Top 25 Annual Cigar Of The Year • January/February 2019
Features
Top 25 Cigars of 2018
It isn’t enough to simply be a good cigar, or even a great cigar. Draw and combustion have to be flawless, flavors need to be varied and appealing and the overall qualities must …
Living For Golf
Hanging near the center of all the memorabilia that decorates and accentuates Jimmy Dunne’s office in midtown Manhattan is a small, framed piece with the words “Jimmy’s Motto” …
Gambling On Gamers
Come this Sunday, one thing is all but certain. Casino sports books will be packed with gamblers. Many will be looking to bet on the NBA. Others will be going for the NCAA. Over …
Build a Better Bar
Years ago, my brother was house hunting and asked me to check out a nearby beach property. What impressed me more than its views of the Long Island Sound was the interior: almost …
The Year Of The Luxury Car
While auto dealers don’t soap up their windows anymore to build excitement for the new model year, you still have plenty of reasons to be excited about the 2019 cars, trucks and …
Cigars
Hefty Havanas: Cuban Cigars Are Getting Thicker...And More Popular
Two decades ago, a Cuban cigar thicker than 50-ring-gauge was an anomaly. Today, hefty new Havanas are everywhere.
Drago's Return
The Swedish actor is back in his most familiar role. But this time the robotic Drago of Rocky IV has a human side.
Florida's Grown
How two companies are endeavoring to reestablish tobacco growing in the once-dominant Sunshine State.
Ratings from this Issue
Up Front
Editors' Note: The Toughest Test
Cigar ratings are the bedrock of Cigar Aficionado magazine. In this issue, they take center stage as we name the Top 25— the very best cigars of the year . It’s the …
Out Of The Humidor, February 2019
Dear Marvin, The article on the five small farms of Cuba was quite refreshing [“Cuba’s Best Cigar Tobacco Farms,” November/December 2018]. Although you will never hear Montecris…
The Good Life
1000 North
Cigar aficionados know restaurants that welcome smoking at the table have long been a vanishing breed. But 1000 North, a new, high-end dining establishment in Jupiter, Florida, is …
Amaro: A Cocktail's Best Friend
Translated from the Italian, its name is less than inviting: bitter. But when amaro finds its way into a cocktail it becomes a pleasant surprise. What’s more, many of these …
Le Grand S.T. Dupont
You’ve gone out for a day of leisure, provisioned with a few well-chosen cigars. When the wind picks up on the golf course, you need a torch lighter to ignite your smoke. But …
MB&F HM9 Flow
It’s as if the wingtip tanks and cockpits of a postwar jet merged with the dashboard of a chrome-laden cruising car from the ’50s and landed on your wrist, where it morphed into a …
Epson Home Cinema
Those who remember the birth of home television projection also recall its expensive foibles. The three-lens console took up yards of real estate and delivered a fuzzy picture …
Cristallo, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
You may recognize Cortina d’Ampezzo as the impeccably chic alpine destination that attracted jet-setters, jewel thieves and a clueless police inspector in the 1963 film The Pink …
The Missing Link
They say follow your passion, and Michael Rodriguez, once a paralegal, did just that, turning his cuff link collecting into The Missing Link, a New York City shop with 20,000 …
Table Tennis Mastery
In one moment, I had thought of table tennis as a pedestrian pursuit: fun, but with an easy learning curve that allowed you to make contact and win points in no time—nothing like …
Made For You, February 2019
In a world of fast food and one-size-fits-all sensibilities, how often does something feel made especially for you? The “Made for You” section celebrates those items that are …
Model Trains
A black locomotive with the white lettering “New York Central” hurtles around a bend of track. Passenger cars pursue their leader into a tunnel. Puffs of smoke spurt from the …