Quick answer: The highest-rated cigar in America is the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series, Cigar Aficionado's 97-point Cigar of the Year for 2021. The best-selling is Macanudo Café, the country's top-selling premium cigar for decades. Critics chase complexity, buyers chase consistency, and the two lists below almost never overlap. Here is each top 10, with receipts.
The best-rated cigar in America and the best-selling cigar in America have almost nothing in common. One is a box-pressed Nicaraguan that took Cigar Aficionado's #1 spot with 97 points. The other is a mellow Connecticut-wrapped staple that has outsold every premium cigar in the country for decades and costs about as much as a deli sandwich.
That gap is the most useful thing nobody tells you when you search for the top 10 cigars. Most lists blur the two together. This one keeps them separate, sources every rating, and links live prices for each pick, so you can decide which list to shop from.
What Are the Top 10 Cigars Right Now?
The highest-rated cigars in America right now are led by the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series, Cigar Aficionado's 97-point Cigar of the Year for 2021, followed by perennial award winners like the Fuente Fuente OpusX, Liga Privada No. 9, My Father Le Bijou 1922, and the Oliva Serie V Melanio, the 2014 Cigar of the Year. The best-selling cigars are a different list: Macanudo Café has been the best-selling premium cigar in America for decades, alongside staples like Romeo y Julieta 1875, Montecristo White, and Perdomo Lot 23. The two lists rarely overlap because critics reward complexity while buyers reward consistency and price. Ratings come from blind tastings on a 100-point scale, and anything above 95 is rare air. A top-rated stick typically runs $10 to $40 MSRP; the best-sellers mostly stay in single digits or the low teens. Both lists below carry named ratings, verified specs, and live price links.
How Do Cigars Get Rated, and What Does Best-Selling Mean?
Ratings are earned in blind tastings. Cigar Aficionado, the industry's benchmark, scores cigars on a 100-point scale with the bands removed, judging flavor, balance, construction, and finish. A 90 is excellent. A 95 is exceptional. The annual Top 25 crowns a Cigar of the Year, and that single award can sell out a factory's production for months. Our guide to cigar ratings breaks down how the scale works.
Best-selling is a different scoreboard. It measures what smokers reach for week after week: approachable strength, steady construction, and a price that survives being a daily habit. Nobody publishes per-cigar sales figures, but retailer bestseller walls and decades of market data tell a consistent story, and Macanudo has led it since long before most of today's award winners existed.
The 10 Highest-Rated Cigars in America
Every pick below carries a named rating or award. No experts say.
Receipts.
1. Padron 1964 Anniversary Series
Profile: full-bodied Nicaraguan puro. Wrapper: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan, natural or maduro.
Launched in 1994 for the family's 30th anniversary, box-pressed, and rolled from tobacco aged four years. Cigar Aficionado named it the #1 Cigar of the Year for 2021 with 97 points, and the maduro's cocoa-and-espresso core is the reference point every other Nicaraguan maduro gets measured against. Track live prices on the Padron 1964 Anniversary comparison page.
2. Fuente Fuente OpusX
Profile: full-bodied Dominican puro. Wrapper: estate-grown Dominican rosado.
The first Dominican puro ever made, launched in 1995 from Chateau de la Fuente after experts insisted wrapper leaf could not grow in the Dominican Republic. Spice, cedar, and cocoa with a legendary waiting list; the Reserva d'Chateau vitola landed on Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 for 2023. Compare the family's lines on the Arturo Fuente price page.
3. Liga Privada No. 9
Profile: full-bodied. Wrapper: stalk-cut, stalk-cured Connecticut Broadleaf oscuro.
Blended as Drew Estate's president's personal smoke, the ninth of nine test blends, and nicknamed the Broadleaf Bully. Espresso, dark chocolate, and leather with construction that borders on obsessive. Browse the line at Liga Privada.
4. Davidoff Winston Churchill The Late Hour
Profile: medium-full. Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano.
The only cigar on this list with tobacco aged six months in single-malt Scotch casks, a first for Davidoff when it launched in 2017. Dark chocolate, black pepper, and an unmistakable whisky-tinged sweetness.
5. My Father Le Bijou 1922
Profile: full-bodied Nicaraguan puro. Wrapper: Cuban-seed oscuro.
Cigar Aficionado's #1 Cigar of the Year for 2015 at 97 points. Pepper up front, then cedar, citrus, and dark cocoa. The Garcia family named it for their patriarch, and it still smokes like a tribute. Explore the lineup at My Father.
6. Oliva Serie V Melanio
Profile: medium-full. Wrapper: Ecuador-grown Sumatra seed.
The 2014 Cigar of the Year (Figurado, 96 points), box-pressed and named for Melanio Oliva, the first of the family to grow tobacco. Sweet spice, coffee, and caramel in a package that stays affordable for its trophy case. Live prices on the Serie V Melanio comparison page.
7. Olmec Claro by Foundation
Profile: medium-full. Wrapper: Mexican San Andres claro.
Nicholas Melillo's tribute to Mexico's oldest civilization pairs a slow-fermented San Andres claro leaf with Esteli and Jalapa fillers. Creamy cedar and subtle sweetness; the Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 48) is the sleeper pick. Boutique production, big-league construction. More from Foundation.
8. Ashton VSG
Profile: full-bodied. Wrapper: Ecuador sun-grown Sumatra seed.
