Release Date: September 2018
Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3
The wrappers on the Rafael González North Star are either very good looking or absolutely gorgeous, as the first sample I smoked had one of the best looking leaves I can recall seeing on a Cuban cigar in some time. It’s a reddish brown hue with a bit of subtle sheen, very small veins and an almost velvety texture on the fingers. It’s rolled fairly firmly but one sample has some give to it, a seemingly very well constructed cigar going by looks, with each sample capped very tidily. Aromas off the foot of the cigar include a cool meatiness, reminding me of preparing to reheat some leftover steak. There’s just a touch of mellow sweetness, though I can’t quite place it other than it is a heavier expression of the term, as well as occasional smells of dry earth, wood, and a generic tobacco leaf aroma. The cold draws on two samples are firm enough to be concerning and has me thinking the cigar might be rather sl
86.5
These ratings indicate a high level of quality throughout the cigar market, as 109 of the 267 cigars we rated (41 percent) scored 90 points or higher. And 66 cigars scored 91 points or higher, earning our accolade of Humidor Selection. Every major cigar-producing country contributed cigars to that list, though 30 of the cigars in this segment hail from Nicaragua. Currently, Nicaragua exports more premium cigars to the U.S. than any other country, and its proliferation of high ratings speaks to both the high quality of tobacco on the agricultural end as well as meticulous cigar production on the industrial side.
If you’re looking for a 90 pointer, you’re more likely to find it from Cuba than any other country. We rated 24 Cuban cigars this year, and 16 of them (66.7 percent) scored 90 points or higher, a larger percentage of 90s than any other major cigar-producing country. (Though 80 percent of the Mexican cigars rated this year scored more than 90 points, we only tested f