As 2024 draws to a close, we head into the awards season - it is always a bit of surprise when the winner is announced, with some very interesting choices. So before we get on to the big publications award, I will announce my own personal favourite.

Eann Wallace (Cigar buyer) - Gauntleys Of Nottingham.

Olmec Toro - Foundation Cigars.

The blend is a true masterpiece in the storied stables of Nicholas Melillo – light to medium in body, exceptionally well balanced and notably refined, whilst using that San Andres in a way that differs to almost all other uses on the market. This is richly flavoured, gloriously complex with a long, rounded, silky finish.

Cigar Aficionado Top 25 of 2024

The much coveted Aficionado awards are slowly being drip fed to us as they normally are and we are listing below the rank for the cigars that we stock below. If it is a different size that got the award we have noted that.

No.1 - My Father The Judge Grand Robusto - In stock and ready to go!

''If the American Dream seems like an antiquated idea reserved for late-19th-century immigrants in history books, then consider the more recent story of My Father Cigars. Company founder José “Pepín” Garcia emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 2002, bringing with him a rare skill—the ability to roll the type of Cuban-style cigar that many in this country hadn’t seen since before the Cuban embargo.

Eventually, Garcia ended up in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood and opened up a small factory called El Rey de Los Habanos. Success came quickly. In just a few years, he outgrew the Miami location and expanded to Nicaragua, where Garcia increased production and had easier access to the Nicaraguan tobaccos he was accustomed to using. But Pepín didn’t do this alone. Both his son Jaime and daughter Janny were instrumental in growing the company, working with him in Miami and Nicaragua.

In 2008, Jaime surprised his father with a blend he’d been working on in secret. He presented it to Pepín as a dedication to all he’d done as a mentor and as a parent. The cigar was sentimentally named My Father, and the Garcias opened a grander factory in Nicaragua with the same name the following year.

There have been plenty of spinoff brands from My Father—La Gran Oferta, La Opulencia and Le Bijou 1922 (the 2015 Cigar of the Year). In 2016, the Garcias released My Father The Judge, a bold, full-bodied cigar packaged in boxes with lithographic art resurrected from 1905. With the exception of the dark, Sumatra-seed Ecuadoran wrapper, all the tobacco comes from farms across Nicaragua that the Garcias spent many years obtaining. As is typical of Cuban construction, the cigar is made with two binders, one Corojo and one Criollo. The tobacco comes from at least three regions: the La Bonita Two farm in Jalapa, El Pedrero in Estelí and San Rafael in Namanji.

The Grand Robusto’s thick ring gauge allows for a thorough exploration of Nicaragua’s tobacco appellations, making for a cigar that is rich and complex. It shows an ample core of earth, toast and wood along with finer nutty details and sweet undercurrents all amounting to a bold smoke that resonates with balance and satisfaction. Every puff is certainly a cross section of Nicaragua’s finest soils, but beyond that, it also affirms a passion for tobacco, a strong work ethic and an even stronger belief in the power of family. —Gregory Mottola''

No.5 - Partagas Linea Maestra Rito - Available instore - The Maestro size was voted no.5

No.6 - Oliva V Melanio Figurado Maduro (The torpedo size was voted no.6)

No.10 - Brick House Robusto (Churchill Size was voted no.10)

No.15 - Romeo Y Julieta Wide Churchill

Cigar Journal Magazine - 2024 Public Awards

BEST BRAND 2024 Best Brand Dom. Rep. 2024: E.P. Carrillo Encore

BEST CIGAR 2024 Best Cigar Cuba 2024: Partagás Serie D No.4

BEST VALUE 2024 Best Value Honduras 2024: Zino Nicaragua - Available instore

BEST BOUTIQUE BRAND 2024 Best Boutique Brand Nicaragua 2024: West Tampa Tobacco Co. Red - Available instore

Best Boutique Brand Other Countries 2024: J.C. Newman Angel Cuesta, USA