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From Nicaraguan powerhouses to refined Cuban classics, these ten cigars represent the pinnacle of the roller's art in 2026.

Tequila has evolved from party fuel to a world-class sipping spirit. These ten expressions prove that the agave renaissance is real—and it's spectacular.

From Scotland's misty highlands to Japan's meticulous distilleries, these ten whiskeys represent the pinnacle of the craft in 2026.

We tasted over 100 bottles to find the ten bourbons that define excellence in 2026. Some are old friends; others are new arrivals. All of them earned their place.

Named after France's Champagne capital, the Epernay is the thinking person's cigar—refined, elegant, and subtly complex in a world that mistakes volume for value. This is the antidote to bigger-is-better.

Released twice a year and selling out almost instantly, the Supreme Leaf is Aganorsa's showcase blend—and the FOMO is completely justified. This is Nicaraguan terroir at its absolute finest.

All tobacco from a single farm plot, aged five years, and priced at $8. If that sounds too good to be true, welcome to the Perdomo Lot 23 Maduro—the cigar that makes the entire industry look overpriced.

The family that grows more tobacco than anyone in Central America finally launched their own brand—and the Alma Fuerte proves they can make cigars every bit as well as they grow tobacco.

Named after Columbus's discovery of tobacco, the New World is AJ Fernandez's love letter to bold Nicaraguan puros—and at $7, it's the most generous love letter you'll ever receive.

Blended by Carlos Fuente Jr. for the Ashton brand, the VSG is a full-bodied Dominican that has been quietly embarrassing flashier cigars for twenty-five years. The cognoscenti know.

Cigar Aficionado's #1 Best Value Cigar has no business tasting this good at this price. Foundation's Charter Oak Habano is the cigar equivalent of finding a Michelin-star meal at a diner.

Cigar Aficionado's #1 Cigar of 2025. At $75 per stick, it forces the ultimate question: is any single cigar worth that much? After smoking ours, we have a very clear answer.

Connecticut cigars have a reputation problem—too mild, too boring, too forgettable. Drew Estate's Undercrown Shade dismantles every one of those assumptions with creamy, nuanced elegance.

Pete Johnson's former private reserve blend in a slim lancero format that concentrates flavor like nothing else. This is the cigar that converts lancero skeptics into lancero evangelists.

The torpedo that defined the format. Created in 1935, the Montecristo No. 2 remains one of the most iconic cigars ever made—when you get a good one, nothing else quite compares.

The world's most beloved short smoke has been converting non-smokers and delighting veterans for over thirty years. The Cameroon wrapper is the secret weapon, and the perfecto shape is the delivery system.

Bold claim? Perhaps. But when a cigar achieves near-universal adoration across every corner of the enthusiast world, at some point you stop hedging and simply acknowledge greatness.

Cigar Aficionado's 2012 Cigar of the Year at under $10 a stick. Flor de las Antillas is the gateway cigar that never gets old, the everyman's smoke that punches absurdly above its weight.

Is the Cohiba Robusto the greatest cigar ever made, or the most overhyped? After fighting through counterfeits, inconsistency, and eye-watering prices, we finally have our answer.

Named after patriarch Melanio Oliva, this figurado represents four generations of tobacco expertise distilled into a single, flawless cigar. The construction alone deserves a standing ovation.

Born as Drew Estate's private blend for factory workers, Liga Privada No. 9 became an accidental legend—the ninth attempt at perfection that finally got everything right.

Full-bodied, relentlessly complex, and built with the craftsmanship of a family that has been rolling cigars since before most of us were born. Le Bijou 1922 is the Garcia family at their most uncompromising.

They said it couldn't be done—a full-bodied, sun-grown wrapper cigar from the Dominican Republic. Carlos Fuente Jr. didn't listen, and the result changed cigar history forever.

There are cigars you smoke, and cigars that change the way you think about smoking. The Padron 1964 Anniversary is emphatically the latter—a Nicaraguan puro so perfectly balanced it borders on unfair.

While Macallan raises prices, GlenDronach quietly produces one of the finest sherried Scotch whiskies in the world—at a price that makes you feel guilty.

Marketed as premium Japanese whisky, priced like a budget blend, and debated endlessly. We pour through the confusion to find out what Toki actually is.

