This past week, Craig and I were back for Episode 047 of Half Ashed after a stint of illness for the both of us. One of the items we discussed was our picks for our respective favorite cigars we smoked in 2013 on the show. I thought I’d share those here on The Cigarmy as well. This list is meant entirely for fun, and we limited our selections to cigars that either 1.)we discussed at length on the show and/or 2.) we smoked as a Cigar of the Week. This is certainly not a be-all, end-all list for the year. In fact, there were a couple I couldn’t include because I didn’t make it a point to bring up in the show notes. But it’s our list, so we get to make the rules. Here are the caveats and the list in no particular order…..
***Since doing this episode, I came to realize a huge oversight on my part. I managed to leave off the Herrera Biography from my list. I smoked more of this cigar than any other for 2013….even including Fuente products. This should have made the list, and actually would likely rank #1 for me if there was an order. I guess this comes with getting older and losing my memory by the minute…..****
1. These are not necessarily new cigars for the year (although some were), but the cigars we simply enjoyed the most throughout.
2. We limited the selection to cigars that were either Cigars of the Week for Half Ashed Episodes, or were discussed enough to have been made mention in the show notes. If we did not talk about it during at least one episode, it was not considered for our lists.
3. I (Kip) purposefully removed the Fuente cigars we smoked (858 Sungrown, Unnamed Reserve (2012), and Casa Cuba) from consideration out of my known affinity (sheer bias) for Fuente products.
4. There were a number of cigars that probably should have made the list, and were discussed in the show as honorable mentions/best values/”we just couldn’t narrow it down” cigars. These were: Miami Cigar/Nestor Miranda Casa Miranda Chapter Two; Drew Estate Nica Rustica; illusione ECCJ; Reinado Grand Empire Reserve; Michael Stewart’s Fire Cured #7
Half Ashed Top Ten Cigars for 2013 (in no particular order)
| Craig | Kip |
| Davidoff Nicaragua | Tatuaje Belle Encre |
| Fuente Unnamed Reserve (2012) | 2005 Padron Aniversario Natural corona |
| EPC Short Run 2011 | TL Johnson Tempio |
| TL Johnson Tempio | KILO (Barry Stein) |
| La Tradicion Cubana Corona | Oliva Serie V Maduro |
| Ezra Zion Tantrum | Leccia Tobacco Black |
| Bolivar Gold Medal | 2005 Ramon Allones Eminencia |
| Gran Habano #5 | RoMaCraft Intemperance BA |
| RoMaCraft Aquitaine | Ezra Zion Jamais Vu (Inception) |
| Tatuaje Belle Encre | Cuenca 5 Anniversary |
My bout with influenza has now passed entirely, and I should be back in a normal reviewing schedule beginning this upcoming week. Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to hearing from you guys – what are some of your favorites from the past year?
Leccia black
Fallen angel
La aurora 107 maduro
Herreli esteli
Glad Padron made it on your list(s). I would’ve had to chime in from the peanut gallery with a snarky smackdown comment if Padron got diss’d. Leccia black is very interesting, I just sampled one from a recent box purchase, outstanding stick.
Kip, no AF??? WTF, bro???
That was one of the parameters of my list….if you read the rules ahead of time, I DQ’ed all AF’s because of my known bias :).