Okay… I know that there’s no such thing as a perfect cigar. But I’m always on the lookout for a cigar I can rate at 100 points. My rating scale is much like Katman’s in that the rating has nothing to do with a comparison to other cigars, but on the experience, and how it affects me when I smoke it. Rightly so, there are very few that I’ve smoked that fall into that category.
What’s the experience of a hundred-pointer for me? It’s one that transports me from place to place while I smoke it. It gets better and better as I smoke it. Its flavor profile is one that defies the standard of breaking it down by thirds because its transitions are constant. It may not have a plethora of flavors but the palate changes from puff to puff; each puff’s flavor profile balanced, and most importantly, completely satisfying, and integral with the rest of the smoke.
That integrity is a huge factor to me. I’ve had sticks that transition wildly, going all over the place, and not necessarily to good places. But a 100-pointer’s transitions always make sense, seeming to stick to a central theme, even if there’s a wide variation.
And finally, it’s a cigar that practically leaves me speechless. With a 100-pointer, there’s ethereal quality about it that makes it transcend verbal description. And even when I do manage to describe what I’m tasting, I feel as if I’m doing it a disservice.
So, what sticks fall into this category for me? Off the top of my head they are:
- La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Broadleaf Diamond
- Curivari Reserva Limitada Cafe Noir
- La Sirena Super Sea Monkeys
- Tatuaje 7th Habano
- Cuban Montecristo No. 2 or No. 4
- Don Emmanuel Annunaki
When I smoke any of these, I become lost in thought and get transported to my happy place. The world around me stops, and I don’t have a care in the world.
As I wrote this entry, I was smoking the La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Broadleaf Diamond. It was difficult to write because I just wanted to sit back and enjoy it and let it envelop me with the bounty of its goodness. To me, that cigar is the epitome, the archetype, of a CT Broadleaf wrapped stick. Oh, I’ve had many CT Broadleaf-wrapped cigars, but at least for me, the blend with this one makes it sit far above many sticks.
And except for the Cuban Montes, all the sticks I listed above are solid mid-range sticks, with the Don Emmanuel cigars being the most expensive at about $15/stick. To me, good is good, no matter the price. Curivari has demonstrated that again and again over the years, creating banger after banger at practically budget prices, and the pinnacle of their achievement is the Reserva Limitada Cafe Noir. I’m stockpiling boxes because they’ve been discontinued.
So, perfect cigar? Well, nothing’s perfect. But perfect experience? Absolutely. Others’ lists will be different than mine, I get that, and my list may change over time as my palate changes. But the important thing for me is the quest, which is why I smoke so many different cigars.
Unco B's Stogie Diary 