cigar aficionado top 25 2015

[Demuths1770]

has anyone seen the top 25 list this year????? i agreed with the a few of the top 10 and than today they reveled number 2 and 3 and i really really really am scratching my head on number 3. dont get me wrong i do like some cao sticks but i dont think the flathead is the number 3 stick. i mean i also dont agree with 7 and 8 but the flathead at 3 just has my mind blown. whats everyone else thoughts on the top 25 as of now. any guess on number 1

[Old Smokey]

I am with ya. I have been looking at their list develop the last couple of days and had just looked at 2 and 3 before coming to the Bum. #3 Flathead 660? Really? No freaking whey! This is the worst Top 25 list I have seen CA publish.

I think their #1 will be trailer park meth.

[AndyCAYP]

I like 2, 4, and 9, although to me the Top 25 of 2015 should be cigars newly released for 2015...

That said, I find it pretty unconvincing that a panel of people sits down year after year and out of EVERY CIGAR ON PLANET EARTH they pick some of the ones they do, and then put them in the order they do. I know advertising has a lot to do with it, which they won't admit, and I have to question what cigars are eliminated through their policy of not including small batch releases in the process of picking these lists.

Frankly, if this was on the up-and-up and these were the honest-to-goodness, no-foolin', fingers-not-crossed best cigars they smoked, they need to find some new people for their tasting panels.

[jhedrick83]

Yeah, I don't get 3, 7 and 8. Especially 3. Maybe #1 is the rebranded Ramon Allones by Foundry (General). :deal:

[restomod]

Why do they do it all ass backwards and announce the top 10 before the rest?

[Cardinal]

Edit: never mind, looks like we're not naming them. Don't want to spoil anyone's surprise.

[Hardheaded]

Why do they do it all ass backwards and announce the top 10 before the rest?

Because just about everything they do seems to be backwards and heavily influenced by advertisers.

Don't get me wrong. Some of the articles are good, interesting, or useful. It's just clear that they, like most publications these days, are heavily biased towards advertisers.

[WNYTONY]

Agree - that is just making sure the advertisers are all covered. No way that is a #3 cigar - even in the (proper) smaller size

[AlanS]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.....

[Demuths1770]

i find this more of a novelty cigar than a top 25 cigar. maybe its number 3 in novelty for giving every day joes that love motorcycles and cars something to smoke but not a spot in the top 25 cigars. they could have picked a better CAO stick when they paid them for that spot

[Rocket Scientologist]

Yeah, I don't get 3, 7 and 8. Especially 3.

I like 8, but yeah 3 and 7 don't belong.

I got almost a whole box of #3 from the old forum and ended up giving most of them away. It's a good cigar, and does have some good flavors, but nothing remarkable. It is a box-press 60 RG, so it feels a little smaller, but still, I can't do those large RG anymore.

[AlanS]

i find this more of a novelty cigar than a top 25 cigar. maybe its number 3 in novelty for giving every day joes that love motorcycles and cars something to smoke but not a spot in the top 25 cigars. they could have picked a better CAO stick when they paid them for that spot
Looks like Rocky bought in too!

[Tman]

I agree. Some people seems to love it, but I thought the Flathead line was pretty meh. It gets people talking about the cigars. I guess that's what matters in the end.

[AndyCAYP]

It gets people talking about the cigars. I guess that's what matters in the end.

Ratings are a funny thing. The CA Top 25 definitely drives sales, at least at our store. We will be taking online orders for MONTHS from guys specifically mentioning that they're trying all of the top 10 or top 15 non-Cubans because "they have to be good, otherwise they wouldn't have made the cut." You've got a customer who normally smokes something lighter and short on power who will blind buy a box of Liga Privada No. 9 because "it has to be amazing, why else would it have made the top 10?" Likewise, a place like halfwheel can drive sales, too. I can usually tell what cigar got a rating of 91 or higher from hw the night before based just on the orders we've received overnight.

Back to CA: they would do the cigar industry a bigger favor by branching out and using their influence to help out some of the smaller brands... But, of course, smaller brands don't pay for advertising, so, yeah.

Back to reviews: Frustrating isn't quite the correct term, but it's the only thing that fits right now when my brain hasn't had its coffee yet. It's frustrating when we bring something new into the shop because we've tried enough samples to know that it's a phenomenal cigar, and we do our best to advertise it well while also mentioning something about how it's going to be a 90+ stick at halfwheel or it's exactly the type of stick that would make year-end top 10 lists, and customers completely ignore it for months. Then the rating hits and those same customers are scrambling to buy as many as they possibly could!

[gordo1473]

That's why I smoke what I like not what some guy that is paid to like something likes. Not a fan of most of the top 10. Just my .02.

[AlanS]

That's why I smoke what I like not what some guy that is paid to like something likes. Not a fan of most of the top 10. Just my .02.

