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I love a good cigar as much as any man. I actually spent a few hours at the cigar bar down the street last night with a buddy of mine who’s in town for the holidays. We crushed a bottle and took down two full-bodied Nicaraguan cigars.
I’ve got a small humidor box in my house that I keep somewhat stocked but when it comes to picking out cigars I almost always defer to the experts because I don’t feel that I know enough about the entire industry to say for sure which cigars are the best. For all I know there are some spectacular cigars out there I’ve never tried. Also, I just don’t have the time to try all of the best cigars out there. That’s why I turn to experts like Cigar Aficionado when making choices.
They release an annual report on the best cigars of the year and their list of the 25 Best Cigars of 2018 just dropped. Coming in at #1 this year is the E.P. Carrillo Encore Majestic. This marks the third year in a row that a cigar from the Dominican Republic has been named as the best cigar in the world. The E.P. Carrillo Encore Majestic has an overall rating of 96 (out of 100) and retails for around $11.50.
Nicaragua is heavily represented on the Top 25 list this year with #’s 2-4 and 7-10, by far the most cigars in the top 10 from any one country. #5 is a Cuban and #6 is another Dominican cigar.
Here are the best cigars of 2018, according to Cigar Aficionado:
1. E.P. Carrillo Encore Majestic, Dominican Republic, $11.50
2. My Father La Opulencia Toro, Nicaragua, $11.80
3. The Wise Man Maduro Robusto, Nicaragua, $10.50
4. Padrón Family Reserve No. 44 (Natural), Nicaragua, $32.10
5. H. Upmann Sir Winston, Cuba, £32.91
6. Arturo Fuente Hemingway Work of Art, Dominican Republic, $9.65
7. JFR Lunatic Habano Short Robusto, Nicaragua, $5.98
8. Olivia Serie V Melanio Churchill, Nicaragua, $14.00
9. Alec Bradley Black Market Estelí Torpedo, Nicaragua, $8.75
10. Montecristo Nicaragua Series Robusto, Nicaragua, $11.75
Everyday Carry: 6 Cigar Bar Essentials https://t.co/wiOsg1wJgy
— Brotips (@brotips) October 14, 2018
They sent out a press release earlier today which explained how this list came together:
For the Top 25, an annual tradition since 2004, Cigar Aficionado chooses the highest-scoring cigars of the year, typically 91 points and higher, and subjects them to yet another test by the magazine’s tasting panel. The cigars are repurchased at retail, stripped of their identifying bands and blind-tested through multiple rounds of tastings. Only the cigars that performed on the highest level, round after round, and at the highest consistency remained.
They’ve only released the Top 10 so far and are teasing the top 25. The full list drops tomorrow, Friday, December 21. So be sure to CLICK HERE and bookmark that link to check out the full top 25.