An unranked editorial retrospective of lines available by 2002, informed by manufacturer accounts. These selections are not historical award results or firsthand tasting notes from cigars produced that year.
Padrón 1926 Serie gives 2002 a natural opening: a new cigar named for the birth year of the man who founded the company. Around that personal tribute, the choices broaden. Antaño 1970 brings pronounced Nicaraguan strength; Brazilia puts a Brazilian wrapper in the foreground. Our retrospective of the best cigars of 2002 follows those recent arrivals alongside established lines, exploring how time, origin and construction give a cigar its own place in a crowded humidor.
Padrón 1926 Serie
Introduced in 2002, the 1926 Serie honors José Orlando Padrón’s seventy-fifth birthday and takes its name from his birth year. Padrón identifies five years of tobacco aging and a box-pressed format as defining features. The result is a tribute expressed through the company’s own working language: time spent preparing tobacco and care given to its final form.
Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970
Antaño 1970 arrived at the 2001 RTDA show with an entirely Nicaraguan blend and an emphatic commitment to strength and body. Robusto Grande, Belicoso and Gran Consul were the original formats. By 2002, it offered a recent, forceful expression from an established maker, drawing its character from the tobacco of its home country.
CAO Brazilia
Brazilia makes its outer leaf the starting point. Introduced in 2001, the line places Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. That combination gives the cigar a clear geographical story without reducing it to a single origin. The name draws attention to Brazil; the blend brings Brazil and Nicaragua together.
Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series
The arrival of 1926 gives the 1964 Anniversary Series fresh context. Introduced in 1994, the earlier line combines a box-pressed shape with tobacco Padrón describes as aged for four years. The two families share an interest in patient preparation, while their separate anniversaries and aging programs give each a reason to stand on its own.
Fuente Fuente OpusX
With OpusX, the Dominican Republic supplies wrapper, binder and filler. The original line’s 1995 debut made that complete national composition central to the Fuente story. In a selection rich with Nicaraguan tobacco, OpusX opens another view of the puro: an entire cigar built from the agricultural resources of one country.
Ashton VSG
Ashton’s Virgin Sun Grown had been in the portfolio since 1999, giving its fuller expression time to establish an identity. The brand’s references to cedar, earth and espresso suggest the richness it intends. VSG broadens this year’s picture of intensity, bringing the subject into an established premium family alongside the more recent Antaño.
La Gloria Cubana Serie R
A substantial ring gauge is only the beginning of Serie R’s story. Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos support the original line’s full-flavored identity, connecting its physical presence with a deliberate blending choice. It belongs to the early-2000s picture as a cigar comfortable with scale, while giving that scale a clear purpose.
Diamond Crown Classic
Diamond Crown Classic approaches a generous format through Connecticut shade and a milder profile. Its original 54-ring-gauge lineup, introduced for J.C. Newman’s 1995 centennial, grew from the Newman–Fuente collaboration. Beside the more assertive cigars of 2002, the Classic demonstrates how a broad canvas can also accommodate restraint.
Arturo Fuente Hemingway
The Hemingway perfecto makes a small lesson in craftsmanship visible on the shelf. Fuente revived the shape with this line in 1983, committing to a form that asks more of the roller than a straight-sided cigar. Its presence in 2002 gives the year an older tradition still capable of holding attention through workmanship alone.
ACID by Drew Estate
The early ACID family builds its identity around aromatic infusion and Drew Estate’s proprietary approach to curing and blending. Here, the experience begins with a different set of expectations about aroma. ACID expands this year’s selection beyond variations in strength or wrapper, giving an unconventional cigar family room beside the familiar premium names.
Looking back at 2002
Time is the thread running through 2002: years spent aging tobacco, a founder’s birthday and rolling skills carried forward from an older tradition. Padrón’s new tribute gives the year its center, while the other selections show the breadth of choices surrounding it. A humidor could hold history and recent invention within a few inches of each other.
Brand background, where linked, lives on Ashologist™ — The Study of Cigars.