After another year of exhaustive tasting, examining and rating hundreds of cigars, the stogie-obsessed editors at Cigar Aficionado have tapped the Padrón 60th Anniversary Perfecto as their 2025 Cigar of the Year.
For the Top 25, an annual tradition since 2004, Cigar Aficionado compiled a list of cigars that were top-rated by editors throughout the year and subjected them to yet another test by the magazine’s tasting panel. The cigars are purchased at retail, stripped of their identifying bands and blind-tested through multiple rounds. Only cigars that performed on the highest level and at the highest consistency remained.
“This year’s ranking reflects both the depth and evolution of today’s cigar industry,” said David Savona, executive editor of Cigar Aficionado. “2025 marks the 21st edition of our Top 25 list, and the level of craftsmanship we see continues to impress. These selections represent the very best of the best, and we invite our readers to take the time to enjoy what makes each one special.”
The Padrón 60th Anniversary Perfecto is only the second perfecto shape the Padróns have ever commercially released, and it clocked in with an impressive score of 97. The mag described their winning smoke as “a delight to the eye, graceful in its curvature, with a chocolate brown wrapper. It’s a rich smoke, stronger than many Padróns, that possesses notes of malted milk, creamy coffee like a café au lait, and chocolate. It’s one of those tremendous cigars that reveals a bit more of itself as it slowly burns, inch by inch, and just keeps getting better.” Check out the full list of best cigars below.
Cigar Aficionado’s Top 10 Cigars of 2025
No. 1 – Padrón 60th Anniversary Perfecto, Nicaragua, $75.00
No. 2 – Cohiba Ambar, Cuba, £74.60
No. 3 – Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero, Nicaragua, $8.50
No. 4 – Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino Sungrown Pyramid No. 9, Dom. Rep., $11.45
No. 5 – Trinidad Espíritu Series No. 3 Belicoso, Nicaragua, $13.19
No. 6 – Rocky Patel Emerald Robusto, Nicaragua, $11.75
No. 7 – Nasser The Goat By A.J. Fernandez Toro, Nicaragua, $16.00
No. 8 – Diplomaticos Genios Exclusivo Phoenicia, Cuba, $29.00
No. 9 – Fuente Fuente OpusX Angel’s Share Reserva d’Chateau, Dom. Rep., $24.37
No. 10 – Ferio Tego Timeless Supreme 650, Nicaragua, $12.25
For more details on each cigar, including tasting notes and scores, visit cigaraficionado.com.
