Cigar Award Winners Top 25

La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull

The Cigar

#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2016

La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull is a new concept within the brand portfolio. The size is based on an old cigar mould founded in Belgium. The magnificient result is a cigar that is as intriguing in flavour as it is in appearance.

First inpression are bold and savoury with a strong notes of hickory and leather but it continuos to take on a complex spiciness. It only get better with every puff.

#5 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2024

Línea Maestra is a premium extension to the Partagas range in the same way that Behike was for Cohiba in 2010, Línea 1935 for Montecristo in 2017 and Línea de Oro for Romeo y Julieta in 2020. It is the second addition following the introduction of the Partagas Línea Maduro in 2018.

The three new sizes which make up the Linea Maestra are Origen, Rito and Maestro. All are unique within the Habanos portfolio and have been crafted with a Cabeza Tumbada or ‘dropped head, a style often referred to as a ‘109’ due to Partagas 109 cigars rolled with the same finish included in commemorative branded humidors in the past. This traditional style of finishing was last seen on the Ramon Allones Hunters & Frankau Anniversario 225, a special release in 2015 to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the company.

For the first time in the history of the brand and the Habanos, S.A. portfolio, all the tobacco for the new Línea comes exclusively from the San Luis region of Pinar del Río, Cuba. This gives them a special aromatic complexity without losing the brand’s unique character and blend and are classified as full bodied like the rest of the portfolio. The Línea Maestra range is presented in striking blue lacquered boxes containing 20 cigars. Each cigar is dressed with a unique blue band sporting the name of the vitola as well as an additional foot band.

Size: 5 1⁄4” (132mm) x 56 

Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos

The Cigar
#8 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2024

A stocky cigar with a dark countenance added by 5 years ages wrapper taken from the upper leaves of shade-grown plants. Rich, spicy and with a great draw. Suits aficionados with limited time. 

Line: La Linea Maduro 5
Flavour: Medium to Full
Vitola: Magico 5
Ring Gauge: 52
Length: 4 1/2 Inches / 115mm

#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2011

Alan Rubin created a blend called Alec Bradley Prensado. Rubin had smoked a very dark wrapper leaf grown in a region of southern Honduras called Trojes and decided to build a cigar brand around it, using Central American tobacco exclusively. And what a cigar he made.

The brand hit the market in 2009 and was acclaimed from the very beginning. In a vertical brand tasting in Cigar Insider of the five original sizes, each scored 91 points or more and earned our accolade of Humidor Selection. The Alec Bradley Prensado Churchill, made at the superb Raices Cubanas factory in Danlí, Honduras, is as gorgeous a cigar as you'll ever see, with a picture-perfect head and a stunning wrapper. But it is the flavor that makes it a classic smoke. The Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos come together to create leather, chocolate and spice notes, and a long, lush finish.

The Cigar

Description

#5 Cigar Journal Cigar of the Year 2023

Plasencia Alma Fuerte, a unique blend of our best-aged tobaccos, grown in our highest quality soil, accentuating their bold, vibrant and intense flavors.  With hints of dark chocolate, plum, and cinnamon, the taste is rounded out with finishing notes of oak and molasses.

The Alma Fuerte Colorado Eduardo I is a Nicaraguan puro that uses a wrapper grown by the company in Nicaragua’s Jalapa region that is lighter than the main Alma Fuerte blend. The company says that the wrapper has been aged for 10 years prior to the cigars being rolled.

The Cigar 

Description
#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2025

The original My Father brand was created by Jaime Garcia to honour his father, Pepin. A year later, Pepin decided to honour his own father with an offshoot brand called My Father Le Bijou 1922. Unlike the originals, which wear an Ecuadoran cover leaf, Le Bijou 1922 cigars are darker and stronger. The blend is Nicaraguan from top to bottom, showcasing Cuban-seed wrappers that the Garcia family calls oscuro. Only one size—this torpedo—is box-pressed. Some will say that box-pressing a cigar is only an aesthetic decision. But when the Garcia's took this hearty, complex blend, rolled it into a torpedo shape and then gave it a pressing, the result stood out for its ability to deliver complex notes clearly and harmoniously.

Oliva Serie V Melanio Gran Reserva Limitada Figurado

The Cigar
#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2014

Melanio Oliva cultivated his first tobacco crop in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba in 1886. His growing operations were suspended while he fought in the Cuban War of Independence. After returning from the war, Melanio resumed his tobacco growing operations.

Today Gilberto along with his family are Nicaragua’s second largest grower of Cuban-seed tobac­co. Using these same time tested methods of curing, blending, and rolling that built an empire, the Oliva cigar lineup has garnered tons of top- ratings from industry experts and consumers alike

Size: 6.5 x 52 Figurado

The Cigar

#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2021

The Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series line was introduced 
in 1994 to commemorate our company’s 30th anniversary.

