Indholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2024 i Cigar Aficionado

LeBron James. Dwayne Wade. The late Kobe Bryant. These are but some of the greats who played in the 2011 NBA All-Star Game. The contest was historic, with Bryant named All-Star Game MVP after he and the Western Conference standouts defeated the Eastern Conference in a nail-biter, 148–143 points. Now, the limited-edition American All-Star Humidor by J.C. Newman offers a way to enliven your cigar room with a unique piece of basketball memorabilia from the game: a humidor made from the court that was played on during the game. Handcrafted by Jason LeGear’s JML Modern of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a maker of a range of humidors and other boxes, the American All-Star Humidor is officially licensed by the NBA. It is part of the league’s Reclaimed program, which repurposes NBA game-used…

Of all the crabs in the sea, none equals the Dungeness variety for its near-perfect blend of sweetness, tenderness and yield. Blue crabs render minuscule amounts of meat, snow crabs are a one-note experience and Alaskan king crabs are both expensive and hard to come by. Meanwhile, Dungeness crab is delicate, relatively easy (and maybe even fun) to mine for meat and succulent without the toughness of lobster. And it can reach incredible flavor heights by adding aromatics like black pepper, garlic, scallion or even when only seasoned with salt. Dungeness crabs can grow to 10 inches wide. They thrive from Alaska all the way down through Washington State (the name comes from a village there), Oregon (where it is the “state crustacean”), to the Central Coast of California. California’s…

STEPH CURRY has a reputation as a good guy, a family man with plenty of NBA Championship rings. He’s called The Baby-Faced Assassin for the way he can take apart an opposing team, dropping three-point shots like heat-seeking missiles, all the while smiling and looking as innocent as a schoolboy. But he got into a little bit of trouble when he smoked his first cigar about 14 years ago at his best friend’s wedding at a country club in Minnesota. “I was a groomsman,” says Curry. It was 2010. He was in the middle of his first season with the Golden State Warriors and only one year out of Davidson, the small college where Curry played. Several of his college teammates were there, along with an assistant coach, who had brought…

It was 11:59 in Las Vegas and the gaming tables at the Fontainebleau remained untouched. Then, just after the stroke of midnight, cards suddenly flew through the air. Gamblers roared for blackjacks. Dice bounced off green felt. Roulette wheels spun and slot machines clanged. But even while the room went from zero to 100 in a matter of minutes at the December 13th opening of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the sudden acceleration belied more than two decades of labor pains to open as the tallest casino hotel on the Sin City skyline. The property had struggled through ownership changes, economic downturns and pauses in construction—all the while prompting the question: “Will it ever open?” Launch any new luxury casino and hotel in Vegas and you better have big plans, big…

The Big Smoke returned to Las Vegas on Friday, November 3, and Saturday, November 4, for another unforgettable good life celebration that saw 3,000 cigar fans descend upon the Vegas Strip. It was the 27th Big Smoke held in Sin City, more than any other location, and it brought passionate aficionados from all over the world anxious to meet the biggest names in the industry, mingle with fellow cigar lovers and celebrate the culture and camaraderie of premium cigars. This was the second year the Big Smoke was held at Resorts World Las Vegas, one of the Strip’s newest properties. Eager for entry, a crowd started to form on Friday night hours before the evening show officially commenced. Once the doors opened, the showroom immediately filled with the fine smoke…

If you’re a fan of Cuban cigars, then you know that there are very few benchmark figurados in the Habanos portfolio. The Bolivar Belicoso Fino is one of them. It scored 94 points with its combination of fresh, rich earthiness that made the cigar so beloved by connoisseurs of strong Cuban smokes. But this cigar isn’t all about earth, as it delivered plenty of balancing sweetness. The Bolivar wasn’t alone in its greatness. The La Aroma de Cuba Pasión Box-Pressed Torpedo, which is made in Nicaragua for Ashton Distributors Inc., also scored 94 points. It’s produced by My Father Cigars, owned and operated by the Garcia family, which also grows most of its own tobacco in Nicaragua. This cigar has some leaf from an estate in a lesser-known, mountainous region…

