Ben’s Cigars of the Year 2011
This was a great year for cigar lovers. So many great new cigars were released as line extensions, new lines or limited releases. Every year it gets hard to try to come up with a list of the top cigars of the year. This year, I’m doing it a little different. I chose my cigar of the year and five runner up cigars that, at one time, were all my cigar of the year. After that, I have my Lucky 13 which I consider, for me, to be the best 13 cigars of the year. Finally, I picked two cigars that I call my budget cigar of the year and my surprise of the year. The budget cigar is pretty self explanatory, but the surprise cigar of the year one I consider that came out of nowhere and just wowed me. So, without further ado, here is my Cigars of the Year for 2011:
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Shawn’s 2011 Cigars of the year
Christmas has passed us up this year so that means the year is coming to an end. Each year, I try to make a list of my favorite cigars that are released each year. This year, being no exception to the others, I sat down a thought about this year’s new releases favorites, and came up with this list. Due to the fact I liked them all alot, its hard to give them a numerical order, so I didn’t give them one. They are called my “Delightful Dozen” and are in no particular order. My top cigar of 2011 is at the end of this post.
“Delightful Dozen”
* Viaje Exclusivo Tower 45th Anniversary – I’ll probably catch alot of grief with this being a limited production cigar; but this cigar really impressed me. It was a cigar for one particular retailer, Tower Cigars, I was able to split a box with Ben. This smoke was amazingly good right out of the box and has been getting better with some age on them. I knew as soon as I smoked it, I knew it would be one of my top cigars of the year.
* Crowned Heads – Four Kicks Robusto – The highly anticipated release from Jon Huber was on my “have to get” list. And I was not disappointed by it at all. I had a few of each and decided the Robusto was the best. But the other vitolas were also very good as well. Either size you get, you are getting a solid medium bodied smoke with lots of flavor.
* Adrian’s Cro Magnon Knuckle Dragger – Ben had gave me this unbanded dark wrappered cigar and said “Just try it, I know you’ll like it”. So I did right then and there. About an inch or so into it, I said “Wow! These are powerful and flavorful!” Thats the one thing I like about the Cro Magnons; they are powerful and flavorful. Unlike alot of the other “powerhouse” cigars, the Cro Magnon has alot of awesome flavor! I had the EMH, and even in the larger RG, it was still awesome, but still preferred the smaller RG.
* My Uzi Weighs a Ton (MUWAT) – An amazing collaboration of Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua, the “Uzi” is one of the few 60RG cigars that I like and actually smoke on a regular basis. The 60rg has always been too large of a ring gauge and never felt quite right. But the Uzi comes in all 60rg in 5,6,&7″ lengths. It was a toss up either the Undercrown or the Uzi, and the Uzi seems to have a little better flavor profile that I like. The name would let you think that its a powerhouse smoke, but in all actuality its a nice medium-full bodied smoke thats full on flavor.
* E.P. Carillo – New Wave Connecticut – Now, the first thing I think of when I see a Connecticut wrapped cigar is “mild and flavorless”. The New Wave Connecticut is totally different with a nice medium body with very nice flavors that offer a little spice, sweetness, and nuttiness. I don’t smoke many Connecticut wrapped cigars, but this one is on the list of a regular smoke. It goes great with a good cup of not so strong coffee and is a great morning or afternoon smoke. I was really impressed with this smoke for a Connecticut.
* Viaje Late Harvest – Toro – I was at a time where I wasn’t going to chase down any LE cigars, and the Late Harvest happen to land in my humidor and I’m really glad it did. I have smoked both the Robusto and Toro and both are magnificent! I couldn’t pick an overall winner in size. But, the Toro seemed to be my favorite, just do to the longer smoking time. A great flavored cigar that shows a cigar doesn’t have to be full body to be good.
* La Caridad del Cobre – Javelin – I am always on the lookout for new Lanceros and Ben knowing this, handed me one a few months back and just said “try it”. Well, he didn’t have to tell me to try a lancero, but I am sure glad he did! This cigar is at the top, if not the #1 lancero I have ever had! Nice and strong body with great flavors. The shape alone is very interesting in the fact its a lancero/perfecto vitola. With sweet coffee like and spice notes, this cigar was a winner in my book. I did try the La Cucaracha (perfecto) and liked it as well, but the Javelin was still my overall favorite.
