Zen & the Art of the Cigar

The “Zennie” goes to Dion Giolito, the mastermind behind the Cruzado, the 2008 Zen Cigar of the Year!

This took some deliberation as there were many great cigars in 2008. In fact, i would say this is a banner year for new releases.

It started it with the release of the Tempus by Alec Bradley, which as rumor has it, may have been an original proto-blend for the Cigar of the Year.

After that followed several worthy entries by Don Pepin Garcia, such as the Tobacos Baez and My Father line as well as blends for other companies such as Cubao for EO and a few blends for Ashton as well.

Perdomo also made waves with the revamp of their La Tradicion line and the return of the Perdomo Squared line.

Davidoff introduced the world to it’s first Davidoff Maduro and Manuel Quesada brought out two new lines including the Casa Magna which is a joint collaboration between the Quesada and Nestor Plasencia.

Oliva continued to impress and unveiled in limited quantities it’s Serie V Maduro which quickly disappeared off shelves.

And you certainly can’t forget Rocky patel, who in my opinion had a great year with his Summer and Autumn Seasonal Blends and the new Renaissance (which I have not tried).

You most certainly cannot forget La Flor Dominicana and their new annual blend of the LG Diez as well as some of their limited blends including the Cheroot (for Empire Cigars), the Carajos, the Salomone and the Los Perfectos Sampler which included the absolutely amazing Secret Prototype Blend.

No the Cruzado… it all began with my review of the Marelas .

So with all of the great cigars listed above (and many I have not discussed), what makes the Curzado the cigar of the year?

Several reasons actually.

1) The Cruzado was a highly anticipated cigar that lived up to the hype (and more).

2) The new blend actually is a better cigar than the cigar that put Dion on the map, the Illusione.

3) Complexity. This cigar changes 3-4 times easy. Not only that, there are more than subtle differences in the taste between the 5 sizes.

4) Bang for the buck. Given the astounding complexity, this cigar would retail for twice the price with some other manufacturers.

5) Trend Setter. This line is “bucking” most trends today for larger ring gauge cigars. Not one cigar in the line is bigger than a 50 ring gauge. The flavor profile is rich and refined.

6) Master Blending/Aging. If I smoked this cigar blind, I would guess it was several years old. There is no trace of harshness, and the flavors meld together like the cigar has been in a humidor for years.

Congratulations to Dion Giolito and the folks at the Raices Cubanas factory for all of their hard work in creating a wonderful blend that has made a special (and permanent) place in my heart and humidor!