The 100 Best Cigars 2026: Ranked by Flavor and Body

The best cigars are not the ones with the loudest names on the band. They are the ones that hold their balance from the first draw to the last inch, and the only way to know which do that is to smoke them.

This is a list of the 100 best cigars I have reviewed. Every one smoked in full, timed from the light to the nub, and written up on this site before it appeared here.

That is the whole selection rule. No press samples counted differently. No cigar is here because it is famous. If it made the hundred, it made it in the smoking chair.

The published archive behind this list runs past 250 reviews, and the reviews are only the cigars I sat down and wrote up. The number I have actually smoked over the years is considerably higher. Getting to a hundred meant leaving out well over half of what is on the site, and everything that never made it there in the first place. What survived is grouped by what you are actually after when you open the humidor, because a list of a hundred names in a row helps nobody.

Use the table of contents. Jump to the section that matches your evening. Every entry links to the full review if you want the whole session rather than the summary.

Table of Contents

How These Cigars Were Selected

The process is identical for every cigar on the site. Construction assessed by hand before lighting. Cold draw evaluated before cutting. Flavor notes tracked through each third. Burn and draw monitored the whole way. An honest verdict at the end.

For this list I applied one extra filter on top of that. Would I smoke it again. Not would I recommend it in theory, not did it score well, but would I actually reach for it a second time. That question removed more cigars than any other.

New to all this? The Complete Cigar Guide is where to start. The full review methodology is written up separately.

What Makes a Cigar One of the Best

Four things separate the best cigars from the merely acceptable ones, and price is not among them.

Construction. A soft spot, a vein, an uneven roll. Any of them turns a good blend into a bad hour. I assess every cigar by hand before it is lit, and construction has removed more cigars from this list than flavor ever has.

Burn and draw. A cigar you relight four times is not a cigar you enjoy. The best ones hold an even glow line and let you set them down mid conversation without punishment.

Flavor that moves. Not pleasant. Specific. The best cigars give you something different in the last third than they gave you in the first, and you notice it without trying.

Repeatability. Would I buy it again with my own money. That question is the whole filter, and it is why several famous cigars are not on this page.

The Best Cigars for a Long Evening

These are the cigars that give you back more time than the format promises.

1. Don Kiki Gold Label El Gordo

Two and a half hours at 7 x 70. It opens light and bright, builds across six distinct stages, and finishes somewhere entirely different from where it started. Not a cigar you smoke in passing. Smoke time: 150 min. Read the full review

2. El Septimo Van Gogh Diadema

One hundred and fifteen minutes across four distinct parts, moving from cacao, spice, cedar and anise through nougat chocolate and almond into a final quarter that reads like dessert: oak, raisins, dark chocolate, vanilla sugar and old fashioned caramel. Body: Medium bordering on full. Read the full review

3. El Pulpo by AJ Fernandez Toro Grande

The octopus, and the name is the point. Across 105 minutes the smoke works through dark chocolate, espresso and a brown sugar sweetness that keeps it from ever turning austere. Body: Full. Read the full review

4. El Septimo Alexander Toro

A hundred minutes and five distinct stages of development. Very few cigars sustain that kind of evolution without losing the thread. This one does. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

5. Stallone Zaino Robusto

Ninety minutes out of a standard robusto, burned without corrections and without turning bitter. Cacao and dark berries, then nougat chocolate with cherry and salty licorice, then sweet woodiness and espresso. Wrapper: Broadleaf USA. Smoke time: 90 min. Read the full review

6. K by Karen Berger Maduro Toro

The darkest of the K by Karen Berger wrappers. Box pressed and full bodied, working through cacao, espresso, dark wood and leather across ninety minutes. Body: Full. Read the full review

7. New World Cameroon by AJ Fernandez Torpedo

Ninety minutes of pepper, hay, leather and roasted nuts with the Cameroon character holding all the way through. For what it costs, this is the best minutes-per-krona on the whole list. Body: Medium. Read the full review

8. Platinum Nova Classic Robusto

Ninety minutes of mild, which is a genuinely rare combination. Cedar, red berries, citrus candy and nougat over a creamy texture that never turns heavy. Body: Mild. Read the full review

9. PDR 1878 Capa Sungrown Robusto

Another ninety minute robusto, and the reason is how cool it stays. Pig’s tail cap, closed foot, firm and even the whole length. Body: Medium. Read the full review

10. K by Karen Berger Connecticut Toro

Ninety minutes that never ask anything of you. Hay, cedar, white pepper and roasted nuts, balanced from first third to last. Body: Medium. Read the full review

The Best Full Bodied Cigars

For cool evenings and palates that have done the miles.

