I'm blown away with how much alike we are on this list. I actually burst out laughing when you mentioned Gurkha. Cheers. Oh and bang on with Davidoff, I was so underwhelmed with them.
I would put Davidoff in S tier, what i like about Davidoff is the pristine record for producing consistent quality cigars from seed top cigar. also the veriety is great with mild to full bodied cigars available. if i were forced to only choose a single brand to smoke for the rest of my days, Davidoff would be that brand.
I tried that top 2. I thought the Padrón 1964 was much too bold and ashy tasting. I find non-Cubans to be focused more on boldness and strength and less on smoothness and complexity. I did like the Joya de Nicaragua número uno which is one I would buy it again. Tried the Rocky Patel 1990, Caldwell Long Live The King, Regis, Macanudo, etc. All in all, I prefer a more tasteful, smooth, and complex Cuban any day. Good video!
Great list! I was happy to see you had Drew Estate as an A. That’s one of my favorites. Prior to getting more involved with cigars I only associated Acids with them. Glad I branched out and found the liga privada! Cheers
I'm fairly New to cigars... as I'm watching this video, I'm puffing on an F-tier Gurkha 😆 . I fell in love with Perdomo last week. My father in law's favorite is Padron. My 1st cigars ever was a Montecristo. And.. my 1st box I ever bought myself was Rocky Patel. My best friend just introduced me to Opus X AF a couple of days ago... I've never had Davidoff, very expensive 😕. I've tried the rest of the brands on the list but none have stood out like the ones ive mentioned. I actually like the flavoured NUB cigars. Thanks for making this video. I have my work cut out for me
@@StogieLads But what I think people don’t understand is that both Padron and Fuente are Cuban families that left Cuba by force to go and make Nicaraguan and Dominican soil great for cigars! Just imagine if Fidel wouldn’t have made all those families leave! We wouldn’t even be discussing new world brands🤷🏾♂️
Certainly appreciate you taking your time and experience putting this together. I do enjoy you (B) and above rated cigars. Just depends on my mood just like music.
Arturo Fuente: I like the Chateau. Davidoff: I like the Grand Cru Robusto. Oliva: I like the Series G. It's not about the brand, it's about their line-up. They all have good and "bad" cigars and for "bad" being: I don't like the flavor, but you might like it.
I usually buy cigars in the range of $10-15 per cigar. I’ve had a ton of the expensive ones as well and I know a lot of it is personal preference on taste, but I don’t find it worth it to spend $30-$50 per cigar over one half that price. One of my favorites I never hear anyone talk about is the Kristoff GC signature series and also their Viente line. Over every cigar I’ve ever had those Kristoff’s are still my favorite to go back to especially for the price.
All incredible brands! But like I mentioned in the video those aren’t available here in Sweden unfortunately so I can’t really weigh in on them too much!
The Rocky Patel 2nd Issue is a really fantastic cigar if you ever get the chance to try it. I know most of R.P.'s offerings aren't looked at too highly but you'd throwing the baby out with the bath water if you didn't give that one a try.
Padrón on top is undoubtedly correct. The Family Reserve (most especially 96 natural and 46 Years natural) are blissful. However, I would enjoy more pepper.
Persona in B? That’s crazy to me! You need to try the Sun Grown and Maduro 10th. It’s at least A tier. I love that they age their wrappers in whiskey barrels and they’re SO consistent.
I really like the Fuente Brand as I've never had a bad one. They are sold everywhere, priced well, and have many choices. When in doubt, I just buy a single one when I'm in the mood to smoke (which is very rare, last time I smoked was 9 years ago.) I like Nicaraguan Cigs, though, and I have had genuine Cuban Cigs, with Cohiba Robusto as my first cigar. The Siglo 3 is my all-time favorite and the only Cuban cig I'll ever buy if I'm out of the States on a trip. Otherwise, it's Fuente, Oliva, or Padron for me.
Can you do a tier list on new world cigars with the Cuban names? The blue cohiba or cohiba and all the ones that are are non Cuban but carry the Cuban name?
I'd love to see this list if it were based purely on the cigars themselves, rather than the background to the brands. Great video though, I really enjoyed it
Thank you man! Yeah, it's a difficult line to tread for sure. I think in general though, just going on cigars, the list would be quite similar for me. But it's hard to compare brands that only have a couple of lines to a brand like Fuente and Davidoff with tons. Thanks for your comment though man!
3:56 actually i think the perdomo fresco aren’t long filler. They might be mixed filler but not exclusively long filler. That being said might be the best bundle stick I’ve ever come across. The lot 23 sungrown is phenomenal for price. Looking forward to the maduro version.
