The Top 10 Cigars of 2010
Since 2008 we have released our own top 10 cigars of 2010. Why should you care? Well, there’s a few reasons. First, we don’t choose cigars made in Cuba. Since cigars made in Cuba are illegal in the US and difficult and expensive to get, we don’t think reviewing them and rating them here would be of any benefit to you. In fact, it would only rile your appetite without beddin’r back down. Second, we don’t review cigars from years outside of 2010. Why have a top cigar of the year that wasn’t released in 2010? It should have made the list the year it was made. Last, we don’t review cigars not currently in production (short runs or limited editions no longer produced). Sure, there were some great cigars of 2010 that were limited editions, but if you missed out on the cigar and the cigar isn’t in production how can this be a top cigar of 2010? As you can see our list differs from Cigar Aficionados in that the cigar we’ve listed are actually obtainable. Our list, however, has a few similarities to Cigar Aficionado’s list of their top 10 cigars. We do not judge the cigar based on price (in our eyes the price doesn’t matter). Also, we do not choose the cigars based on brand bias. Throughout the year, when new cigars come out, we smoke them and write notes about them. At the end of the year we choose what we think was the best based on our notes and ratings.
Without further ado, here are OUR picks for the top 10 cigars of the year.
1 – Padron Family Reserve #44 Maduro
2 – CAO La Traviata Divino Maduro
3 – La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Magnifico
4 – Illusione Epernay le Matin
5 – E.P. Carrillo Churchill Especial
6 – Montecristo Platinum Churchill Tubo
7 – La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Chisel
8 – Carlos Torano Master Churchill
9 – Avo Heritage Churchill
10 – La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSB
Get a sampler of the Top 10 Cigars of 2010!
Cigar Aficionado’s Top 10 Cigars of the Year:
Every year Cigar Aficionado always releases the top cigars of 2010. This event is a culmination of 12 months (and six issues) of ratings on cigars by some of the magazine’s highly qualified cigar reviewers. The schedule for the release of the top 10 cigars starts on January 3rd. We will keep you updated with the top 10 cigars according to Cigar Aficionado.
Jan 3rd - Cigar Aficionado releases number 10-6 on their top 10 list:
10. La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Chisel:
As one of Rush Lymbaugh’s favorite cigars, the Chisel has been a favorite for many cigar smokers since it was released in a maduro wrapper. Most cigar smokers like this cigar because of the chisel shape. This shape allows you to choose how much (or how little) smoke you want to pull. This alters the draw of the cigar and the flavor. It’s not surprising that La Flor Dominicana’s new Air Bender Chisel would be any different. Instead of the popular maduro wrapper, this cigar has a habano wrapper (which happened to be very popular in 2010). You might taste flavors of coffee and whiskey-barrel, but we just tasted a ton of flavor. This one was also enjoyed enough by our reviews to land a spot in our Top 10.
9. H. Upmann No. 2 (Cuban)
The No. 9 Cigar of 2010 is the H. Upmann No. 2. Honestly, a Cuban cigar that isn’t legal in the US. Who cares? We can’t smoke them so we don’t review them.
8. E. P. Carillo Elencos Edicion Limitada 2010
E.P. Carillo makes some fantastic cigars and his limited edition cigar was fantastic. Unfortunately, there were only 1000 boxes made. Where does that leave you? Probably without a box unless you were psychic. While finding the cigar is nearly impossible, if you were lucky enough to get a box before they sold out you were probably loving them! These were a big surprise to our reviewers on the initial release. Unfortunately, we don’t add limited editions to our list of top 10 cigars, but Mr. Carillo did introduce a core line this year that is in regular production, and we found was good enough to earn a spot on our list. Anyway, the cigar was best described as having notes of leathery-wood with a creamy finish. The cigar is incredibly smooth and easy to smoke. Too bad you can’t get’m!
7. Illusione Epernay Le Matin
Illusione has produced, in our opinion, some of the best cigars of the year and also some of the most questionable. When it comes to the Epernay line though, they’re all awesome cigars. Illusione Epernay cigars are odd sizes and generally smaller cigars. We’d best describe them as off-sized coronas. Apparently CA really likes the cigar because it got a 94 rating. This rating is generally high enough to get the top cigar of the year (some years), but the ratings keep going up every year. As long as Dion is making new blends of cigars, you can bet Illusione is going to continue to produce some highly rated cigars. Illusione cigars seem to have a cult following (much like Tatuaje) and for good reason – they’re just good!
6. La Aroma De Cuba Mi Amor Magnifico
La Aroma De Cuba not only redid their original line of cigars in late 2009 to produce a stronger and more consistent flavor, they’ve also come out with two other lines – one being the Mi Amor line of cigars. This cigar is a toro size at 6 x 52 and features mostly Nicaraguan tobaccos except for a mexican wrapper. The Magnifico isn’t really your typical cigar because of the Mexican tobacco wrapper. But, with a 94 rating, its tough to argue about it. Generally, a 94 rating means the cigar is pretty dang good. If you’re looking to buy the La Aroma De Cuba Mi Amor Magnifico at a great price you can look around online for some good deals.
