O'More College of Design

Gentlemen's Society Presents 2010 O'More Abbey Awards
By Dr. Mark Hilliard, President and CEO

The O'More Untouchables, A Gentlemen's Society dedicated to untouchable quality in design for men, is pleased to present the O'More Abbey Awards 2009-10.

This year's top picks were selected using the findings of our "Top Four O'More" research teams, as well as the votes tabulated from our annual 2010 Untouchable Men's Event, held at O'More College of Design on March 5, 2010.

The theme for this year's event was a 1920s - 1930s Blues Supper Club, with men decked out in white shirts, thin black ties, black jackets, and narrow brimmed fedoras - think Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in The Blues Brothers. This yearly research-oriented design affair is now the signature event of the O'More Untouchables Gentlemen's Society.

O'More spends two to three months at the end of each year researching our "Top Four O'More" picks from a variety of men's high-design products. We first examine credible sources who have reviewed product lines, such as the most recent studies conducted by the European Cigar Cult Journal, The San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Automobile Magazine. An O'More research team tests each item, selecting the Top Four items for each category. We then bring these Top Four items from each category to the March gentlemen's event, where the attendees review and test each item and personally select their TOP picks for each area. The votes are tallied from the evening and the Top Picks received Abbey Awards, in honor of O'More's Irish heritage in Abbeyleix, Ireland. This year's items were Luxury Cigars, Affordable Luxury Cars, Luxury Fly Rods, Luxury Electronic Gadgets, and Luxury Spirits.

The 2010 O'More Abbey Awards go to:

The O'More Abbey Award for Men's Luxury Cigars: The Padron Family Reserve #45 Maduro was named the top cigar in the world for 2009 by Cigar Aficionado, and we agreed. While a stronger than normal cigar for Padron, this dark and creamy cigar is well-balanced in flavor, containing a blended taste of chocolate, coffee, and spice. The cigar is a Nicaraguan Puro and comes from well-aged tobacco, with leaves as old as 10 years.

The O'More Abbey Award for Affordable Luxury Cars: A tie could not be broken between the nostalgic new 2010 Camaro SS, and the 2010 Jaquar XFR. With the majority of men at the event in the age category of 45-65, this new Camaro caught our attention as both a beautiful and powerful "back-to-the future" style in fine automobiles. It was the car we all lusted for in the 1960s and 70s. And the new Jaquar XFR was voted as the best new design in many years coming out of the company historically known as a fine British automaker. While the ownership has changed, the expectation has not. The gentlemen noted that this Jaquar XFR was one of the best attempts in many years by the company in getting back to what a fine British-type automobile should be all about - luxury, power, beauty, and prestige.

Top Pick in the category of Luxury Fly Rods: The Orvis Helios is a new breed in light weight, fine-casting, powerful and luxurious fly rods. According to Orvis, this new, built-from-scratch rod is all about the art and the science of design, something the O'More research team truly understood and appreciated. The Orvis Helios was, by far, our number-one pick of the year for luxury fly rods.

The O'More Abbey Award for Men's Luxury Electronic Gadgets: The Acer Aspire Z5600 is one of the sweetest new all-in-one computer systems on the market. It received rave reviews by both the O'More research team and the Untouchables. The Acer Aspire Z5600 is this year's number-one electronic gadget for men.

The O'More Abbey Award for Luxury Spirits: Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon was selected as the number-one whiskey of the year. This fine bourbon blended well with all of this year's top cigars, which hailed from Nicaraguan and the Dominican Republic. A close second in this competition was Bushmills Single Malt Irish Whiskey. The edge for Blanton's was based on a superior mix of bottle design and mellow flavor.

Look for next year's O'More Abbey Awards in Untouchable Design in March of 2011.

Top Four O'More selections # 1-4 in each category:

Top Four Electronics
1. The Acer Aspire Z5600 came in first place
2. DROID Phone
3. Kindle DX
4. Acer Netbook w/ Dual Load Android Operating System.

