Like every major industry, it’s inevitable the constant ebb and flow of what’s bound to happen. When it comes to the world of cigars, it seems to be more positive than the negative ebb and flow other industries may bring attention to.

For this week’s Top 5, we selected five special cigars that changed the industry forever. “Changing the Industry” is such a bold statement, yet with these five cigar brands (along with many others), there’s 100% truth to the statement above.

Although they aren’t featured on this list, Altadis USA changed the industry in terms of re-branding Cuban-style cigars. There are so many other good options On this list, that will show you why these cigar brands made a permanent mark on this industry that we love.

Here are our Top 5 Cigars to Change the Industry.  Make sure to grab the limited-time cigar sampler at the link below.

Wrapper Type – Nicaragua

Binder –Nicaragua

Filler – Nicaragua

Country of Origin –Nicaragua

Strength – Full

Size – 6.50 x 54 Torpedo

Smoke Time –  70 Minutes

The first cigar on our Top 5 Cigars that Changed the Industry is the Padron Special Releases 40th Anniversary line. This 6.50 x 54 Torpedo was one of the first Padron’s to bring notice to the brand. Landing the number one spot in Cigar Aficionado’s very first Top 25 Cigar of the year list in 2004, several Padron lines have gone on to be in the company’s Top 10 for the last 17 years running.

How has this changed the industry? for one it paved the way for Padron to be a household name in a well-versatile industry all while landing top spots in several publications. As far as an industry-wide influence, this brand made high-premium cigars that are above the average spending limit for novice smokers. This delicious full-bodied blended smoke was the main influence for all to spend top dollar on a well-deserved smoke.

Wrapper Type – Cameroon

Binder – Dominican Republic

Filler – Dominican Republic

Origin – Dominican Republic

Strength –Medium

Size – 7 x 48

Smoke Time – 80-95 Minutes

Next up on our Top 5 Cigars that changed the Industry is the Arturo Fuente Hemingway. When it comes to the prestigious name “Arturo Fuente”, you may think of the infamous Opus X. It’s one of the most sought-after and talked about cigars within the industry. What people may not know is that the Hemingway from Arturo Fuente is the reason Opus X came to be.

Released in 1983, the Arturo Fuente Hemingway has the same exact tobaccos that are utilized in the Opus X. Why this is an industry-changing smoke, besides it influencing the Opus X, is the fact it had unique cigar shapes and sizes. From the dawn of time, the cigar industry always had the go-to basic cigar shapes. But the master rollers at Arturo Fuente decided to experiment with different sizes.

The brand of Arturo Fuente is an iconic brand, and it has to start with this scrumptious cigar that pays homage to one of the best novelists to ever put pen to paper.

Wrapper Type – Ecuador Sumatra

Binder – Dominican Republic

Filler – Dominican Republic

Country of Origin – Dominican Republic

Strength – Full

Size – 5 x 54

Smoke Time –  65-75 minutes

Next up on our Top 5 cigars to change the industry, we have another cigar from the famed Arturo Fuente camp. The Ashton Virgin Sun Grown (VSG) was released two years after the Arturo Fuente Hemingway. Between these two under the Arturo Fuente name, these two smoke changed the course of the company forever, as well as set the bar for how cigar brands should be.

Released in 1999, Ashton VSG was successfully introduced by Carlos Fuente Jr. Fuenter Jr. worked relentlessly to make this premium cigar line like any other.  in 2001, Cigar Aficionado rated the VSG a 93 rating.

Being one of the forefront cigars to lead the success of the early cigar boom, the Ashton became one of the most sought-after cigar lines on the market today.

Wrapper Type – Ecuador Sumatra

Binder – Dominican Republic

Filler – Dominican Republic

Country of Origin – Dominican Republic

Strength – Full

Size: 6.12 x 52

Smoke Time: 75-90 minutes

Our next cigar featured on the Top 5 cigars that changed the industry is the Tatuaje Havana VI in the 6.12 x 52 size. This full-bodied smoke from the hands and mind of Pete Johnson comes one of the first cigars from Tatuaje to really put the brand on the map.

Produced in 2006, Pete Johnson teamed up with the Garcia Family to make this iconic Nicaraguan Puro. For this cigar to stand out above the rest, Johnson went outside of this typical fashion of rolling cigars in Little Havana and went to the Dominican Republic to get more hands-on work from master rollers.

This cigar is so detrimental to the industry due to the fact that the Tatuaje Havana VI is one of the brands’ most traditional Cuban-style smoke. This paved the way for other scrumptious lines that Tatuaje has provided for all of us to enjoy.

Wrapper Type – Connecticut Broadleaf

Binder – Brazil Mata Fina

Filler – Honduras / Nicaragua

Country of Origin – Nicaragua

Strength – Full

Size – 6 x 52

Smoke Time – 75-85 Minutes

Last but not least is the iconic cigar line that put Drew Estate cigars on the map. When the Liga Privada No. 9 arrived on the scene in 2005, the cigar world was throttled by how amazing this blend was. At the time, Steve Saka helmed this cigar line with Johnathan Drew along with fifty different test blends. “Privada” translates to “private label” and was an exclusive smoke for a year before it hit the shelves.

This made major changes in the industry due to it being one of the first private labels to eventually make it to a full-time production line. In 2005, when lines were private labels and made in limited quantity, nobody could ever think it would make the jump to full-time. Once they made that decision to do so, the Drew Estate Factory hiked up production to make this gem a full time brand.

Although we only left you with five premium cigar brands that changed the industry, we have other brands that were just as important as the ones above.

If you want to read more about ten other industry-changing cigar brands, you can check them out here.

Also, if you feel like checking out the last 50 years of the evolution of cigar brands, check here.

We hope you enjoyed the articles and thank you for stopping by JR Cigars.com