第2名 蒙特（非古）1935周年尼加拉瓜2号（Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua No. 2）

雪茄世界里，纪念日一直都备受重视，尤其是对于蒙特这样具有传奇色彩和意义的品牌而言。2020年是蒙特品牌创立85周年，美国阿塔迪斯公司和雪茄制造商 A.J. 合作费尔南德斯合作发布了这款蒙特1935周年尼加拉瓜2号，这是我们杂志社品尝过的最好的非古蒙特雪茄。

和蒙特这样的传统品牌打交道是一项艰巨的任务。一方面必须保持品牌的某些原则。另一方面必须有一些创新。这就是拉斐尔·诺达尔（Rafael Nodal）擅长的地方，他是阿塔迪斯公司的产品能力负责人，和费尔南德斯合作了这款神圣而口味饱满的蒙特。

雪茄52环径粗，6.125英寸长。盲评得分95分。每支售价16.43美元。所有烟叶都产自尼加拉瓜，是费尔南德斯的农场培育出来的。确切的烟叶品种和农场具体位置，阿塔迪斯公司没有透露，这是一个秘密。众所周知，费尔南德斯喜欢制作大胆浓烈的雪茄，这个主题在这款雪茄完美的体现出来。主基调是辛辣泥土味，随后混合了皮革、椰子和麦芽牛奶的味道。

2号是蒙特产品线里最具有标志性的尺寸，不仅是整个品牌里表现最好的，也是今年表现最好的雪茄之一。

附参考原文：

Anniversaries aren’t taken lightly in the cigar world, especially when it comes to brands as storied and significant as Montecristo. So when it turned 85 in 2020, Altadis U.S.A. collaborated with cigarmaker A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua to do something quite special. The result was the Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua—the finest non-Cuban Montecristo we’ve ever tasted.

Handling a heritage brand such as Montecristo can be a daunting task. On the one hand, certain tenets of the brand must be maintained, but on the other, there has to be some innovation. This is where Rafael Nodal has excelled. He’s the head of product capability for Altadis and collaborated with Fernandez to produce this divinely rich expression of Montecristo.

All the tobacco is from Nicaragua, grown on Fernandez’s farms, but Altadis is not divulging much else. Exact varietals and farm locations are a secret, which is uncharacteristic for the company. It’s no secret, however, that Fernandez likes to make bold, strong cigars, and that theme plays out beautifully here with a spicy, earthy backbone refined by notes of leather, coconut and malted milk.

Consider it a stroke of poetic justice that the No. 2, which is the most iconic Montecristo size, was the best performer of not only the entire brand, but one of the finest cigars of the year.

第3名 圣克里斯托瓦尔精髓丘吉尔（San Cristobal Quintessence Churchill）

圣克里斯托瓦尔品牌有五个不同的产品线，每个产品线都有不同的外包装和风味特征。今年脱颖而出的是精髓丘吉尔，这个产品线的茄衣选用了烟草植株顶部的第五片烟叶，这意味着茄衣烟叶不但要长得高，烟叶强度也很高。这个产品线比启示（Revelation）系列的口味要浓郁，但是不如圣克里斯托瓦尔的核心产品线。精髓产品线被定义为中等到浓郁强度。

所有的 圣克里斯托瓦尔都是阿什顿雪茄公司出品的，所有人是莱文家族，是老爹雪茄公司在尼加拉瓜代工卷制。阿什顿雪茄创建于2007年，那时公司追求风味多元化，发布了第一款尼加拉瓜雪茄。此后每隔几年，公司就会发布不同版本的圣克里斯托瓦尔雪茄。虽然也有很多雪茄是用厄瓜多尔哈瓦那茄衣和尼加拉瓜烟草卷制，但是很少有像圣克里斯托瓦尔精髓丘吉尔这款成功、活力、有趣的雪茄。这里的大部分功劳要归于老爹雪茄的加西亚家族，以及他们对尼加拉瓜烟草的深刻理解。

雪茄是49环径粗，7英寸长，盲评得分95分，每支售价9美元。一切都与这款粗大的丘吉尔相得益彰。口味浓郁，充满坚果味，燃烧中传递出充满咖啡豆味的泥土气息，中段有一些烘焙香料的味道，尾端是迷人的卡布奇诺的味道。

附参考原文：

There are five different lines in the San Cristobal series, all with different wrappers and flavor profiles, but the one that stood out this year was the San Cristobal Quintessence Churchill. The Quintessence is made with a fifth-priming wrapper from Ecuador, meaning that the leaf grows fairly high on the plant. In terms of strength, it’s more powerful than the San Cristobal Revelation line, but not quite as strong as core San Cristobal cigars. Quintessence was blended to register as medium-to-full and does so splendidly with the Churchill.

All San Cristobals are made in Nicaragua by My Father Cigars for Ashton Distributors, owned by the Levin family. The brand started in 2007 when Ashton diversified and released its first Nicaraguan cigar. Since then, Ashton has been bringing different versions of San Cristobal to the market every few years. While plenty of cigars are made with Ecuador Havana wrapper and Nicaraguan tobacco, few are as successful, dynamic or interesting as the San Cristobal Quintessence Churchill. Much of the credit goes to the Garcia family of My Father Cigars and their profound understanding of Nicaraguan tobacco.

Everything came together quite harmoniously with the large Churchill. It’s rich, nutty and complex conveying an earthy foundation of coffee bean character, a mid-palate of baking spices and a charming, cappuccino finish.