Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars - RANKINGS REVEAL THE GREAT CIGAR COMPANIES

RANKINGS REVEAL THE GREAT CIGAR COMPANIES

RANKINGS REVEAL THE GREAT CIGAR COMPANIES

Which companies did best in our mild, medium and full-bodied rankings?

Los Angeles, October 25 – Who’s the best?

We answered that in our rankings of mild, medium and full-bodied cigars, ranking 70 brands as worthy of note and your consideration. But what do the rankings tell us about the top cigar manufacturers?

Plenty.

Consider the outstanding performance of these five companies, whose brands showed up again and again on our lists:

No. 1: General Cigar Company
The powerful line-up of General’s brands made a huge impact in our listings:

• Dominating the mild-bodied list, the Macanudo Gold Label brand ranked no.2, with Helix at no. 3, Temple Hall at no. 4 and Macanudo at no. 7.

• On the medium-bodied list, the Punch Gran Puro from Honduras popped up at no. 7.

• In the full-bodied rankings, the popular Partagas brand was celebrated at no. 3, Excalibur earned no.19, Punch Grand Cru was no. 24 and the very nice Partagas Black Label came in at no. 30.

Scoring in all three rankings, General’s brand earned nine placings, tops on our lists and gets a special mention as the manufacturer of El Rey del Mundo. Manufactured for distribution by J-R Cigars in its Villazon & Co. factory in Honduras, it ranked no. 18 in our full-bodied survey, which would give General its “10th star” . . . making it a five-star manufacturer, twice over!

No. 2: Fuente & Newman and J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
The Fuente and Newman companies showcase their family roots in advertising and promotions, but make no mistake, this is a powerhouse cigar maker with more than 2,000 employees spread between Tampa, Florida and Santiago, Dominican Republic. Their cigars were omnipresent on our lists:

• The Arturo Fuente Hemingway Series starred at no. 3 in our medium-bodied rankings, joined on the list by the Cuesta-Rey Centenario (Centro Fino Sungrown) at no. 6.

• On the full-bodied list, Fuente cigars were strong: the original Arturo Fuente line ranked no. 4, the Don Carlos brand was no. 10 and the Fuente Fuente Opus X was no. 20.

These five rankings are underscored by the great brands made by Fuente, but sold by others: Diana Silvius on the medium-bodied list at no. 12; the awesome Ashton Aged Maduro at no. 2 on the full-bodied list, along with the Ashton Virgin Sun Grown at no. 21 and Sosa at no. 28. Combining these would give the Fuente and Newman “family” empire a remarkable total of nine rankings.

No. 3: Altadis USA
This giant earned seven places in our rankings, with especially high placings for the venerable, but sometimes underrated H. Upmann brand.

On the mild-bodied list, its Don Diego line ranked eighth, but Altadis had two top-ten rankings in the medium-bodied ranks with Romeo y Julieta1875 in fourth and H. Upmann in ninth.

Altadis scored especially well in the full-bodied rankings, with four placings: H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon in ninth, the new Juan Lopez blend in 11th, peppery Montecristo Platinum in 12th and Trinidad in 26th.

No. 4: Davidoff of Geneva
Talk about quality! The famed Davidoff brand ended up at or near the top of our rankings in all three categories: mild, medium and full-bodied. The Davidoff Aniversario was no. 1 in our mild-bodied survey, the Davidoff Special Series was no. 2 in the medium-bodied list and the Davidoff Millennium Blend was no. 5 in our full-bodied survey. Wow!

In addition, Davidoff was well represented with its Avo and Zino brands. The Avo Classic line earned a no. 8 ranking on the medium-bodied list and the Zino Platinum Scepter brand was 14th on the same list. Five rankings, with four in the top tens, simply reinforces Davidoff’s standing as makers and distributors of some of the highest-quality cigars in the world.

No. 5: MATASA
Although its own brands earned recognition on two lists, Manolo Quesada’s enterprise is the manufacturing muscle behind two additional brands which earned places on our lists:

• On the mild-bodied charts, MATASA’s Fonseca brand earned a gaudy no.6 ranking, but they also make no. 10 Licenciados for Mike’s Cigars and the no. 14 Casa Blanca for J-R Cigars.

• On the full-bodied list, they distribute the no. 7-ranked Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion.

Honorable Mention:
The Padrons deserve a special award: they make only three lines of cigars and all three ended up on our ranking lists:

• The original Padron line ranked no. 17 on our list of medium-bodied cigars;
• The Padron 30 Aniversario ranked 14th among full-bodied brands;
• The Padron Serie 1926 earned a ranking of 23rd on the full-bodied list.

In their quiet way, the Torano Cigar Co. also deserves recognition, not only for making two brands which earned rankings, but also for making a third which showed up on our list. Their Carlos Torano Exodus 1959 ranked 16th on our medium-bodied list, and they make the 19th-ranked Gurkha Master Select series, and their Carlos Torano Tribute ranked 27th on our full-bodied list.

Carlos and Charlie Torano are great cigar makers and better people, as are most of the top professionals who make the great cigars today. That’s all the more reason to enjoy their work, one puff at a time.
~ Rich Perelman

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