Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

here's 10 thru 6...
10.La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Chisel
9. H. Upmann No. 2
8. E.P. Carrillo Elencos Edición Limitada 2010
7. Illusione Epernay Le Matin
6. La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Magnifico



Don't shoot the messenger.....Let the games begin....
5 thru 2 tomorrow....

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

its like they want you to put less and less stock into what they say every year

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

quoted for truth

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Ive tried all but #6, and they all were great! Also I never put any stock into CAs top 10s because they are not I. To quote another fine member here on Cigar Asylum. "Smoke what you like, and enjoy it."

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I am betting the Padron Family Reserve #46 Maduro takes the top spot.

The 45th took the top spot last year, and the 46th is an even better cigar.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

there big advertisers, Cant wait to see the RP 15 aniv as #1. LOL

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

La Flor Dominicana cigars are the best for the buck cigars, regardless of origin. Probably one of the best cigar brands.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Yeah, especially Epernay. Between the rest, how do you propose they place them if, according to you, they all spend big? Through lottery system for the big spenders? This horse has been beaten to death by now and has no basis in reality, I am speaking from personal experience. Please share your own personal experience with Shanken Empire mythical "ad dollars".

From where I stand the list above doesn't have a dud in the bunch. Air Bender is the only LfD I'd spend my money on and has decent complexity, the rest are all one note wonders to me. Epernay should place higher, but that's my palate preference. The rest seem OK.

:sh

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

The cigars they have listed are good, but. I could see the placement by how much is scheduled to be spent in 2011. LOL. Gotta love the power of the dollar.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Never had many on that list, I had an Air bender not sure which one but it sucked.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I personally enjoy the Air Benders, very complex smoke. Have not tried the rest though so can't comment on them. Also, I smoke mostly full bodied smokes so my list will be very different than the average cigar smoker.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I'm not a fan of Air Benders either, I like the regular LFD line much better.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I enjoy reading cigar reviews and top 10 ratings; however, I realize that it is all based on someone's opinion and our taste preferences vary. I use the ratings as a guide. Before buying a box of a highly-rated cigar, I will buy 1 and conduct my own evaluation. Fortunately, I live close to a number of internet dealers (Famous, CI, and Holt's to name a few) and can usually find the ones I want to try.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

ive been wanting to try the air bender. i keep hearing alot of great things about it. im gonna have to try and find one at the b&m

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I like the Upmann #2, haven't tried any of the rest. I like La Flor, would try an Airbender.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Think a Behike will make top 3?

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

The only cigar I tried on this list was the Air Bender and I did enjoy it.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Not the 54. I heard the 52 was good, so I guess it has a chance.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Let me sum it up for all you guys.

10-6, not worthy.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Says the man who brought a box of Air Benders to a herf...

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Hahah I brought it for yours guys enjoyment!

Not a bad cigar, just not Top 10 worthy.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Me personally, I dont look at their top 25 and say 'oh these are the best cigars out there' but, i do look at it as a buying guide, soo to speak. If there is a stick on there that I havent had yet I will try to get 1. My personal feeling is if it makes somebody's top whatever, it may be worth giving a shot. :2

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

^ I agree

If you took 25 peoples Top 10 lists, they would all be different. Any list of top 10 anything will have controversy.

I look at their list as a "things I should try". I don't take their list as the gospel, or even with the thought that I will like the cigars they put on it. I have had most of the cigars up already minus the EP Carillo and H Upmann and I will agree that they are good cigars and worthy of being on the top 25 list somewhere.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

well, the upmanns are certainly good...

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Agree on all counts. Anything that says "consumer reviews" should be treated as a guide and not much else. Funny how people get bent of shape when their favorites don't make it on someone's list. As far as I can see it, it should be a "benefit" since whatever you like in such a case will be more readily available and probably stay underpriced. Applies to cigars and anything else...

Also, what many seem to miss is that cigars, unlike say, wine/beer/alcohol, are made of solids and vary from leaf to leaf no matter how well anyone ferments and treats them. They will be extremely close in best case scenarios, but nowhere near as homogenous as wine, for example. All barrels in a particular lot are blended together before bottling making each and every bottle taste the same right after bottling (cork and storage will affect each bottle with time, as the saying goes, There are no great wines, only great bottles). Great cigars are as even in stick to stick profile, but never the same (different number and size of veins in each leaf, a tiny bit more of sun exposure and subsequent fermentation here and there, etc.). Bottom line: there will be differences from bale to bale as well as leaf to leaf.

So, a cigar one tastes from a Left Coast retailer has a great probability of tasting slightly different than the one tasted from a lot shipped to NY. There is no mystery there.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Here's #'s 5 thru 2....
5. Camacho Corojo Churchill
4. Padrón Family Reserve No. 45 (Natural)
3. Fuente Fuente OpusX XXX Belicoso
2. Viaje Oro Reserva VOR No. 5

Viaje @ #2....I bet they don't advertise much in CA....Interesting picks

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

The La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amore, is an outstanding cigar.