11. Drew Estate Blackened M81 Maduro Toro

San Andrés maduro over a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro binder. Lighting it felt like being bathed in the flavors it offered. Silky, oily, no veins, flawless throughout. Body: Full. Read the full review

12. Stauffenberg Edition 3 Dark Toro

The darkest expression in the Stauffenberg line so far. Corojo wrapper, generous 6 x 54 format, dark chocolate, espresso and nuts. Body: Full. Read the full review

13. Stauffenberg Edition 1 Pyramid

A full bodied Honduran puro with a rich leather and espresso profile that rewards a slow, attentive smoke. Firm and even with a cleanly formed pyramid head. Body: Full. Read the full review

14. Stauffenberg Edition 2 Robusto

Some cigars feel powerful before they are lit. Extremely firm, evenly rolled, faint oiliness, no soft or hard parts anywhere along it. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

15. Tatuaje Black Corona Gorda

Bold flavor with attitude, and an almost unique shape for a corona. It demands your attention and your dedication, and it is not a background cigar. Body: Full. Read the full review

16. Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo Robusto

It is not often you smoke a full bodied cigar that still feels as smooth as a medium. The cold draw alone was almost like sitting in a coffee shop. Body: Full, smokes like medium. Read the full review

17. Rocky Patel The Edge Maduro Toro

Powerful and full bodied, suited to the more experienced smoker, with balanced flavors and a price that sits where it should. Body: Full. Read the full review

18. Macanudo Inspirado Red Robusto

Spice, leather, espresso, hay, cacao, nuttiness, saltiness and sweet licorice, holding steady for sixty minutes without a single dramatic shift. The retrohale carries cayenne. Body: Full. Read the full review

19. New World Decenio by AJ Fernandez Robusto

Pepper, sweet herbs, cacao and dark coffee across eighty-five minutes, developing steadily from a spicy opening into a dark finish. Body: Full. Read the full review

20. Escobar Ultra Black

A 6 7/8 x 54 box pressed limited edition that announces the moment before you have lit it. Powerful in construction, presence and flavor. Body: Full. Read the full review

The Best Maduro Cigars

21. Escobar Maduro Toro

Dark wood, black pepper, coffee, leather and cashew up front, with raisins and dried fruit underneath. The glow line ran almost as straight as a wall. Wrapper: San Andrés. Read the full review

22. Bossner Rolando Robusto

Full bodied and richly flavored, yet approachable in a way full cigars rarely manage. Chocolate, cacao, caramel and dark berries across eighty minutes. Body: Full. Read the full review

23. Brick House Maduro Robusto

Leather, nuttiness, a tulip-like florality, hay and a sweetness closest to brown sugar mixed with honey, with the classic walnut note and shades of cacao you do not expect. Wrapper: Arapiraca Brazilian maduro. Smoke time: 65 min. Read the full review

24. Hemmy’s Maduro Robusto

Earthiness, minerals, licorice, a salty woodiness and cacao, with nuttiness, leather and florality behind. A Mexican wrapper over Peruvian binder is a rarer combination than it sounds. Body: Medium on the verge of full. Read the full review

25. PDR A. Flores 1975 Gran Reserva Maduro Robusto

Chocolate, coffee latte with caramel syrup, dark chocolate with orange, leather and nuttiness, and it found another gear in the last ten minutes. Read the full review

26. Agenorsa Leaf Signature Maduro Robusto

Nuttiness, ground coffee beans, grass and hay, nutmeg, leather and earthiness, with cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins and cacao underneath. Later a lime-like tartness arrives with minerals like iron. Read the full review

27. Gurkha Cellar Reserve 15 Year Limitada Maduro

Pigtail cap, almost closed foot, and you can feel the flavors growing and the draw opening across the first minutes. Fifteen years of age gives a depth standard blends cannot replicate. Body: Full. Read the full review

