....and the Cigar Afficianado #1 for 2012 is...

[BigAsh]

Flor de las Antillas Toro

The story of Cigar Aficionado’s 2012 Cigar of the Year begins in Cuba, the island home of José “Pepin” Garcia, his son Jaime and daughter, Janny. Pepin began rolling cigars at the age of 11 in his hometown of Baez. He rose to prominence in Cuba as a talented cigarmaker, but yearned for freedom and opportunity. One by one the Garcias left, eventually making their way to Miami where they began producing cigars.

Their beginnings were humble: the factory was tiny, with all of a dozen rollers, and they didn’t own the entire operation. But they had their first taste of glory with the Tatuaje brand, which they made for Pete Johnson. It brought critical acclaim as well as increasing demand, which led the family to venture out on its own, eventually constructing the massive and gorgeous My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Today, Pepin focuses his energies on growing tobacco in Nicaragua, trying various seed varieties. Jaime is the company’s master blender. They released the Flor de Las Antillas brand in May 2012, using a variety of Nicaraguan tobaccos, their trademark double binder and a wrapper leaf grown in the open sunlight. They named the brand for Cuba, the largest of the Antilles Islands, which are called Antillas in their native Spanish.

The standout of the four-size brand is the Toro, which has a gentle, rounded box press and a beautiful and evenly colored wrapper. The smokes are delicious from the first puff, with notes of nutmeg, white pepper and just enough strength without being overpowering. They are hard to put down. They are classics, 96-point smokes on our 100-point scale.

The Garcias have worked long and hard since coming to the United States, coming a long way in a very short time. Their cigars have made numerous appearances on Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 list, but this is the first time they have won Cigar of the Year.


Let the games begin...

[kelmac07]

What happened to #2-#25 Keith? Used to seeing you build up the suspense.

[icehog3]

Garcia makes some good cigars....but CA's Top 25 List has about as much credibility as Tommy Flanigan.

[iaMkcK]

I must say, I have to disagree. The #1 cigar is the Flor De Las Antillas Robusto.. At least that has been my #1 cigar. At least CAf finally agreed with me [except on the vitola ]

[BigAsh]

Originally Posted by kelmac07

What happened to #2-#25 Keith? Used to seeing you build up the suspense.

Too damn busy Mac!!...

Originally Posted by icehog3

Garcia makes some good cigars....but CA's Top 25 List has about as much credibility as Tommy Flanigan.

Hahahahaha

[kelmac07]

Originally Posted by BigAsh

Too damn busy Mac!!...

Make sure you take some time to smell the roses brother.

[Catfish]

Granted, I admit to not having the most discriminating palate but...
the #3 and #1 have no place in the top 25 IMPO.

That is, unless the offerings for 2012 were just that mediocre their decisions were based on whose offerings sucked the least.

Just my unsolicited $0.02

YMMV...

[irratebass]

I think I'm more curious about # 11-25 and the bargain smokes.

[replicant_argent]

Follow the ad money.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by BigAsh

Too damn busy Mac!!...

Originally Posted by kelmac07

Make sure you take some time to smell the roses brother.

And they always smell better with a martini in hand.

[replicant_argent]

Originally Posted by pnoon

And they always smell better with a martini in hand.

I have always admired the way you think.



/suckup

[Ogre]

Better them some past number 1s!!!!

[iaMkcK]

Originally Posted by replicant_argent

Follow the ad money.

I dunno, I see CA advertise plenty of smokes that never make the top 25.. And I see plenty of cigars that never get any advertising that reach the top 25.. Don't get me wrong, there can be influence at times -- but I always see Habanos S.A. cigars in the top 10 and Davidoff sure as heck pays for a lot more advertising than Habanos S.A., and Davidoff got in the top 10 once.. #9 in 2004.

[replicant_argent]

We wouldn't want to let "all" the results reflect ad revenue influence, would we?


I do enjoy all the Pepin smokes I have ever tried, no fault or implication there, but overall, the veracity of Cigar Aficionados ratings, IMHO, is questionable.

[never_enough]

Originally Posted by irratebass

I think I'm more curious about # 11-25 and the bargain smokes.

This is what I'm curious about too.

[maninblack]

Everyone's a critic and everyone's got an opinion. Like we all say, smoke what you like, like what you smoke. My top 25 is much different, but that's the beauty of it all.

[RobR1205]

CA's top 25 has always made me ask myself lots of questions, one being:

I wonder how the cigars are chosen for tasting, considering there are hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties out there to choose from....Do a bunch of cigar lovers sit in a room for a year and review cigars? (because if so, I'm putting in a job app!)

[dozer]

Meh...way too inconsistent to be in the top 10, let alone number one. The first one I had was fantastic, the last one I tossed half way through...I put the La Duena over the a FdlA

[FreakShow]

I smoked a Robusto but it didn't wow me at all. I have two left so maybe they will be better.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by RobR1205

CA's top 25 has always made me ask myself lots of questions, one being:

I wonder how the cigars are chosen for tasting, considering there are hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties out there to choose from....Do a bunch of cigar lovers sit in a room for a year and review cigars? (because if so, I'm putting in a job app!)

The list isn't formed from all the cigars out there, just all the cigars that they tested that year, typically new stuff, or new sizes in existing lines. Past that, it's just multi-round blind or double-blind (not sure which they use offhand) tasting & elimination.

Deciding which cigar is the definitive best of the year isn't always an easy task, especially in lieu of all the great cigars in the market. We start by looking back at all the cigars tested throughout the year in both Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Insider—more than 700. Then we focus on the top-scoring smokes, and from there begin the blind-tasting process all over again. Our tasting coordinator heads out to the retail shops, purchases the cigars, removes the bands and orchestrates an entirely new tasting. After multiple rounds, we arrive at a list of 25.
To name Cigar of the Year, however, we select the top three scores of this new test and do one final round of tasting. But it’s important to remember that Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of the Year distinction is not a simple year-end awards ceremony. It’s a tournament of performance and elimination and, is completely process driven. The best cigars of the year were able to consistently reproduce high scores throughout each round. Quality and consistency were crucial. Those that could not perform consistently were out. What’s left are the cigars you see here. Not everyone’s perennial favorites appear on the list, but each cigar in this year’s Top 25 proved to be satisfying and excellent.

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/top25/show