Camacho Corojo at #5 is a joke.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Different strokes for different folks. Lists are subjective.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I've always wondered about these ratings or whatever you want to call them. Do they state what year cigars they are smoking for this top 25?

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

These kinds of lists have little meaning for me. These cigars may be great for others but if they do not fit my flavor profile I would not enjoy them.

I know what I like, and I continue to sample other marcas/votolas in order to find new cigars that I like, but these kinds of lists have little influence on that process.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I know in the regular reviews Cubans have the Month/Year.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Remember as well this is only the first third of the cigar. The reviewers don't smoke the entire cigar.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

At least I have had a few of the ones on the list. Not like most of the lists of ones I either cant get or cant afford.

Seriously? How can you properly review a cigar like that? :confused:
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Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

It was leaked to me that Cohibo robusto was #1 spot this year.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Yes, that is serious.

But that's how they do it. A person could make the case for a wide varieties of factors that might influence a review (what they had to drink, what they had to eat, what they pair it with, etc, etc) so I don't say what's proper and what's not. Just pointing out that this is the method they use.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Same way they evaluate wines and alcohol, they simply hold a tiny sip in their mouth, swish it around and spit it out. Now tell me they can actually evaluate a finish on wine/alc, proper astringency, etc. Better yet, or is it worse yet?, they spend a few minutes with the product instead of seeing how it evolves over some time.

Main reason lists are nothing more than lists.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

:tpd:
That's why I trust recommendations from friends whom I know have similar tastes over any magazine reviews. I think it's fun to see if cigars you liked make it into the cA top 10, but that's about it: fun. I don't take much of what that magazine puts out very seriously, for the primary reasons that the reviewers only smoke a portion of the cigar and I've seen too many cigars that I think are awful get high scores. I don't believe in any of the "buying ratings" conspiracy theories, I just think it's the nature of the way they taste their cigars that it will always be an incomplete and very subjective picture.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I've heard this a few times, but have they published this anywhere?

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Everybody loves a good list...

Seems like reviewing a movie based on the first half hour.
True, but as you pointed out in an earlier post, wines are much more homogenous (sp?). I agree, either these lists are based on stats (ie. #1 in sales for handmade cigars) or they're wholly subjective. Either way, not worth much more than a list of smokes to try. Personally, I put more stock in recommendations from the BoTLs here who share my tastes in types of cigars.
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Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

It was "published" by Gordon Mott (one of the reviewers) on cigarfamily. Here is the link:

http://lounge.cigarfamily.com/showth...14#post3000538

I can't say for certain that someone didn't make up an account and post that info, but suffice to say it would be a pretty big scam if they did.

Here is the quote from Mott:


So I was being liberal in saying that they smoke the first 1/3. The first half or inch of a cigar is not much imo.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I like the Air Bender more than the rest of the LFD line. To each his own!

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

gotta agree with you there. I mean, you may not like every cigar on the list, but that one sticks out like a sore thumb among the other 3 cigars listed.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Thanks for the link. Some interesting reading there.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Well, all I can tell you is that they do play "favorites", as all of us do in real life. Some people make plonk, expensive plonk at that, and still get great reviews only because they are "media darlings" and it is considered uncouth to give them low scores. If you are a relative unknown there is absolutely no way in hell you will get a high score unless a reviewer decides to make you his "darling", as in "I discovered this winery FIRST!!!", this crazy "competition" has been going on between Spectator and Advocate for some years now and is both stupid and hilrious at the same time (one goves high 90s scores and the other comes out and scores same wine in high 80s)...

And in case of cigars, a number of them cannot be tasted "blind" since their shape and distinct wrapper color give them away, so "favorites" does come into play (and visa versa).

I am also aware of some wineries submitting "special" bottles for reviews, in other words not the regular release bottles, but specifically filled from the barrel by hand, a CHOSEN barrel (read best in the bunch). Given that, I would not put it past cigar manufacturers to do the same, "special" blend to be submitted to reviewers. After all, how can one tell if size and band are the same as what's sitting on the shelf? So, don't blame the messenger...

I read plenty of wine reviews, for sure, to see what the competition is up to, but also taste a good number of wines (barrels and bottles to see how a barrel eventually evolves into final product) to know that scores I see in magazines do not reflect my own take on same wines. At one of my tastings one of the better known names in wine reviews and wine blogs could not keep track of the 4 glasses in front of him, he made quiet an impression on the rest of us (~50 serious wine geeks and wine makers), that day pretty much "sealed" my faith in reviews... So, "professional" means he or she is only human, as rest of us are...

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

I don't disagree with most of what you said, but if you read the link wayner provided about how CA does their tastings they buy the cigars from local B&Ms, not from the manufacturer.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

#1 is going to be the Cohiba Behike 52!

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

Agreed.

Re: Cigar Aficionado..top 10 of 2010...
 

i always find it interesting to see a cheap cigar in the top 25. every year they have 1 or 2 sub-$7 sticks.