No. 16 Cigar of the Year 2025 – Fine & Rare ANB-228

The Fine & Rare ANB-228 represents the 14th entry in Alec Bradley’s Fine & Rare portfolio—one of the brand’s most labor-intensive and closely watched annual projects. Since the line’s introduction in 2011, Alec Bradley has delivered a Fine & Rare release in nearly every calendar year, with the only gaps coming in 2020 and 2021. Although the series has revisited blends in the past, the post-acquisition era under STG has leaned heavily into fresh “First Issue” concepts, a trend that continues with this 2025 edition. The cigar was rolled in a 7″ x 50 Churchill size, once again featuring a whopping ten-tobacco recipe. The blend begins with a Criollo ’98 wrapper grown in Trojés, Honduras, supported by a dual-binder setup: Honduran Corojo ’99 from Trojés and Nicaraguan Criollo ’98 from Estelí. Beneath that sits a complex filler core composed of seven distinct tobaccos, including Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98 from Honduras’ Jamastran Valley, Criollo ’98 and Corojo ’99 from Nicaragua’s Jalapa and Estelí regions, Mexican San Andrés, and a Dominican Criollo leaf. This concoction is a bit more diverse than past releases (typically including only Nicaraguan and Honduran leaves), and it comes through in the final result, featuring a sweet/creamy caramel-stirred milk character from the first puff. The cigar is nicely balanced and somehow manages not to feel overstuffed, hitting standout notes of salted caramel cookie, sweet earth, touches of cinnamon, and darker chocolates as the smoke progresses.

Fine & Rare ANB-228 Breakdown

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