It's the most challenging of tests facing any cigar-making it onto Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 list. It's hard enough for a cigar to rise to the top of any one of our ratings, but to make it here requires consistent performance. A cigar must excel in not only one taste test, but in several. And the competition gets stiffer each time. It's an exhaustive search. We begin by scouring a year's worth of blind tastings from Cigar Aficionado magazine and Cigar Insider, our twice-monthly newsletter on cigars. We rate more than 700 cigars annually, and this year we looked at all the cigars that scored a minimum of 90 points, outstanding on our 100-point scale. We eliminated duplicates among brands, choosing the best of each, then sent our tasting coordinator out to buy new samples of the chosen cigars. Just as in the original tests, the coordinator stripped each cigar of its identifying cigar band and gave each cigar a new code known only to him (and he is not one of the tasters). The cigars were then smoked by a panel of senior tasters from the magazine, each with a minimum of 12 years experience in cigar tastings. The cigars were rated on their appearance, smoking characteristics, flavor and overall impression, and those scores were averaged for each cigar. At the conclusion of that round, the best of the cigars were rebanded once again with a new code and resmoked by the panel to ensure their consistent quality, and to find the very best. This final tasting consisted of 14 cigars, all of them wonderful, none of them mediocre. At the end, we had our cigar of the year, a smoke that was clear in our tasters' minds as the very best of a series of rigorous and exhaustive tests, a cigar that we found absolutely brilliant.
![]()
[b]TOP 5[/b]
![]()
The Padrón Family Reserve No. 45 Maduro first reached cigar shops on September 8, the 45th anniversary of the creation of Padrón Cigars Inc. by José Orlando Padrón. The 83-year-old Cuban émigré is the embodiment of the American dream, having come to the United States in the early 1960s with nothing more than a few hundred dollars, a solid work ethic and the burning desire to make cigars that tasted as good as the ones he smoked as a young man in Cuba. The image of a hammer on this special release commemorates a most precious gift given to him by a friend when he was virtually penniless-the tool allowed him to eke out a living as a carpenter, money he saved to form a small cigar company. The cigar smokers of the world owe that benefactor a great debt, for the Padrón family continues to give us one brilliant cigar after another.
No company has dominated our ratings in the way Padrón Cigars has. This is the third time it has been named Cigar Aficionado's Cigar of the Year, an honor that has only existed for six years. The No. 45 is stronger than typical Padróns and is an intense smoke jammed with rich, hearty, coffee notes and a heady amount of spices. The Padróns are tobacco hoarders, keeping stocks of tobacco for years, and this cigar is made with some of their oldest leaves. Company president Jorge Padrón says the leaves inside are as old as 10 years.
The first of the Padrón's Family Reserves were torpedos made from very old tobaccos, served only for special occasion dinners and never sold at retail. While the 45 shares the original's old tobacco, it's a slightly different blend and an entirely different shape, being a severely pressed parejo. While the majority of Padrón Family Reserve No. 45s are made with maduro wrappers, some are wrapped in natural leaves. The cigars come in tidy boxes of 10, the cover of which bears the signature of the Padrón clan. "This is something you carry in your blood," says José Orlando Padrón about making cigars. "I was born in the middle of all that and that is why I love it so much."
![]()
MADE BY: Padrón Cigars Inc.
FACTORY LOCATION: Nicaragua
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua
PRICE: $25.00
RING GAUGE: 52
LENGTH: 6"
RATING: 95
![]()
The Siglo line of Cohiba has been around for more than 16 years, and Linea 1492-the official name for the group of five-is one of the prestigious brand's most successful names among true Habanos aficionados. Unofficially, the cigar line was started to replace the famous Davidoff Chateau series that was discontinued in 1991 along with the rest of the Swiss-based cigar merchant's range. Production has been confined almost exclusively to the rolling rooms of the Partagas factory across the street from Havana's capitol building. The Siglo V-called dalias in the rolling rooms-is the longest of the five smokes, identical in size to the ever-popular Partagas 8-9-8. However, the cigar delivers a richer and more refined character because of the special handling given to the tobacco for all Cohiba cigars. The filler and wrapper leaves are selected from the best plantations in Pinar del Río and then processed in a more precise way. The main point is that some of the filler tobacco undergoes a small, special fermentation process while it is held in Havana after being shipped in bales from tobacco warehouses in the provinces. The late Avelino Lara, who ran the Cohiba factory when the Siglo quintet was launched, called it "the special of the special for Cohiba." The Siglo V Tubo was the best Cohiba and best Cuban cigar we reviewed in 2009.
