Had one yesterday at an event. I actually bought a 5'er which cost $31.oo + a free Pepin Blue lancero.

Definitely a great $5 cigar, but #1, not in my book. Good luck finding them retail over the next 90 days.
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Never heard of this cigar before.
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Had one last night, I really liked it, haven't had a Fonseca that I didn't like yet. Bought the last box of robustos, 27 for $105, plus a 5'er and got a free Pepin Blue Lancero for free. It's not in the same class as some of the premium smokes but you shouldn't expect it to be for $5

A nice smoking stick none the less, especially at a box price of $3.80 ea. :-)
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Y'all can have mine. :-)
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The top 5 are Non-Cuban, as are 8 of the top 10.

CA simply cannot be taken seriously anymore.
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:-) +1 for that. I admit that I read CA and like their reviews for the most part, except for the socring part that is. As for their rankings? WTF is about all I can say.
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Cuban cigar companies cannot pay Cigar Afflictionado for advertising. Therefore, the Casa Magna is the greatest cigar ever made. :-)

When some say, "The Casa Magna is a great $4 smoke", remember....Cigar Afflictionado doesn't consider price in their rankings...they are saying the Casa Magna is the best current production cigar in the World right now at any price. Gimmie a break. :-)
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IMHO - Last years rankings were the most faithful.

Being that I am a Padron 1926 #9 nut, I am biased, but most would put Padron, Opus, VSG, Monte #2, Oliva V, Illusione and Cohiba at the top of their list.

Also, they are only saying "the Casa Magna is the best current production cigar in the World right now at any price" for cigars THEY reviewed this last year. Hence, this year no Tatuaje Browns, Illusione, Cabaiguans, various CC's etc...

Not to defend the snobs at CigAf, but they've got to put parameters on the rankings, and I actually like the magazine 'cause it's free with my NWA airlines miles I'll never use... take what they say with a grain of salt, love the stuff they're right about. To be honest the mag. helped me get more into cigars.

I hate the snobbery, love the cigar info.:-)
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I have my doubts about this ranking, too, but it looks like Cigar Aficionado acutally is taking price into account, at least this year. Here's what Gordon Mott has to say on this blog:

Casa Magna! I know you’re all surprised. We were too after our initial round of Top 25 tastings. And, then, that cigar just kept holding its spot among the top five cigars. In the end, the other factors—price, availability, intangibles—that we consider when making our final choice proved to be the tipping points in favor of the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto.

Let me respond to some of your questions and comments. Everyone has noticed that certain cigars in the Top 25 have higher scores than cigars ranked higher in the final list. There’s no mystery or mistake there. We do not base the final selection for the Top 25 on scores alone. If we did that, then we wouldn’t even bother to hold a special tasting for it; we’d just go down the scores given during the year and rank the cigars from one to 25. But gee, what fun would that be? We really do consider everything from price to country of origin to production quantities and that word intangibles, which boils down to whether or not we find something unique about the cigar that sets it apart from other products in the market today. . . .

Why Casa Magna? Well, first of all, the price point is an absolutely unavoidable and appealing factor. In one of the worst economic downturns in most of our lifetimes, a $5.25 suggested retail price is worth noting and rewarding. It is also a full-flavored, wonderfully constructed cigar. Trust me. We didn’t know it was one of the lowest priced cigars in the entire selection when we were smoking. It stood out on its own.

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...95,346,00.html
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But they don't make the parameters clear, likely in the interest of "stretching" them at will to serve their purposes...that is, their advertisers' purposes.

And that makes their ratings/scoring unreliable, since we never have a clear picture of the criteria.

I agree - I enjoy the magazine, and I do enjoy their tasting notes.

It's just their rankings that are suspect, and therefore of no value to the informed cigar enthusiast.
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Appreciate the info. :-)

I will still take a Party Short for $5 or less. :-)
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[quote=BlackIrish;161548]

[i]Why Casa Magna? Well, first of all, the price point is an absolutely unavoidable and appealing factor. In one of the worst economic downturns in most of our lifetimes, a $5.25 suggested retail price is worth noting and rewarding. I]
QUOTE]

So the big reason why they voted this cigar #1 was because it was a trendy thing to do with it's price point being so low during a rough economy.

What a bunch of Bull crap!
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Let's keep it real. CA isn't a bad read, but folks can't take these ratings too seriously. Same thing for SMOKE and the other cigar mags that annually rate sticks. Remember....these type rankings and reviews brings readership to the magazine and most often, it also brings advertising $$$'s to it as well from many of those companies that they've rated highly.

What I use the ratings for is to sample sticks throughout the year for special occasions and evenings that I'm looking for just something a little unique to light up...and I am frequently disappointed. For the most part...I have my routine "go to" smokes that satisfy my daily desires. I have had many sticks that didn't make this list that I'd fight someone over to have another. I have found the old adage works best, at least for me....SMOKE WHAT YOU LIKE AND LIKE WHAT YOU SMOKE. Don't get caught up in the marketing and promotion...and don't get caught up trying to get your hands on everthing. If you do...you'll go broke or come away pretty dissatisifed. I find enjoying the moment quite often boosts the smoking experience...not the chase.

The Casa Magna is actually a pretty good stick IMHO...but, being the number 1 stick is quite suspect. It is priced quite good, though. Good to see the La Gloria Cubana on the list...one of my favorite producers of quality sticks at a reasonable price. Most of the Cubans are undoubtedly some quality smokes.

Gotta say, though....where I draw the line is the price of some of these sticks. Maybe it's just my tastebuds...but, I just haven't found a smoke yet that costs $30.00+ that makes me want to toss much lower priced sticks from my humi!
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Ultimately, rating cigars is completely and totally subjective. Because 4 or 5 dudes that run a magazine SAY a cigar is number one, that don't make it so. Their 4 or 5 palates don't mean much to me, other than a ROUGH baseline for opinions on possible flavor profiles. It would be no different if me and a few others on the board decided to do a tasting and name a cigar #1........ I just don't have as much money, or the undeserved clout.... or the uppity golf tips.

That said, wow that cigar came out of left field.
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I love it when dog rockets break into the top 25 (#14):-)
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#25 - Alec Bradley Tempus Centuria
#24 - Savinelli Special Selection 2005 Torpedo
#23 - Hoyo de Tradicion Toro Grande
#22 - Bolivar Belicoso Fino
#21 - El Rey de Mundo Flor de Llaneza
#20 - Mi Dominicana by Jose Seijas Robusto
#19 - San Cristobal de La Habana La Fuerza
#18 - Defiance by Xikar The Guardian
#17 - Casa Torano Maduro Robusto
#16 - Black Pearl Morado Torpedo
#15 - Rocky Patel Decade Torpedo
#14 - Aurora Barrel Aged Belicoso
#13 - Cabaiguan Guapo
#12 - Oliva Series V Liga Especial Double Robusto
#11 - Juan Lopez Seleccion No. 2
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I smoked all of these except the Defiance and the Savinelli.
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I gotta agree with Dog Rocket status on this one. It was probably the worst cigar I have smoked in 2008. Very poor construction and a taste like the bottom of an old shoe. I usually will give a cigar several tries before I declare it a turd. I just can't bring myself to try this one again.:-)
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Aurora Barrel Aged Belicoso better than Bolivar Belicoso Fino!?!? :-)
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Just the opposite for me, just reading this thread made me yawn.
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