It is that time of the year again – Cigar of the Year. Last year, our first Cigar of the Year went to Drew Estate for their new Undercrown 10 toro. The Undercrown 10 was created to celebrate the ten years of the Undercrown brand. It was the first cigar that debuted through Drew Estates fairly new Freestyle Live event where consumers but special sets with un-banded cigars and they try to guess what this new cigar will be. This year, there was another long list of new cigars that were released as the result of more “pandemic releases”, or projects manufacturers worked on during the downtime of the pandemic.
Below is our list of the Top 25 Cigars of the Year in order. Making this list is always tricky but there are so many great cigars that we see every year. These cigars are all on the list because they performed above and beyond in every way. Many of these are cigars and/or brands we have been talking about all year for the outstanding performance they have achieved.
-
Selected Tobacco Alfonso #4 (6 3/4 x 56)
-
Arturo Fuente Opus X Forbidden 13 El Beso Prohibido – (5 3/4 x 52)
-
Tatuaje T-110 Reserva – (4 3/8 x 52)
-
La Flor Dominicana 2021 Oro Tercera Edicion TAA Maduro – (6 1/2 x 58)
-
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Black Sakakhan – (7 ¼ x 54)
-
All Saints Dedicacion Habano Huge – (6 x 60)
-
Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Sophisticated Hooker – (7 1/4 x 53)
-
Ferio Tego Generoso 2021 – (6 x 50)
-
Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro Toro – (6 x 52)
-
Dissident Molotov – (5 x 50)
-
Room101 Namakubi Ranfla 2021 – (5 ½ x 50)
-
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sin Compromiso Paladin de Saka – (7 x 50)
-
United Cigars Red Anchor The Admiral – (6 x 52)
-
Espinosa Cigars Knuckle Sandwich Maduro Robusto J (5 x 52)
-
Luciano Cigars Mas Igneus Short Robusto – (4 1/2 x 50)
-
Drew Estate Liga Privada H99 Toro – (6 x 52)
-
Amendola Family Cigar Co Padrino Belicoso – (5 ¾ x 52)
-
All Saints St. Francis Colorado Churchill – (7 x 48)
-
Room101 13th Anniversary – (6 x 52)
-
Micallef Migdalia Special Edition – (5 x 40)
-
Drew Estate 20 Acre Farm Toro – (6 x 52)
-
Crowned Heads 2022 Las Calaveras LC-46 – (5 ¾ x 46)
-
Davidoff Discovery Limited Edition 2022 Gran Toro – (5 ½ x 58)
-
Gurkha Revenant Corojo Toro – (6 x 54)
-
El Septimo Emperor Collection: Alexander III Connecticut Toro – (6 x 54)
The Alfonso #4 from Selected Tobacco and Nelson Alfonso is truly a cigar that is worthy of the title. Anyone familiar with its existing brothers and sisters from Atabey, Byron and Bandolero will quickly find out just how much this cigar not only stays on par with them but also could exceed them. In addition to Nelson’s existing aging process which includes a five-year post roll aging in a custom-built humidor with several different cedars from around the world, French Oak was introduced to the humidor to provide a different dynamic with the tobacco and created a very unique and refined flavor profile. This was also used for the Byron 1850 that was also released from Selected Tobacco this year.
From a packaging standpoint, many of these cigars had truly unique packaging. The top two cigars were both designed by some of the best innovators in the industry with Nelson Alfonso and Manny Iriarte, respectively. Even so, going down the list you had cigars such as both of the DTT releases with Paladin de Saka and Mi Querida Black with beautiful black boxes with a sharp silver detail. La Flor Dominicana with the black and gold bands on the Oro Tercera Edicion TAA which shipped in very sleek cocoa brown boxes. Both of the Ferio Tego Generoso and Elegancia, with the former making the list at #8, came in beautiful travel humidors with a matte blue finish made by HumidifGroup. Both of the Room101 cigars on the list came in very unique boxes as well, especially the Namakubi Ranfla which came wrapped in tissue paper under a purple and silver paper sleeve inside purple boxes. Some of these came in standard boxes while others came individually coffined and numbered inside caskets.
When talking about the names who made it, others who stand out are Dissident who had an amazing first year with their new owners, the Coburns. Cynn Coburn has done an amazing job of promoting that brand and getting it more recognition. The Gurkha Revenant serves to show that Gurkha isn’t dead yet and they are slowing working to bring themselves back to prominence with an amazing team. Micky Pegg had our #2 cigar last year with the All Saints St. Francis Robusto. This year he made it twice. This is a reflection on how hard he and his team have been working to continue to carry the momentum of what they have already done to continue to propel themselves further.
These lists always seem tough to make because there are so many good cigars out there. But at the end of the day, they are just lists. Next year there will be a new list and new cigars and a slightly different set of guidelines. But I want to say congrats to everyone who made the list this year and for those that didn’t, there is always next year. Below is our video of the entire list unveiling by Matt and Mitchell who explain in more detail each cigar as it ranks on the list.