Top Four Cigars
1. Padron Family Reserve #45 Maduro
2. Padron 1964 Anniversary Series, Monarca
3. My Father'
4. Ashton VSG, Tres Mystique

Top Four Spirits
1. Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon
2. Bushmills Single Malt Irish Whiskey
3. Buffalo Trace Bourdon
4. Craggamore Distiller's Edition Single Malt Scotch

Top Four Cars
1. Tie: 2010 Jaguar SFR and 2010 Camaro SS
2. 2010 Porsche Boxster
3. 2010 BMW 225d

Top Four Fly rods
1. Orvis Helios
2. Orvis Hydros (A brand new rod this year, just out)
3. Orvis TLS
4. Orvis Superfine

Specific Testing Format for our Top Four selections:

Cigars: The process for selecting this year's Top Four Cigars actually began in April 2009, immediately following our 2009 Top Four Men's Event. The first step in our research was to begin to review both the European Cigar Cult Journal (ECCJ) and Cigar Aficionado Magazine (CAM) for high-scoring premium cigars. All cigars scoring 93 points or higher from CAM expert testers (from January to December 2009) were then re-tested and scored by an O'More Cigar Testing Team. All cigars scoring five stars (a perfect score) by the ECCJ expert testers were also re-tested and scored by the O'More Cigar Testing Team. From these cigars, we selected our Top Four Luxury Cigars of the Year (price points of $10-$30). We will share these premium cigars with those who attend our Men's Event on March 5, 2010. Attendees will examine, test, and help us select the O'MORE TOP LUXURY CIGAR OF THE YEAR.

Spirits: Our Top Four Spirits came from a review of the most prestigious spirits contest in the United States: The Annual San Francisco World Spirits Competition. This competition conducts a blind taste test of over 870 spirits from 63 countries and every continent except Antarctica. During this two-day event, tasters judge spirits from every category, including Scotch, bourbon, brandy, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, etc. (Silver and Gold metals are provided, but when a spirit receives a gold metal by almost every tester, it is given the rank of Double Gold.) O'More testers reviewed the Double Gold winners that blend well with cigars, taste tested each, and determined the Top Four Spirits of the Year. These four spirits will be shared with attendees at the March 5, 2010, Men's Event. Guests will test each spirit and help us select the O'MORE TOP PRESTEGIOUS SPIRIT OF THE YEAR.

Electronic Gadgets: The selection of our Top Four Electronic Gadgets began with a three-month study (November 2009 to January 2010) by an O'More Electronics Research Team of the top electronic gadgets for 2009. A professional electronics/technological company was then chosen (Pro Tech), provided with our list of approximately 10 top items, and asked to provide their expert testing and advice of each device and to help us select the Top Four Electronics of the Year. These four items will be available at the Men's Event on March 5, 2010, along with our electronics expert. We will ask each attendee to examine and help us select the O'MORE TOP ELECTRONIC GADGET OF THE YEAR.

Fly Rods: Finding little in the way of expert competitions to select our Top Four Fly Rods, O'More chose a local expert Fly Fishing and Fly Fishing Education company (Xtreme Trout) to research and help us select the Top Four Fly Rods of the Year. These select rods, as well as a variety of fly fishing gear, will be available at the March 5, 2010, Men's Event. Attendees will review the Top Four rods, receive advice and training in the skills of fly fishing, and help us select the O'MORE TOP FLY ROD OF THE YEAR.

Cars: Our review of the Top Four Cars of the year began with a study of the major automobile publications including Road & Track, Car and Driver, and Automobile magazine. After setting a price range of $50,000 to $100,000 for what we consider affordable luxury and sports cars, we decided to make our selections from among Automobile Magazine's 2010 Automobile All-Stars. Our O'More Automobile Research Team reviewed the ten Automobile All Stars and, based on a two-month study and comparison, selected our Top Four Luxury and Sports Cars of the Year. Attendees at our March 5, 2010, Men's Event will help us select the O'MORE TOP LUXURY-SPORTS CAR OF THE YEAR.

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