28. Perdomo Fresco Maduro Robusto

Not complex, and not trying to be. Firm, evenly rolled, matte, and consistent enough to be the everyday maduro box. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

29. Lampert 1593 Oscuro Toro

Cedar, anise, peanut, earthiness and hay to open, then leather, coffee and a saltiness that made me think of prosciutto, closing on chocolate, cacao and ground coffee. The aftertaste is walnut and dark chocolate. Smoke time: 85 min. Read the full review

30. Oscar Valladares 2012 Barber Pole

Intertwined Candela and Mexican San Andrés wrappers spiralling around a clean box press. The construction work behind a barber pole is considerable and it shows. Read the full review

Cigars Worth Clearing an Evening For

31. El Septimo Da Vinci Lancero

Honey sweetness, grape fruitiness, hay, leather and cacao in the first quarter, then coconut, a flavor that almost never appears in a cigar, emerging and returning across the middle. Format: Lancero. Read the full review

32. El Septimo 20th Anniversary

When complexity, balance and unique flavors arrive together you get perfection. That was the opening line of the review and it still stands. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

33. El Septimo Salvador Dali Toro

Buttery and creamy at once, opening on fresh herbs, anise, dark cherry and wood, then nuttiness, leather, dark berries and a hint of pink pepper, closing with espresso, saltiness and vanilla pod. Body: Medium bordering on full. Read the full review

34. El Septimo Rembrandt Torpedo

The torpedo tip concentrates flavor in a way a robusto does not, and the El Septimo cleanliness of profile comes through it. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

35. El Septimo Raphael Robusto Extra

This one delivered a flavor I have met only once or twice in years of smoking. Firmly rolled, as expected from the brand. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

36. El Septimo Rebelde Blue

A pig’s tail on the foot, which I had never seen before. Floral and fruity with citrus, cacao, honey, cedar and leather, then oak, raisins and honey, closing on fir needles, sweet oak and old fashioned caramel. Body: Full. Smoke time: 75 min. Read the full review

37. El Septimo Michelangelo Perfecto

A perfecto is harder to roll than a standard format and that craft usually shows up in the price. This one does not follow the rule. Earthy and direct rather than complex. Body: Medium. Read the full review

38. Eladio Diaz 70 Aniversario

Vanilla honey sweetness, cherry blossom florals, toffee caramel, cherries, raisins, dates, leather, hay, licorice, cacao and nuttiness, with bourbon and milk chocolate behind. Four distinct thirds. Body: Medium. Read the full review

39. Rocky Patel The Edge 20th Anniversary Toro

I almost never split a cigar into four parts in a review. This one earned it. Some of the tobacco has been aged ten years and you can taste the patience. Body: Full. Read the full review

40. Casa Magna XV Anniversary Toro

The cold draw almost felt like dessert. Spice, exotic fruit, milk chocolate, cedar and florality, closing nutty on cashew, roasted almond and pistachio. Body: Full. Read the full review

Flavors You Will Not Find Anywhere Else

41. Escobar Connecticut Robusto

A honeydew melon sweetness arrives in the second third and does not leave. I have met something like it in one or two cigars across everything I have reviewed. Smoke time: 60 min. Read the full review

42. Gurkha Seduction Robusto

Chocolate, woodiness, dried herbs and a vanilla-coconut combination that is hard to place in any other cigar. The second third brings something close to citrus lemonade. Filler: Colombian. Smoke time: 80 min. Read the full review

43. Casa Turrent 1880 Rosado Gordito

The best aroma I have encountered in the whole review library, before the cap is even cut. Citrus, espresso, sourdough, nuttiness, saltiness, cinnamon and a late floral note like tulips. Blend: All Mexico. Read the full review

44. Camacho Connecticut Robusto

Milk chocolate on the nose and again in the filler, which is unusual anywhere and more unusual under a pale wrapper. Dark berries, floral sweetness and cedar once lit. Body: Medium. Read the full review

45. CAO BX3 Robusto

Brazil three times over, and the result carries flavors that are genuinely rare at this price. If your humidor is all Nicaragua and Broadleaf, this breaks the pattern. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

