My Personal Top 10 of 2011

Cigar Aficionado released their top 25, and I didn't really agree with all of it. Other blogs and sites have dropped their top 10 into the ether, and some are somewhat agreeable with me, and some not so much. So, I've decided that I'll do my own personal top 10 and y'all can not agree with it, too. Why? Because taste is subjective. I'll also include my top 10 pints and maybe a list of a few sticks and brews that just didn't quite do it for me.

10) Gran Habano Vintage 2002 Robusto - This is a solid cigar. It has medium body and the flavor profile is nutty and butter-creamy. It's consistent every time I smoke it and I love the price point. You can generally find mazos of 20 of the Gran Habano for around $20. That's a $1 per stick for a great smoke! Buy it, let it rest for 6 mo., and smoke it again and again. You're welcome.

9) Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 "The Sixty" - This cigar is gorgeous. It's rolled really well and the burn is consistent from one to the next. I love the nutty caramel flavors of this cigar and how smooth it is. Voluminous smoke and a great size.

8) Ron Stacy Signature Corona by Sultan Cigars - It's pretty cool actually knowing the guy behind the name of a particular cigar. It's even more cool when he's one of the most generous people you've ever met. This cigar has a great flavor profile. Pipe tobacco, citrus twang, smoked meat, and pepper all in a corona size. It's a beautiful cigar and tastes amazing.







7) Nub 464T Habano - Love the Habano wrapper. This is a great smoke and for its size, it really hits the sweet spot. Caramel and toasted almonds are the dominant flavors. Good volumes of smoke and surprisingly takes quite awhile to smoke one.

6) Liga Privada Feral Flying Pig - This cigar is good. I smoked one ROTT, which was probably a mistake, because there was a lingering astringent flavor right on the head, but getting past that, the smoke was really amazing. It's very strong, so don't smoke it on an empty stomach. The other two I have will rest for a few months, then I'll give it another try, but what I tasted was amazing. Definitely smoked meat and toasted caramel. I'm putting it at 6 because it was able to overcome the astringent flavor with the good flavors it puts out.



5) Liga Privada Flying Pig T52 - I really enjoy this smoke. Has a stronger profile than the 9 (standard LP9. I haven't had an FPno.9 yet). The T52 tobacco is very good, and the wrapper on this thing almost shines. Heavy dark flavors, like rum and smoked meat are complemented by a good straight burn.







4) Liga Undercrown - What a great new cigar this year. I was really pleased to get my hands on these. They aren't the Liga Privada, and that's perfectly okay. They're an amazingly good cigar in their own right and have a good price point. Rich velvety flavors, dark chocolate, caramel, earthiness, and volumes of smoke. I could smoke these every day.

3) Partagas Black Label Gigante - I love the size, I love the flavors, and I love the strength. A box of these is $99 on most online outlets, so it's roughly $5 per stick. But this is one stick that I always go back to when I want rich earthy flavors, heavy peanut, and dark roasted yummy and the 6 x 60 size rocks.

2) Partagas Short - (CC) - Packs power and flavor into a small package. Well rolled, consistent burn and incredibly tasty. If you're looking for twang, you'll find it here.










1) Liga Privada No. 9 Robusto - I can't say enough about this cigar. Of course, I've already said it in my review, anyway. It's stellar, and it's one of the best. I want more and so should you.











Honorable Mentions: Acid Kuba Kuba Maduro, Arturo Fuente Short Story Maduro, My Uzi Weighs a Ton 7 x 60, Panacea 760, Tatuaje Regios, and the Liga Privada Dirty Rat.

Now, I know you've all been waiting for this. What follows are the dog rockets that I actually find unsmokable. I know it'll probably piss someone off, or maybe even a lot of you, but taste is subjective. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

5) La Aroma di Cuba Mi Amor - I know there are a lot of people who love this cigar. I don't know if I did something wrong when I lit it or if it just wasn't ready, but I tried to get through half of it and it was unbearably harsh and tasted horrible. I may try this one again at some point because I've seen so many great reviews of it, that I just can't completely discount it.

