The final day of the Top 25 extravaganza is upon us! We’ve smoked our way through hundreds of cigars to get to this point and by the end of the day, we’ll crown a new Cigar of the Year!
It has been a fantastic year for premium cigars, and we’ve had no shortage of top-notch smokes to choose from. We want to congratulate all the companies that made our list and a special recognition to the teams of artisans that have a hand in the production of these amazing blends.
We hope you enjoy our list and smoke your way through it. We’ll be on our social media channels after 4 PM to break down the top 5 and celebrate the #1 cigar of 2024.
1. Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco
Manufacturer: Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexico; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Toro; Physical size: 6 x 52
MSRP: $20.00
Rating: 93
Cinco de Cinco translates to Five of Five in English. It is not only a reference to the company’s 55th anniversary but also to the cigar’s quality, which the company says is a “five out of five.” We couldn’t agree more. The blend masterfully manages to be at once, a flavorful San Andrés maduro, while having the nuanced profile of a much lighter cigar. There aren’t many cigars in the market that execute this balance so flawlessly. In the complexity department, the Cinco de Cinco scores off the charts as well, going through multiple transitions throughout the smoke.
The cigar is a part of the company’s Obras Maestras series along with the Número Uno, Cuatro Cinco, Cinco Decadas, and now Cinco de Cinco, which started shipping to retailers at the very end of 2023. We sat down with Juan Martinez, executive director of Joya de Nicaragua, just as the Cinco de Cinco was hitting stores and told us all about the blending process for this cigar, which involved taking inspiration from the thousands of visitors to the factory who blended their own cigars. So if you’ve visited Joya de Nicaragua in the last decade and blended your own cigar, you somehow had a hand in this product. As Martinez says, “This cigar was made with the people, by the people and for the people.”
In spite of your involvement in this blend, we are compelled to congratulate the team at Joya de Nicaragua. They are a company with an incredible history, led by courageous and intelligent people, making world-class cigars day in and day out.
Congratulations on being Cigar Snob Magazine’s Cigar of the Year for 2024!
Cigar Snob Podcast: One on One with Joya de Nicaragua’s Juan Martinez
2. Fonseca by My Father Edition MX
Manufacturer: My Father Cigars in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexico; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Robusto; Physical size: 5 x 50
MSRP: $11.00
Rating: 93
My Father Cigars finalized the acquisition of the Fonseca brand in December of 2019 and by September of 2020, the revamped Fonseca was already hitting stores and being tasted by our panel. It was an instant hit, scoring 93 points and coming in as the #2 cigar of 2020. In March of 2024, My Father released the Fonseca Edition MX sporting an ultra flavorful Mexican San Andrés wrapper and again, hit it out of the park similarly climbing up to the #2 position in its first year. While price does not factor into our Top 25 rankings, it is worth noting that the Fonseca Edition MX is the only cigar in the top 10 that is under $12.
My Father Fonseca Edition MX Review – Cigar Snob Podcast E161
3. Padron 1964 Anniversary Series
Manufacturer: Tabacos Cubanica in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Torpedo; Physical size: 6 x 52
MSRP: $19.95
Rating: 93
The Padrón 1964 Anniversary Maduro, one of the more decorated premium cigars in the industry, makes its 4th appearance on our year-end list. We crowned this blend Cigar of the Year for 2019, in the 5 ½ X 50 Exclusivo format. The cigar celebrates the year that the late José Orlando Padrón founded Padrón Cigars in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami and is a model of consistency and excellence in cigar making. The line is available in either natural or maduro and features a whopping sixteen sizes but this year, it was the maduro torpedo that grabbed the #3 position scoring 93 points.
In April of 2024, the passing of Rudy Padrón prompted us to publish a story from 2011 about the Padrón family to our website. Read that story here.
4. El Titan de Bronze Redemption
Manufacturer: El Titan De Bronze Cigar Factory in Miami
Wrapper: Ecuador; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Corona Extra; Physical size: 5 5/8 x 46
MSRP: $15.99
Rating: 93
The tiny, family-run cigar factory in Little Havana, known for their classic, Cuban-style cigars, partnered with General Cigar to distribute the El Titan de Bronze Redemption. Longtime fans of the factory may remember the older versions of the Redemption, in fact the maduro appeared in this publications ratings section back in the November 2010 issue with 91 points. This iteration is a completely different blend and in our opinion, a superior one. The cigar is available in 3 sizes, robusto, toro, and our favorite, a 5 ⅝ x 46 corona. It features an Ecuador habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers and delivers a creamy and flavorful, medium strength profile.
5. Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio
Manufacturer: Aganorsa Leaf Factory in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Corona; Physical size: 6 x 44
MSRP: $14.99
Rating: 93
We had our first look at the Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio just before the 2024 PCA trade show. It was the first batch of the blend and it certainly impressed our panel – it scored 91 points in the Jul/Aug 2024 issue. While that score qualified it as a candidate for this list, the samples we re-tasted at the end of the year significantly outperformed those early smokes.
The brand is named after the late Arsenio Ramos, who was Aganorsa’s head of manufacturing until his passing in 2018. The Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio is the company’s rendition of his favorite blend using all Nicaraguan tobaccos grown on Aganorsa’s farms.
Get to know the history of Aganorsa and the man who made it all happen.