Virgin Sun Grown, made by the Fuente family since 1999 from a private-estate wrapper and Dominican fillers aged four to five years. Leather, roasted coffee, and cedar with a 94-point pedigree.
9. E.P. Carrillo Allegiance Confidant
Profile: medium-full. Wrapper: eighth-priming Ecuador Sumatra.
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo followed two Cigar of the Year wins by putting the Allegiance Confidant (6 x 52) on Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 for 2023. Earth, cocoa, and dark fruit, made at Oliva's Esteli factory.
10. El Pulpo by Artesano del Tobacco
Profile: full-bodied. Wrapper: extra-aged Mexican San Andres.
The dark horse: a 2023 release blended at AJ Fernandez's factory that jumped straight onto Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 at #10 for 2023. The box-pressed Belicoso Grande (5 3/4 x 58) delivers coffee bean, dark chocolate, and citrus.
The 10 Best-Selling Cigars in America
No jury here. These are the cigars that dominate retailer bestseller walls year after year, led by the one brand with a documented claim to the throne.
- Macanudo Café: the best-selling premium cigar in America for decades. Creamy, mild, and unshakably consistent. Start at Macanudo.
- Romeo y Julieta 1875: the classic medium-bodied everyday Dominican, balanced enough for any hour. Browse Romeo y Julieta.
- Acid Kuba Kuba: Drew Estate's botanical-infused phenomenon; sweet, aromatic, and a category of one.
- Montecristo White Series: smooth and creamy with just enough body to feel premium.
- Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story: the perfect 30-minute smoke, and proof a best-seller can also be a critic's darling.
- Punch Gran Puro: full flavor at a rotation-friendly price; coffee and spice with no pretense.
- Cohiba Black: the dark, plush crowd-pleaser of the non-Cuban Cohiba portfolio.
- CAO Flavours Moontrance: vanilla and bourbon notes that keep casual smokers coming back.
- Oliva Serie G: nutty, slightly sweet, and the value backbone of the same portfolio that built the Melanio.
- Perdomo Lot 23 Connecticut: creamy, mild-plus, and the most dependable budget Connecticut in the game.
Which List Should You Buy From?
Pick by situation, not prestige:
- Smoking tonight, nothing to prove: buy from the best-seller list. A Macanudo Café or Lot 23 asks nothing of you.
- Celebrating something: buy from the rated list. The Padron 1964 is the safest trophy purchase in the hobby.
- New to cigars: start mild from the seller list, then use our beginner's guide to map your next three smokes.
- Want one cigar that satisfies both scoreboards: the Oliva Serie V Melanio. Cigar of the Year credentials, everyday-adjacent price.
- Gifting blind: box-pressed Padron 1964 maduro if the budget allows, Hemingway Short Story if it does not.
Do You Have to Spend $30 for a Great Cigar?
No. The rated list tops out past $30 a stick, but the spread between a $25 cigar and a $9 cigar is smaller than the price gap suggests. Our quarterly Cigar Price Index tracks actual market prices for premium cigars, and the under-$15 picks page proves how deep the value tier runs. Prices also swing hard between stores, which is why every pick above links to a live multi-retailer comparison; the same cigar can differ by several dollars a stick depending on where you buy, before coupon codes even enter the math.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the number one rated cigar?
By the numbers, the most recent benchmark is the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series, Cigar Aficionado's 97-point Cigar of the Year for 2021, with the Fuente Fuente OpusX Reserva d'Chateau taking Top 25 honors for 2023. The #1 spot rotates yearly, but Padron, Fuente, and My Father appear more often than any other names.
What is the difference between best-rated and best-selling cigars?
Best-rated cigars win blind tastings judged on flavor complexity, balance, and construction. Best-selling cigars win wallets: they are milder, cheaper, and consistent enough to smoke daily. The lists rarely overlap. The Hemingway Short Story is the rare cigar that lives comfortably on both.
What are good cigars for someone starting out?
Start from the best-seller list, not the rated one. Macanudo Café, Montecristo White, and Perdomo Lot 23 Connecticut are mild, forgiving, and affordable enough that a fumbled first light is not a $30 mistake. Full-bodied award winners punish new palates; work up to them.
Which cigar brands are ranked highest?
Padron, Arturo Fuente, My Father, Oliva, and Davidoff have the deepest award shelves, with Drew Estate's Liga Privada owning the dark-wrapper category. Between them they account for four #1 Cigar of the Year wins on this page alone.
What are the best tasting cigars?
Taste splits by profile. For cocoa and espresso: Padron 1964 maduro or Liga Privada No. 9. For pepper and spice: My Father Le Bijou 1922. For creamy and sweet: Olmec Claro or Macanudo Café. For something no other cigar tastes like: the Scotch-cask Davidoff Late Hour.
Are expensive cigars actually better?
Better rated, usually. Better for you on a Tuesday, rarely. Price buys rare tobacco, longer aging, and prestige, and the difference is real but smaller than the markup implies. A $9 Serie G smoked relaxed beats a $30 OpusX smoked anxious.
What I'd Buy First
One order, both scoreboards: a five-pack of Oliva Serie V Melanio for the trophy shelf and a five-pack of Hemingway Short Story for the truck. That pairing covers award-night depth and Tuesday reliability for well under a single box of OpusX, and every cigar named on this page has a live price you can compare across every major US online retailer we track before you spend a dollar. If a lounge chair sounds better than a checkout cart, the lounge directory knows where you can smoke tonight.