4) VS Bamboo 6 x 60 - These aren't quite unsmokable, but they just don't taste good at all. Not a lot of flavor and they actually smell like stale cigar while you're smoking them. Makes me wonder if they aren't actually made of bamboo.

3) Mosaica Churchill Maduro - Why do these cigars cost $19.95 for a mazo of 20? I have no clue, because you shouldn't pay more than a nickel per stick. These are the original 5-cent cigars, and they're not really worth every penny. However, they would make great compost.

2) Fonseca Arana Corona - So, I lit this one up thinking that maybe it could be one of my everyday el cheapos. However, I'm not interested in sitting around smoking dog turds on a daily basis, and here's the deal, they taste like burning dog turds. I realize that I can't speak from direct experience on this, but it's as close as I hope I'll ever come. Perhaps they should just be left in their toilet-paper like sheaths.

1) Vudu - Dear God, I will never smoke again. Okay, well, that's not true, but I came pretty close after trying to get through this one. I have a few in my cooli for anyone who might want to trade something of equal value that I might like. However, I wouldn't wish these on anyone. Light it up, take a puff, and you'll swear you're smoking a habanero pepper. The flavor profile starts out with a blast of habanero, then the habanero kicks in. After the first third, the habanero comes through, with notes of habanero. This one is my number one pick for habanero dog rocket of the decade.

Too Cold to Smoke

So, what do you do when it's too flippin' cold to smoke and you don't have your own personal air filtered man cave?

For me, I do a couple of different things. The first thing I do is wait and value the warm days. If there's a warm day, I'm smokin'. If there are two warm days in a row, I'll do my damndest to smoke both days, even if my lovely wife gives me "the look." The thing is, in the midwest, during 9-months of winter, warm days are valuable. So, when I get one, I do crap like put up Christmas lights. I get to hang out on the roof, spark a stogie, and accomplish something. Same thing happens in January. Christmas is over, warm day hits, I'm back up on the roof taking lights down, tooling around outside taking my sweet time with the other decorations just so I can get through a good hour and a half smoke.

The second thing I do is a bit more of a PItA. I'll put on my coat, grab a stick, lighter and cutter, and torch it. Then I'll set it on my miniature stinky and head in for a minute or two. Then it's a matter of treating my house like an expensive hooker. In and out, in and out, in and out, and in and out until I'm finished. Only difference is, I go back in and stay in for the rest of the day and it takes longer than six-minutes. Okay, I know, I just joked around at my own expense. But if you laughed, it was worth it.

So, those are my options for smoking during the winter months, but here's the thing: It's not always that easy. A lot of times, the cold presents way more issues for smoking a premium cigar than just keeping your own ass warm.

One issue that I've run into is how the cold affects the burn. I've run into issues with cigars that I know are stars when it comes to burn. In fact, one colder than a witch's tit day, I had a Liga Privada #9 Robusto, which always burns like a champ for me, and the damn burn was as crooked as Bernie Madoff.

So, why is that? Well, there are probably several factors, but I think it really boils down to how the cold temps affect the wrapper and whether or not it sucks out or imparts any humidity. I think about it like condensation on a glass surface. You've got something that's perfectly stable (your cigar at 67% RH and stable temp), which is introduced to an extreme change in temperature, plus the heat of the burn. I can only guess that this probably causes the burn to change from what it would normally be.

Another issue that I've run into is a cigar just not wanting to stay lit. Again, I think it comes from the extreme change in temp. I also think wind has a negative affect on the burn. This seems to be a situation where keeping your ash on for as long as possible comes in handy. I think that it insulates the cherry and helps the burn stay more stable.

Other than coping with these issues, smoking during the winter months can be kind of fun. Crisp air rouging up your cheeks, hot coffee, and a good cigar while standing out on your deck while the world is silent under a blanket of snow. You just can't trade that for anything. Except maybe retirement in Florida where everyone freezes their asses off when the temp gets down to 60°F.

That's all for now. Long ashes...