第5名 E.P. 卡里略忠誠系列知己（E.P. Carrillo Allegiance Confidant）
52環(huán)徑，6英寸,，茄衣是厄瓜多爾煙葉,，茄套、茄芯是尼加拉瓜煙葉,。得分95分,，在美國的售價是每支13.10美元。一般情況下，一些雪茄品牌的持有人會尋求埃內斯托·佩雷斯·卡里略幫他們代工雪茄,，如果他們幸運的話,，卡里略會接下來這件業(yè)務。但對于卡里略來說,，他將自己的卡里略系列第四部作品交給了奧利瓦雪茄公司來生產,。前三部系列的雪茄，傳承系列不止一次進入年度雪茄排行榜的前25名,，復興系列拿下了2018年的年度最佳雪茄稱號,，誓約系列則成為2020年度的最佳雪茄。如今,，第四個系列,，忠誠系列，位居今年度的排行榜第五名,。忠誠系列的煙標圖案和前三個系列一致,，保持品牌的連續(xù)性，只是煙標顏色不同,。綠色象征著自然和煙草,。這款雪茄的口味更像奧利瓦雪茄，還是更像E.P. 卡里略,？我們還沒有給出定論,。但我們可以肯定的是，這款雪茄的煙葉混合完美的融合,，形成了一種又甜又辣的基調,，伴隨木頭的味道，隨著進程,，你可以感受到姜餅味的爆發(fā),，以及肉豆蔻、肉桂,、胡椒味,。
Usually, cigar brand owners go to Ernesto Perez-Carrillo to make their cigars. If they’re lucky, he says yes. In this case, Perez-Carrillo went to Oliva Cigar Co. to make Allegiance, which is the fourth line in the Perez-Carrillo series—and the series has been nothing less than stellar. La Historia (which was Part I in the series) has made it to the Top 25 list on more than one occasion. Encore (Part II) was named Cigar of the Year in 2018. Pledge (Part III) was named Cigar of the Year in 2020. And now, Part IV has landed the No. 5 spot. The bands across the series are all the same pattern and design for continuity, but the colors are different in order to distinguish one blend from another. The green band of Allegiance is meant to symbolize nature and tobacco. Other than the Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, the tobacco in this cigar is all Nicaraguan. So, does this taste more like an Oliva cigar or an E.P. Carrillo cigar? We haven’t decided. What we do know is that it comes together brilliantly setting a sweet-and-spicy tone with a woody undercurrent, snappy bursts of gingerbread and charming accents of nutmeg and cinnamon before the peppery finish.
第6名 帕特加斯P系列2號（Partagás Serie P No. 2）
52環(huán)徑，6.125英寸,，得分95分,，售價每支38.5歐元。大多數(shù)經驗豐富的古巴雪茄客都能從房間的另一端很遠就認出這款雪茄的煙標,，紅色煙標,，金色字母，沒有華麗的裝飾,，它是古巴帕特加斯字母系列的明確代表,。很多年,，曾經字母系列只有一款雪茄，就是D系列的4號,。2005年哈伯納斯公司決定擴大字母系列,，推出了與蒙特2號相同尺寸的帕特加斯P2。哈伯納斯公司將P2定位一款口味濃郁的雪茄,，雖然我們并沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)這款雪茄特別濃郁,。P2表現(xiàn)出很好的平衡感以及復雜性，呈現(xiàn)出肉豆蔻,、楓糖漿,、新鮮椰子、腌制煙草的精確口感,。值得慶幸的是,，在全世界來說，這款古巴雪茄相對還比較好買一些,。
Most seasoned smokers of Cuban cigars can recognize this band from across the room. Its glossy red finish and gold lettering is without flourish or ornament, but it’s an unmistakable signifier of Cuba’s Partagás Alphabet Series. For many years, the Alphabet Series consisted of only one cigar, the Partagás Serie D No. 4. Over the decades, the D No. 4 became immensely popular—so popular that Habanos S.A. decided to expand the series in 2005 with the Serie P No. 2, a pirámide made in the same dimensions as the iconic Montecristo No. 2. Today, the Alphabet Series includes many sizes, making it a brand within a brand, but the Serie P No. 2 got our attention. It’s marketed by Habanos as one of Cuba’s more full-bodied cigars. While we didn’t find it particularly strong, the Serie P No. 2 was beautifully balanced and complex showing a precise palate of nutmeg, maple syrup, fresh coconut and cured tobacco—a honey-like note that you can smell in a barn when the leaves are nearly done curing. Luckily, this cigar is among the easier Cubans to find around the world and is offered in different formats: three-packs, 10-count boxes and standard boxes of 25.
第7名 德魯莊園黑化M81皇冠（Blackened Cigars “M81” By Drew Estate Corona）
43環(huán)徑,，5英寸，得分95分,，售價每支9.15美元。茄衣是墨西哥煙葉,，茄套是康涅狄格闊葉,，茄芯是賓夕法尼亞闊葉和尼加拉瓜煙葉的混合。雪茄行業(yè)里幾方合作出品一款雪茄是很正常的,，但是一家雪茄制造商,，一家威士忌酒廠，一支重金屬樂隊湊在一起的合作發(fā)行雪茄是非常罕見的,。在這個雪茄品牌名字里,，我們看見了雪茄制造商德魯莊園的名字，看見了黑化美國威士忌釀酒廠的名字,，第三個合作方是詹姆斯·赫特菲爾德,，他是樂隊的主唱和吉他手，他的金屬樂隊成立于1981年,，也就是M81的由來,。這款雪茄的煙葉混合震撼了我們的盲評小組，釋放出一股觸電般的辣味,，伴有濃郁的巧克力和泥土的味道,。各種各樣的藏紅花、肉豆蔻,、肉桂,、奶油蛋卷面包燈味道陸續(xù)釋放，就像金屬背景的原聲吉他獨奏。理想情況下,，雪茄客應該一邊喝著黑威士忌,，一邊抽這支雪茄，還應該聽著金屬樂隊的黑色專輯,。喜歡強烈口味的雪茄客會陶醉于這支雪茄的力度,，但事實上，它只是一個皇冠尺寸的小茄,。
Collaborations are common in the cigar industry, but three-way collaborations between a cigar company, whiskey distiller and heavy-metal frontman are quite rare. In fact, we only know of one—Blackened Cigars “M81” by Drew Estate. Two out of the three collaborators are clearly noted in the name: Blackened American Whiskey and cigarmaker Drew Estate in Nicaragua. The third player is James Hetfield, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the metal mega-band Metallica (M81 refers to the year the band was formed). If there is a cigar equivalent to Metallica’s head-banging guitar riffs, this is it. Loaded with strong, dark broadleaf from both Pennsylvania and Connecticut, this amped-up blend rocked our tasting panel as it unleashed an electrically spicy smoke with heavy notes of chocolate and earth. In its subtler moments, there’s an assortment of saffron, nutmeg, cinnamon and bready notes of brioche—kind of like an acoustic guitar solo in the middle of a metal set. Ideally, one should light up this cigar while sipping Blackened Whiskey and listening to Metallica’s iconic Black Album. Of course, that’s only a suggestion. Fans of strong smokes will revel in Blackened’s power either way. The fact that it’s all packed into a small corona makes it reverberate that much louder.