* Emilio Cigars – Grimalkin – A simple band design with two eyes staring at you covers up the complexity of the cigar underneath it. Grimalkin means “evil looking cat” and this cat is full of flavors that lead me to wanting more and more. Gary Griffith nailed this smoke as well as his others he has put out. But the Grimalkin reigns as the winner in my book with the nice cocoa notes and subtle spice.
* New Havana Cigars – Capa Especial – Only 70 boxes made, Ben and I were able to split one and I am sure glad I did! Similar to the Tatuaje 7th Capa (same sumatra wrapper), this smoke is totally amazing! This cigar is the NHC Seleccion Limitada with the 7th Capa Sumatra wrapper. The Sumatra wrapper really makes this cigar pop! I am a huge fan of Sumatra wrapped cigars and this cigar didn’t disappoint me one bit!
* San Lotano Oval Robusto – I enjoy alot, if not every cigar that AJ Fernandez comes out with. I saw alot of talk about these on twitter from numerous people when they came out. So when I was at Buckhead Cigar Club I had to try one, and ended up smoking a few. I had the Corona (in which I also reviewed) and the robusto. Out of the two, the robusto seemed to be the best balance of flavors and also seemed to be the favorite size out of many I talked to as well.
* Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero – Once again, a lancero gets in my top cigars of the year. Even though its a petite lancero, I still like this cigar alot. To me, its the flavors of a Tat Black, but more condensed down into a flavor bomb. The price tag of around $9+ kept me away from them some, but it still was not enough to keep me from buying them. I like the Tat Black Tubos, but the rarity of them has me leaning to like the Petite Lanceros alot more.
* Viaje Exclusivo Shorts – At first, these were a little on the “fresh” side and needed some rest. Every month or so, I found myself pulling one out of the humidor and each time, I enjoyed it more than the one prior to it. These are one of my favorite “short smokes” for when I want a powerful & flavorful cigar in a short amount of time.
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“Sweet Spot Smokes”
This small selection of smokes is for the cost conscious cigar enjoyer or a new cigar smoker who doesn’t want to or can’t spend $10 or more on a cigar, but wants a good tasting smoke. I’m calling them my “Sweet Spot Smokes”. I refer to my “sweet-spot” price point at being around $7.00. Not that these cigars are cheaply made smoke, but just an affordable good tasting new smoke.
* Padilla LA Terraza Habano – At around $4.50, this smoke is a long filler smoke that shows you don’t have to break the bank to have a good smoke. Me and a few buddies cleared out a B&M of these during one trip they are a great smoke.
* My Father La Reloba Mexican – Don’t get me wrong, the Sumatra and Habano line of these cigars are good, but the Mexican selection is just a little bit better in my eyes. I think its the San Andreas wrapper from Mexico that really turns me onto this smoke. Usually a Mexican grown tobacco is not very high quality, but in this case, I could care less. Its a great smoke at about $5.50.
* Tabacums by Habana Port Cigar Merchants – When I saw the $3.50 price tag for a long filler handmade smoke I thought to myself “Its worth a shot, it may be a diamond in the rough”. And my thoughts were exactly right. Ben and I liked them enough we did a “quad review” of these cigars right on the spot at the B&M with Thomas Bender and Louis Molina. Its hard to find a hand rolled, let alone a good hand rolled cigar for under $4 these days and this one is definately one of them!
* Room 101 Namakubi – Papi Chulo – For $6.20, this cigar may seem a little over priced for a petite corona size, but if you want a Limited Run Cigar that has great flavors and have little smoke time, try these. A bit of sweetness then some black pepper. Its starts off sweet and ends off with a Severed Head of Black Pepper.
* Tatuaje P Series – I like almost every Tatuaje cigar produced. I saw the “P Series” and learned they were a Sumatra wrapped mixed filler smoke, I had to try them. At about $4.50, they are a milder smoke than most typical Tatuajes, but for a mixed filler, I really liked it. A Sumatra wrapped Tatuaje at a great price is a win-win in my book!
* Man O War – Puro Authentico – A Cigars International exclusive is the only drawback I have with this smoke. But a $6 price tag with awesome flavors that to me are very similar to a very popular cigar (with a “T” in the name) at half the cost is winner to me! I absolutely love these smokes’ flavor, size and price tag. An over all flavor bomb!
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My 2011 Cigar of the Year
Tatuaje Avion 11
I guess I am turning into a “Tat Whore”, but when this cigar came out, I almost didn’t buy it. The $10.65 price tag at the time was a little too much I wanted to spend on a cigar. But I went ahead bought it, smoked it, and enjoyed it enough that I suspect I probably bought a 3/4 box over time.
