What is the TV show Peaky Blinders about?
With their flat peaked caps, long thick coats, and reputation for ruthlessness, the Peaky Blinders gang rose to dominate the dark slums of Birmingham, the UK, and its criminal underworld. While the hugely popular TV series was heavily fictionized for dramatic purposes, parts of the real-life Peaky Blinders are accurately portrayed across its captivating six series (36 episodes).
The show is set in the 1920s and 1930s (post-First World War), when smoking was much more prevalent than it is today. Chain smoking is rife throughout, with many of the Shelby family, and especially their patriarch Tommy (played by Cillian Murphy), rarely seen without a cigarette in their mouth.
It’s not just cigarettes and roll-ups the characters constantly puff away on. Big cigars are also lit and enjoyed, most notably by two of the gang’s senior members — the deranged and brutal Arthur Shelby and his brash younger brother John.
Audiences fell in love with John’s sense of humor and bravery, but there’s no denying a cigar added to his boyish character. One of John’s more memorable cigar-smoking scenes shows him drawing on a cigar immediately following his part in the bombing of Field Marshal Henry Russell’s home. Given what he has just done, he still has the audacity to look comfortable and unflustered.
What cigars are smoked in Peaky Blinders?
Cigarette smoking was the most popular form of smoking during the period Peaky Blinders was set. However, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) sourced some 1920 vintage H. Upmann Super Coronas to appease the Shelby brothers.
Smoking wasn’t just common during this time — it was also perceived as glamorous. With their sharp, stylish dress sense, the Peaky Blinders nail the criteria. The strong female characters also know how to dress the part in their elegant flapper dresses and bucket hats.
For Thomas Shelby and his brothers returning from WWI, excessive smoking was also a coping mechanism. It was revealed that Murphy smoked a whopping 1,000 cigarettes in just one series of the show, which sheds some light on how much his character smoked to ease the stress of his past.
Still, it’s the lucrative aromas and flavors of cigars that are typically associated with gangsters and their lust for violence.
Cigars to smoke while watching Peaky Blinders
An average episode of the ‘Brummie’ gangster drama lasts an hour, so a Toro-sized cigar or a couple of classic Robustos will keep the peace. By order of the Peaky Blinders, we’ve picked out three cigars to light up ahead of your next TV binge.
H. Upmann Herman’s Batch Toro
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic / Nicaragua
Length: 6
Ring: 52
Strength: Medium
Smoke Time: 95 minutes
Founded in 1844, H. Upmann Cigars has Cuban origins. Known for their deep and fragrant blends, this from the non-Cuban incarnation of the brand pays tribute to its founder — banker Hermann Upmann. It’s the first release that uses Upmann’s first name, although it was decided to remove an ‘n’ from the cigar’s name.
Draped in an oily, cocoa-brown colored Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, the production of the H. Upmann Herman’s Batch Toro is at the renowned Tabacalera de Garcia factory in the Dominican Republic.
Delivering a medium-strength profile of cinnamon, cocoa, earth, honey, and spice, the natural tobacco also exhibits some sweet, creamy qualities of brown sugar and cedar on the retrohale.
Camacho Corojo Toro
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduras Corojo
Binder: Honduras Corojo
Filler: Honduras
Length: 6
Ring: 50
Strength: Full
Smoke Time: 60 minutes
From nail-biting stand-offs to blood-thirsty fight scenes, Peaky Blinders floods the backstreets of Birmingham with overwhelming intensity. Cigars don’t come much more intense than the Camacho Corojo Toro. Staying true to the brand’s “Live Loud” motto, this punchy Honduran puro is dressed in a spicy caramel latte-colored wrapper.
It uses 100% Honduran Corojo tobacco — a seed representing pre-revolution Cuban cigars. The thoroughbred leaf is slowly aged to deliver a smoke with a rich, full-flavored taste and sweet aroma.
Dark, decadent hits of bittersweet chocolate, charred wood, coffee, grass, and spice are prominent, with the occasional smack of fruit. It’s the perfect smoke to enjoy after dinner with your feet up while watching Birmingham’s most feared and powerful local gang run riot.
San Lotano Requiem Maduro Robusto
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: San Andres Mexican
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Honduras / Nicaragua
Length: 5
Ring: 52
Strength: Medium-Full
Smoke Time: 90 minutes
The box-pressed San Lotano Requiem Maduro Robusto is an underrated maduro blend from the one and only AJ Fernandez. With three other sizes to choose from, it’s ideal for toasting during the final season when things take a dark turn.
Constructed with a deep respect for his family’s knowledge and traditional cigar-making methods, it possesses old-world Cuban cigar character and bold modern taste in every puff.
The first brand to carry his name, San Lotano is named after Fernandez’s tobacco farm in Nicaragua. Creamy, sweet, and tangy, it’s cloaked in a smooth dark San Andre’s Mexican wrapper that houses a blend of premium Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco.
The Maduro wrapper adds a delicious cocoa flavor to a complex flavor profile of coffee, leather, pepper, toasted nuts, and a hint of oak.
