Cigar of the Year season is upon us. As much as we don’t like playing favorites, we do enjoy the challenge of sanding a year’s worth of new cigars down into a top 10 list. We call it a challenge because it usually involves a cage match, a few black eyes, and damaged egos all around.
Jokes aside, the four of us are clearly passionate about cigars and we don’t always agree. The final list must be unanimously agreed upon. And like a jury deliberating, we’re locked in our (Zoom) meeting room until we deliver!
A few expletives, insults, and many much-needed cigars later, we carved out the list you’ll see below.
You can taste the age. CAO did the hard part for us by placing Pilon Anejo cigars in an aging room for a 2-year hibernation right after they were rolled in order to showcase the depth and character of properly matured cigars. The whirlwind of flavors begins at first light with tobacco sweetness, oak, leather, earthiness, and cranberries all taking their turns while the body starts off medium and builds towards medium plus. Taste the difference a little time makes with CAO Pilon Anejo.
The original Chogui from 2014 was basically a ghost cigar—you heard rumors and whispers and never saw one, let alone tried one. That’s changed this year thanks to Warped Cigars empresario Kyle Gellis who is distributing the new Chogui Dos 77 with a fresh re-blend while injecting new energy into the boutique brand. With an array of flavors including leather, natural tobacco sweetness, black pepper, cedar, and citrusy spice—try Chogui Dos 77 for a complex and satisfying any-time cigar.
Known for pushing the cigar blending envelope, Drew Estate is at it again with 20 Acre Farm. Featuring feisty Florida Sun Grown tobaccos blended with Nicaraguan long fillers sitting under a Honduran binder, and silky-smooth Ecuador Connecticut wrapper—20 Acre Farm welcomes you to a medium-bodied feast of cedar, earth, black pepper, and graham cracker. Pick up Drew Estate’s 20 Acre Farm to sample a creative and enjoyable Connecticut wrapped cigar.
The Mayor of Flavortown delivers a flavor bomb. For pure enjoyment from first light to last draw—Knuckle Sandwich from Erik Espinosa and Guy Fieri packs a perfect punch. With a host of palate pleasing flavors including cream, black pepper, nutmeg, hazelnut, and leather, Knuckle Sandwich only seems to get better as it goes along. Full-bodied—without being knee-buckling—and with waves of balanced and layered flavors, Knuckle Sandwich delivers a lasting gourmet experience.
A best-of-the-year nomination regardless of the year. The AJ Fernandez Heritage is the third collaboration between AJ and Rafael Nodal for H. Upmann cigars and stands tall among this year’s finest blends. With an opening mix of cinnamon and savory notes, the medium-bodied profile progresses to include a natural sweetness, salty cashews, and leather with a clean finish. Complex, balanced, rich, tasty—it’s time to add H. Upmann AJ Fernandez Heritage to your list.
Matt Booth’s fingerprints are all over this latest blend revival of the once popular pre-revolution Cuban, and he knocked it out of the park. A prime Ecuador Sumatra wrapper caps a rich-tasting, medium-bodied blend of perfectly aged Nicaraguan binder over a blend of proprietary Nicaraguan and Dominican long fillers. Well-balanced notes of cocoa, coffee, baking spices and more combine for a stellar, must-smoke experience.
Pronounced hah-mow, as in wow!, Macanudo Inspirado is named for its new proprietary sun grown wrapper. It’s an Habano seed varietal originally grown in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras, patiently rebred to perfection in the rich soil of Mao, Dominican Republic. It’s the star of this Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Dominican leaf blend and you can taste it. The result is a rich, creamy, medium-bodied, and curiously complex smoke with an herbal, woody, and delicately spicy character.
Shaped sort of like a baseball bat, this stunning Serie V Perfecto was created in honor of the company’s 135-year history. The original blend remains the same—a pristine Nicaraguan Habano wrapper over a core of fully-aged Jalapa Ligero tobaccos. Beautifully handcrafted, smooth, and full-bodied, the perfectly balanced smoke issues notes of earth, leather, dark chocolate, espresso, some peppery spices, and more. This is a true major league smoke at a reasonable minor league price.
Cosecha is Spanish for “harvest,” which means this flavor-jammed cigar is made with tobaccos from Plasencia’s 149th harvest in 2014. And as Ol’ Blue Eyes once sang, “it was a very good year.” This 6” x 52 baby’s got it all—a San Agustin Olancho Criollo wrapper, Jamastran Corojo binder, and Talanga, Olancho Criollo, and Jamastran Corojo fillers. Medium-plus in body, it bubbles with well-balanced flavors of brown sugar, nutmeg, hazelnut, coffee bean, and more for a non-stop pleasure cruise.
One of the biggest surprises of the year, the Unfinished Business selection from Noel Rojas. Medium in body and smooth as glass, this three-nation blend pulls out all the stops starting with an attractive Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. A Nicaraguan binder and a Nicaraguan-Mexican filler core work their magic below. Called “mysterious and seductive,” this Corona Gorda kicks-off with a hearty shot of peppery spice, then settles into a creamy pastiche of citrus, cedar, nougat, leather, nutmeg, and more.
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The Cigar Advisor Staff is comprised of three good-humored, yet dangerously unpredictable writers who share over 60 years of premium cigar smoking experience. Traversing the tobacco landscape like smoke-shrouded Avengers, they wander (mostly because the fat one ate the map) in search of new leaf adventures armed with nothing but torch lighters and runcible spoons as their weapons. Each is equally knowledgeable on the matters and pursuits of the cigar lifestyle, with his own unique and capricious insights on various luxury, sports, automobiles and entertainment affairs - all served with good counsel for your reading pleasure.
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Respectable list… I believe the Foundation, Olmec, Maduro deserves to be on the list. But onions are freely a bailable.
My spelling sucks…. And so does auto-correct. Last sentence should read “opinions are freely available”.
Lmao!!! Onions are available!!!
I would add AJ Fernandez New World Dorado
I like it. Good list.
My frequent lament is that you tempt us with your selections but fail to deliver practicality. If you can’t put them together in a sampler pack (ideal) at least make them available in singles. Impractical to be offering them in boxes when we only want to try them.
You make a whole lot of sense!
Totally agree!
How about selling these as a 10 pack sampler?
I agree. I would definitely buy these as singles if they were available, just to try them.
I like the list, its better than the Top 10 at Cigar Aficionado. We all have our own favorites for 2022 and mine is The Stillwell Star series and Rocky’s Disciple.
H. Upmann AJ Fernandez Heritage is a great cigar, the rest you can keep them!
Did you guys smoke any of the Stiilwell line by Dunbarton? Thats my #1 in 2022
Yes, the Olmec is this year’s hit, and the Allegiance debuted a little late it came in second for me. Oliva made for Ernie this is a nice follow up to Pledge. AB double broadleaf seemed to be a flash in the pan with Rocky’s 60 taking high marks elsewhere. All in all, it was a good year for manufacturers and smokers alike as this simple freedom is still with us.
Strong list. Appreciate the choice of alphabetical order.
Loved seeing the CAO Pilon getting some well deserved praise. The Flathead and Brazilia are great sticks, but enough already, CAO has an incredibly deep bench, gang. Hell, I burned through a five pack of CAO Extremes in a week.
You turned my head with a couple of cigars I’m not familiar with–they are on my hit list.
Can’t leave any good list alone without my La Aroma de Cuba. I know they’re old school, but I live to smoke ’em.
Thanks for doing the heavy lifting for us.
Good list. I like the 10 pack idea w/ these 10 cigar’s.
Steve Saka’s Stillwell Star series is my #1 for 2022, hands down! Rocky’s Disciple is my #2.