The wind was still sharp. Early spring in Dublin does not forgive you. The sun shows itself, but it does not warm you. It only reminds you that winter is loosening its grip, slowly, without apology.

I had the Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 in hand. Dark. Oily. Quiet in its confidence.

Cigar pricing rarely changes quietly. Yet the early signals for 2026 suggest something intriguingly different: not a universal sticker-shock explosion, but a recalibration—uneven by country, brand, and business model, and therefore far more strategic for both retailers and smokers.

That No. 1 for 2025 was the Padrón 60th Anniversary Perfecto, scoring 97 points.  Its backstory reads like a compressed history of modern premium cigar.

Every January in the cigar world, two forces collide. One is curation: lists, awards, “best of” roundups that crown winners and shape what people think they should smoke. The other is scarcity: limited releases, allocation games, and “blink and it’s gone” drops that shape what people can actually smoke. In 2026, that collision is getting louder—and more consequential.