Cigar Aficionado is a magazine for the man who enjoys life’s great pleasures: fine dining and entertaining, the finest wines and spirits, world travel and the arts. At the heart of every issue is the cigar: what to smoke, where to smoke, and how to enjoy a great smoke.

highlights • Cuban cigars overachieved in this issue, taking the top score (or tying for best score) in four of our six size categories, with such big names as Cohiba, Partagás and Romeo y Julieta. But it was a Nicaraguan smoke wrapped in Ecuador Sumatra—the Oliva Serie V Melanio Churchill—that delivered the best score in the entire issue.

The Day the Cigar Industry Won

out of the humidor

Cigar Aficionado

good life guide • Living well demands that we indulge in things that are of superior quality and excellent origin. This guide aspires to find and recommend the best of everything to aficionados of the good life.

Cuban Flag Cigar Cases

High-Proof Pours • Try with Water to Find Your Favorite Flavor

Acura NSX

St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico

The Frank Shattuck Suit

Apple Brandy

Hot-Smoked Salmon

Moon-Phase Calendar Watches

Dream Bikes

Hickory Golf

Harbour Lights Up • David Harbour never thought he had what it takes to be a leading man, but “Stranger Things” has made him a star to more than 60 million people

Golf’s DISTANCE Dilemma • More pros are routinely driving the ball well over 300 yards. Can, or should, anyone stop them?

Bringing Winged Foot to Its Knees

WOULD YOU EVER HAVE TEQUILA INSTEAD OF YOUR FAVORITE COGNAC?

Faldo: Bring the Skill Back

BEING Terry Bradshaw • Don’t let the act fool you: NFLlegend Terry Bradshaw is on top of his game

UNBROKEN • THE GREATEST RECORDS IN SPORTS ARE UNFORGETTABLE ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS. MANY WILL NEVER BE EQUALED

Into the Woods • Scotch whisky never fails to delight with novel tasting notes. One big reason is the casks used to age them

THE PAIRINGS

The Doctor’s Orders

cigars

churchills • Sumatra-seed wrapper and Nicaraguan tobacco have formed an exquisite marriage in the Oliva Serie V Melanio Churchill. At 94 points, this Nicaraguan blockbuster is the top cigar of the issue, but the blend is no stranger to excellence. The Serie V Melanio is Oliva’s top-tier premium product, and the figurado size was named CIGAR AFICIONADO’S Cigar of the Year in 2014. Oliva now puts a QR code in every box of Melanios in case you want to know more about the cigar you’re smoking. The Illusione Haut 10 Churchill, which is also out of Nicaragua, scored 93 points for its dynamic, vibrant performance. It’s made at the Aganorsa Leaf factory using Nicaraguan tobacco grown by the same company. Aganorsa’s tobacco has always been the preferred medium of Illusione brand owner Dion Giolito.

figurados • Cohiba tops the figurado category with its large, imposing Pirámides Extra, which scored 92 points. Outside of sporadic, limited releases over the last few decades, the Cuban Cohiba core line never had a figurado of any kind until 2012 when this extra-large cigar hit the market. Hence the name, Cohiba Pirámides Extra are an eighth of an inch longer and two ring gauges fatter than standard Cuban pirámides. Two cigars scored 91 points. From RoMa Craft Tobac comes the Intemperance EC XVIII Faith, an intriguing perfecto made at the Nica Sueño S.A. factory in Nicaragua. Don’t let the light wrapper fool you. It’s medium bodied, and full of interesting tobacco, as is the box-pressed Alec Bradley Prensado Torpedo, the pointy counterpart to the Churchill, a former Cigar of the Year.

lonsdales • Slender sizes might occupy a small space in today’s market, but their dedicated following is still strong enough to keep...