A year’s worth of ratings can provide enormous insight regarding the state of the premium cigar industry, but that much information can be difficult to recall all at once, which is why we’ve compiled this detailed analysis of 2021. It’s our annual, data-driven examination of 12 months’ worth of blind tastings, putting the spotlight on the countries that produced the highest-scoring cigars and the brands that consistently rose to the top of our 100-point system. Not to ignore your wallet, this report also serves as a price guide showing which countries delivered the best (and worst) bang for your buck.
All the scores compiled here are a result of our blind-tasting process. During evaluation, our panel of reviewers do not know the identity of the cigars, as the original bands are removed and replaced with a numbered label. Blind-tasting is the only true way to remove bias—conscious or not—and arrive at the most objective conclusions about any given cigar, and it’s the way we’ve rated cigars since 1992. Between the six issues of the magazine and the 24 issues of Cigar Insider, our twice-monthly newsletter, we rated 628 handmade cigars in 2021, most of which came from the four major cigar producing countries of the world: Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Cuba. Forty-three percent of the cigars from that grand total (268 cigars) scored 90 points or higher. This is an extraordinary show of consistency, especially considering the continuing logistical challenges of the pandemic.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A High Steaks Game - Gallaghers restaurant, New York's oasis for carnivores, has thrived for 96 years, playing host to a colorful crowd of sports heroes, show people and classic characters
Dean Poll, the owner of Gallaghers Steakhouse on Manhattan's West 52nd Street, has to think both like a restaurateur and the curator of a museum with an entire wing of art. Only, instead of tending to European oil paintings, Poll oversees images of Old New York. I work here every day. I am thinking about the food and staff, Poll says, sitting in a corner that could be called baseball cove. Over his right shoulder are stills of Lou Gehrig and the Yankees' Murderers' Row manager Miller Huggins. Jack Dempsey is clowning, grappling with a bat also held by Babe Ruth. "To Helen Gallagher, sincerely Babe Ruth," the inscription reads. Poll gestures toward signed caricatures of Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. "So I lose, to a certain extent, the importance of what's on the walls. But the photos are the decor. They lend some hominess to the place. It's the heart and soul of this restaurant. It's not cheap decoration. The only thing missing is the cigar smoke", adds Poll, who fancies a Partagás 8-9-8 It's what this restaurant is for 96 years.
The Enforcer - Cole Hauser, who plays the tough-as-nails cowboy Rip on the hit show "Yellowstone," has been around horses since he was a little boy
Cole Hauser looks like he can kick your ass. And kicking ass is the specialty of his most famous character, Rip Wheeler from the hit series "Yellowstone." He's the show's man in black, his dark cowboy hat often coated in trail dust, shades hiding his intense eyes, black beard covering a mouth that seldom smiles. The absolute opposite of a pretty boy, he's never chatty-and when he does talk it's often with a bit of menace in his voice. He's not the kind of guy to take a back seat to anything.
Pinball Machines - "Two kind of people in this world," Ray Liotta's character says in the 1997 movie Cop Land.
"Two kind of people in this world," Ray Liotta's character says in the 1997 movie Cop Land. Pinball people and video game people." If you're 50 or older, you might fall into the former group of gamers who are enthralled by the ringing bells, snapping flippers and the captivating combination of mechanics and electronics that make pinball irresistible. While it's the ultimate Sisyphean game-the eternal (and doomed) effort to keep an 80-gram, carbon-steel ball from going down the drainfor those who love it, it couldn't be more fun.
TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith
Many connect TAG Heuer with Formula 1 racing through the renowned Monaco watch, named for the Grand Prix held in that city.
My Favorite Cigar
Cigar aficionados describe their smoke of choice
A Trinidad Celebration
One of Cuba's star cigar brands commemorates 55 years with anniversary smokes
Gentlemen 1919 A CIGAR HIDEAWAY IN PARIS
In the front, there are hair cutters; in the back, cigar cutters.
SHORT BUT SWEET
Golf courses traditionally are played on 18 holes, but a new crop of exciting shorter courses from top-name designers might just be the big new thing in golf
A Major Celebration - pro golfer and cigar lover Xander Schauffele was ready to unwind after winning the PGA Championship in May
Cigars are meant for celebration, so when pro golfer and cigar lover Xander Schauffele was ready to unwind after winning the PGA Championship in May, he lit up.It was a time of immense relief. Despite being a marquee name in golf, with a Gold Medal and a Ryder Cup among his wins, the 30-year-old Schauffele was haunted by another distinction: the back-handed compliment of being on the list of the best golfers never to win a major. He had come ohso-close in many majors, finishing second twice, and seven times in the top 10. But in May, when his final putt-just over six feet in length-dropped for a birdie, the wait was over. He raised both arms in celebration, a huge smile spreading across his face. He was finally a major champion.
Leader of the Lost Boys
Mike Rypka loves smoking cigars with his friends so much, he bought his neighbor's house and transformed it into a smoking lounge
