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Mi Dominicana is one of a growing number of Dominican puros on the American market. The cigar is the brainchild of José Seijas, the man who runs the massive Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd. factory in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The factory is owned by the giant of the cigar business, Altadis U.S.A. Inc., and makes tens of millions of cigars, including such large brands as Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann and Montecristo. Mi Dominicana is a quiet, relatively small production brand not known to the general smoking populace. The cigars are dark and oily in appearance, with heavy nutty flavors paired with coffee bean, pepper and a long finish.
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MADE BY: Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd.
FACTORY LOCATION: Dom. Rep.
WRAPPER: Dom. Rep.
BINDER: Dom. Rep.
FILLER: Dom. Rep.
PRICE: $8.00
RING GAUGE: 40
LENGTH: 7 1/2"
RATING: 92
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Tabacalera Tropical is the quiet giant of the cigar business. The company grows vast amounts of tobacco in Nicaragua via its Aganorsa arm and employs tobacco men from Cuba to turn it into cigars meant for a serious palate. Arsenio Ramos, who once worked for Cubatabaco and always seems to have a cigar crammed in his jaw, calls his Casa Fernandez "a man's cigar." It's a nearly flawless lancero fitted with a dark oily wrapper and pigtail cap and characterized by gutsy, powerful notes of hickory and chocolate on the palate.
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MADE BY: Fabrica de Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L.
FACTORY LOCATION: Honduras
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua
PRICE: $7.00
RING GAUGE: 40
LENGTH: 7 1/2"
RATING: 92
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Miami's Ernesto Padilla has his cigars made in a variety of factories. The Padilla Signature 1932 is a product of the superb (and small) Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras. The cigar is delicious as well as attractive, a gleaming, dark torpedo that is cedary sweet with rich chocolate and leather flavors and a long, lush finish. Padilla is the creative sort, with an interest in serious cigars built for lovers of stronger, more flavorful smokes, and has respect for the standard sizes. This 50-ring gauge is about as big a cigar as he makes. "I want to be synonymous with traditional cigars," says Padilla. The cigar brand is named for the birth year of his father, Cuban poet Heberto Padilla.
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MADE BY: Fabrica de Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L.
FACTORY LOCATION: Honduras
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua
PRICE: $11.50
RING GAUGE: 50
LENGTH: 6"
RATING: 92
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Nashville, Tennessee's C.A.O. International Inc. has been in business for more than 40 years, and the C.A.O. Lx2 Toro is one of the best cigars it has ever made. C.A.O. president Tim Ozgener says he created Lx2 "to create a cigar that delivered a real full-bodied experience. But we don't want to do a cigar just for the strength of it-we want it to be complex and have rich flavor." The heart of this dark, oily cigar is a robust blend of tobaccos from Central America and the Dominican Republic, and it features tobacco from a farm called Pueblo Nuevo, which supplies tobacco only for C.A.O.'s use. The leaves combine in a savory mix of leathery sweetness.
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MADE BY: C.A.O. Fabrica de Tabacos S.A.
FACTORY LOCATION: Honduras
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Honduras
FILLER: Nicaragua, Dom. Rep.
PRICE: $7.25
RING GAUGE: 50
LENGTH: 6"
RATING: 91
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You know Xikar for its cutters, lighters and other cigar accessories, but it is dedicating increasing resources to the cigar-rolling business. The company has created a series of three blends for the Xikar HC Series, the strongest of which is the HC Habano Colorado. The Belicoso is its finest creation, made by Jesus Fuego in Nestor Plasencia's Segovia Cigar factory in Nicaragua. Fuego is a creative cigarmaker, with a knack for working with nontraditional tobaccos, such as the Costa Rican leaf he uses in the filler blend for the HC Habano Colorado. The figurado is dark, oily and gorgeous, with a robust strength that is heavy on pepper and leather.
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MADE BY: Segovia Cigar Factory
FACTORY LOCATION: Nicaragua
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras
PRICE: $9.25
RING GAUGE: 54
LENGTH: 6"
RATING: 91
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The shortest cigar in our ranking is the diminutive but flavorful Nestor Miranda Special Selection Coffee Break. It's another product of José "Pepin" Garcia, this one made for longtime cigar industry veteran Nestor Miranda, the founder of Miami Cigar & Co. Last year was the 20th anniversary of Miranda's company, and he turned to Garcia to make the Special Selection blend. (This is the fourth cigar from Garcia on our list, tying his company with Fuente and Raices Cubanas for the most cigars in the Top 25.) It's unusual to see a cigar from Garcia with Honduran and Dominican tobaccos. The short cigar is beefy and nutty, balanced by a touch of sweetness.
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MADE BY: My Father Cigars Inc.
FACTORY LOCATION: Nicaragua
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua, Honduras, Dom. Rep.
PRICE: $6.00
RING GAUGE: 50
LENGTH: 4 1/2"
RATING: 91
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