Alright, here we go!
I smoked 221 cigars this year, with 36 rating out as "Excellent" on my purely subjective scale. It was a great year! After tons of deliberation, here are the top 10 standouts:
Juan López Selection No. 1 (box date/code unknown)- smooth tobacco core with rich cashew and cream flavors with an ever-so-slight coffee bite.
Illusione Fume D’Amour Lagunas (En Sepulto 25 Aug 14)- Caramel & brownie flavors with a cedar backbone & an underlying floral note.
Caldwell Long Live the King Petit Double Wide Short Churchill- Cinnamon upfront with a peanut finish, morphing into coffee & dark chocolate in final third. Second year in a row for me, assuaging consistency fears somewhat...
Illusione Singulare 2010 Phantom (En Sepulto 20 Jul 10)- Oaky & smooth, I think I'm finally starting to "get" these just in time for them to be gone forever. Smoke 'em if you got 'em... they're legendary for a reason.
Bolivar Petit Corona (box date/code unknown)- Rich & complex with sweet cafe au lait and hints of earth, morphing to green pepper on the finish.
Arturo Fuente Un-Named Reserve 2012- Distinct marshmallow sweetness with faint pepper, chocolate, and oak. Every time I'm about to give up on Fuente, I find something like this in my humidor that makes me come back...
Illusione Singulare 2013 Rose Croix (En Sepulto 17 Jan 14)- Is this really a surprise? Oak core with rich caramel, some vegetal notes in finish. Construction is always phenomenal and the vitola as as elegant as it gets. Still my favorite Singulare of all time.
Vegas Robaina Famosos (TAS JUN 13)- Coriander & mocha with some honey in the second third. I've realized these have replaced the Padron 2000/5000/6000 as my reliable med-full go-tos. Rumors regarding the marca's eminent demise have me very concerned...
Padron Millenium Maduro- Purchased from Mark Twain late last year. Smooth & elegant with cocoa, dark fruit, and slight coffee; these have aged gracefully. Smoked it on a day I received some bad news on the professional front-- this is the kind of cigar that makes a day special all on it's own.
H. Upmann No. 2 (LUB MAY 14)- Complex and dynamic for a very young cigar... coffee, shortbread, cream, and that characteristic tart-apple finish I get on all my Upmanns. Phenomenal, simply the best Upmann I've every smoked and best cigar of the year overall for me. From baby #4's box, so I'm looking forward to smoking these annually for years to come.
Narrowly missing out, aka Honorable Mentions:
La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No. 2
Curivari Gloria de Leon Fuerza
Montecristo Petit Edmundo (OEP JUL 14)
Epernay L’Alpiniste, Le Matin, Le Elegance & Le Petit
Partagas Shorts
Illusione Cigares Privé mc slam
San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe (EML ABR 14)
Surprise Non-inclusions:
Illusione ~eccj~ 20th Anniversary- they have great DNA and I certainly taste potential, but to me, these need more time.
Illusione Corojo "Original Documents"- all very good, but I've been smoking through the last of the Raices Cubanas stuff now (En Sepulto 2012ish), the time when the line is reputed to be "off". I'm looking forward to getting some of the TABSA stuff boxed more recently; I hear it's MUCH better.
Cubanacan HR- I was excited about this release. I found it very good, but far from transcendent. Then Cubanacan suffered a massive internal shakeup... Robaina and Spencer Drake left, then the brand owners split from the factory. It reminds me of the Dona Flor meltdown in 2008/2009. Big bummer and condolences to the people who loved this cigar. Hopefully it'll be around in the future.
Whew! So CPers, what stands out to you this year?
