My Favorite Cigar
Mel Tucker • College Coach
Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series No. 4
The autumn air around Michigan State University will be full of cigar smoke and promise for head coach Mel Tucker. His Spartans were unranked last year but surprised everyone with an 11-2 record. Tucker coached eight college teams and was a defensive coach for three NFL teams. Now, he has a 10-year deal that pays him $95 million, money that should suffice for all the cigars on his wish list. “I smoke Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Romeo y Julieta, Macanudo, Ashton VSG, and Padrón, my favorite,” he says. He started smoking cigars in Florida. “When I coached in Jacksonville, I fell in love with two cigar lounges, Island Girls and Aromas Cigars.” Today, he puffs while making recruiting calls. “Sometimes my buddies will stop by and have some Scotch or Bourbon and have some cigars.” Tucker also enjoys a smoke or two after victories on Saturday nights. “I go to the cigar room I built in my house,” he says. “Friends and neighbors come over to watch more games that evening. It’s a great way to chill out after a game.”
—Kenneth Shouler
This is the corrected version of the story that appears in the September/October 2022 issue of Cigar Aficionado.