46. Perdomo 30th Anniversary Sungrown Box-Pressed Robusto

The filler smelled of green grapes, which I had to call in a second nose to confirm. The second half brought a chestnut nuttiness you simply do not meet often. Body: Full. Smoke time: 65 min. Read the full review

47. Macanudo Inspirado Tercio Aged Limited Edition Toro

Tobacco aged in palm leaves. Sweet fruit and vanilla, then fruit salad dusted with vanilla sugar, then a complete shift into creamy espresso, almond and chocolate. Sold as a sixty minute cigar, and I sat with it for two hours. Read the full review

48. ADVentura Kings Gold Toro

Creamy and almost milky to start, carrying almond and hazelnut over condensed milk sweetness, then dark chocolate, espresso and hickory, closing on cinnamon and wood baked sourdough. Smoke time: 75 min. Read the full review

49. West Tampa Tobacco Company Attic Series Toro

Fruit and vanilla sugar with a florality I can only describe as the scent of tulips, over espresso and dark chocolate. The last third changes almost completely into dark chocolate with exotic fruit behind. Smoke time: 80 min. Read the full review

50. Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Connecticut Robusto

I lit this expecting one thing and finished having smoked another. The golden shade wrapper points light, and by the final third I was tasting dark wood, espresso and a touch of sweet bourbon. Body: Medium. Read the full review

The Best Medium Bodied Cigars with Spice

51. K by Karen Berger Habano Toro

A medium bodied Nicaraguan puro with a distinctly spice forward character. Hay, cedar, nuttiness and a steady spice across eighty-five minutes, never tipping into harshness. Format: Box-pressed Toro. Read the full review

52. K by Karen Berger Cameroon Toro

A limited edition with an unusual dry quality that lets the subtler flavors come forward instead of getting buried. Hay, spice, cedar and roasted nuts across seventy-five minutes. Body: Medium. Read the full review

53. K by Karen Berger 25th Anniversary by AJ Fernandez

A collaboration that smokes with real confidence. Box pressed, full bodied and deeply layered across eighty minutes, with a handful of flavor nuances I have not met elsewhere. Body: Full. Read the full review

54. AJ Fernandez Enclave Habano Toro

The Cameroon binder adds an earthiness that separates it from standard Nicaraguan blends. Woodiness and chocolate dominate, with cacao, cinnamon, nutmeg and salted peanuts underneath. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

55. Stallone Alazan Corojo Robusto

Corojo sweetness and spice from first light to last, with sweet woodiness dominating throughout and each third bringing something new. Box pressed and unusually smooth for the shape. Body: Full. Read the full review

56. Stallone Castano Robusto

Eighty minutes from a robusto. Nuttiness, florality, hay, dark roasted coffee, nutmeg and citrus peel to open, anise and chocolate in the middle, espresso with cacao to close. Wrapper: San Andrés. Smoke time: 80 min. Read the full review

57. Escobar Habano Belicoso

Rolling a belicoso is one of the most demanding jobs a torcedor faces. If you want to see what a brand’s craftsmanship really looks like, smoke their belicoso. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

58. Alec Bradley Gate Keeper Toro

Creamy with a slight dryness, working through pepper, woodiness, cacao and leather, with minerals, florality and honey behind, then turning darker toward oak and espresso. Read the full review

59. Alec Bradley Prensado Robusto

The cold draw was almost more enjoyable than the smoke, which is not a criticism because the smoke was good. Box pressed with perfectly even edges, all Honduran. Body: Medium. Read the full review

60. EP Carrillo Allegiance Confidant

Some cigars front load everything and fade. This one builds in the other direction, and it does it reliably. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

The Best Everyday Cigars

61. Hemmy’s Natural Robusto

Quiet but interesting. Nuttiness, hay, anise and fresh herbs, then a hard to explain flavor in the second half combining floral, cedar and light vanilla bean. Seventy-five minutes from a robusto. Body: Medium. Read the full review

62. Hemmy’s Linea Secreta Robusto

Wonderful complexity and real balance, revealing its layers gradually rather than announcing everything at once. The step up from the Natural. Body: Medium. Read the full review

63. Kristoff Sumatra Robusto

I was worried when I felt how firm it was, and once it was lit the concern disappeared. More complexity than expected from a Sumatra wrapper, with proper transitions through the session. Body: Medium. Read the full review

