The first thing to note is that I am admittedly not a cigar connoisseur with decades of experience. I’m just presenting my opinions. Agree, disagree, comment or ignore, you may do what you will with them.
One other thing is that I make an effort not to be pretentious in my reviews. You won’t be hearing from me that a certain cigar has, “nuanced undertones of blueberry pancakes”, or any other such flowery nonsense. For me, cigar smoke tastes – more or less – like cigar smoke. Which can often be enjoyable enough in itself.
That’s not to say that I won’t mention other tastes and flavours of cigars. When I do detect certain overtones or undertones (read more about this in the “cigar tasting” article), then I will certainly mention them; be aware however, that they are just that: slightly perceptible undertones or overtones of flavours. The predominant flavour of a cigar (for me at least) is always “cigar tobacco smoke flavour”.
The Scoring System
- 10
- The crème de le crème. Obviously, it just doesn’t get any better than this. These cigars should be treasured. Store them in your very best humidor and take them out only for the most special of celebrations.
- 9
- These are the best cigars, and will usually (but not always) be quite expensive. Reserve them for a special occasion and savour the experience.
- 7-8
- A good stogie and better than your average cigar. If sold at an affordable price, these would be the cigars I usually smoke. However, if I was looking to splash out and spend a bit for a special occasion, I probably be hoping for something in next category up.
- 5-6
- Average: enjoyable but not amazing. A “5/10″ might look like a bad score, but from me, you can take it literally: right in the middle. Possibly quite a good cigar that is let down by one or two significant points, or maybe just a run-of-the-mill experience from start to finish.
- 3-4
- You might consider one of these if there’s simply nothing else available. I wouldn’t baulk at the idea of firing one of these up if I had nothing else and it was offered to me for free. That notwithstanding, there’s much better options around. You’ll probably lose interest in this one half way through anyway … if you even make it that far.
- 1-2
- Just avoid these, even if you’re desperate for a smoke. It’s uncool to be desperate for a cigar in the first place, but especially one of this quality. Given the choice, I’d rather have nothing than waste my time with anything that scores this lowly.