Tabla de contenidos para January/February 2020 en Cigar Aficionado

It will be 2020 when you read this note, and we have some novel things in store for the new year. The most exciting is an event. Many of you have been to a Big Smoke, at which you can puff away in a cigar-friendly environment, meet some of the most famous faces in the world of fine cigars and enjoy some great drinks. It’s a fantastic party—and it just got even better. On April 3 and 4, the Big Smoke will be combined with WhiskyFest. If you’ve never been to a WhiskyFest, imagine a Big Smoke of whisky, with some of the finest Scotch, Bourbon and rye, plus Japanese, American and Canadian whiskies, poured by many of the people who craft the brands. In short, it’s whisky heaven. Now…

While Champagne is traditional for New Year’s Eve, so much else gets slurped down in between toasts that come morning only one remedy is suited for the sins of the night before. In the tassel-loafer panhandle of Connecticut from which I hail, a riot would break out were there a lack of Bloody Mary ingredients at dawn on New Year’s Day. The bright-red highball with the gory name contains the makings of a sublime restorative: vitamins (tomato juice), palate stimulants (hot spices) and hair of the dog (vodka). But it took surprisingly long to catch on. Not old enough to be a real classic (tomato juice wasn’t available until 1917), nor strictly a cocktail (no bitters), the drink was invented in the 1920s. Its creation was claimed both by the…

Sleek. That’s the word for the born-again Bowlus Road Chief trailers. These are not your father’s boxy recreational vehicles. They are the born-again editions of what your grandfather might have craved: classic, stream-lined, aluminum-clad, off-grid RVs. Except that today’s target customer—as imagined on the company’s website—tows one with a Porsche Panamera, not a Cadillac. Dubbed a “luxury aluminum travel trailer,” this is the reincarnation of the 1934 Bowlus, designed by aircraft engineer and builder (The Spirit of St. Louis) Hawley Bowlus. Even while the original production lasted only two years, it would set the standard for aerodynamic trailers, predating by two years (and inspiring) the Airstream. Its rebirth was serendipity. The parents of Geneva Long found a 1935 version in a field in Washington in 2000 and restored it. In…

The reaction of most sane drivers to snow or ice is to slow down and avoid dangerous maneuvers. The Bridgestone Winter Driving School in Colorado takes the opposite tack. In the name of training safe drivers, they put students in calamitous situations on a closed course and have them rehearse the most common problems—over and over again. The oversteer skid is the scariest. The rear tires lose grip and the car’s back end suddenly wants to be in front. It occurs when you enter a corner too fast, so, of course, the instructors urge the members of the class to do just that. The solution—at least for front- and all-wheel drive cars—is totally counterintuitive: accelerate, albeit gently. This transfers weight and traction back to the rear tires. Once you’ve corrected…

We like to say that cigars are the ultimate affordable luxury. You don’t have to break the bank to take home a highly rated, handmade smoke. We analyzed hundreds of ratings from our 2019 tasting database to see which cigars offer the biggest bang for your buck, and found 28 with suggested retail prices of $6 or less (before taxes) that scored 87 points or higher. Many of these cigars come from titans in the industry—names like A.J. Fernandez, Padrón and Rocky Patel—and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including coronas, robustos, toros, even three big cigars the size of Churchills. A word to the wise: Don’t miss the Alec Bradley Project 40 06.52—along with being a Best Buy, it’s a Top 25 smoke, with a score…

Long cigars, such as Churchills, aren’t just about extending your smoking time. Seven inches gives a cigarmaker the opportunity to create a blend that’s about transitions, developments and sometimes surprises. The Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series Diplomatico Maduro from Nicaragua scored 93 points to lead the category. It has a complex core of coffee notes and a complementary sweetness. Three Churchills from the Dominican Republic scored 91 points. The Ashton Virgin Sun Grown Sorcerer is made at the Fuente factory and wrapped in one of the darkest, most oily leaves of Ecuador Sumatra you’ll find on any cigar. Don’t be alarmed by the logo on Hammer + Sickle’s Trademark Maduro Churchill. It has nothing to do with communism, but is an homage to Russia’s industrial north and agrarian south. Symbols aside,…

The highest score of this issue is a lonsdale, a size that’s unfortunately become very low in demand among modern cigar lovers. The Cohiba Siglo V is Cohiba’s only lonsdale, and it scored a very impressive 94 points. The slender smoke is unique within the portfolio and one that is often overlooked in favor of Cohiba’s more popular sizes. The ones we smoked for this test came in glossy tubes and are presented in handy packs of three. If you see these three-packs of Siglo V cigars at your local shop or abroad, do not hesitate to buy them. Made in the Dominican Republic at Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s La Alianza factory, the Four Kicks Selección No. 5 scored 92 points and is one of the first cigars from Crowned Heads, which…

