第一名：富恩特巨著X城堡珍藏系列

这是一款7英寸长，48环径粗的大雪茄，得分97分，在美国的售价是每支19.15美元，全多米尼加烟叶卷制。

20世纪80年代时，一名巴黎的雪茄零售商和小卡洛斯·富恩特打趣说：你不算雪茄制造商，你是在组装烟草。当时，富恩特公司的话事人还是小卡洛斯的父亲，小卡洛斯用各种产地的烟叶来卷制雪茄。年轻的小卡洛斯对此有点不以为然，他觉得茄衣烟叶很关键。那时候，市面上基本没有多米尼加种植的茄衣烟叶，但这却成为年轻的卡洛斯的痴迷。如今，小卡洛斯成为了富恩特家族的首领和富恩特雪茄公司的老大。

如果说当年这个略带嘲讽的对话是巨著X雪茄故事的序幕，那么第一章要始于上世纪90年代，小卡洛斯开启了他在多米尼加共和国种植优质茄衣烟叶的雄心壮志计划。老观点认为，多米尼加的土壤不适合培育优质的盖叶，在很大程度上是这样，但小卡洛斯试图打破这个观点。

1991年，他选择好恰当的土壤开始培育科罗霍种子烟叶，种出一种独特的茄衣烟叶，富有华丽的红色色泽、令人羡慕的弹性、丰富的香味、力度更强的口味。这块土地是位于博诺的如今称为富恩特城堡的一个农场，这里的土质和多米尼加共和国的其他种植区不太一样。土壤更轻，更滑润，粘土含量更高。

1995年11月，美国纽约的一个寒冷的夜晚，曼哈顿一家雪茄零售店外一队长长的人群在等待，这是巨著X上市日。在那个夜晚，一个狂热的经典雪茄诞生了。

巨著X系列问世时，当时雪茄市场还是以温和轻柔口味为主，巨著X系列是一款口味相对浓烈的雪茄。如今，在成熟的雪茄市场，巨著X系列面临着更多同类的竞争对手。但它仍然独具特质，质感淳厚，辛辣而不刺鼻，每一口都饱含烘焙香料、肉豆蔻、香草的浓郁甜味，口味的强度和优雅感的平衡之妙让人吃惊，这些是我们评选它成为今年的年度最佳雪茄的原因。

巨著X系列的故事是一个被世人认为不可能的茄衣的故事。最终，富恩特向世界证明了传统观点的错误，创造了一个令人赞叹的全多米尼加烟叶卷制的雪茄品牌，这一点的意义远远超过这个品牌的其他方面。

“You’re not a cigarmaker. You just assemble tobaccos,” quipped a Parisian retailer in the 1980s. He was talking to Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr., now owner and patriarch of Arturo Fuente Cigar Co. Back then, the company was owned by his father and the Fuentes were producing cigars with tobacco from different origins. The snide remark stuck with the younger Fuente, and he knew the problem was wrapper. Dominican wrapper was nearly nonexistent, and this became the young Fuente’s obsession. 

If that derisive comment was the prologue to the OpusX story, chapter one began in the early 1990s with the ambitions of Fuente Jr. and his plan to grow quality wrapper leaf in the Dominican Republic. Conventional wisdom dictated that Dominican soils were unsuitable for growing good cover leaf. And this was for the most part true. But Fuente was on a mission, and when he finally planted the right Corojo seeds in the right plot of land in 1991, the result was a unique wrapper with a gorgeous reddish hue, enviable elasticity, big aroma and even bigger flavor. What is now known as Chateau de la Fuente is a farm located in Bonao, where the soil differs from other growing regions in the Dominican Republic. It’s lighter and loamier with a higher clay content.

Fast forward to a chilly November evening in New York City in 1995. A line of people hoping to enter a Manhattan cigar shop extended all the way around the block. It was premiere night and cigar fans of all professional stripes waited in the cold for their chance to try an OpusX. On that night, a cult classic and cigar phenomenon was born. 

When OpusX was released, it was a strong cigar in a mostly mild market. Today, it has a lot more competition in the full-bodied segment, yet OpusX remains relevant—and coveted. It’s leathery and assertively spicy without being harsh. Every puff is inlaid with an opulent sweetness of baking spices, nutmeg and vanilla. The balance of power and elegance is astounding and precisely why it’s our Cigar of the Year. Because the ring gauge of the Reserva d’Chateau is somewhat slim, the wrapper plays a major role in the smoking experience. Ultimately, the story of OpusX was about a wrapper that was thought to be unfeasible. In the end, Fuente proved everyone wrong and created a stunning, all-Dominican cigar that’s much more than the sum of its parts.