64. Fratello Classico Robusto

Tightly rolled with a silky oily wrapper. Hay and fruit on the nose, hay and citrus on the cold draw, then an airy draw that throws a lot of smoke. Body: Upper mild bordering on medium. Read the full review

65. Camacho Ecuador Robusto

Eighty minutes from a regular robusto, and the important part is that the balance holds the whole distance. Nothing dominates and nothing disappears. Body: Medium. Read the full review

66. Rocky Patel White Label Robusto

Expected sixty minutes and got eighty. Sweet floral and fruity flavors with espresso behind, then citrus and sweet licorice, closing on oak and dark roasted coffee. Smoke time: 80 min. Read the full review

67. Gurkha Evil Robusto

Incredibly firm and evenly rolled with a slight oiliness. A Brazilian wrapper over Dominican binder gives an earthy, rounded profile at a price that makes box buying easy. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

68. Perdomo Fresco Sungrown Robusto

Chocolate, fruit and maltiness on the cold draw. Once lit, a creamy texture with nuttiness dominant, fresh herbs, hay and grass, with fruit, nougat chocolate, leather and wood behind. Smoke time: 70 min. Read the full review

69. Rebellion Ace of Spades

Toffee caramel that shifts to honey by the second third, then a final third where nearly everything drops away and leaves chocolate, grass and hay at the nub. Body: Full bordering on medium. Smoke time: 60 min. Read the full review

70. Rebellion 5 O’Clock Somewhere

Raspberry and citrus fruitiness with a florality that genuinely reminded me of roses, then a second half that deepens into earthiness and spice without losing the balance. Body: Medium bordering on mild. Smoke time: 50 min. Read the full review

The Best Connecticut Cigars

71. Drew Estate Blackened S84 Shade to Black Toro

Chamomile, peach, raspberry acidity and sweet almond under a Connecticut wrapper, held together by a creamy buttery texture. Eighty-five minutes without a single correction. Body: Medium bordering on mild. Read the full review

72. Stallone Palamino Connecticut Robusto

Sweet fruitiness, hay, a light saltiness and a combination of cream and butter, with white pepper, citrus peel, anise and coffee latte underneath. The draw was perfect start to finish. Wrapper: Connecticut USA. Read the full review

73. Leaf by Oscar Connecticut Toro

Wrapped in a tobacco leaf you peel away like a package. Fruit salad and honeydew with cedar and cashew, then leather, espresso and dark berries, closing on green tea and cola caramel. Smoke time: 90 min. Read the full review

74. My Father Connecticut Robusto

Hay and cashew with almond paste and filter coffee behind, broadening into wood, roasted nuts, nutmeg and ground coffee, and finishing with more character than it started with. Body: Medium. Smoke time: 60 min. Read the full review

75. AJ Fernandez San Lotano Requiem Connecticut Robusto

Creamy from the first draw and never letting go. The last third unfolds the fruit into two distinct shades, one closer to pear and one closer to raspberry. Read the full review

76. Principle Accomplice Connecticut Robusto

Fresh herbs, florality, citrus peel, butter, crackers, hay and leather, with sweet licorice, almond and a sweetness I can only call honey mixed with caramel underneath. Read the full review

77. PDR AFR-75 Cosecha Especial Shade Grown Robusto

Smooth and fresh in a way shade wrappers are not always smooth and fresh, with complexity that shifts properly between the thirds instead of holding one note. Body: Mild. Read the full review

78. Perdomo 30th Anniversary Connecticut Robusto

Creamy with soft fruit and a citrus brightness close to lime, then almond, cedar, hay and a honeyed sweetness carrying into the final third, with toasted oak and leather for structure. Smoke time: approx 70 min. Read the full review

79. Perdomo 10th Anniversary Connecticut Robusto

Coffee latte with vanilla syrup, hay, hazelnut, leather and general sweetness. The aftertaste is the interesting part: coffee with dark chocolate first, then a light walnut that stays. Body: Medium bordering on mild. Read the full review

80. Aladino Connecticut Rothschild

The cold draw gave citrus lemonade before the cigar was lit, which I could hardly believe. Buttery texture, hay, nuttiness, fruit, cedar and fresh herbs, with cinnamon and fir needles behind. Body: Mild. Read the full review

