djarum's Sapphire sits above Emerald. Both are $17.25 per carton of 200.

A hybrid worth knowing about: Cheyenne Sweet Mint splits the difference between the sweet and menthol categories, a cooling note layered with a sweeter casing rather than a straight menthol burn. Worth trying if neither lane on its own feels like the right fit.

Best Natural (Unflavored) Filtered Cigars

Djarum Special and Djarum Black The most straightforward reads on Djarum's kretek base, letting the clove and fruit notes that come from the tobacco itself do the work instead of a heavy casing. This is the truest "natural" flavor Djarum offers, since even the unflavored line still carries kretek character by nature of the tobacco used.

Djarum Mild (Select) A lighter-bodied version of the same base, a reasonable starting point if Djarum Black feels like too much on a first try.

Djarum Bali Hai Rounds out the natural-leaning side of the Djarum line at the same $52.99 per carton of 120 price point as the rest of the Black series.

Black & Mild Regular (Filter Tip or Wood Tip) The line's original, unflavored pipe-tobacco taste, no casing added. This is the mildest natural option on the list because pipe tobacco filler runs lighter-bodied than whole-leaf filler by nature, not because it's watered down. Filter tip is $52.99 for a 10-pack of 5, or $26.49 for a box of 25; wood tip runs slightly higher at $57.88 and $28.99 respectively.

Cheyenne Full Flavor and Cheyenne Light Two strength tiers of the same unflavored base, both at $17.25 for a carton of 200, giving you a way to dial intensity up or down without switching brands.

Smoothest Filtered Cigars: A Quick Comparison

Cheyenne wins on price and flavor count. Djarum wins on distinct base character across all three profiles. Al Capone leans premium within the sweet lane. Black & Mild is the mildest-bodied option across the board, and the only line here that lets you choose between a filter tip and a wood tip on the same flavor.

How to Choose Based on Where You're Starting From

New to filtered cigars entirely: Start with Cheyenne. The $17.25 price point makes it cheap to try three or four flavors across all three profiles before deciding what you actually like.

Coming from cigarettes: A menthol option, either Djarum Black Menthol (Emerald) or Cheyenne Menthol, tends to be the easier bridge, since the cooling sensation is a familiar reference point.

Coming from premium cigars, want something faster: Al Capone Sweets or the Djarum Black line give the most tobacco-forward flavor of the group, closer to what a full-sized cigar delivers, just in a fifteen-to-twenty-five-minute format.

Prioritizing value across a lot of smoking: Cheyenne's per-stick cost is roughly half of Djarum's and about a sixth of Al Capone's, without sacrificing flavor variety.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the smoothest filtered cigar for a first-timer?

Black & Mild Regular or Cheyenne Light are the mildest-bodied options in this lineup, both built to reduce bite for a first-time smoker. Between the two, Cheyenne Light is the lower-cost way to test the natural profile before committing further.

What's the difference between "menthol" and "mint" on a filtered cigar label?

Menthol refers to the cooling compound itself and typically comes in graded strengths (standard and extreme). Mint-labeled options, like Cheyenne Sweet Mint, usually blend that cooling note with a sweeter casing rather than delivering menthol on its own.

Are filtered cigars less harsh than cigarettes?

They're a different product built around different tobacco. Filtered cigars use a tobacco leaf wrapper and are meant to be drawn and savored rather than inhaled, while cigarettes use a paper wrapper and are made for inhaling. That difference in wrapper and use changes the smoking experience more than strength alone does.

How long does a carton of filtered cigars last if I smoke a few a week?

A Cheyenne or Djarum carton (120-200 sticks) covers roughly two to four months at a few sticks a week. Smaller Al Capone and Black & Mild cartons (50-100 sticks) run through faster at the same pace.

Do filtered cigars go stale?

Kept in a cool, dry spot away from direct sunlight, filtered cigars hold their flavor for months without needing humidor-level humidity control, unlike premium cigars.

Where to Find All of These

Every filtered cigar and cigarillo covered here, sorted by brand, pack size, and current price, is stocked in the Smokenza filter cigars collection. If a specific flavor turns into a longer-term favorite, the broader cigar collection and Black & Mild brand page are worth a look next.