This pressed beauty is rolled in the freshly expanded Padrón facility in Estel, Nicaragua, under the watchful eye of José Orlando Padrón, his son Jorge, and the rest of the family members who ensure the quality of the 5 million or so cigars they manufacture each year.

This is possibly the best of the bunch, bursting with taste from the first puff. It's a rich smoke with perfect balance, with notes of chocolate, coffee, almonds, and black cherry. The cigar has a finish that never seems to leave the taste. The 97 points is the highest score given to a cigar by Cigar Aficionado in many years.

Padrón Serie 1926 cigars are slightly stronger and more expensive than the company's other luxury brand, the 1964 Anniversary Series. The family has a thing for anniversaries: the company began making cigars in 1964, and José Orlando was born in 1926. The cigar had its premiere in 2002, on José Orlando's 76th birthday, a year later than planned.

The Padróns have never finished outside the top five in Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 tastings, and this is the second time one of their cigars has been awarded the year's best.