Tasting Note

This marks the first time that a CroMagnon cigar has made it to the Top 25 list. Don't let the name fool you. The brand, owned by Skip Martin and produced in Nicaragua under the company RoMa Craft Tobac, does not make primitive cigars. Martin has paired a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper with a Nicaraguan filler blend. That, in and of itself, is not very uncommon in the world. But he's also incorporated a Cameroon binder, which isn't as orthodox.The result is a fairly bold smoke with earthy aspects of dark cocoa and nutty qualities that play off each other effectively. Perhaps the earth is the underlying theme here, between the character of the smoke and the anthropological motif. Named Anthropology, the relatively slim, 46 ring gauge cigar scored 93 points—a civilized smoke that evokes Cro-Magnon man.