While the term is Japanese for “black pig” and today’s gourmets call it the “Wagyu of pork,” the breed arose in an English county, where it got the name Berkshire. But whatever you call Kurobuta, this distinctly pink-hued and heavily marbled meat has been prized for centuries for its melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, juicy flavors and clean-tasting fat. Jet-black, save for white hooves and snout, the Berkshire is one of the world’s oldest pig breeds—and the first to record pedigrees. Berkshire pigs were originally a sandy-brown color until they were crossbred with a Chinese and Siamese breed in the 1700s. In the 19th century, a strain of Berkshire pig was imported to Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture and some are now named for that district. The Asian nation had long had a healthy taste…

Packing the essentials for a Big Smoke is ordinarily straightforward: toothbrush, lighter, cutter. But for this past November’s event in Las Vegas, Doug Halcomb stowed an extra-special item in his luggage: a travel humidor containing 22 cigars from the Top 25 Cigars of 2018. The pastor of the Living Oak Community Church of Lubbock, Texas, intended to smoke every one of them while in Las Vegas—and he tweeted so before he left. Halcomb began his countdown when he arrived on Wednesday, November 13. By the time the first Big Smoke evening opened on Friday, he had smoked all 22 (the missing three were Cubans that he was unable to obtain) and had room in his humidor for the cigars he would receive that night. But his three-day smoke-a-thon was not…

It’s no secret that Cuban cigars today are being produced in thicker, unprecedented sizes, but Habanos hasn’t completely turned its back on smokers who prefer smaller ring gauges. Cuba still offers coronas in all its larger, global brands—and they can be quite delicious. The Partagás de Luxe scored 92 points for its abundance of flavor. These particular cigars came in screw-cap tubos, making them perfectly suited to aging. We suggest keeping them in their tubos to slow down the dissipation of strength. Cuba’s flagship brand, Cohiba, showed very well with the Siglo II at 91 points. The Siglo Series (officially called Línea 1492) isn’t as strong as the core line, and few know that it was created to fill the gap after Cuban Davidoffs were discontinued in the early ’90s.…

Robustos are fat, short and—at their best—exciting smokes. The Psyko Seven Nicaragua Robusto, which is made for Ventura Cigar Co., scored 92 points, and according to Ventura, the wrapper was grown in 2007. Three cigars scored 91 points, each from a different country. Young brothers Alec and Bradley Rubin, the next generation of Alec Bradley Cigars, were instrumental in the Gatekeeper. The Robustus I is the first new size added to the Nicaraguan Plasencia Alma Fuerte line. Cuba’s Vegas Robaina is named after the famous tobacco farm in Pinar del Río owned by the Robaina family, though the tobacco on the cigars doesn’t necessarily come from that particular plantation.…

94 EL REY DEL MUNDO TAINO (1995) El Rey del Mundo is Spanish for “king of the world,” and this cigar brand dates back to the mid 1800s. It once had a vast array of sizes, from the diminutive to the grand, but today it’s been whittled down to a mere two. This Taino, a Churchill, is among the many sizes that are no longer made. It’s a delicate Cuban that burns dead even, with a superb draw. The smoke is mellow with a persistent toasty quality that hints of briny olives. Light notes of cedar and almond mix with a buttery character. —David Savona 98 PUNCH CHURCHILL (1993) Nineteen Ninety Three. As Sinatra would sing: “it was a very good year,” especially for Cuban cigars. This big Punch has…

A crowd of nearly 4,000 cigar lovers gathered in the desert in November for one of the biggest cigar celebrations in the world—The Big Smoke Las Vegas. Packed with daytime seminars and rambunctious evening parties, the sold-out show attracted cigar fans from all across the United States and as far as China and Australia. This was the 24th annual Big Smoke Las Vegas, which has drawn an international audience of cigar fans for its entire history. The smoke-filled weekend kicked off on a Friday at the Mirage Hotel and Casino with an evening extravaganza. Guests enjoyed plenty of handmade cigars, fine food and high-end spirits, and mingled with some of the biggest names in the cigar world, including Rocky Patel of Rocky Patel Premium Cigars, Litto Gomez of La Flor…

Please send all submissions to: CIGAR AFICIONADO/Moments to Remember, Worldwide Plaza, 825 Eighth Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10019. Or email them to: momentstoremember@mshanken.com. To order additional copies of CIGAR AFICIONADO, call 1-800-344-0763.…

You expect your humidor to humidify—hence the name—but what about the havoc that temperature shifts can wreak on your cigar collection? Blasting the AC in the summer and cranking up the heat in the winter can make your precious sticks swell, crack, develop mold, or, worst of all, suffer a dreaded beetle outbreak. NewAir, a maker of heating and cooling appliances, thinks your humidor should regulate its own temperature. With both heating and cooling elements under electronic temperature control, the company’s 400-count CC-300H humidor maintains optimal conditions all year long. Set the digital thermostat to your desired temperature and the humidor will handle the rest, working day and night to achieve that internal climate for your cigars. The humidor’s thermostat adjusts between 60° to 74° F. (For everyday cigar smoking,…

