There is something about puffing on a cigar on a chilly, blustery winter night that fills us with a sense of cozy warmth that’s almost akin to sitting in the crackling glow of a fireplace (of course, the combination of cigar and fireplace is one of those truly perfect marriages, enhanced by a glass of brandy and a leather chair and - but we digress). Maybe it’s the primal experience of starting a fire in the midst of the cold, as our ancestors did to provide comfort and protection. Maybe it’s the fact that a cigar is a little piece of the tropics itself, its ingredients grown, harvested, fermented, and aged in balmy, humid climates, and maintained in a box that replicates those perfect conditions. Whatever the reason, smoking a cigar in the cold months carries with it a sense of satisfaction that’s hard to replicate any other time of year - especially if the cigar is of outstanding quality and flavor.

SMOKE Cigar Ratings
Rating	Quality
0-2.0	Poor
2.1-2.9	Fair
3.0-3.9	Good
4.0-4.5	Excellent
4.6-5.0	Superior

As always, we’ve done our best to find some of those great cigars for you and put them to the usual rigorous tests of our nationwide panel of tasters. The front-runner of this issue’s Review was something of a surprise: the Exquisitos Belicoso Long from Crown David International, a dos capa (double wrapper) cigar that our panelists awarded a rare 4.6. Perhaps the novelty “barber pole striped” cigar is poised for a comeback. Also impressing the panelists were the Cuban H. Upmann No. 2 and the Lempira Churchill, a Nicaraguan puro from Tabacalera Tropical, both earning a 4.5. A variety of cigars from prolific producers like Perdomo, Toraño, CAO, Matasa, and General Cigar also received Excellent scores, including much-anticipated releases like the Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion Churchill (4.4) and the Excalibur Royal Sterling Fidelis (4.3), both of which lived up to the hype, according to our experts.