MY 10 BEST CIGARS OF 2009

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Merry belated Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, a belated happy Hanukkah and just plain ol' Happy Holidays to all the followers of this blog site.  Figured since everyone is doing a top ten list of some sort, I might as well follow suit.

I am going to give you my ten best cigars that I smoked in 2009 and found worth mentioning.  They run the gambit of sizes, prices and countries of origin.  Without further beating around the bush here's my TOP 10 CIGARS OF 2009.

10 - LegendArio Camacho Legendario Bertha.  A great full bodied cigar at a moderate price. Well worth a try in these hard economic times.

9 - Nestor Miranda Murcielago short robusto.  A newly released short robusto cigar (4 x 40) with a gorgeous maduro wrapper.  See the Murcielago review for more details on this wonderful smoke.

8 - Davidoff Millennium Blend Robusto.  Smoked this cigar at a Barclay Rex event and finally saw what the Davidoff smokers rave about.  It's a great smoke, a bit pricey, but it's worth a try.

7 - CAO Maduro (Torpedo).  A great smoke, hadn't smoked one in a while and revisited this brand and was pleasantly surprised.  See the CAO Maduro review for more details on this wonderful cigar.

6 - NUB (the entire line).  This is a small, 4 x 60, cigar but don't let the size fool you.  This cigar packs a full bodied flavor and requires 45 minutes to enjoy the flavors in this wonderful Oliva creation.

5 - OLIVA Series G and Series V.  Another great smoke that comes in all sizes and shapes.  My favorite is the figurado shape.  A wonderful smoke that comes at a price that won't break the bank.

4 - San Cristobal.  A great new line from the folks that brought you the Ashton cigar line.  Yet another wonderful smoke that shows the care that Don Pepin Garcia puts into creating this wonderful Honduran cigar.  Worth a trip to your local cigar merchant to give this a try. If you like the Ashton cigars you won't be disappointed with the San Cristobal.

3 -  Camacho Room 101.  A great new cigar which was a collaborative effort with legendary jewelry designer Matt Booth.  This cigar comes in 6 sizes and is named with a number, which translates to an area code for different parts of the country.  I have smoked the torpedo shape which is a wonderful medium bodied smoke.  I'd highly recommend this to those medium and full body smokers.

2- La Flor Dominica Double Ligero.   My favorites are the DL-700, a 6 1/2 x 60, and the Chisel Maduro.  Both are very full bodied smokes, as a big fan of this line, I'd highly recommend that one smokes these cigars after having a meal otherwise you'll be in for a big head rush.  Worth the price and if you're a full bodied smoker as I am you'll fall in love with these cigars.

Finally we get to my #1 smoke of 2009 which is the LG Diez Chisel Puro.  This cigar like the Fuente OPUS OPUS X is a rare breed.  This cigar is comprised of Dominican grown tobacco which gives it a wonder flavor.  It's an unusual figurado shaped cigar where the head of the cigar comes to a chisel shape hence the name.  Lito tells a wonderful story as to how the Chisel shape came into being.  As he states it came about from him chomping on a cigar during the day until the end became flattened like the point of a carpenter's chisel.   It's a wonderful smoke, if you can find them, and as a fan I'd highly recommend this cigar if you can procure one.  You won't be disappointed.

There you go folks, my top 10 best cigars that I had the pleasure to smoke in 2009.  Hope you'll give one or all of them a try and see if they become one of your top 10 smokes.  Hope your New Year is the best it can be, whatever you do.  Enjoy your booze and cigars responsibly.  I will continue adding to this blog in 2010 so keep your eyes open for the next event in 2010.