Every couple of months, we send out 8-10 cigars to our Blind Review Panel. They send their unfiltered and uncut thoughts on one cigar each week, and we combine them for a comprehensive review every Friday.
- You can read the 2018 Top 10 Blind Reviews here.
- You can read the 2019 Top 10 Blind Reviews here.
- You can read the 2020 Top 10 Blind Reviews here.
- You can read our interview with the Blind Review Panel here.
- You can read about some behind-the-scenes info on the process here.
Below is a compilation of the Top 10 Cigars that they reviewed blind in 2021.
NOTE: There was a break this year due to COVID-19 and we didn't complete 52 total reviews like previous years.
We hope you enjoy this process as much as we do!
#10 ADVentura Royal Return King's Gold
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: A fully stocked beer fridge.
Quote from the Review: Halfway through and the strength is ramping up. Coffee and chocolate. If this smoke comes in a shorter size, I’d prefer that because this is definitely a time commitment.
#9 United Bandolero Serie T
California Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Box
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: Dessert.
Quote from the Review: This cigar brought an array of dessert-like flavors: sugar cookie, cocoa, butterscotch, and cream. These were joined with some less dessert-like flavors: earth, pepper, and cereal grain. If you're thinking, "that sounds like an interesting and tasty cigar profile", you're right. It was.
#8 A.C.E. Prime M.X.S. Adrian Gonzalez
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: Watching a comeback win by your favorite team.
Quote from the Review: The middle is, in a word, superb. Mild, sweet wood notes with nuttiness and coffee rounding out the mix. It’s complex, but not overly. It’s straight forward, but not too simple. The smoke production is definitely better, and the burn remains absolutely perfect. The retro hale is also smooth and mild, void of heat or harshness.
#7 Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Connecticut
California Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Box
If you like that, you might like this: Finding a cigar that definitely belongs in your rotation.
Quote from the Review: This cigar brings notes of cream, light pepper, cedar, graham cracker, hay, butter, and a sweetness that lasts throughout. As it goes on, it resembles coffee with a lot of cream in it. The aroma is very nutty.
#6 Casdagli Villa Casdagli
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: Medium bodied cigars with flavors light on the palate.
Quote from the Review: Lighting up what looks to be ammo for an elephant gun, I taste caramel, green pepper, and corn flakes. Peach freakin’ tea! About an inch in, the ever-present yet subtle sweetness bags a buck for the boys. Coconut milk with a sprig of something between spearmint and anise keeps the flavor wheel reeling. Closing out the first half of the hunt, the aforementioned caramel comes back in a big way in a macchiato marriage.
#5 Cohiba Serie M
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Box
If you like that, you might like this: Working on Saturday but having Mondays off.
Quote from the Review: Middle portion is seriously smooth… silky. Wood and coffee with caramel drifting in and out of the mix. I’m also tasting some almond. The retro hale is full of wood notes along with peanut and very mild pepper flavor as well. It reminds me of those spicy peanuts they sell in convenience stores. Construction and smoke production are fantastic.
#4 Lampert 1675 Edición Azul
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Box
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: Baking spices.
Quote from the Review:
This matte, brown wrapper reminds me of a Milky Way bar. Upon ignition, I get red pepper and leather. An inch down and sweet BBQ sauce blasts my palate off to flavor town! The construction is stellar as I soar into the second half. An out-of-this-world herbal-strawberry note harmonizes perfectly with buttered toast. This may not be made with tobacco from Mars, but the enjoyment factor landed me in the stars.
#3 ADVentura Royal Return Queen's Pearls
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Box
If you like that, you might like this: Buying a garage sale suit jacket and then discovering a wad of Benjamins in the pocket.
Quote from the Review: This cigar brought a flavor profile of peanut, hay, sugary sweetness, a bit of floral, lemon, and caramel. The flavors didn't change much throughout the experience, but they were quite enjoyable.
#2 Dapper Desvalido
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Box
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: The dance floor opening up at a wedding.
Quote from the Review: My first impression of this cigar was, "well, that's a big cigar to smoke in January in Wisconsin." But you know what? It was worth spending the time outside in the cold to smoke this big ol' cigar.
#1 Caldwell Blind Man's Bluff This is Trouble
California Purchase Recommendation: Box
Wisconsin Purchase Recommendation: Box
Oregon Purchase Recommendation: Fiver
If you like that, you might like this: Heavy flavor profiles that don't max out the pepper and spice.
Quote from the Review: Lighting up, heavy smoke pours out as if to give me shelter from the California climate. Leather and semi-sweet chocolate cake. The burnline is uneven but alluring in its imperfection (like how the grainy quality of film makes spaghetti westerns beautiful). For as dark and rich as the flavors are, this cigar is remarkably well balanced.
A FEW OBSERVATIONS AND A RECAP:
I should probably start tracking more data points like the average MSRP of each review for the year to make more sense of it, but 2021's Top 10 Blind Reviews averaged $14.37 per cigar. I always find it interesting, so here are the last few years:
- 2018: $11.49 per cigar in the Top 10
- 2019: $14.87 per cigar in the Top 10
- 2020: $11.75 per cigar in the Top 10
- 2021: $14.37 per cigar in the Top 10
Tabacalera William Ventura was the clear winner this year with three of our Top 10 cigars hailing from this factory! ADVentura also made a strong showing in 2021 with both Royal Return releases landing firmly in our Top 10 list.
With only 52 weeks in the year, we miss out on so many new releases that it hasn't really made sense to revisit a cigar for a second review. For the first time, however, we did review the United Bandolero for a second time with the Serie T rework. The new blend seems to have improved the experience with our panel significantly, from the first review to the second review.
Since I'm noticing some brands didn't review last year, I wanted to also break down the total reviews each brand received in our Top 10 list. In addition, this will be food for thought moving into 2022 to make sure we spread the love.
- A.C.E. Prime: 4 reviews
- ADVentura: 2 Reviews
- Caldwell: 2 Reviews
- Casdagli: 2 Reviews
- Cohiba: 2 Reviews
- Dapper: 1 Review
- Lampert: 1 Review
- Joya: 1 Review
- United: 2 Reviews
The brand with the most blind reviews outside of the Top 10 was Davidoff at three reviews last year - and it should be mentioned that the Original Release Royal Robusto, Winston Churchill 2021, and The Late Hour were all tied at one Box recommendation and two Fiver recommendations from our panel. They were removed from this Top 10 list due to availability, but Davidoff performed very strongly last year even if they weren't all 2021 releases.
That's it from us! Drop a comment below if you have any questions
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