#25: Quesada Oktoberfest This epic encounter gives us a taste of Germany – via the Dominican Republic. Once again, a legendary family of blenders is responsible for bringing a cigar to us – this time it is the Quesada family. Coming in at #25 is the Quesada Oktoberfest. The idea behind the Oktoberfest was to […]
#26: My Father Limited Edition 2011 This epic encounter brings us to the son of a cigar legend that has become one of the top blenders in the business. Coming in at #26 is the My Father Limited Edition 2011. This is the second limited edition cigar in the “My Father” line. Originally this […]
This epic encounter takes us to the island of Ometepe – a volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua. This is the place where a missing ingredient was applied to a blend that had been locked away for over a decade. At #27 is the Torano Vault. This refers to the name of a box that Carlos […]
#28 This epic encounter uses the word “candela” – and yes a candela cigar makes my 2011 Top 30 Cigars of the year. Coming in at #28 is the Viaje WLP (White Label Project – St. Patrick’s Day) Candela. Similar to how manufacturers tried to raise the bar making more fuller blends with Ecuadorian Connecticut, […]
#29 for 2011: Humo Jaguar by Miami Cigars It’s time for a the second Epic Encounter of Cigars of 2011 – the 2011 Cigar of the Year countdown continues. Coming in at #29 is the Humo Jaguar by Miami Cigars. While Ecuadorian Connecticut cigars were a theme of 2011, there was another theme that got […]
#30 for 2011: E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut With 2011 being as good a year for cigars as any, selecting which cigars made the Top 30 was probably as tough as any. With that said, picking #30 was probably the hardest selection I had to make. There were a lot of good cigars that did […]
Avo LE10 – 2010 Cigar of the Year It’s that time of the year. Time to countdown the Top 30 cigars for 2011. It seems like every year I say “this is the best year for cigars ever”. However, in each case it has been true – and 2011 truly takes the cake in my […]
Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 (My 2009 Cigar of the Year) The Liga Privada T52 is truly a special cigar that has received a lot of accolades on this web-site. In 2009, this was selected as my Cigar of the Year. This past weekend, the cigar was officially inducted into the Cigar Coop Hall of […]
As I approach the announcement of 2010 Cigar of the Year and runner-up, I thought it would be interesting to see what other people are listing as their top cigars. Everyone had different criteria. While some people included Cubans, I opted not to since they are not generally available. The amazing thing is how different […]
We all had this one wrong. We were fully expecting another Cigar to be Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado. In fact, last week I had heard in New York (from multiple sources) that Alec Bradley’s Family Reserve T11 was going to take the honor. Instead the Cigar World is shocked that the Cohiba […]