Overall i like your logic. Was surprised how far ahead you put oliva over avo. They are two of my favorite brands but avo just seems like it’s just on another level, every time i light up an avo classic it’s a pure joy to smoke. Scored a really good deal on some xo’s recently and can’t wait to get them and smoke one after they’ve rested for a while. Definitely gonna have to try some of the rp edges since you said they’re ok as i can get them for a very fair price from what ive seen. I’m in the US so never had the pleasure of smoking any cubans. Have you smoked any Alec Bradley’s? The project 40 is absolutely great considering the price tag, and their origina original prensado is excellent, easily one of my top 5 cigars I’ve had so far. Curivari is also an excellent new world, and from what i hear it’s very cubanesque. If you ever get a chance to smoke the bv560 or one from their cremas line, I’d be really interested to hear your opinion on how it compares to some of the brands from habanos sa. Thanks for the tier list goodsir. I’ll definitely be looking more forward to trying some of these brands now.
Interesting to hear your opinions on the brands, a good watch. I think we tend to agree on brands. Surprised you didn't include perez carrillo with how many awards they've won recently
Spot on here and agree with your views . A.Fuente are my absolute fav cigars period and totally worthy of a S . The Don Carlos no2 is just fantastic as are most of them in terms of quality (I prefer to the few Opus X I’ve tried but will keep trying). For a lower cost option, the rosado magnum 58 is excellent and full of wonderful flavours. Love the Flor de Antillas my fathers and the Oliva Melanio (Both beautiful) like you too . I'm about to try my first Padron this weekend with a 1964 natural ... can’t wait as think its going to be a winner. Thank you from London :)
Great list, mostly agree with you. I would rate Perdomo higher. Great quality for a very fair price. For me especially the 12 year double aged, the Silvio and the barrel aged lines are some fantastic cigars for their price. Padron is No. 1 by far for me. Just, like Fuente, lately very overpriced in Europe. Just to many companies taking their share, before we can buy them here. I miss E.P. Carillo and Aging Room in your list. Very interested, where you would place them
Yeah I absolutely love Plasencia! To be honest I'm not completely sure why I omitted them here. If I would do this again I would have had them in here and put them pretty high up for sure.
Before Drew Estate sold out to the huge conglomerate they were an S...maybe an A. Now they are a solid C. The Liga Privada line really has taken a nosedive in quality....with regard to Fuente.. their best line is not the Opus but the Anejo! 😉
Yeah the Liga Privada has never done anything for me. Seems like I got in the game a little too late. I won't disagree with you on Fuente haha I love the Anejo series as well!
Cool list and nice placements. I agree on most of these like Fuente, Padron, Perdomo (solid brand, just not amazing like you said!), Camacho (you should try their Conneticut if you haven't :)!). I would put My Father in B tier, or maybe even C, not sure. I'm just not a big fan, their cigars are a bit too strong for me. But I do like the Le Bijou 1922 and also DPG Series JJ which is at least related to the brand. Oliva
Great feedback and very valid points man! I added Alec Bradley but for some reason when the page reloaded it was gone and I only noticed after but it certainly is a nice brand! Thanks for watching and commenting man!
Padron, Oliva, and Tatuaje are my all-time favorites. AVO here in the states can be had for $5 a stick if you look around, which makes them very worth it, near davidoff quality for 1/4 the price.
None of the Padrons are particularly close to mild unfortunately. Padron are known for their full and heavy nicaraguan cigars. They do have a Damaso line which is a Connecticut cigar which I've reviewed on this channel actually, but it's not really a good representation of what the brand is actually about. I'd say just try any Padron that you can get your hands on and see if you like them! They're all top quality cigars.
padrons are a bit more rustic, bumpy and not straight sometimes so "construction and attention" to detail is not their highlights for me. Though I would put them at an A+ or s-
AJ Fernandez makes a TON of Cigars, he's got the New World series, Diesel, Rage, Ave Marie, Man o War, Etc etc.... and not a single #1 stick lol. It's the McDonald's of Cigars, they're everywhere and cheap in case you're on a hurry to get your fix if there's nothing else around
New subscriber I live in America and only 3 months in smoking cigars...and I'd say your list is solid I tried them all except Davidoff...that brand always gets pushed at my local cigar shop I just don't know which one to try for the price...I still want to try a few real Cubans though sucks how they are not easy to get ahold of...I'll check out your Cuban list next it's fun to learn new things
Thank you for your kind comment man! I think Davidoff is spectacular quality whichever way you choose to go. The Dominicana is probably my favorite all time if you like bolder cigars. Otherwise any of the white band ones are great if you like a milder smoke!