The woody/earthy core with slight pepper and a faint sweetness is the flavor profile that I have to come to enjoy. The size of 6 3/4″ x 48/52rg (Perfecto Grande) is a great size cigar when you have time to enjoy a smoke. I have enjoyed many of these cigars as well as some of the others in the Fausto line; but the Avion seems to be the best of the line. A cigar with a full body and full (awesome) flavored Nicaraguan smoke is why I consider this my 2011 Cigar of the Year.
2011 Wrap Up and Special ThanksÂ
I’ve had alot of good, great, and not so great cigars this year. I would like to thank all my friends who have gifted or suggested me cigars. Without you, it would be a tough decision on what to smoke at times and I would have possibly missed out on some great cigars. Though I have only been with NTA a few months, I am appreciative of all of your comments, suggestions, and ideas. I look forward to what next year brings. Thank you!
“Nothing Beats a Nice Tight Ash”
Gran Habano STK Zulu Zulu Habano
George Rico has release a pretty interesting lancero. Supposedly this is a private blend for just himself, but decided to release it to the public with a little twist. The artwork for the cigar has an image of two child soldiers from Africa on the box and on the paper covering the cigar. The images were painted by famous Miami artist, “The Kid”. The images were created for this cigar to bring awareness to the use of child soldiers in Africa and portions of the proceeds of this cigar will go to Invisible Children which is charity to bring awareness and help to the children soldiers of Africa. This lancero is larger than most, coming in at 7 1/2 x 40. This is an amazing concept for a cigar which I hope sales go through the roof. George has done a wonderful thing here, but does the cigar fit the task? Watch the video and find out.
Win a trip to Austin, TX and a Limited Edition box of Cromagnon Cigars from Cromagnon Cigars
Editor’s Note – Skip Martin and Mike Rosales of Adrian’s Cigars are running a contest to celebrate the release of the Cromagnon cigar in is full cube box release. Below are the details of how to enter:
CroMagnon Culture Contest
CroMagnon Transcends Lifestyle. CroMagnon is Our Culture.
Prize (1):
- 2 Days in Austin, Texas (The Capital of the Best State in America!)
- Airfare from There to Here. (Domestic – Our Choice of Carrier)
- 1 Night Lodging at the Landmark Driskell Hotel
- Ground Transportation in Austin (Airport Transfer)
- CigarBQ Herf at the World Famous Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas
- Live Music Capital of the World Pub Crawl
- A 2011 Limited Edition CroMagnon Cube Signed and Numbered 1/111
- Submit a comment on this post letting us know what you think about the contest and indicating your intention to participate.
- Determine your own Top 11 Cigars of 2011 lists. *
- Register as a first-time user at Hava Cigar Online.**
- Submit a comment on Chief Hava’s Top Cigars of 2011 (Honorable Mentions) with a list of your Honorable Mention cigars for 2011. ***
- Submit a comment on Chief Hava’s Top Cigars of 2011 with your list of the Top 11 Cigars of 2011.****
- Submit a comment on Chief Hava’s Cigar Hall of Fame: 2011 Inductees with your list of the 2011 Hall of Fame Inductees. *****
- Between 12/17/2011 and 12/31/2011, send an email to Chief Hava (Skip Martin) with the Subject: CroMagnon Culture Contest. ******
Casa Magna Domus Magnus Optimus
Quite a name isn't it? It almost seems like that should be the name of a Roman caesar instead of cigar. Quesada Cigars released this cigar under the Casa Magna line, which won cigar of the year for that lifestyle magazine a few years back, but this cigar has an extremely low production of only 5000 boxes which was released at this year's IPCPR. Blended by Manual Quesada and Nestor Plasencia, the cigar is a Nicaraguan puro with a special sun grown wrapper from Jalapa. So does this cigar live up to that royal name (Transformers?) or do you need to beware the ides of March?
Upcoming C4 Cigar Club’s Atlanta Christmas Herf
The C4 Cigar Club is a cigar club based in Cobb County, GA, a Northern Atlanta suburb. We get our name from our location, Cobb County Cigar Club, or C4. We have various events throughout the year to support our local B&M’s and to get great brothers and sisters of the leaf together for some fun and cigars. Earlier this year we hosted a Low-Country Boil, we’ve had blind-tastings and participated with other groups in Scotch tastings as well as steak and cigar dinners.
