2008 Stogie Fresh Honor Roll

GOLD STAR AWARDS FOR BEST CIGARS OF THE YEAR  
This year marks the Second Annual Stogie Fresh Gold Star Awards for the best cigars of the year. This is one of the few awards that is based on multiple reviews of each cigar and that reviews all cigars from the same batch over a time period averaging 15-18 months and sometimes longer. Stogie Fresh is the only reviewing system in the industry that reviews cigars over time. Many cigars are what we call, "flash in the pan" cigars. That is, they can be good, but are not consistently good. Our system rewards cigars that are CONSISTENTLY GOOD OVER TIME. Our rating sytem takes into account a cigar's look, feel, flavor, aroma, burn and construction.

To qualify for a spot on the Stogie Fresh Honor Roll, each cigar must have been reviewed a minimum of three times using the Stogie Fresh reviewing system, with the last review falling within the past 12 months. Overall rankings are based on the average score from the reviews. If there is a tie in scoring, the higher placement goes to the cigar that has been reviewed more times. If the cigars were reviewed the same number of times, the nod is given to the cigar with the highest score in the most recent review.

All cigars comes from the same batch of cigars and are reviewed four times over the course of approximately 15-18 months. Our reviewers continue smoking cigars from the same batch in-between reviews to keep their notes current and to get a better “feel” for how each cigar is progressing. Reviewers will smoke a minimum of 10 cigars from each batch during the reviewing cycle. This is the most rigorous reviewing system in the cigar industry and the only one that is designed to show the consistency of quality and construction, as well as record the changes that occur with extended aging.

The Stogie Fresh 2008 Honor Roll acknowledges cigars that are consistently excellent. Whether large, medium, or small, all manufacturers must have tremendous commitment to quality, to the care and handling of tobacco, and to the satisfaction of cigar consumers through the production of top quality premium cigars. We believe that this commitment must be rewarded and must be set as the standard to which all manufacturers should attain.

STOGIE FRESH TOP CIGARS OF THE YEAR

Below is a list of the Stogie Fresh Gold Star Award winners for 2008. These are the top 15 cigars reviewed between December 1, 2007 and November 30, 2008, based on a minimum of three reviews and with scores averaged.

Note: all reviews are accessible on the Stogie Fresh Cigar Review Directory.

TOP 5 STOGIE FRESH REVIEWS: DECEMBER 2007 – NOVEMBER 2008

1.Cumbres de Puriscal Gold Toro by Tabacos de la Cordillera Avg. Score 91.2 (based on 4 reviews). Size: 6 x 52 Toro; Filler, Binder, Wrapper: Costa Rican. Age at final review: 2 years 0.1 month. Company website: http://www.tabacordillera.com

This cigar is the product of growing genetically pure Cuban seed tobaccos in the rich volcanic soil around Puriscal, Costa Rica. This mountainous area provides the ideal conditions for growing this unique tobacco. Tabacos de la Cordillera (Highland Tobacco) is run by John Vogel, a plant geneticist with deep ties to Cuban tobacco and the cigar industry.

The Cumbres line of cigars are beautiful, sporting a Chestnut brown wrapper leaf that is nearly flawless. These smokes start out with a blast of exotic spice, which settles down into light nutty flavors and a sweet undertone. A light cinnamon-like spiciness can be detected in the retrohale. As the cigar burns into the halfway point, the characters deepen somewhat into that of coffee with a creamy sweet aftertaste.

We spent over 2 years tracking the progress of this cigar and we believe that this is a unique, one-of-a-kind cigar that every cigar lover should have in his or her humidor. Aging has opened-up the light characters within these unique tobaccos into a full-flavored experience that is both challenging and rewarding to the smoker. This cigar provides a wonderful retro-Cuban smoking experience. The delicate, “genetically pure” tobaccos hark back to the pre-Castro days where the cigars were milder in body, but full in flavor. This cigar is well worth the try.