All tobacco used in this limited production series is aged for four years, creating a smooth and complex flavor. In honor of the age-old Cuban tradition of box-pressing cigars, the 1964 Anniversary line was introduced 
as a box-pressed series.

Cigar Aficionado Rating 97
#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2007

What a great cigar. The Padrón Serie 1926 No. 9 impressed the Cigar Aficionado tasting panel again and again, rising to the top after repeated tests to become the best cigar of the year of 2007.

In the end, when only a few cigars remained in the last blind tasting, this one stood above the rest: it was richer, rounder, more complex and rewarding than any other cigar they smoked.

This pressed beauty is rolled in the recently expanded Padrón factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, under the watchful eye of José Orlando Padrón, his son Jorge and the rest of the family members who ensure that the 5 million or so cigars they produce each year are of impeccable quality.

This is perhaps the finest of the line, just blossoming with flavour right from the first puff. It’s a complex smoke with perfect balance, showing flavours of chocolate, coffee and nuts, as well as some black cherry. The cigar has a finish so long it seems to never leave the palate. The 97 points is the highest score the Cigar Aficionado have given a cigar in many years.

Padrón Serie 1926 cigars are a bit stronger than the company’s other luxury line, the 1964 Anniversary Series, and are considerably more expensive. The family has an affinity for anniversaries: 1964 is the year the company began making cigars, and 1926 is the year José Orlando was born. The cigar debuted in 2002, on José Orlando’s 76th birthday, a year later than originally intended.

The Padróns have never finished out of the top five in the Cigar Aficionado Top 25 tastings, and this is the second time one of their cigars have been named the No. 1 cigar of the year.

Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Full
Length: 5 1/4 inches
Ring Gauge: 56

Cigar Aficionado Cigar Of The Year 2024
Cigar Journal Cigar Of The Year 2017
Cigar Aficionado Rating 98

Since the introduction of the My Father brand in 2008, the Garcia Family seem to come up with hit blend after hit blend. After a lengthy wait for international availability, we are delighted to launch two vitolas from the My Father The Judge range. Orginally released at the end of 2016, the My Father The Judge Grand Robusto was named Cigar Journal No1 Cigar of the Year 2017 and has just been named as Cigar Aficionado Cigar of the Year for 2024 with a rating of 98.

The Judge features three different Nicaraguan fillers, all grown on Garcia family farms as well as Corojo and Criollo binders and finished with an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper. This full bodied cigar starts off slightly salty, with interesting woody and almond tones. It is unbelieveably smooth, nutty, delicately acidic and develops subtle notes of anise, coffee and bread in the very creamy smoke texture.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder: Corojo & Criollo

Filler: Nicaragua

Strength: Full

My Father Flor De Las Antillas Robusto

The Cigar

Cigar Aficionado Rating 96
#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2012

The story of Cigar Aficionado’s 2012 Cigar of the Year begins in Cuba, the island home of José “Pepin” Garcia, his son Jaime and daughter, Janny.  Pepin began rolling cigars at the age of 11 in his hometown of Baez. He rose to prominence in Cuba as a talented cigarmaker but yearned for freedom and opportunity.

One by one the Garcia’s left, eventually making their way to Miami where they began producing cigars. Their beginnings were humble: the factory was tiny with a dozen rollers and they didn’t own the entire operation.

They had their first taste of glory with the Tatuaje brand, which they made for Pete Johnson. It brought critical acclaim as well as increasing demand, which led the family to venture out on its own, eventually constructing the massive and My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Whilst Pepin focuses his energies on growing tobacco in Nicaragua, trying various seed varieties, Jaime is the company’s master blender. They released the Flor de Las Antillas brand in May 2012, using a variety of Nicaraguan tobaccos, their trademark double binder and a wrapper leaf grown in the open sunlight. They named the brand for Cuba, the largest of the Antilles Islands, which are called Antillas in their native Spanish. The standout of the four-size brand is the Toro, which has a gentle, rounded box press and a beautiful and evenly coloured wrapper. 

The cigars are delicious from the first puff, with notes of nutmeg, white pepper and just enough strength without being overpowering. They are classics, 96-point rating on the Cigar Aficionado 100-point scale. The Garcia’s have worked long and hard since leaving Cuba, coming a long way in a very short time. Their cigars have made numerous appearances on Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 list, but this is the first time they have won Cigar of the Year.

Wrapper: Sun Grown

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Strength: Medium to Full

Boisdale Cigar Awards 2023 Cigar of the Year

IN THE GRAND YEAR OF 1863, a gentleman by the name of Frederick Charatan graced bustling London with a boutique to delight the most discerning tobacco enthusiasts.