![]()
MADE BY: Habanos S.A.
FACTORY LOCATION: Cuba
WRAPPER: Cuba
BINDER: Cuba
FILLER: Cuba
PRICE: £25.00
RING GAUGE: 43
LENGTH: 6 3/4"
RATING: 94
![]()
José "Pepin" Garcia has taken the premium cigar world by storm. Once an acclaimed cigar roller in Havana, Garcia immigrated to the United States in 2003 and set up shop in a tiny fabrica in Miami's famed Little Havana, making cigars of remarkable quality, teeming with flavor. The first cigar of his to achieve fame was Tatuaje, which he makes for Pete Johnson. Soon his own cigars began to scoop up industry accolades. Garcia's son Jaime, a talented blender in his own right, secretly went to work in Nicaragua on a new cigar blend, which he intended to hide from his father. Pepin learned that Jaime was preparing something new without the jefe's permission. "I found out, and asked Jaime for three cigars," said Pepin. Jaime handed them over. Pepin smoked them that night. The next day, he was moved when his son told him that he intended to name the brand "My Father." The cigars feature Nicaraguan tobacco that the Garcias grew themselves and a Habano seed wrapper from Ecuador from the maestros at Tampa, Florida's, Oliva Tobacco Co. The combination creates a stunning amount of rich flavor: the cigar is meaty, with leather and coffee bean flavors. The Garcia's company now bears the name "My Father Cigars"-it's a fitting tribute passed from son to father, and back again.
![]()
MADE BY: My Father Cigars Inc.
FACTORY LOCATION: Nicaragua
WRAPPER: Ecuador
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua
PRICE: $10.00
RING GAUGE: 52
LENGTH: 5 1/4"
RATING: 94
![]()
The largest cigar on our Top 25 list comes from the Newman and Fuente families, two of the most storied cigar families in the entire business. Diamond Crown is a new version of one of the J.C. Newman Co.'s cigar brands from the mid-1990s. The original was made with golden-brown Connecticut-shade wrappers that had undergone extra fermentation, and was exceptionally mild. The creation of the Maximus version in June 2003 recognized the trend for fuller-bodied cigars and added an exciting spicy element to the Diamond Crown brand, with a bold and oily Ecuadoran Sumatra seed wrappers that are dark and alluring. The Double Corona No. 1 is a rich, sweet cigar with plenty of cedar on the palate and a finish with notes of espresso beans.
![]()
MADE BY: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.
FACTORY LOCATION: Dom. Rep.
WRAPPER: Ecuador
BINDER: Dom. Rep.
FILLER: Dom. Rep.
PRICE: $17.50
RING GAUGE: 50
LENGTH: 8"
RATING: 93
![]()
Oliva Cigar Co., not to be confused with Oliva Tobacco Co., makes its headquarters in Miami, Florida, and rolls its cigars in Nicaragua. The company was little known in the cigar business only a few years ago, but through persistence, patience and consistently putting out a quality product the Olivas have risen to the forefront of cigar production. Originally known for making bargain brands, the company now has cigars for the most sophisticated palates. This is the fifth year one of its cigars has made our Top 25 list. The Serie V Liga Especial Belicoso features superb construction, powerful, full-bodied flavors of meat and nuts and a balancing sweetness. The cigar is also very reasonably priced, selling for less than $6-the second most affordable cigar on the Top 25 list and the best bargain in our Top 10.
![]()
MADE BY: Tabacalera Oliva Cigar S.A.
FACTORY LOCATION: Nicaragua
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua
PRICE: $5.90
RING GAUGE: 54
LENGTH: 5"
RATING: 93
Enditem
