Top 10 Cigars of 2025

La Bohème Musico sets the tone from first light to final bow. Creamy texture, toasted nuts, soft cedar, and baking spice unfold with effortless control. It never rushes, never overwhelms — it simply leads.

This cigar defined balance in 2025 and earned its place at the center ring.

Boldest Flavor & Intensity

Judging Focus:

• Strength without harshness
• Depth of bold flavor
• Impactful opening third

Not for the faint of heart — this act breathes fire and leaves the crowd stunned.

Savory, meaty, pepper-forward, and unapologetic. Ribeye delivers steakhouse intensity with discipline — umami, charred oak, and black pepper that never loses control. A true powerhouse performance.

Best Packaging & Presentation​

Judging Focus:

• Band and box design
• Shelf presence
• Overall unboxing experience

Before the spark, before the smoke — this act wins you over with pure visual magic.

Elegant, intricate, and ceremonial, this cigar captivates before it’s lit. Inside the illusion lies a smooth, refined profile of cocoa, roasted nuts, and gentle sweetness — proving the magic isn’t just in the costume.  

Best Construction & Burn

Judging Focus:

• Burn line consistency  
  
• Draw performance  
  
• Ash structure  
  

Perfect balance, no safety net — this cigar performs flawlessly every time.  

Straight burns, effortless draw, and unwavering performance define Devil Crab. Pepper, cocoa, and roasted coffee stay locked in — no touch-ups, no drama. A technical masterpiece on the wire.

Most Popular with Customers

Judging Focus:

• Sales velocity
• Repeat purchases
• In-store and online buzz   
  

  When the crowd roars for more, you know you’ve got a hit.

Rich cocoa, sweet spice, creamy balance — and that signature gold and blue band. Customers kept coming back, making this one of the most consistently requested cigars of the year.  

Best Flavored / Aromatic Cigar

Judging Focus:

• Flavor integration  
  
• Aroma  
  
• Consumer appeal

Every great circus needs concessions — and this one smells as good as it tastes.  

Sweet cocoa, aromatic richness, and unmistakable Deadwood personality. Sweet Jane owned the concessions stand — mentioned, requested, and enjoyed all year long.

 Biggest Surprise of the Year

Judging Focus:

• Exceeded expectations   
  
• Value vs hype   
  
• First-smoke impact  
  

  No one saw it coming — then suddenly it was soaring across the tent.

Bold spice, dark cocoa, and a modern profile that redefined expectations. Rubicon launched fast and landed strong — one of 2025’s most talked-about surprises.  

Best Morning / All-Day Smoke

Judging Focus:

•  Approachability
• Balance    
  
• Low palate fatigue

The rhythm section of your day — steady, elegant, and always on beat.  

Cedar, toasted graham crackers, light spice — smooth from start to finish. Johnny Tobacconaut is the cigar you can smoke anytime without missing a note.  

Staff Pick / Cigar Nerd Favorite

Judging Focus:

• Insider appeal  
  
• Blend integrity     
  
• Craftsmanship  
  

Not every great act is on the marquee — some are only known behind the curtain.

Creamy, chocolatey, peppery, refined, and quietly complex. Broadway is what the staff reaches for when the lights are off and the tent is empty.

Staff Pick / Cigar Nerd Favorite

Judging Focus:

• Rarity
• Execution vs hype     
  
• Memorability   
  

One night only. One unforgettable performance.  

Explosive spice, dark sweetness, and Warhead intensity — all packed into a collector’s tin. Loud, limited, and unforgettable.  

 1. New World Decenio Toro

 2. Perdomo 30th Anniversary Sun Grown Gordo

 3. E.P. Carrillo Pledge Apogee

 4. Aganorsa JFR 20th Anniversary Robusto Gordo Maduro

 5. La Aurora Fuerte Sol Robusto

The show goes on. Thanks to an incredible 2025 from everyone at Cigar Circus.

At Cigar Circus, we believe great cigars don’t exist in a vacuum — they exist in moments, moods, palates, and expectations. That’s why our Top 10 isn’t based on a single smoke, a single opinion, or a popularity contest.

This list reflects real-world performance across an entire year.

Our judging process included:

🔁 Multiple Smoking Sessions

Every cigar on this list was smoked more than once, often by different members of our team. A great cigar once can be luck. A great cigar repeatedly earns respect.

👥 Multiple Palates & Perspectives

Our selections reflect input from staff, seasoned smokers, casual enthusiasts, and customer feedback — not a single “gatekeeper” palate.

🕰️ Real-Time Performance Over Time

We evaluated how cigars smoked fresh, how they held up weeks later, and how consistently they performed across different boxes and batches.

🏪 Retail & Consumer Feedback

Sales velocity, reorders, repeat purchases, and in-store conversations mattered. A cigar that people come back for says a lot.

🔥 Construction & Burn Integrity

Flavor means nothing if the cigar can’t perform. Draw, burn, ash, and overall craftsmanship were critical components.

🚫 No Paid Placements

This is important to us: Manufacturers did not pay to be included. Placement was earned, not bought.

Traditional “Top 10” lists often miss the bigger picture. They crown one winner and force every cigar — regardless of purpose — into the same lane.

That’s not how people actually smoke cigars.

A morning Connecticut, a bold maduro, a flavored cigar, and a limited collector’s release aren’t competing against each other — they’re serving different moments.

Our category-based approach allows:

🎭 Different Experiences to Shine

Construction, flavor intensity, packaging, infused cigars, all-day smokes, surprises — each deserves recognition on its own stage.

🔥 Apples-to-Apples Comparisons

A flawlessly constructed cigar shouldn’t lose to a bolder cigar just because it’s subtler. Categories allow each cigar to be judged on what it’s meant to do best.

🍬 Room for Every Smoker

From seasoned cigar nerds to flavored cigar fans, this list respects the full spectrum of cigar enjoyment — because that’s the reality of today’s cigar culture.

🎪 A Better Story

By framing each winner as an act, we honor tradition while adding creativity. It’s still a list — but it’s also a performance, a narrative, and an experience.

This isn’t just a list — it’s a framework.

By using consistent categories, transparent judging, and real-world performance metrics, we’re building something we can revisit, refine, and expand every year.

Future lists may evolve. New acts may appear. But the principles remain the same:

• Fair evaluation
• Respect for craftsmanship
• Celebration of variety
• Transparency with our audience

The circus grows — and the show gets better every year.