Top 10 Cigars of 2019

• Posted on 6 February 2020
• By Sheila Habano
• Posted in Best Cigars, Cigars 2019, El Cigar Shop
• 0

Each year, El Cigar Shop tasting panel members smoke hundreds of cigars in order to give you the results of their favorites with the most objective impressions.

Each year, El Cigar Shop tasting panel members smoke hundreds of cigars in order to give you the results of their favorites with the most objective impressions. Here's a look at the Top Cigars of 2019, in alphabetical order, selected by the El Cigar tasting panel.  

Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro 

Conceived by Rafael Nodal, and crafted by AJ Fernandez, this box-pressed Figurado boasts a lush, crimson-hued Nicaraguan wrapper. Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro is a Nicaraguan Puro, medium to full-bodied,  with notes of pepper, bittersweet chocolate, almonds and a subtle hint of creamy caramel. The cigar is ranked #1 on Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of 2019!

AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf

The Enclave Broadleaf features decadent Nicaraguan fillers from Estelí and Jalapa and, for the first time, it is blanketed by a U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. This amalgam creates a flavor profile of earth, cedar, salt and black pepper with an unexpected sweet creamy finish. This medium-full bodied delight is definitely a cigar to be enjoyed with others.

Caldwell The King is Dead

For the top-notch puro, The King is Dead, Caldwell sources the finest, rare grade A tobaccos from the Dominican Republic. A vintage Negrito wrapper encompasses a Corojo binder, filler tobaccos consisting of Corojo Ligero, Negrito, Dominican grown hybrid Habano Vuelta Abajo. The results are undertones of deep milk chocolate surrounded by full flavors of coffee, cedar, oak and spice with a rich earthy complexity.

CAO Orellana (Amazon Series)

A Brazilian Cubra high priming wrapper has been patiently aging before CAO even discovered the Bragança used in the original Amazon Basin. The exotic wrapper is joined with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic & Colombia. CAO Orellana is full-bodied boasting flavors of spice, mocha, aromatic cedar, blackberry, dark fruit, and notes of tea leaves with a maple finish.

illusione Epernay 

The box-pressed Nicaraguan puros combine the finest shade-grown Corojo '99 Cafe Rosado wrapper and choice aged Corojo and Criollo filler tobaccos to deliver an excellent medium-bodied smoke. The Corojo ’99 Café Rosado leaf wrapper imparts that feeling of silk that we all crave in our cigars. Floral notes and sweet chocolate, nuts, coffee, and raw honey are complimented by a complex, leathery smooth finish.  This is one delicious cigar!

Joya de Nicaragua Joya Silver 

This box-pressed beauty is packed with lush Nicaraguan long-fillers, held tight by a Mexican binder. The impressive blend is wrapped in an Ecuadorian Habano leaf giving the cigar an explosive amount of flavor. The Joya Silver offers a core of sweetness with notes of dried fruit, coffee, spice, chocolate and some cherry, making it a very memorable smoke, indeed.

La Palina Goldie

The legendary La Palina Goldie cigar is produced at the legendary El Titan de Bronze in Miami. The Goldie is rolled with a golden-brown wrapper grown in Ecuador with an Ecuadorian binder and long-filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, with a small amount of medio tiempo leaf. The blend delivers a perfect marriage of pistachios, spice, sweet cedar, earth, and creamy nuances. If you can find any vintage of the Goldie, we recommend snapping them up. Exquisite!

My Father La Opulencia

The My Father La Opulencia blend features a dark, Mexican Rosado Oscuro, two Nicaraguan binders, one Criollo and one Corojo, and various Cuban-seed fillers grown on the Garcia’s farms. This full-bodied premium cigar has a smooth and creamy flavor profile with notes of dark roast coffee bean, leather, earth, and cocoa. Another winner from the folks at My Father Cigars.

Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro 

Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro is comprised of well-aged Habano long-filler ligero and binder from Nicaragua and a dark Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper. Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro is medium to full-bodied in strength with a full complex flavor profile. There are notes of pepper, rich earth, espresso, spice, and a slight dried fruit sweetness that gives the Oliva V Melanio Maduro such memorable qualities. A newer release from Oliva that is sure to please your taste buds. Much as it did ours.

Padrón Serie 1926 

Since 2004 Cigar Aficionado has been putting out a Top 25 list  and Padrón has never failed to place in the top 10 each year. Padrón Serie 1926 No. 6 is CA’s #2 Cigar for 2019.  Padrón Serie 1926 is a full-bodied smoke that combines complexity, balance, and flavor, thanks to a blend of 5 year-aged Nicaraguan tobaccos. The blend offers rich layers of cocoa and earth, espresso and a subtle hint of dried cherry. You can never go wrong with a Padrón!

We at El Cigar Shop hope that 2020 will bring more exciting releases to our online and retail store for your enjoyment, as well as our own! 

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