2011 Atlanta Tweetup at Buckhead Cigar Club
This past weekend, Shawn and I attended the 2001 Atlanta Tweetup hosted by Boram and Mike from Buckhead Cigar Club in Buckhead, GA. Shawn and I went up a day early for the 3 day mega-herf and had an outstanding time. The herf was attended by other fellow bloggers like Brian Hewitt of Stogie Review, who also lives in Buckhead, and David Jones from TikiBarOnline.com. Also in attendence were several brand owners and representatives like the crew from Miami Cigars, Jason Wood and Matt Shugart along with the MAN himself, El Gato Grande, Guillermo Leon of La Aurora Cigars. Clay Roberts of AJ Fernandez, Chris Harper (my favorite Canadian behind Terri Clark) of Perdomo Cigars and Jeff and Nada Jumper of Nadi Cigars. The herf was also well represented by the locals including several on Twitter like Joseph Mayes, Tim Dennis, Nick Wiegand, Tim Vincent, and even one all the way from LA, Thomas Khammar, along with many others. We also had visits from some other fine tobacconists like Matthew Allen and Wes Thornton from Burns Tobacconists along with the always beautiful and gracious Southern Belles, Erin and Kristy. We also had Manny Stamathis of Tobacco World stop by. Two major things were learned this weekend. Jason Wood cannot keep a lighter in his possession and never leave you're phone alone….unlocked…..ever. Here are some pictures from the event over the weekend:
Guillermo Leon, owner of La Aurora Cigars with the La Aurora 107 Puro Vintage…..unreleased as of yet. Amazing cigar. I hope El Gato Grande decides to release this cigar.
Jason Wood of Miami Cigars, Mike of Buckhead Cigar Club and Guillermo Leon of La Aurora with the La Aurora 107 Puro Vintage and The Big Mike
First Responders Herf sponsored by General Cigar
As many of you know, I was invited to go to the Dominican Republic to visit General Cigar's Dominican operations. While there, I was talking to our coordinator, Victoria McKee Jaworski, about and idea I had about doing a herf for our first responders (police, firefighters, EMTs, nurses, etc) that give all they can to protect us and keep us safe with very little in return. My idea was to buy a couple of boxes of cigars and have a get together at our local cigar shop, The Cigar Shop, in Biloxi, MS. Victoria thought it was a great idea, but she said, "Let me know what you need and I will gladly send it to you for that herf." Thanks to General Cigars, we had plenty of great cigars to smoke. Also, graciously, one of our friend's, David Bull, owner of Bernie's in Biloxi, MS also provided us with some outstanding food as well. Here are some pictures of the herf and thanks again to David, the crew at Bernies, Victoria, The Cigar Shop in Biloxi and General Cigars. Because of you, we had a great time and the herf was an outstanding success!
San Lotano Oval Corona
Vitola: Corona (rounded boxpress; aka "Oval Pressed")
Size: 5×44
Wrapper: Habano 2000 Aged for 4+ years
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and an AJ Fernandez "Secret Blend"
Cost: $6.85
I have had many AJ Fernandez cigars with much luck. From the Man Of Wars to the San Lotano, I've liked many I have picked up. When I heard through the grapvine there was a new "Oval" line coming out I was interested right off the bat. There is much talk about the Oval on Twitter and a few Forum sites, so that made me itch even more to try one. I was not able to find any of the Ovals locally and knew in December, Ben and I were going to Buckhead Cigar Club in Buckhead (Atlanta) GA for a "tweetup", and that Mike carried them there. The Oval was #1 on my buy list while there. Although the tweetup was during the weekend, Ben and I left Thursday to get a headstart on the weekend and the 7 hour (four cigar) trip.
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Drew Estate Launches iPhone App
Miami, FL – Drew Estate Inc. announced today that they have launched a Drew Estate iPhone app. The app is free of charge, and incorporates the following features:
- Browse Drew Estate’s cigar brands, including description, size, and quantity information
- Find nearby stores that carry Drew Estate brands
- Visit the Kult Shop, Drew Estate’s online store, to purchase unique Drew Estate branded merchandise
- Browse through photos and videos from Drew Estate’s Flickr and YouTube accounts
- Browse Drew Estate’s Facebook, Twitter and blog posts
- Find Drew Estate events based on location
- Browse through details, photos and videos from Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari
- Read Drew Estate’s story, written by founders Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel, including pictures
- Manage subscriptions to “From Under the Bridge”, the official Drew Estate newsletter