Words like “traditional” are often used to describe milder smokes that stress balance over body. Fuente’s Casa Cuba, made in the Dominican Republic, was created in that vein. The Doble Cuatro scored 93 points, not for its power, but for its outstanding finesse. Five cigars scored 92 points, including several from Nicaragua. The Cohiba Riviera is the first Cohiba made with a Mexican wrapper. La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Robusto is also wrapped in Mexican cover leaf. The Warped Corto X52 is made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco. Recently revamped by Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the Honduran Sancho Panza brand performed admirably in its Double Maduro blend, as did E.P. Carrillo’s New Wave Connecticut, rolled in the Dominican Republic. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC RING GAUGE: 54 LENGTH: 4 1/2" FILLER: DOM. REP. BINDER:…

It was movie rebels of the ’50s who hipped the fashion world to the style choices of the shearling coat. The likes of Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) and James Dean (Giant) made the rugged workmanlike coverings fashioned from inverted sheepskins with suede outer linings and cozy inner linings seem cool. When Bob Dylan donned them in the ’60s the burgeoning youth music scene took notice and made them even shaggier. Sonny Bono even turned his inside-out as a vest. The look has never really left us as the Marlboro Man and Bruce Springsteen would take up the mantle. Today, the likes of Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Tyler Hoechlin and much of the cast of TV’s “Yellowstone” wear it to great effect. But one needs to go back to the…

Barbados may be famous for its green monkeys, but its newest resort—Apes Hill—is named for primates that are not native to the island and is designed to attract two-legged members of the order: the golfers who will arrive to play its new course with sweeping views of both the Caribbean and Atlantic. The all-villa resort, with its new layout reserved for members, homeowners and overnight guests, is the only place you can stay and play all the marquee golf courses of Barbados, an island that now trails only the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the number of standout Caribbean golf designs. Replacing an existing course, the new course is the last design by the late Ron Kirby, best known for Ireland’s Old Head links. Apes Hill combines a dramatic…

There is no grouping of cigars as elite as Cigar Aficionado magazine’s Top 25, nor any industry honor as high as Cigar of the Year. And with good reason. The list is not a mere compilation of high scores or arbitrary awards—the requirements are stringent and every position from No. 1 to No. 25 must be earned. To qualify for consideration, each cigar has to first turn in a stellar performance during the year in a blind taste test. Then, the top-scoring cigars from throughout the year are smoked blind yet again, this time in a tournament where they are competing against each other. In the blind tasting process, identifying bands are removed by a tasting coordinator and replaced with a numbered label. Cigar Aficionado’s panel of judges—editors with a…

Big and box-pressed, the Grand Robusto from My Father’s The Judge line scored 94 points. The Nicaraguan smoke is striking in its hefty dimensions and delivers all the richness that its appearance suggests. The cigar is covered in an Ecuadoran Sumatra-seed wrapper, rolled with two binders—one Corojo and one Criollo—and is composed of tobacco from three farms owned by the Garcia family, who also produce the brand. Three cigars scored 92 points. Rocky Patel’s Royale Colossal is made at his Tavicusa factory in Nicaragua while Patel’s more wallet-friendly The Edge Corojo Battalion is manufactured in Honduras by the Plasencias. The Perdomo Habano Bourbon Barrel-Aged Sun Grown Gordo boasts a wrapper aged in Bourbon casks. NICARAGUA RING GAUGE: 60 LENGTH: 5" FILLER: NICARAGUA BINDER: NICARAGUA WRAPPER: ECUADOR MY FATHER THE JUDGE…

This impressive category of corona gordas turned up three 93-point cigars. The Cuban Le Hoyo series is a brand within the Hoyo de Monterrey line that was ignored for many years before Habanos S.A. revisited the series and added the Le Hoyo de San Juan in 2014. It’s a beefy smoke but still stays in the medium-bodied range, which is consistent with the Hoyo de Monterrey blend. Juan Lopez is one of Cuba’s smaller brands, and has been whittled down over the years to just two regular-production sizes. The Selección No. 1 is one of those Cuban cigars for those in the know. Padrón’s Nicaraguan Serie 1926 No. 90 was created to celebrate the 90th birthday of company founder José Orlando Padrón. Unlike most cigars in this box-pressed line, it’s…

98 H. UPMANN DUNHILL SELECCIÓN SUPREMA NO. 222 (CIRCA 1963) Pudgy, pressed and absolutely gorgeous, one look at this 55-ring-gauge cigar and you know why it’s better known as the Flying Pig. This Cuban perfecto was fat for its time and has retained considerable power over the decades. It’s quite minty at first, with lots of dark, chewy wood. Later, it takes on some gingerbread notes, but also has some herbal qualities and considerable minerality, with some black pepper power. Such a fun piece of history to smoke. —David Savona 97 TATUAJE RC 233(2006) For an 18-year-old cigar, this Miami-made figurado is still a powerhouse. It’s big and earthy, with notes of leather, cocoa and a balanced, woody spice on the finish. The “RC” stands for “Retro Cuban” as this cigar is…