You might think that the world’s first guitar-shaped hotel would land in a place like Nashville or Las Vegas or maybe somewhere near the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. Instead, this spectacle rises 450 feet into the sky from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood—that’s Hollywood, Florida, not Tinseltown. The colossal guitar not only holds 638 new hotel rooms, but is part of Hard Rock’s $1.5 billion expansion that includes lagoon-like pool areas, 150,000 square feet of gambling, and a gleaming marble promenade lined with boutique retail shops. Dining, as you’d expect, runs the gamut from high-end restaurants to more approachable, casual fare. Smoking is allowed in most of the casino areas, and the retail promenade has a Davidoff cigar shop and lounge where you can light up…

Revealing our annual Top 25 list is always an exciting event. The cigars here represent the finest examples of creativity and craftsmanship in the premium, handmade industry, but naming a cigar of the year is no quick or easy task. First, we create a list of the highest-scoring cigars that were rated in the magazine and in Cigar Insider throughout the year via our blind-tasting process. Then, we eliminate duplicate brands to avoid redundancy. Once we’ve chosen our candidates, a tasting coordinator purchases the cigars at retail and we smoke them all over again using the same blind tasting methodology. Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 is less of an awards ceremony and more of a tournament, where consistency is as important as quality. The cigars that could perform repeatedly at a…

Golf and gambling go hand in hand, and many players can’t even fathom teeing it up without a skins game or friendly bet on their match. But in 2018, two of the all-time best, superstars Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, took this concept to new heights when they played in a high-profile mano a mano contest for $9 million—winner take all. If you are going to roll the dice for such big bucks on the fairways and greens, where better to do it than in Las Vegas? Neither player was a stranger to Sin City, and Woods—who recently tied Sam Snead for the most career wins, with 82—took home his very first PGA Tour trophy in the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational. The city has long been steeped in golf history,…

BASKETBALL A haze of cigar smoke was once a common phenomenon at such storied basketball arenas as Madison Square Garden in New York City and Boston Garden. But even as regulations have banished cigars from the ranks of spectators in the stands, special dispensation is often bestowed on players within the confines of the locker room. Never are the rules more lax than when celebrating a championship is in order. Hardly a title is won when someone doesn’t light up. But, as Michael Jordan told CIGAR AFICIONADO editor & publisher Marvin R. Shanken in an interview in the August 2005 issue, smoking in the NBA doesn’t always wait until a crown is secured. The Chicago Bulls’ superstar and six-time NBA champion took to enjoying a substantial Hoyo de Monterrey Double…

Bolivar Belicosos Finos are one of the few Cuban cigars offered in both wooden cabinets and paper-lined dress boxes. The Belicosos here came from a dress box, and topped the category at 93 points. With a score this high, these cigars are most certainly headed for greatness. A few more years of age should turn them into classic smokes, but there’s no true consensus as to which type of box yields better results in the aging process. Critics of wood cabinets insist that over time the cigars taste too much like cedar. Conversely, critics of dress boxes maintain that they let in too much air, which speeds up oxidization, never allowing the cigars to reach full potential. Our advice is to buy these Bolivars in both formats and see for…

To better reflect the market and common naming conventions, we’ve changed the title of this category from “corona gordas” to “toros/corona gordas.” Our tasting section is arranged alphabetically, so this popular size will now be the final category of each issue. The top toro was the Pappy Van Winkle Tradition Robusto Grande, a cigar made in Nicaragua by Drew Estate, and meant to pair with Bourbon of the same name. The Casa Magna Jalapa Claro Toro Box Press is made by the Plasencias in Nicaragua for Quesada Cigars, and is covered with a wrapper grown in Nicaragua’s Jalapa region. It scored 91 points, as did the Mexican-wrapped Micallef Migdalia Corona Extra.…

Inocente Núñez Blanco and Luis Sánchez-Harguindey Pardo de Vera come across like brothers, or at the very least, best friends. They laugh. They joke. They finish each other’s sentences. The two co-presidents of Habanos S.A. have jointly led the company since 2012, and there’s no sign that either is ready for that partnership to end. “Here, I have a cigar for you,” says Núñez Blanco, a 63-year-old Cuban. He pulls a cigar out of a black case and hands it to Sánchez-Harguindey, a dapper 61-year-old from Spain who arrived late after thinking his counterpart was still in his office down the hall at the company’s Havana headquarters. The cigar is the same brand and size Núñez is smoking, a Cohiba Siglo VI. They light up, kidding each other jovially about…