My Favorite Cigar
Armand Assante • Actor
Plasencia Alma Fuerte Sixto II
Seriously. You’ve seen him sail the wine-dark sea as Odysseus in the mythological miniseries “The Odyssey” and rise in the mafia ranks as organized crime boss John Gotti. But if you’ve ever seen him smoke onscreen, then there’s something you should know: he wasn’t acting. Cigars are a dedicated passion for the Emmy-award winner, whether the cameras are rolling or not.
“For the past 15 years while I’m grappling with scripts that need work, which can be time-consuming, I like to retreat and basically slow my mind down,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed how the taste of a great cigar can put me into a nice realm of thinking, a zone I like to be in—to work from—in silence and the quiet of a late evening in my studio. Simple things in my life I never take for granted.” His go-to is the Plasencia Alma Fuerte Sixto II, and Assante is so impressed with the Nicaraguan brand that he’s commissioned the Plasencias to make a cigar for him, which is scheduled to go on sale this year.
