T7. Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Shut the Box Limited Edition

Considering how well-constructed your typical cigar box is, it should come as no surprise that people have transformed them into interesting second uses from ring and trinket boxes to wine racks and even guitars and amplifiers. 

Last year Joya de Nicaragua took the idea one step further by releasing a special version of its Antaño blend packaged in a box that doubles as a classic game, straight out of the box.

The appropriately named Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Shut the Box Limited Edition is a tribute to the game shut the box, in which players roll two dice and use the numbers achieved on the dice to turn over the numbers 1-12. Each box includes not only the numbers needed to play the game—which are printed on small pieces of rotating wood that are in turn attached to a small pole located inside the box near where the lid and bottom pieces are joined—as well as two small six-sided dice.

When taking into account that it was built to function as both a cigar box and a popular game—albeit not both at the same time—it is easy to see why Joya de Nicaragua’s Antaño Shut the Box Limited Edition tied for seventh place on this year’s list. — Brooks Whittington.