Cigar Aficionado

Connoisseur’s Corner: A Perfect Por Larrañaga

A corona-sized pre-Castro Cuban joined our small club of perfect cigars. The cigar, wrapped in a sleeve of cedar for the last 60 or so years, exhibited not only a perfect draw and burn, but a panoply of fine flavors. Three younger and far larger Cubans (a Bolivar, Ramon Allones …

Connoisseur’s Corner: A Hoyo De Monterrey Flirts With Perfection

This collection of aged cigars covers all types of vintages and dimensions. The smokes range from 11 years old all the way to a cigar that's been around for more than five decades; from the ultra-slim Punch Panetelas Grandes (all of 33 ring gauge) to the pleasantly plump Tatuaje …

Connoisseur’s Corner: A Davidoff Château Latour Reaches Perfection

Cuban Davidoffs are among the most prized of vintage cigars. Collectors wax poetic about the smokes, which were made in Cuba from the late 1960s up until 1991, when Davidoff shifted production to the Dominican Republic. They command dear prices at auction, even though some have …

Partagás Serie du Connaisseur No. 3 (1993)

Connoisseur’s Corner: A Classic Partagás From 1993

From slim to fat, from short to extra long, this edition of Connoisseur's Corner covers the size extremes of the cigar world. The Sancho Panza Sancho is an "A," Cuba's longest standard cigar size. The smoke measures 9 1/4 inches long by 47 ring gauge, and it can easily take more …

Connoisseur’s Corner: A 99-Point Cabañas

Cabañas is an old Cuban cigar brand that was once made by hand, but fell victim to the post-Embargo world and was cancelled. In later years it was brought back as a machine-made cigar. This review shows how marvelous the old handmade varieties could be. Despite being nearly old …

Connoisseur's Corner: A Near-Perfect Punch

Connoisseurs prize cigars that come packed in cabinets of 50. There's more room for air to circulate around the cigars, which is good for aging, and there are double the number of cigars found in a typical box, which is just good overall. A tidy Punch Punch with a quarter …

Connoisseur's Corner: Honoring 50 Years Of Cohiba

As Cuba prepared to honor 50 years of Cohiba, its most famous cigar brand, we at Cigar Aficionado looked into our humidors to smoke some older versions to see how they had aged. The cigars did not disappoint. A box of Lanceros, the original size, dating back to around 1982 …

Connoisseur's Corner: A Classic Cuban Davidoff

A 40-something-year-old Davidoff named after one of the legendary wineries of Bordeaux. A Padrón created especially for the Millennium celebration 15 years ago. An immense Cuban Partagás rolled the year before Cigar Aficionado magazine began publishing. What do these three very …

Connoisseur's Corner: A Perfect Cuban Circa 1950

(From the December 2015 issue of Cigar Aficionado ) Step into a time machine, and dial the year back to the 1950s. The Second World War was over, the U.S. economy was thriving and consumers were ready to spend their cash. Cigar lovers puffed away on panetelas and perfectos …

Coronado by La Flor Double Corona (2006)

Connoisseur's Corner: A Non-Cuban Tops The List

(From the October 2015 issue of Cigar Aficionado ) While we tend to focus heavily on Cuban cigars in this section of the magazine, this issue proves the aging potential of top non-Cubans as well. In 2006, Cigar Aficionado named the Coronado by La Flor Double Corona its No. …