While Tesla may be the best-known electric vehicle start-up, it’s not the only one shaking up the automotive establishment. Poised to carve out its own niche is Lucid. It may help that Peter Rawlinson, the California-based EV maker’s CEO and chief technology officer, was, in a former life, the man behind the development of the Tesla Model S. There are more than a few similarities between the two. Like the Tesla flagship, the Lucid Air boasts a striking exterior design, a cavernous cabin, cutting-edge technology and standout performance. And like the Model S, the Lucid flagship is available in an expanding array of trims, from the “entry-level” Pure model to the blindingly fast Sapphire package. Those who have a spare $249,000 lying around can lay claim to the fastest production…

You probably wouldn’t put your young kid behind the wheel of a Bugatti or Ferrari, but that’s exactly what The Little Car Company wants you to do. The British firm builds “junior cars,” rendering the world’s most sought-after vintage vehicles in slightly shrunken form. These drivable, fully functional scaled-down sports cars are perfect for sharing the joy of vintage motoring with your children—or your inner child. Each Little Car model is built in partnership with the auto-maker, ensuring that every last detail is faithful to the original. The company’s three-quarter-scale Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa J wears body panels hand-hammered over wooden forms, exactly how Ferrari built the original in 1957. The two-thirds-scale Aston Martin DB5 Junior can be configured with (mock) machine guns that pop out from behind the headlights,…

While the term “premium cigar” can conjure the image of dropping massive amounts of cash to keep a humidor well-stocked with quality smokes, the truth is that a fine cigar can be found for almost any budget. Every year, we add hundreds of new ratings to the comprehensive CIGAR AFICIONADO database. As 2023 came to a close, we combed through 12 months of entries to uncover the best deals of the year. Our search found 25 handmade cigars with suggested retail prices of $7 or less (before taxes) and scores of 87 to 93 points in our blind tastings. You’d expect a list such as this one to favor smaller, thinner vitolas such as coronas and petit coronas, but there are also thicker cigars such as toros and robustos, and…

The weather was beautiful, the course in perfect shape and smiles abounded as a field of amateurs paired up with pro golfers and sports stars for the 15th annual Els For Autism Pro-Am at Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It was Monday, December 4, and the event raised $800,000 for charity, specifically funding a state-of-the-art center for helping children with autism in nearby Jupiter. “It was a team effort,” said co-host Ernie Els, for whom the event is named, during the awards ceremony which followed the post-round lunch. He thanked the amateurs for their generosity and the pros for donating their time, and said that with this Pro-Am, the combined total raised had been pushed to $18 million since the Pro-Am started. The event was created…

Cigars as large as the Padrón Serie 1926 No. 1 Maduro are not merely smokes, but more of a journey. At nearly seven inches long, this Nicaraguan powerhouse scored 94 points, giving us a dynamic cigar with all the transitions, richness and development of an epic or overture. The chocolate and coffee bean notes are presented in signature Padrón fashion while that bracing spicy backbone is consistent with the Serie 1926, a line created in 2002. At 93 points, the Arturo Fuente Añejo 48 tells us a story. The Dominican brand was born when a hurricane destroyed curing barns meant for Fuente Fuente OpusX wrapper. Fuente pivoted and used Connecticut broadleaf instead, so the Añejo is an OpusX cigar cloaked in a darker, different wrapper. NICARAGUA RING GAUGE: 54 LENGTH:…

Because we don’t have a category for short robustos, they’re classified in our Miscellaneous section, although more and more companies are producing cigars in this size. Padrón takes the format to delicious heights with its 1964 Anniversary Series Hermoso, which scored 94 points. Like the tasting note says, everything about this Nicaraguan cigar is big. First puffs make a very bold statement, saturating the palate with intense notes of coffee bean, and the cigar just keeps getting more complex from there. Cuba has also invested in the short robusto size, and the Montecristo Petit Edmundo is a perfect example. It scored 93 points and is stylistically a bit more understated with its medium body, but full of intriguing flavors. Both are perfect choices when time is limited. NICARAGUA RING GAUGE:…

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