CA's 2016 Top 25

[AshScache]

So CA put out cigars 8, 9 & 10 today and the winners were. . . .

#8: Oliva Serie V Melanio Robusto
#9: Hoyo de Monterey Epicure #2 (CC)
#10: Punch Gran Puro Santa Rita


Thrilled to see a sub $6 stick make the top 10-- that Punch is a great smoke and with a 25 count box going for less than $100 (!) is a major bargain.

Haven't smoked the Hoyo--

I picked up a box of the Oliva about a year ago and that too has been a great smoke. In the shadow, a bit, of the figurado, I thought it had the same flavor profile in a shorter but just as satisfying smoke with an excellent draw.

Your thoughts?

 

[JonHuber]

My thoughts:


Cheers!

Jon Huber
Crowned Heads

 

[tadpole]

meh.
their reviews are suspect. i remember reading that they only smoke the first inch of a cigar before moving on to the next. hardly enough time to pick out any complexity or transitions. i stopped paying attention to that list last year (or the year before).

 

[AshScache]

Fair enough, I guess. I agree with the Crowned Heads video-- "Say what you want, it's a conversation starter." I've always found it as a nice checklist of stuff to try in a given year. Found some great sticks that way.

 

[tadpole]

yeah, i was in the middle of typing that out when @JonHuber posted. it is indeed a conversation starter.
If true, i just find it crazy that they smoke so little of a cigar before moving on. i would punch myself in the dick if i smoked only an inch of a Crowned Heads stick and tossed it. those things are delicious.

 

[memphsdad]

Please refer to our resident aficionado, @ar2381, for any questions/comments/concerns regarding the CA Top 25.

 

[rraming]

It's interesting to see year after year - with the Punch I think the Sierra is a better smoke than the robusto. They do smoke multiples at one sitting and don't smoke all that much of them (this is the 2nd smoking of the "best" 100 or so from current year.
They do increase the price of cigars! They can't raise them fast enough once this list comes out.

 

[Wasatch_B]

I respect Katman's top 25 more than I do CA's.
I've never smoked a Crowned Heads cigar. I might have to change that.

 

[klovett]

I've never smoked a Crowned Heads cigar. I might have to change that.

 

[jimmy_d]

I take it all with a grain of salt, but I do look forward to it every year. I have to say (at least in the last few years - my memory isn't good enough to remember too far back) but their picks are usually pretty good smokes.

 

[icehog3]

The Hoyo Epicure #2 is one of my least favorite Cuban cigars. Figures it made CA's Top Ten.

 

[StogieNinja]

I actually like the HDM 2

 

[ChuckMejia]

Please refer to our resident aficionado, @ar2381, for any questions/comments/concerns regarding the CA Top 25.

Have you been to any of HIS lounges?


There is nothing Alan does not know when it comes to the noncuban market.

@nic

 

[memphsdad]

Have you been to any of HIS lounges?


There is nothing Alan does not know when it comes to the noncuban market.

@nic

He'll be working for the exclusive Habanos SA dealer soon enough. Then there will be nothing he does not know about all cigars, ever.

 

[icehog3]

I actually like the HDM 2

Most of the guys I smoke with like them too, I just never did...although I find the Epi 1s even worse. That's what's great about cigars, to each his won.

 

[StogieNinja]

Most of the guys I smoke with like them too, I just never did...although I find the Epi 1s even worse. That's what's great about cigars, to each his won.

Word.

Do you feel like they taste to "thin"?

 

[ChuckMejia]

Most of the guys I smoke with like them too, I just never did...although I find the Epi 1s even worse. That's what's great about cigars, to each his won.

Epi 1s have never satisfied me. Epi Especial and San juans and Des Dieux are my top 3 hoyos

 

[sofc]

I actually like the HDM 2

I love it hdm 2

 

[icehog3]

Word.

Do you feel like they taste to "thin"?

I wouldn't describe it as thin, I just think the flavor profile they do have is not one I enjoy. About the Epi 1s, I think they taste "sour", as in I identify the taste as similar to something "spoiled".....I don't like the Epi 2s, but they aren't as distasteful to me. Like I said, kind of crazy, because many of my smoking buddies love them both.

 

[icehog3]

Epi 1s have never satisfied me. Epi Especial and San juans and Des Dieux are my top 3 hoyos

I definitely like the "du" and "des" Hoyos, du Prince, des Diuex and du Maire are all excellent. I have not tried the San Juan.

Thought of another one I don't like....the Petite Robusto. Gah.