第5名 E.P. 卡里略忠诚系列知己（E.P. Carrillo Allegiance Confidant）
52环径，6英寸，茄衣是厄瓜多尔烟叶，茄套、茄芯是尼加拉瓜烟叶。得分95分，在美国的售价是每支13.10美元。一般情况下，一些雪茄品牌的持有人会寻求埃内斯托·佩雷斯·卡里略帮他们代工雪茄，如果他们幸运的话，卡里略会接下来这件业务。但对于卡里略来说，他将自己的卡里略系列第四部作品交给了奥利瓦雪茄公司来生产。前三部系列的雪茄，传承系列不止一次进入年度雪茄排行榜的前25名，复兴系列拿下了2018年的年度最佳雪茄称号，誓约系列则成为2020年度的最佳雪茄。如今，第四个系列，忠诚系列，位居今年度的排行榜第五名。忠诚系列的烟标图案和前三个系列一致，保持品牌的连续性，只是烟标颜色不同。绿色象征着自然和烟草。这款雪茄的口味更像奥利瓦雪茄，还是更像E.P. 卡里略？我们还没有给出定论。但我们可以肯定的是，这款雪茄的烟叶混合完美的融合，形成了一种又甜又辣的基调，伴随木头的味道，随着进程，你可以感受到姜饼味的爆发，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号（Partagás Serie P No. 2）
52环径，6.125英寸，得分95分，售价每支38.5欧元。大多数经验丰富的古巴雪茄客都能从房间的另一端很远就认出这款雪茄的烟标，红色烟标，金色字母，没有华丽的装饰，它是古巴帕特加斯字母系列的明确代表。很多年，曾经字母系列只有一款雪茄，就是D系列的4号。2005年哈伯纳斯公司决定扩大字母系列，推出了与蒙特2号相同尺寸的帕特加斯P2。哈伯纳斯公司将P2定位一款口味浓郁的雪茄，虽然我们并没有发现这款雪茄特别浓郁。P2表现出很好的平衡感以及复杂性，呈现出肉豆蔻、枫糖浆、新鲜椰子、腌制烟草的精确口感。值得庆幸的是，在全世界来说，这款古巴雪茄相对还比较好买一些。
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 德鲁庄园黑化M81皇冠（Blackened Cigars “M81” By Drew Estate Corona）
43环径，5英寸，得分95分，售价每支9.15美元。茄衣是墨西哥烟叶，茄套是康涅狄格阔叶，茄芯是宾夕法尼亚阔叶和尼加拉瓜烟叶的混合。雪茄行业里几方合作出品一款雪茄是很正常的，但是一家雪茄制造商，一家威士忌酒厂，一支重金属乐队凑在一起的合作发行雪茄是非常罕见的。在这个雪茄品牌名字里，我们看见了雪茄制造商德鲁庄园的名字，看见了黑化美国威士忌酿酒厂的名字，第三个合作方是詹姆斯·赫特菲尔德，他是乐队的主唱和吉他手，他的金属乐队成立于1981年，也就是M81的由来。这款雪茄的烟叶混合震撼了我们的盲评小组，释放出一股触电般的辣味，伴有浓郁的巧克力和泥土的味道。各种各样的藏红花、肉豆蔻、肉桂、奶油蛋卷面包灯味道陆续释放，就像金属背景的原声吉他独奏。理想情况下，雪茄客应该一边喝着黑威士忌，一边抽这支雪茄，还应该听着金属乐队的黑色专辑。喜欢强烈口味的雪茄客会陶醉于这支雪茄的力度，但事实上，它只是一个皇冠尺寸的小茄。
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.