The Best Mild Cigars

81. Oliva Connecticut Reserve Robusto

Buttery and creamy at once. Sweet fruit, cashew nuttiness, cedar and a buttery breadiness, with a retrohale that stays smooth on white pepper and nuts. Read the full review

82. Brick House Connecticut Robusto

Sweet florality you do not expect, dark cherry in the background, hay, nuts, a pleasant pepperiness and a coffee latte note running underneath. Then something arrives in the last third. Smoke time: approx 50 min. Read the full review

83. Cavalier Genève White Series Elegantes

Golden diamond quality without the bill that usually comes with it. Well balanced, and the band and the history behind it are worth reading on their own. Read the full review

84. Oliva Flor de Oliva Connecticut

Rock solid in the hand, noticeably firmer than most cigars in its range. A soft, creamy smoke from the first draw that asks nothing of you, which is exactly its purpose. Body: Mild. Read the full review

85. Drew Estate Factory Smoke Shade Robusto

Some softer parts in the roll, and yet the glow line stayed incredibly even and never once needed adjusting. Hay, herbs, pepper, classic tobacco and biscuit. Wrapper: Connecticut Shade Ecuador. Read the full review

86. Joya de Nicaragua Silver Robusto

A relaxed everyday cigar for sunny days and balconies. A fruitiness combining creamy red grapes with sweet floral nuances gives it more character than most mild cigars in its class. Body: Mild. Smoke time: 55 min. Read the full review

87. Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto

A maduro and claro wrapper combination that is a work of art before it is lit. Mild through hay, grass, nuttiness and wood, lifted by vanilla, sweet licorice and dried fruit. Smoke time: 65 min. Read the full review

88. Joya de Nicaragua Clasico Robusto

Hay, nuttiness and cedar with vanilla sugar and faint florality behind, developing into cedar, nuttiness and anise in the second half. Inspect the draw before you light it. Body: Mild. Smoke time: 45 min. Read the full review

89. Joya Flor de Nicaragua Toro

Over fifty years of institutional blending knowledge at a price that makes no sense for how good it is. Mild and smooth with the kind of balance that takes years to achieve consistently. Body: Mild-medium. Read the full review

90. Don Kiki Green Label Toro

Not every cigar needs to demand your full attention. Mild, well built, and enough flavor to stay interesting on the days you do not want to think about every puff. Body: Mild. Read the full review

The Final Ten

Ten cigars that do not sit in any group above. Short formats, unusual shapes, and a few that are simply their own thing.

91. My Father Blue Petit Robusto

Small but powerful, with more complexity than many larger cigars. Box pressed, built from Honduran tobacco grown on the García family’s own Talanga farm. Body: Full bordering on medium. Read the full review

92. Don Kiki Brown Label Barber Pole Figurado

A compact figurado that shows how much character a short cigar can carry, pairing an eye catching barber pole wrapper with a sweet, savory profile. Smoke time: 45 min. Read the full review

93. Condega Serie F Mini Titan

Exotic fruit salad sweetness layered over dark chocolate bitterness, a combination that works better than it sounds. Seventy minutes from a small format. Body: Mild-medium. Read the full review

94. Tatuaje Cabaiguan No. 52 Rothschild

Sweet and well balanced, and it can be smoked at a deliberately slow pace without going out. The burn needed one correction and the flavors made it worth the touch up. Body: Medium. Read the full review

95. PDR 1878 Capa Shade Grown Robusto

Smooth in the way a well blended cigar with no rough edges is smooth, rather than the way a bland one is. Effortless from start to finish. Body: Mild-medium. Read the full review

96. La Aurora ADN Dominicano Robusto

Grass, hay and sweet almond balanced by nougat chocolate, then woodiness, nutmeg and fir needles, closing on pistachio, cedar, anise, leather and espresso with brown sugar. Smoke time: 85 min. Read the full review

97. Gilbert de Montsalvat Anniversary Gran Robusto

A beautifully twisted pigtail cap, a closed foot, and eighty leisurely minutes of vanilla bean, nutmeg and old fashioned caramel. Body: Medium. Read the full review

98. Foundation Cigars Charter Oak Connecticut Broadleaf

Connecticut does not only mean pale and creamy. Broadleaf grows in the same state and gives you the other cigar entirely, dark and earthy, firmly rolled with no veins or lumps. Read the full review