From the shores of the Isle of Skye comes a whisky of maritime peat, black pepper, and wild beauty. Talisker 10 is Scotland's most dramatic distillery in a bottle.

A 100-proof, 10-year rye whiskey from a farm in Vermont. WhistlePig challenged everything we knew about American rye—and the revolution succeeded.

Three Speyside single malts walk into a bottle. The result is a blended malt so versatile and approachable that it's become bartenders' favourite Scotch.

Named after colored spots on aging barrels, Green Spot is the entry to Ireland's most distinguished whiskey family. Creamy, fruity, and entirely irresistible.

An unpeated whisky from Islay? Bunnahabhain 12 breaks every expectation about the island of peat and delivers something utterly unique—and utterly delicious.

Neither purely peated nor purely sherried, Highland Park 12 stands at the crossroads of Scotch styles—and that's exactly what makes it indispensable.

David Stewart's genius idea: finish 14-year Scotch in West Indian rum casks. The result is the sweetest, most approachable single malt you'll ever sip.

Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof and priced for everyday drinking, Rittenhouse Rye is the bartender's secret weapon and the Manhattanist's best friend.

The world's best-selling single malt has introduced more people to Scotch than any other bottle. But beyond the gateway, is there genuine quality here?

While the world chases Scotch and bourbon, Redbreast 12 has been quietly producing one of the most rewarding sipping whiskies on the planet. The secret is out.

At 51.4% ABV in a bottle that fits in your pocket, Nikka From The Barrel punches harder than whiskies twice its size and three times its price.

The distillery that won World's Best Single Malt twice has a 15-year expression that most people haven't tried. That needs to change immediately.

Macallan has built an empire on sherry-seasoned oak. But in an era of soaring prices and diminishing age statements, does the 12-year flagship still deliver?

You either love it or you hate it—and both responses are equally valid. Laphroaig 10 is the most polarizing whisky in the world, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

At only 10 years old and 46% ABV, Ardbeg delivers more peat, more smoke, and more intensity per dollar than any whisky on the planet. Approach with reverence.

The Islay icon that Ron Swanson made famous—and that was already legendary long before television discovered it. Peat, smoke, and maritime grandeur.

Cascahuin makes tequila for some of the biggest boutique brands. Now their own house expression is demanding—and deserving—the spotlight.

Vintage-dated, variable-proof, and from the same master distiller behind budget darling Cimarron. Fuenteseca is where tequila meets fine wine ambition.

Made by the same master distiller behind ultra-premium Fuenteseca, Cimarron delivers $40 flavor at a $20 price. In a liter bottle. The math is absurd.

The grandson of Don Julio himself returns to traditional roots. Three ingredients, no shortcuts, and the fastest-growing upscale tequila in America.

From the third-oldest distillery in the town of Tequila itself, Arette is rapidly replacing Espolon as the budget blanco every enthusiast recommends. And at $20, the math is irresistible.

George Clooney's tequila empire sold for nearly $1 billion. But when you set aside the celebrity, what does the liquid actually deliver? Less than you'd hope.

Five years in three types of oak. Limited to 9,000 bottles per batch. Tears of Llorona is the ultra-premium tequila that actually justifies its price tag.

Created by bartenders, priced for everyone. At roughly $20, Olmeca Altos is the additive-free workhorse that every home bar needs and every cocktail deserves.

Deep well water from 150 meters underground gives Terralta an earthy, mineral complexity unlike anything else in tequila. This is liquid terroir.

Rap lyrics, nightclub menus, and Instagram feeds can't be wrong... can they? We pour the world's most famous premium tequila and ask the uncomfortable questions.

The most Instagram-famous tequila in the world. That hand-painted ceramic decanter is undeniably gorgeous. But what about the liquid inside? We investigate.

This is the distillery that originally made Patron—before they refused to compromise their traditional methods. That refusal created something extraordinary.

Bottled at the legal maximum of 55% ABV, Tapatio 110 is often called 'the GOAT' of blanco tequila. After tasting it, we're not inclined to argue.

Single-estate, vintage-dated, and terroir-driven—Tequila Ocho is the wine lover's tequila, proving that where agave grows matters as much as how it's distilled.

From the same Jalisco distillery as some of tequila's biggest names, Wild Common is the boutique brand that's earned its spot at the grown-ups' table.