Nestled in Mansell Street, near the iconic Tower of London - decades before Tower Bridge was even dreamt of - a legacy of tradition, an ode to flavours and enamouring smoke was born. For 160 years, the name Charatan has been synonymous with British love for exquisite tobacco in the form of premium hand-rolled cigars, pipe tobacco and handcrafted pipes.

As historic and meaningful to the United Kingdom as London's Underground or the English Football Association, both also founded in 1863, we do not take the remarkable heritage of Charatan lightly. We stand honoured to present you with our Charatan 160th Anniversary Special Edition. Join us in celebrating the exceptional journey of an immigrant family name now quintessential in British culture.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)

#1 Cigar Aficionado Top 25 Cigars 2009
Once exclusive to the Padrón’s, this exceptional, individually hand-crafted series signifies special family anniversary dates. Offering a beautifully packaged in ten count boxes. 

Available in both sun-grown natural and maduro wrapper, the tobacco is aged ten years, then blended to create an exceptionally smooth, complex, balanced and full-bodied flavor.

#6 Cigar Journal Cigar of the Year 2023

The Year of the Dragon Limited Edition completes Davidoff’s cycle of twelve consecutive celebrations around a Chinese zodiac. The brand honors the important year with several limited-edition products inspired by the Dragon and its fascinating personality. 

The powerful Dragon requires an equal format, making this zodiac’s cigar the biggest creation out of all “Year of” executions to date. The double corona carries an eye-catching foot ring which covers the uncut part of the cigar. This enables aficionados to enjoy the first inch/2.5 cm of the masterpiece without the wrapper leaf, which creates an intriguing play of flavors and visualizes the Dragon spitting fire.

The blend consists of 8 tobaccos, combined for a total of 60 years aging. In 2024, this number will match the age of a person born in 1964, which is also a Year of the Dragon. This year’s edition comes in a handsome box of ten cigars. The top surface of the box shows a captivating iridescent varnished dragon skin pattern all over. The powerful Year of the Dragon icon in the center holds a pearl, which in Chinese culture symbolizes wisdom, prosperity and fortune.

A wooden tray inside the box reveals two cigar sections that are divided by a silky red ribbon inspired by the Dragon’s tongue.

TASTING NOTES:

1/3 – The uncut foot of the cigar offers an inch of enjoyment without the wrapper leaf, during which earthy, wooden and herbal notes are present. Once the wrapper takes over, the taste changes to rich notes of roasted nuts, cream and subtle liquorice.

2/3 – The intensity rises in the second third, when notes of sweet honey, white pepper and citrus dominate. The double corona format and 8 different types of tobaccos of a combined age of 60 years create and elegant and sophisticated taste journey.

3/3 – In the cigars final third, fresh spice and oak wood complement the dominating notes of dark chocolate. The intensity remains the same as before, making the last part of this masterpiece especially smooth and well-balanced.

Format: Double Corona
Ring Gauge: 50
Length [in]: 7 1/2"
Smoking Time: 90-100 Minutes
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic / Nicaragua / Mexico
Strength: 3 out of 5

Voted #3 Cigar Journal Top 25 Cigars 2024

AJ Fernandez Dias De Gloria Brazil translates to Glory Days, which AJ Fernandez attributes to the pre-Cuban revolution days of premium tobacco, back where his family started their tobacco dynasty. Dias De Gloria Brazil celebrates the union of two exceptional worlds of tobacco, honouring the rich roots of Brazil and the legacy of Nicaragua. AJ Fernandez captures the soul of traditional influences with this distinct and vibrant blend.

Available in boxes of 20, these box pressed cigars all Nicaraguan binder and filler are covered by a Brazilian Mata Fina maduro wrapper.

Handcrafted at the AJ Fernandez factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, these medium to full bodied cigars have nutty and leathery notes with earthy flavours and a delicious sweetness.

The Cigar 
#1 Cigar Journal Top 25 Cigars 2021

Description

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Maduro is a medium to full-bodied Nicaraguan “puro”  blended with a dark, oily 6-year old Cuban-seed Nicaraguan wrapper that has been bourbon barrel-aged for an additional 14 months and is paired with 6-year old Cuban-seed Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos to create naturally sweet flavours with hints of dark cocoa and espresso on the finish.  

#1 Cigar Journal Cigar of the Year 2023

To create this cigar EP Carillo partnered with Oliva Cigar Co to bring you their newest release; Allegiance. Allegiance is rolled with an 8th priming Sumatra wrapper from the area of Quevedo, Ecuador paired with Nicaraguan binders and fillers.

A medium to full bodied cigar that is complex and flavourful, Allegiance offers the smoker notes of spice, nut, sweetness and a slight hint of black coffee.

STRENGTH: 4/5
FORMAT: Toro
PROVENANCE: Wrapper - Ecuador, Binder - Nicaragua, Filler - Nicaragua
LENGTH: 6"
RING GAUGE: 52"
ENJOYMENT TIME: 60 mins