Cigar Aficionado

Connoisseur’s Corner: Bolivar Coronas Extra

Cuba has many forgotten sizes in its vast portfolio of brands, among them this glorious Bolivar. Just shy of six inches long, it’s a slim, elegant size with a 44 ring gauge. This version, taken from a cabinet of 50, is wonderfully nutty and earthy, the flavors building ever so …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Cohiba Esplendido

This big cigar is perfect—they don’t get any better. It’s as good as any post-Castro cigar I have ever smoked. The draw and flavor are both dreamlike, with complex notes that include nutmeg and chestnuts. A Cuban star. If you have a box of these in your humidor, you are a lucky …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Cohiba Behike BHK 52

A decade ago, when Cuba’s BHK 52 first came out and was named Cigar of the Year, we predicted that it would improve with age. We were correct. While first puffs linger in the medium-bodied realm of cedar, herbs and wheat, the cigar shifts to a surprisingly powerful core of …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Davidoff No. 1

Rarely has combustion been as straight, even and cool as it was on this slender cigar. It smoked in four dense ashes leaving a beautifully complex profile with surprising body. No surprise that 24 years in a cedar box has resulted in some woodiness, but it was a mostly refined …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Arturo Fuente Destino Al Siglo Siglo de Amistad

This celebratory smoke was created for Arturo Fuente’s landmark 100th anniversary in 2012, and released the following year. It’s a beautiful cigar, with a slightly reddish hue to the wrapper. Bold from the first puff, it begins with notes of almond, and orange marmalade. The …

Connoisseur's Corner: Diplomaticos Excelencia Exclusivo Cuba

Made exclusively for the Cuban market, this box of Diplomáticos Excelencias spent the last five years in a locker in Havana under perfect humidity conditions, and it shows. The burn is dead even with a slow, cool rate of combustion, the draw, luxurious. It’s a creamy smoke, …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Punch Punch

Wide and majestic cabinets of 50 cigars are becoming a rare sight in humidors, and that’s unfortunate. There’s a regal air to these boxes, which have a beauty in their plain nature, the cigars unbanded, the boxes devoid of color, the only flair a ribbon around the smokes inside. …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Hoyo de Monterrey Exclusivo

This big cigar comes from an intriguing box of 50: half of the cigars are traditional, box-pressed Hoyo Double Coronas, while the other half are Exclusivos, the same size as the Double Corona but presented in the round, and with a different band. The Exclusivos are flavorful …

Connoisseur’s Corner: El Rey Del Mundo Taino

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 …

Connoisseur’s Corner: Don Candido Dunhill Selección No. 500

One of the most delicious cigars I’ve ever smoked. At 6 1/2 inches by 48 ring, it’s nearly a Churchill, and the largest size in the long gone Don Candido brand. The draw remains flawless and the beautiful brown wrapper is still silky after all these years. It’s a very creamy …