Top 10 Full-Bodied Cigars
Some guys can only handle feisty, full-bodied smokes. Creamy, mild and easygoing cigars are like kryptonite to them. Maybe your nicotine tolerance has grown to mythical proportions over the years, or the barbed wire you put on your toast in the morning has made you immune to the palate-searing taste you get from strong and spicy cigars. The good news is there are plenty of peppery, Ligero-laden smokes to choose from these days. Here are the Top 10 Full-Bodied Cigars that belong in your daily rotation if you’ve moved beyond the mellow and approachable profile of your average mild cigar.
#1 - Fuente Fuente Opus X
The pride and joy of legendary cigar-maker Carlito Fuente, Fuente Fuente Opus X sits atop the Fuente family’s hierarchy of world-renowned cigars. Its ultra-rare profile of Dominican tobaccos is cultivated from the celebrated Chateau de la Fuente estates, including its glistening wrapper leaf. Notes of dried fruit, figs, and coffee beans accompany a full-bodied, zesty finish with a long and lingering taste that’s tough to put down. Although Fuente Fuente Opus X is less easy to find on a store shelf, fans of stronger Dominican cigars never hesitate to sing the praises of this lauded cigar.
#2 - Ashton Symmetry
Ashton Symmetry is also blended to the uncompromising standards of Carlito Fuente. The 94-rated ‘Top 10’ cigar carries a special distinction as the first release in the brand’s iconic portfolio to include Nicaraguan tobacco in the blend. In addition, an ultra-premium recipe of Dominican tobaccos are joined beneath a toothy and succulent Cuban-seed wrapper aged for an extended period. Notes of fresh ground coffee, cedar, cayenne, and cinnamon deliver an undeniably complex finish. Ashton Symmetry never ceases to be sweet, zesty, and mesmerizing from the first puff.
#3 - My Father Le Bijou 1922
My Father Le Bijou 1922 bears a prestigious reputation along with its potent, peppery profile of black pepper, cayenne, leather, and freshly ground espresso beans. In 2015, the blend scored 97 points in Cigar Aficionado and took home the ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ title. A shimmering Nicaraguan Oscuro wrapper conceals a hearty core of spicy Nicaraguan long-fillers grown on prized Garcia family farms.
#4 - San Cristobal Ovation
Award-winning cigar-maker Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia blends an exquisite profile of cocoa, toasted almonds, cedar, and sweetened hickory in San Cristobal Ovation. The cigar is released annually in small batches in a handful of traditional formats. It’s silky taste easily masks the depth and density of its premium aged tobaccos. A well-aged Oscuro wrapper cultivated in San Andrés harbors a delicious core of vintage Nicaraguan long-fillers grown on select Garcia family estates.
#5 - Arturo Fuente Anejo
Carlito Fuente blended Arturo Fuente Anejo over ten years ago as a temporary replacement for his much sought-after Fuente Fuente Opus X cigars following a year when a hurricane wiped out the Opus wrappers he had been aging. An oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is aged in a cognac barrel for added richness before it’s placed over the intense core of premium Dominican long-fillers reserved for Opus X. Today, Anejo maintains no shortage of admirers thanks to its original profile of dark chocolate, sweet spirits, and buttery, Dominican spices.
#6 - La Aroma de Cuba Reserva
Pepin Garcia family blends La Aroma de Cuba Reserva from a dark and decadent San Andres Oscuro wrapper over a robust combination of vintage Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Six distinctive sizes deliver notes of hickory, almonds, dark chocolate, and earth, with signature Garcia family spices. Savor a 94-rated gem from La Aroma de Cuba.
#7 - Padron 1926 Series
Every leaf of tobacco in Padron 1926 Series is aged for a minimum of eight years. While the extra fermentation takes the edge off, make no mistake Padron 1926 cigars deliver a bit of kick if you’re not prepared. The brand’s iconic profile of cayenne, cinnamon, cedar, cocoa, and spices has placed it in Cigar Aficionado’s ‘Top 10’ no less than six times and represents some of the highest rated entries to date. The toughest part is only smoking one.
#8 - Oliva Serie V
The award-winning Oliva brand officially graduated into the pantheon of premium smokes with the debut of its wildly popular Oliva Serie V. A full-flavored, spicy, and rich profile of earth, leather, and cayenne is drafted entirely from Cuban-seed Ligero tobaccos. A chewy, reddish-brown Nicaraguan wrapper hugs a vigorous interior. The 95-rated cigar also possesses a ‘Top 5’ ranking for 2017.
#9 - Cain
With the official motto, “Cain is for Tough Guys Only,” what more can we say? Cain’s got a solid collection 90+ ratings to its credit, but the guys who smoke Cain don’t care about accolades. They consist of lumberjacks and pure adrenaline seekers who require an intense dose of nicotine before they slide on their boots in the morning. Cain comes in a variety of Cuban-seed and Maduro wrapper options over an intense recipe of brow-beating Nicaraguan Ligero tobaccos. Cain’s been known to cause a strongman’s mustache to wilt like a daisy in the breeze.
#10 - Rocky Patel The Edge
Rocky Patel fashions his bestselling The Edge cigars from a predominantly full-bodied recipe of Cuban-seed, Corojo, and Maduro wrapper varietals. Beneath each is a hearty blend of Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Black pepper, jalapenos, minerals, earth, leather, wood, and dark chocolate make cameos across a meaty menu of Rocky’s more full-flavored profiles. Rocky Patel The Edge Habano remains the highest rated with 94 points, while Rocky Patel The Edge 2nds represent an unbeatable value in a variety of tasty bundles for a deep discount.
