Top 25 Cigars of 2025 (1-5)

The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here. After weeks of smoking and re-smoking, debating and deliberating, we’re proud to present the Top 5 Cigars of 2025, and crown a new Cigar of the Year.

These five blends rose above an exceptional field to claim the top spots on our list. Congratulations to the brand owners, factory teams, and tobacco growers whose vision and craftsmanship brought these blends to life.

We hope you enjoy the list and smoke your way through it. Join us on social media this afternoon as we make the call to the winner, celebrate the #1 cigar, and share our thoughts on the list.

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1.  My Father Blue

Manufacturer: My Father Cigars in Honduras
Wrapper:  USA/Connecticut; Binder: Honduras; Filler: Honduras
Vitola: Toro; Physical size: 6 x 54
MSRP: $12.00
Rating: 94

The story of My Father Cigars is a quintessentially American tale. José “Pepín” García began rolling cigars at a young age in the small Cuban town of Báez, eventually becoming one of Cuba’s most decorated cigar rollers before fleeing the dictatorship in 2001. Two years later, he opened a tiny factory in Miami’s Little Havana with his children, Jaime and Janny. Today, My Father Cigars produces an estimated 24 million cigars annually and is a perennial fixture on our Top 25 list. In the last 10 years of Top 25 lists, a My Father brand has appeared in the Top 5, five times, including a Cigar of the Year for the Centurion H-2K-CT in 2015. They are, without question, one of the most celebrated cigar makers in the world.

The My Father Blue represents a bold new chapter for the Garcías. Three years ago, they quietly purchased close to 900 acres in Honduras’s Talanga region and began cultivating their own Honduran tobacco. They then constructed a 78,000 square-foot factory in El Paraiso, making My Father one of only a few companies producing handmade cigars in three countries.

The Blue is a flawlessly pressed toro that produces an abundance of rich, aromatic smoke with a medium level of strength. It is balanced and nuanced, with notes of sweet cream, cedar, and nuts complemented by exotic spices and marzipan. It is a departure from the bold Nicaraguan blends My Father is known for, perhaps more refined, more delicate, but no less compelling and deserving of the top spot on this list.

This is the first Honduran cigar ever to receive our Cigar of the Year honor. Congratulations to Don Pepín, Jaime, Janny, and the entire García family on being awarded Cigar Snob Magazine’s Cigar of the Year for 2025!

2.  Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Reserve Maduro

Manufacturer: Aganorsa Leaf Factory in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexico; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Robusto; Physical size: 5 ½ x 52
MSRP: $13.99
Rating: 93

As a vertically integrated company, Aganorsa Leaf controls every step of the cigar-making process and there is no better showcase of their mastery than this blend. The robusto format delivers you straight into the heart of it from the first puff, delivering dark chocolate, sweet cedar, and roasted nuts with smooth pepper and subtle earth to balance it. It’s an incredibly enjoyable combination of flavors and aromas wrapped in a dark, toothy Mexican San Andrés leaf.

3. Olmec Claro

Manufacturer: Tabacalera AJ Fernández in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexico; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Double Corona; Physical size: 7 x 54
MSRP: $17.86
Rating: 93

When brand owner Nicolas Melillo sourced the San Andrés wrapper for the Olmec Maduro, he had to purchase the entire lot, which included a significant amount of claro leaf. After the Maduro took home Cigar of the Year honors in 2022, it became difficult to find in stores, we turned to the Claro version and fell for its charms. Named for the ancient Mesoamerican civilization that first cultivated tobacco in the region, the Olmec Claro in Churchill soared through this year’s tastings, proving that sometimes the understudy deserves a starring role.

4. La Aroma de Cuba Reserva

Manufacturer: My Father Cigars in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexico; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: Divino; Physical size: 6 ½ x 54
MSRP: $13.75
Rating: 93

The collaboration between Ashton and the García family at the My Father factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, continues to produce exceptional cigars. La Aroma de Cuba, a brand with roots stretching back to 1880s Cuba, has found a home in Nicaragua. The Reserva line, a follow-up to the acclaimed Mi Amor, consistently performs well in our tastings, and this box-pressed Divino is no exception. Notes of cocoa, cinnamon, and roasted nuts ride on a rich, creamy texture throughout.

5. Padrón 1926 Serie Maduro

Manufacturer: Tabacos Cubanica in Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua; Binder: Nicaragua; Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: No. 6; Physical size: 4 ¾ x 50
MSRP: $17.90
Rating: 93

Padron is no stranger to these lofty rankings. The 1964 Anniversary Maduro Exclusivo took home Cigar of the Year in 2019, and just last year the 1964 Maduro torpedo claimed the No. 3 spot. The family’s commitment to aging tobacco a minimum of five years and keeping production quantities low ensures that quality is always the priority. This year, it was the 1926 Serie Maduro No. 6, scoring 93 points, that stood out to our panel.

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