99. Amar by AJ Fernandez Robusto

In March 2025 a fire tore through the Estelí factory where AJ built his reputation. Amar is his answer to it. Some cigars are worth smoking for what they represent as much as for how they taste. Body: Medium-full. Read the full review

100. Zino Toro

Creamy and buttery with florality, green pear, cashew, cedar, espresso and dark chocolate, and a sweet retrohale carrying white pepper. Keep the draw open and take it slowly. Read the full review

How to Choose the Best Cigar for You

A hundred names is not a shopping list. It is a map. Here is how I would navigate it.

If you have three hours. Don Kiki Gold Label El Gordo or El Septimo Van Gogh Diadema.

If you have ninety minutes. Stallone Zaino, K by Karen Berger Maduro Toro, New World Cameroon Torpedo, Platinum Nova Classic.

If you have forty-five. Joya de Nicaragua Clasico, Don Kiki Brown Label Barber Pole, My Father Blue Petit Robusto.

If you are new to cigars. PDR AFR-75 Shade Grown, Joya de Nicaragua Silver, Don Kiki Green Label, Brick House Connecticut. More of these are in Best Cigars for Beginners.

If you want to taste something new. Escobar Connecticut for the melon, Gurkha Seduction for the coconut, El Septimo Da Vinci for both, Casa Turrent Rosado Gordito for the whole Mexican terroir.

If money is the deciding factor. New World Cameroon Torpedo, Drew Estate Factory Smoke Shade, Perdomo Fresco Sungrown. The full case for each is in The 20 Best Cigars for the Money.

If you want to go deeper into one format or wrapper. Top 24 Best Toro Cigars, Best 20 Connecticut Cigars, Top 50 Best Fall Cigars and Top 40 Best Summer Cigars each take one slice of this list and go further into it.

Whatever you pick, smoke it slowly. A cigar overheats faster than most people believe, and once it does no blend recovers. I have written up why smoking too fast ruins your cigar in detail.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Best Cigars

What are the best cigars right now?

The ten at the top of this page are where I would start, and the Stallone Zaino leads them. But the honest answer is that the best cigar depends on how long you have and how much body you want, which is why this list is grouped that way instead of ranked one to a hundred.

What makes a cigar one of the best?

Construction, burn, flavor that develops across the thirds, and whether I would buy it again. Price is not one of the four. Several cigars on this page cost a fraction of what the famous ones do and outperform them.

Are expensive cigars better?

Not reliably. Putting this list together, what struck me most was how little the expensive ones dominate. A bundle cigar sits a few lines from a limited edition costing thirty times as much, and both earned the place the same way.

How were these hundred chosen?

From the published review archive on this site, which now runs past 250 cigars, drawn from a much larger number smoked over more than ten years. Every cigar here was smoked in full and reviewed before this list existed. The final filter was whether I would smoke it again.

Is this list ranked?

No. The numbers are for navigation, not for ranking. The cigars are grouped by what you are after, and inside each group there are no winners and losers.

Which is the single best cigar here?

If I could keep one it would be the Stallone Zaino, for ninety minutes of dark, slow building flavor out of a format that has no business delivering it. Ask me on a different evening and you may get a different answer.

How often is this list updated?

As the archive grows. New reviews go up regularly, and when one earns a place here it goes in and something else comes out.

Where do I find everything else on the site?

The Complete Cigar Guide collects every major topic in one place: beginner guides, storage, palate training, pairing, brand deep dives and the interviews.

A hundred cigars is a strange thing to sit with. What struck me while assembling the best cigars I have smoked is how little the expensive ones dominate. A bundle cigar with a Connecticut shade wrapper sits a few lines from a limited edition that costs thirty times as much, and both earned it the same way.

Every one of them went through the same process. None are paid placements. If a cigar is here, it is here because of what it delivered in the smoking chair.

It’s not only a cigar, it’s a lifestyle.

About the Reviewer

Peter Stefanic, Certified Cigar Sommelier (IACS) and founder of vdg-cigars.com, an independent publication with no sponsored reviews. Every cigar above went through the same structured process: construction, cold draw, thirds-by-thirds tasting notes, burn, body and a final honest verdict.