Warfighter Night Shift

Warfighter Tobacco Co.

• Country of Origin: Warfighter Night Shift
• Factory: Tabacalera Carreras
• Wrapper: Ecaudor (Habano Oscuro) & Honduras (Candela)
• Binder: Indonesia
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $10.50 (Box of 20, $210)
• Release Date: July 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Original Score: 91

After debuting in 2016, Warfighter makes its debut on the halfwheel Top 25 list with Night Shift, a cigar that was created as a “tribute to those warfighters, operators, first responders, and all the other unsung Americans who work the night shift, keeping America strong while the rest of us sleep.”

As would befit such a cigar, the theming and packaging of the cigar draws on night vision, and in particular, the green hue that dominates such technology. The packaging uses the color, while the cigar uses a ring of Honduran candela on its head to be “a subtle nod to the glorious, green hue that emanates from the advanced, infrared night vision optics used throughout the War on Terror.”

This cigar leaned into its habano wrapper, particularly in the first and final thirds, where it delivered a lot of complexity and a thoroughly enjoyable profile. While habano-seed profiles tend to be pretty dominating, the candela ring managed to add just enough to stand out and make the overall profile distinctive from other cigars that use a habano wrapper leaf.

One of the things that has impressed me with many cigars this year—and a number of cigars on this list—is what I refer to as having a high floor. It’s a term that I picked up from baseball scouts and refers to players who might not have an all-star or hall of fame level ceiling but who have a really high floor that suggests they will deliver day in and day out. That’s how I felt with the Warfighter Night Shift; the cigar delivered consistently while showing that it can have some impressive moments that propel it out of the range of just being a good cigar. — Patrick Lagreid.