Lounge Lizards This Week: the lizards pair Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada with The Macallan A Night On Earth/"Year of the Horse' releases/ New Diplomáticos Cancilleres/ UK vs. Cigar Lounges/ S.T. Dupont's $70k Lighter,

[El Presidente]

The lizards pair the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada with The Macallan A Night On Earth: The First Light Single Malt Scotch Whisky. The guys share Aganorsa’s history, they discuss more 'Year of the Horse' releases and they find themselves once again distracted by packaging. PLUS: New Diplomáticos Cancilleres, UK vs. Cigar Lounges, S.T. Dupont's $70k Lighter, The BrickHouse is On Fire, a New Offering from The Macallan, Gizmo Banned from Selecting Cigars & More

 

 

[LizardGizmo]

Can anyone point me to a decent cigar from Aganorsa? This $30 cigar was really bad.  @Cigar Surgeon - help!

[TheCigarSoldier]

It felt like for a while there this spring/summer you guys were on a roll and everything coming to the pod was excellent! Sucks that towards the end of the year there's been so many rough goes of it between the RyJ, Black Honey, and this one. Today reminded me of your nightmare before Christmas episode a couple years back! I haven't had an Aganorsa cigar before, though I've had other brands created by them. This sounds brutal though. Hopefully 2026 has some good stuff coming your way! Exciting to hear about Macallan 15 though, I'll keep an eye out for it.

[NYGuido]

5 hours ago, LizardGizmo said:

Can anyone point me to a decent cigar from Aganorsa? This $30 cigar was really bad.  @Cigar Surgeon - help!

As much as I love the episodes with great cigars, the ones where you’re disappointed almost teach me even more. You guys actually TRY to find something to compliment and even try to think of whether any smoker would like something if you don’t. 

This episode had a lot of great parts despite your not liking the cigar really at all. I love how you broke down why it was failing, the issues with the blend vs with construction, and even after all that want to give the brand a chance to wow you. It’s content like this that keeps me coming back. A bunch of cigar guys really searching and challenging themselves and the makers to do everyone’s best. 

I especially appreciate that you hold brands accountable to price. When discussing this cigar and the Davidoff Limited Editions (think that was earlier in the episode), you went out of your way (as did Senator) to mention that if a cigar has a high price but is excellent, it might be worth it in some cases. But when brands charge $30+ for a single stick, that stick had better BRING IT. 

As for Aganorsa, I’ve never tried one. But I’ve also never met a smoker in my or any lounge who has lit one next to me. I think that says a lot in its own right for such a large brand (whereas I’m not shocked nobody has lit an Avowed or Stoic next to me despite their being amazing). 

Great episode. And, for what it’s worth, pigs in a blanket rule, and my wife insists on having them at Christmas. Though she dips them in ketchup, which might be a war crime. 

[ha_banos]

Stick to Cubans. 😋

[GP012]

Great listen this week as always. A minor point of contention with Lizard John from Boise's definition of 3x Lizard of the Week being unprecedented, I'd like to direct the court's attention to episodes 149, 176 and 182. He should aim for four as the new definition, and I rest my case. 😃

[NYGuido]

1 hour ago, GP012 said:

Great listen this week as always. A minor point of contention with Lizard John from Boise's definition of 3x Lizard of the Week being unprecedented, I'd like to direct the court's attention to episodes 149, 176 and 182. He should aim for four as the new definition, and I rest my case. 😃

I, too, have a new target now!

[TommySnark]

On 12/18/2025 at 9:56 AM, GP012 said:

Great listen this week as always. A minor point of contention with Lizard John from Boise's definition of 3x Lizard of the Week being unprecedented, I'd like to direct the court's attention to episodes 149, 176 and 182. He should aim for four as the new definition, and I rest my case. 😃

My apologies, I stand corrected! 😂

- TommySnark aka Lizard John from Boise

On 12/17/2025 at 12:58 PM, LizardGizmo said:

Can anyone point me to a decent cigar from Aganorsa? This $30 cigar was really bad.  @Cigar Surgeon - help!

I’m not generally a fan of the brand, but I’ve had a couple of their Rare Leaf blends (I think it was the robusto and toro), and they were very good, but not good enough to re-visit. Otherwise, I’ve only had the Signature and was unimpressed. 

[Hoosh]

On 12/17/2025 at 12:58 PM, LizardGizmo said:

Can anyone point me to a decent cigar from Aganorsa? This $30 cigar was really bad.  @Cigar Surgeon - help!