Hey, who paid you to say that? That MF'er is one very good cigar, abit much for my regular rotation. But I wouldn't cross the street for them others, they were just meh to me.

[Old Smokey]

I don't have any of CA's Top 10 in my wineador. Does that make me a true BUM?

[Demuths1770]

I don't have any of CA's Top 10 in my wineador. Does that make me a true BUM?

idk about a bum but according to CA you are missing out on the best cigars lmao

[Sticky B]

I don't have any of CA's Top 10 in my wineador. Does that make me a true BUM?

But you can change all of that!

Win a box of Cigar Aficionado's Cigar of the Year - My Father Le Bijou 1922 Torpedo Box Pressed. Enter every day! (http://virl.io/ZYpFqRsg)

Personally, while many enjoy this cigar, I didn't really like it very much. Although I also had the short robusto, never the Box Pressed Torp

[Jordan23]

Yeah, I don't get 3, 7 and 8. Especially 3. Maybe #1 is the rebranded Ramon Allones by Foundry (General). :deal:

+1. This.

[Old Smokey]

idk about a bum but according to CA you are missing out on the best cigars lmao

And we all know they are the best cigar authority that money can buy.

[gordo1473]

I'm not saying that the mf is a bad cigar. By no means is it. But cigar of the year? Maybe not.

[Rocket Scientologist]

Well, personally I'm stoked about the #1 this year. I love it. Definitely the best cigar I've had this year.

[Cardinal]

I'm a little bummed out about #1, just like I was last year. I hate to see demand jump for my favorites, but I guess other people will get to enjoy them too so it's not all bad.

[Tman]

You know, it would really be great if they listed the worst cigars on top 25 to NOT bring up the cost on good cigars! Lol!

[oleballcoachtn]

I smoked a MF Le Bejiou 1922 petite robusto a couple New Years Eves ago and it may have been the best tasting cigar I have ever had. The cello was completely yellow and burn was perfect. It is also one of two cigars that I have smoked in my lifetime that had me leaning over and nicotine sick.

Do not know how close the torpedo flavor is to the petite robusto size, wouldnt be able to finish it if it was the same strength.

[AlanS]

I smoked a MF Le Bejiou 1922 petite robusto a couple New Years Eves ago and it may have been the best tasting cigar I have ever had. The cello was completely yellow and burn was perfect. It is also one of two cigars that I have smoked in my lifetime that had me leaning over and nicotine sick.

Do not know how close the torpedo flavor is to the petite robusto size, wouldnt be able to finish it if it was the same strength.

This one and the La Aroma De Cuba both had that affect on me, may have smoked them fast, nubbed them both then they nubbed me!

[Demuths1770]

i think both the La Mission and the king is dead are both well deserving of being inside the top 25. i really think cote d'or also deserved a spot in the top 10. for me that was the best cigar i smoke in 2015

[FireRunner]

I wasn't happy to see the My Father 1922 ranked #1 this year. Same as I wasn't happy to see the Oliva Melanio ranked #1 last year. Why? because both have been regular smokes of mine for several years. This year the Melanio has been a bare to get, almost all stores have it on back order and when they do arrive they are still a little "green". Luckily, I had about 30 Melanio sticks from before the ranking.

Now, this year the My Father 1922 is #1! So, it'll be tough to get another one of my regulars! While I'm happy to see these two get attention, I'm not happy about how it will impact my inventory :) In other news I don't really care for the list this year. The only other cigars I enjoy on this list is the L'Atelier La Mission and the Montecristo Espada. The Ashton Symmetry is an excellent cigar but not at that price point. If the Symmetry was under $10 I'd put it in the top 5 (The Oliva Melanio is under $10 for the same size stick).

[FireRunner]

I'm not saying that the mf is a bad cigar. By no means is it. But cigar of the year? Maybe not.

I agree with you. Given the list of 25 cigars I would not have placed the My Father 1922 at #1. I would have actually had the Montecristo Espada and the Ashton Symmetry higher.

[Sticky B]

I agree with you. Given the list of 25 cigars I would not have placed the My Father 1922 at #1. I would have actually had the Montecristo Espada and the Ashton Symmetry higher.

I tried the Espada as I received one as a gift. I thought it was pretty great- very unexpected from what I hear in general about NC versions of CC brands.

[tonyzoc]

I was surprised by CAO Flathead at #3 also. While I like this cigar, and wouldn't have blinked if we're at #22, no way it's #3. I'm not even sure the 660 is the 3rd best flathead. I'll take the 554 or Sparkplug over the 660 every time.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[allusred]

This one and the La Aroma De Cuba both had that affect on me, may have smoked them fast, nubbed them both then they nubbed me!

Dun tole ya t slow on down whilst puffin.