Only 10-6 are available, how disappointing. I find it ironic that they tout the packaging of the CAO Vision for cigars that were "blind tasted".
Bo, 10-6 are available today, 5-2 will go live tomorrow at 10 am eastern, and No. 1 will go live on Friday.
All the cigars were tasted (and retasted) blind. The writeups for Top 25 are done after the scoring. These are much longer, more detailed descriptions than our typical tasting notes, and the idea is to not only describe the taste and performance of the cigar but to give the reader the whole story behind these Top 25 smokes. With Vision, the packaging is a big part of the cigar's story. It had nothing to do with the score it received.
Posts: 2401 | Location: New York, NY | Registered: April 23, 2002
Alright, I'm usually the first one to defend the integrity of any professionally run magazine but come on...CAO Vision in the Top 10? What a miserable excuse for a cigar.
Coincidence that CAO was acquired by ST Cigar Group Holdings (STCG) in 2007? That ad budgets are going to be consolidated?
I'll also be curious to see if any Altadis products will be included in the list. It looks like they seriously cut back on their spending with CA. Will be interesting to see if CA extends an olive branch.
Seems like every year there are about 20 legit contenders and then some "concessions" to Altadis, General and now STCG to keep the advertisers happy.
And if you 'read between the lines' you'll see they are hardly raves. I'll never forget last year's most laughable entry: "Consider the greatness of the Macanudo Hyde Park." The text went on to tout the cigar's consistency and the fact that you can buy it at gas stations. Couldn't have been an easy job trying to think of something nice to say so I give them credit.
Still, the Top 25 list is a great topic for discussion and one of the more exciting events in any given year. Before CA, there wasn't anything for cigar loves to look forward to, let alone any contoversy to get up in arms about.
Originally posted by frankluke: so, you guys tasted then retasted and the cao vision in the 9th best cigar out of 700?
Sorry, I can't get over this. I'm befuddled. I smoked this cigar along with the owners of my local B&M. It was veiny, rumpled and ugly and the cigar itself was green and grassy and sharp and just all around mediocre. They could not in good conscience bring it in and sell it to customers despite the hype and despite the fact that people were asking for it. That says something when a shop owner refuses to make a profit on an item that's in demand.
Originally posted by Smartman: I wonder how different the Top 25 would be if they were rated with bands on.
When I did the survey of CA members' best cigars, we obviously all knew what we were smoking and came up with this:
1: Montecristo Petit Edmundo 2 (tie): Oliva Serie V Torpedo Partagas Serie D No. 4 3 (tie): H. Upmann Magnum 46 Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill tubo 4: Bolivar Royal Corona 5 (tie): Oliva Serie V Double Robusto Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story
Different methodology (none, really) but interesting results.
I'm still betting the Oliva Serie V torpedo is in the top 5, if not #1.
Have never had one of these gaudy visions, so won't comment
I just find it funny the number of Montecristo and Cohiba CCs on the top 25 lists to the exclusion of almost every other cuban marca. (The Bolivar RC last year is the obvious exception).
I think it can be reductive to have so few people tasting the cigars as they quite clearly have very defined preferences for certain flavour profiles. What about Ramon Allones? SCdlH? I could go on.
IMHO Extensioncord's poll for the best smoke of 2007, by its very nature, has more authority.
"You want WHAT on the fu<king ceiling?" - Michelangelo, 1566
Yes, we tasted and retasted all the cigars on the Top 25. When the story comes out in the January issue, the intro goes into some detail about the tasting process. Also, you can see part of the final tasting in Marvin's video blog (which is embedded in the Top 25 section). Take a look if you haven't already.
Tasting with the bands on (non-blind) makes a huge difference. It's very hard to be critical of a cigar that you have heard great things about, or may have smoked before and enjoyed. Also, it's very hard to heap praise on a cigar that you have heard is bad, or something with a name you've never heard of, etc.
As far as your survey of our members, there are some very fine cigars on that list, including last year's No. 1 (the Bolivar Royal Corona).
Posts: 2401 | Location: New York, NY | Registered: April 23, 2002