Huge Aganorsa fan here (lots of pictures below). My two favorite cigars are the Signature Corojo and the Rare Leaf Corojo or Maduro. Most any of the Supreme Leaf cigars and the GotF Nightwatch Campeon are also really good. I saw the title (mentioning the Anniversary cigar), I thought “Oh no. Hopefully they’ve had other AL cigars.” IMO, looking back through my smoking notes, I’ve had 3 this year and it’s honestly just a very “meh” cigar.  

Certainly there is no accounting for taste, but every Davidoff I’ve ever had was the most wasted money I’ve spent on cigars. It’s no secret I’m not a flavor chaser by any stretch, and spending $30+ on a superbly constructed pistachio sorbet unicorn is not my idea of a good experience. AL isn’t, nor tries to be, Davidoff, but there’s a reason companies like Viaje, Warped, and Illusione use Aganorsa to construct their cigars…

[Hoosh]

Of interesting note is that on the just released CA top 25, two spots are taken by cigars produced by Aganorsa; #17 is the Viaje Fifteen Plus Two and A Half Anniversary Silver, and #20 is the OneOff Black Toro. 🙂

[ha_banos]

Before we lose the right to sample. Peaceful moment before it got busy with a fellow who had won a load money, 3 guys who fancied a cigar for Xmas, and a fellow who had never heard of Fabrica 5 before I did some schooling 😊 So when are we going to get F5 holiday packages!?

Will be very sad and resentful if we lose this. 

Abuelo 12 is way too sweet. I didn't realise it's one with sugar added. I need to be more careful with my pairing picks.

Punch Punch Punch performed beautifully.

[Cigar Surgeon]

On 12/16/2025 at 6:58 PM, LizardGizmo said:

Can anyone point me to a decent cigar from Aganorsa? This $30 cigar was really bad.  @Cigar Surgeon - help!

Sorry I'm late to this. 

I think the Supreme Leaf has been a solid performer but also I'm a bit jaded because I smoked all the Illusione and Warped releases pre-2018 and honestly the 2010'ish to 2016'ish Aganorsa and secondary brands coming out were some of the best cigars coming out of Nicaragua.

[MrBirdman]

8 hours ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Sorry I'm late to this. 

I think the Supreme Leaf has been a solid performer but also I'm a bit jaded because I smoked all the Illusione and Warped releases pre-2018 and honestly the 2010'ish to 2016'ish Aganorsa and secondary brands coming out were some of the best cigars coming out of Nicaragua.

This is something I have wanted to ask you about on a video chat - I thought maybe it was just me who thought my Illusione purchased from 2015-2018 were better than ones I’ve smoked from recent (2022-2024) production. Even over aged (10 years, half sealed), I still prefer my old HL and H-town Lanceros to their recent production, (although I do like the D’Aosta or whatever it’s called, mine are from late 2020 I think). None of the stuff I’ve bought since has been as impressive, though not “bad” per se.

I am, or at least was, a big fan of Aganorsa sourced blends, though Illusione is the only one I’ve smoked in volume, so I had thought maybe it was an issue with standards at Illusione. Would love to hear more of your thoughts on this topic next time we’re on Discord.

[MrBirdman]

Great podcast Liz and crew.

As for the new scotch release, I have lost any interest in Macallan at this point. The 12 and especially the 18 are significantly inferior to 15-20 years ago, when they cost half as much. Honestly, the last bottle of Macallan 18 I had (circa 2020), which cost over $300, was worse than the 12 year old was in 2005. If it was still as good as I remember the 18-year old being in those days, I’d pay $300 for it. It isn’t even close now.

I understand that scotch buyers in the late 90’s/early-2000’s were reaping the benefits of the 80’s “whiskey loch” that allowed inventory to really age before demand exploded. But blending your age statements with younger whisky doesn’t explain the drop in quality from Macallan - they’re hardly the only distillery to have this issue, and their decline has been steeper than others available in the US.

I’m guessing that their style was inevitably going to change a little since it’s a sherry cask distillery and from the 2000’s they’ve had to transition away from selling whiskey aged in transport casks. But others have managed the transition better - I get the sense some distilleries like Balvenie have continued to invest in keeping quality up while Macallan has taken the money and ran. 

Maybe it’s catching up with them, since the price gap between them and others has begun to narrow again. Apparently their distributor cut the PLCB a discount so they could keep the price steady post-tariffs. I guess they figured no one wanted to pay over $100 for a 12-year-old scotch (even though many will pay that for 12 year old bourbon, which makes even less sense).