Bottled at 108 proof—nearly the legal maximum—G4's high-proof blanco is an unfiltered, undiluted expression of what highland agave can truly deliver.

Carlos Camarena's highland masterpiece rests just long enough in ex-bourbon barrels to achieve that rarest of things: perfect balance between agave and oak.

Fifth-generation craftsmanship meets volcanic tahona stone. Fortaleza Blanco is the tequila the cognoscenti stack their shelves with—and for damn good reason.

From one barrel per day to a $600M acquisition, Wilderness Trail has arrived. Their cask strength singles are a glimpse at bourbon's next golden era.

Vintage-dated. Single barrel. From one of Kentucky's most storied distilleries. Under $30. Evan Williams Single Barrel is bourbon's best-kept secret—period.

The annual BTAC release that bourbon collectors would trade their firstborn for. At 142 proof in 2025, this is bourbon pushed to its absolute limits.

Crafted by the Russell dynasty—father and son, 100+ years of combined experience—this is the shelf bourbon that Eagle Rare fans need to discover.

100 proof. 9-year age statement. Under $40. Available everywhere. Knob Creek's numbers don't lie—this is the best set of specs in bourbon for the money.

Same distillery, same mashbill as Pappy Van Winkle. But is Weller Special Reserve actually good bourbon, or just famous by association?

As the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, Woodford Reserve has the pedigree. But does the liquid in the glass match the prestige of the name?

Heaven Hill's workhorse bourbon proves that under $30, there's still a world of genuine quality. Steady, reliable, and criminally underrated.

With 10 unique recipes from 2 mashbills and 5 yeast strains, Four Roses is the bourbon equivalent of a master perfumer's workshop. Each barrel is its own creation.

Named for an era when bourbon went underground, Old Forester 1920 has emerged as one of the best kept non-allocated secrets in Kentucky. Rich, bold, and revelatory.

Here sits a barrel-proof masterpiece collecting dust on shelves while grown adults camp outside liquor stores for lesser bottles. This is bourbon's cruelest irony.

Formerly known as Stagg Jr., this barrel-proof brute has been renamed but not tamed. At 130 proof, it's Kentucky in its most concentrated, uncompromising form.

Few bourbons provoke more passionate disagreement than Maker's Mark. Reliable classic or forgettable also-ran? We wade into America's oldest bourbon argument.

While the masses chase horse toppers, the cognoscenti quietly stock their shelves with E.H. Taylor. Here's why this Bottled-in-Bond beauty is the real prize.

Ten years of patience, 90 proof of polish. Eagle Rare is the allocated bourbon that actually deserves the attention—if you can find it at retail.

Jim Beam's barrel-proof flagship doesn't do subtlety. Each quarterly batch is a knuckle-cracking, chest-thumping celebration of uncut Kentucky power.

That iconic horse-topped bottle started the single barrel revolution. But three decades later, is Blanton's still worth the chase—or just the shelf decor?

The most famous bourbon in the world. But after cutting through decades of hype, does the liquid justify the legend? We poured one to find out.

Buffalo Trace built an empire on approachability. But in the age of allocation, this gentle bourbon has become a surprisingly divisive pour.

In a world of allocated unicorns and limited editions, Wild Turkey 101 remains the most honest pour in Kentucky. Here's why the wise keep coming back.

We sat down with Heritage Creek's legendary Master Distiller to talk barrel selection, the bourbon boom, and why great whiskey can't be rushed.

Four Roses' Master Distiller on managing 10 bourbon recipes, the OBSV vs. OESV debate, and why limited releases aren't always the best bottles.

We tasted over 100 bottles to find the ten bourbons that define excellence in 2026. Some are old friends; others are new arrivals. All of them earned their place.

Wilderness Trail's co-founder on sweet mash science, proprietary yeast, and why the best bourbon innovations are happening in Danville, not Louisville.

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A comprehensive state-by-state breakdown of home distilling laws in the United States, including which states would allow moonshining if federal law changed.

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The Laphroaig Cairdeas 2017 edition represents a polarizing release finished in quarter casks with pronounced oakiness and bitter spice characteristics.

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Knob Creek's 12-year expression is a straight bourbon from Beam Suntory with rich flavor profile.

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