Will have to take your word on these as we get Cubans and therefore not as much demand of the new world here in southern Europe, sauf for Davidoff which is a much better brand than all the others. N. 2 is amazing.
Missing Ashton which would be at least A, maybe S for me. Also La Aroma De Cuba. Another A or S. I think Davidoff is very overhyped prob would be a B for me. Arturo Fuente and Padron easily S.
Yo my man, time to update on non Cubans? Get Dunbarton and 1502 in there? Ashton? plasencia? Like to hear what you think of 1502 xo compared to opusx angels share
Yeah that’s an interesting idea! The difficult thing with that, though, is that it all becomes so incredibly subjective. At that point it’s just my personal flavor preferences and there’s no real objective quality rankings, so I’m not sure how many people would enjoy that haha
I love your reviews! It’s crazy how our palates differ isn’t it? I’ve tried at least 10 Arturo cigars, all stored in my humidor. Didn’t like a single one. I want to and can’t! Yet I have enjoyed every single CAO I have ever smoked lol. Your Padron to me is My Father. Just had a 10 year old Jaime Garcia stored at my local cigar shop and he busted those bad boys out for sale last week. It was one of the most amazing smokes, completely powerful which took me by surprise with that much age. Keep up the reviews! 👍🏻
my list S Davidoff, Arturo Fuente, Padron all / A Oliva and Rocky Joya De Nicaragua / B Camacho My Father / C AJ Hernandez / D AVO CAO Macanudo and NUB
I enjoyed the Cuban list. I’m a massive new world fan so this list excited me. Until you put Gurkha on F 😮 I’m a massive Gurkha fan aha all ways have some in my humidor. Maybe do a cigar size list next like ring gauge ect. Keep up the great content
Haha glad you're enjoying the videos! I've actually made a video for the vitolas already! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-689rZWDaeoo.html
1+ subscriber, thanks for the content, keep it up. I'm from Brazil, we have some of those brands but those are not the most famous off cuba options here, (with the exeption of JdN), i was almost buying some Gurkhas to get toknow the brand and their cigars, now you are making me feel different lol. Here cigars are very cheap comparing to other countries and it would be cool to compare some of the brands we have here (brazilian and off cubas aswell)
Obrigadão!! I love Alonso Menendez from Brazil, and I remember having some Dona Flor on one of my travels in Brazil, but it's been a while now. Sadly a lot of the Brazilian brands aren't exported to Europe at all.
They can definitely be okay, but with all the ones I've tried I've felt that there have been better options for the price. They bump the price up quite a lot because they play at the famous name and are able to generate sales that way. There's a lot better value out there imo!
So who makes anything similar to my beloved rich, creamy, spicey Habanos? Even close? Really, what I love about them is the characteristic flavor experience, but they are getting much more difficult to acquire at a price I don't wince at. I can suffer some bad draw or sun spots for the superior substance of their smoke.
Watching while smoking AF Don Carlos - Personal Reserve Stick. New World cigars are fun but somehow you just want to go back to your main chic (Cubans XD).
The only thing up for debate is whether S tier should be Fuente and Padron, or Padron and Fuente. They're the best, but too rich for my blood, If it were bang for the buck, Oliva and AJ Fernandez would be the S tier.
Yeah you’re right sadly. Brands like tatuaje and foundation don’t export here at all, let alone even more “boutique-y” stuff. We don’t even get padron!
We used to have La Aurora and I've been able to get my hands on a few but they don't import them here anymore sadly. VegaFina is available and a wonderful brand! The 1998 is particularly fantastic for the price.
I haven't tried them actually! The "non-cuban" namesakes of the Cuban brands can't legally be sold anywhere outside of the US, so they aren't distributed in Europe at all and as a result I haven't tried them!
This was made out of my perspective as a cigar consumer in Sweden. Unfortunately our selection of non-cuban brands much smaller than I would like to see.
I love EP Carrillo! If I made this video today I’d include them but when I recorded this they had just reached the Swedish market and I hadn’t had the opportunity to explore their stuff fully yet!
Ashton isn't too well distributed here sadly (we can't get the VSG or the ESG for example which is a huge shame). As for Alec Bradley I don't really know why I didn't include that brand to be honest haha! With Punch I didn't include any of the "non-cuban cuban" brands as they legally can't be sold anywhere outside of the US, so no non-americans can get them.
