What Are The BEST Cigars?
When someone finds out you like cigars, they often ask: “What is your favorite cigar?” I’m sure you’ve heard it a few times yourself. People also ask what (or which ones) are the BEST cigars. While in a cigar store, you’ll often hear someone buying a cigar-gift or a new and novice cigar smoker ask these kind of questions. These questions show a level of interest in the quality and variation in cigars. Of course some people are only asking to be polite because they can see that you show a high interest in cigars. However, asking which ones are the best is where we have all found ourselves when we began discovering our own passion for cigars.

I like to preface my response with a little perspective. Cigars are like a lot of things that people enjoy. Preference in cigars is like food, wine, beer, cars, women, clothes, style, taste, movies, etc. If you have a straightforward answer for your favorite, perhaps you should represent it as your opinion.

There are a number of ways to evaluate the quality of cigars. Appearance would be an obvious first glance. The quality of wrapper leaf includes the visual aspects such as small veins, consistent coloring and a silky smooth texture. However, to properly evaluate a cigar, it must be smoked. Some would consider flavor or the blend as an important criterion. I disagree. There are some excellent cigars that I (personally) just do not care for. So, if the flavor may or may not be a factor, what is? What else should we use to evaluate the quality of a cigar?

One undisputed aspect of a truly fine cigar is the quality of construction. There are a number of ways to evaluate the construction of a cigar. One simple test is to clip the head and test the draw. The “draw” will affect the flow of air and smoke. If the draw is too tight it will require too much effort to acquire adequate smoke. If the draw is too loose, it may burn too hot or too fast. With some experience, a seasoned cigar enthusiast can tell before lighting a cigar if it is constructed well. But in the end there is one sure-fired test for construction. You must smoke it!

There are a number of factors that lead to the quality of a fine hand-made cigar. First, we’ll presume that the cigar has been kept in the proper condition in a humidor. A well-constructed cigar is made with the best materials. Tobaccos must be cured properly. The Binder leaf is a dominant factor in the burning qualities of hand made cigars. The binder leaf is grown, selected, cultivated and cured for its strength and burning qualities. Cigars that burn crooked or cigars that have a sloppy (wide) black burn ring are usually made with a low grade of “binder” tobacco. The Binder leaf is known to contribute very little to the flavor of the cigar.

While smoking a truly fine cigar, you will see that the burn ring is razor sharp. The “burn ring” is the black ring between the gray ash and the un-burned tobacco. If the burn ring were more than 1/16th of an inch, it would not qualify as one of “The BEST” cigars available. Good, but not the best!

Bunching and rolling methods can contribute to a crooked burn. There are a number of methods used to “roll” cigars. The filler leaves are sometimes laid flat on top of each other then folded over and rolled into the cylindrical bunch. Then the binder is wrapped around the bunch. This “book method” of rolling is easier for the roller, but is known to cause uneven burns and tunneling.

The ultimate method for rolling cigars takes much more time. It’s called “Entubar” which means they roll each leaf into tubes as they assemble the filler blend into a bunch. The Entubar method provides consistent paths for the smoke/air to travel straight through the filler, which enables each leaf to burn at the same rate.

Side Note: Cigar Magazine Summer 2005 issue mentioned this rolling method in the article about Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr. (page 55) when he first started making the famed La Gloria Cubaña cigars in Miami. He later abandoned the Entubar method in favor of the labor saving Lieberman machine.

So, what are the best cigars? I say that would be a very long list of GREAT cigars. The BEST must be well made and along with the quality of construction, consistency must be considered. The brands that enjoy the reputation for being the best also hold the highest standards for quality control. Box after box, year after year, the truly great cigar brands always burn to perfection and maintain their unique flavors and aromas.

Great cigars are truly a work of art. Tremendous skill and knowledge is needed to produce the high levels of quality through out the growing, selection, curing, processing and rolling of truly great cigars.

Now that I’ve said all that, here’s a list of cigar brands that enjoy a reputation for being “The Best” cigars on the market:

Arturo Fuente
Ashton
Avo
C.A.O.
Bauza
Cuesta Rey
Davidoff
Don Diego
Dunhill
El Rey del Mundo
Griffin
Hoyo de Monterrey
J-R Ultimate
La Aurora
La Gloria Cubaña
La Unica
Las Vegas Cigar Co.
Leon Jimenes
Macanudo
Montecruz
Montecristo
Montesino
Nat Sherman
Onyx
Padron
Partagas
Paul Garmirian
Por Larrañaga
Primo Del Rey
Punch
Puros Indios
Ramon Allones
Rocky Patel
Santa Damiana
Savinelli
Sosa
Temple Hall
Toranó
H. Upmann
Zino

Coming UP:
I’ll be sharing my view on a different subject each month… like, Stinky’s View on retail cigar shops, mail order catalogs, cigar event planning (Herfs), cigar etiquette, Cigar humidification/storage, cigar magazines, cigar books, various cigar (model) lines and brands. How about some feedback? Heard some interesting cigar trivia? Curious about something? Just ask! Do you have an opinion on something? Share it with us!! Your feedback is what makes all this so much fun!

Enjoy your cigar moments, whether you are with friends, or in the solitude of your own company.

Thanks to friends like you . . . I’m Stinky!