Cigar ratings

Cigar ratings can be confusing. Some cigars with great reviews are not that great once you taste them, and other reviews, that would fit in a horror story are not that bad. Are all cigar ratings rigged? Is it a communist conspiracy?

The first thing you have to understand is that cigars are tasted by people, and like everyone else, each individual has personal preferences and favorite brands. Also, some brands are just hated because... well because they should! This is fairly common with the Cuban brands.

The best cigar ratings are with unidentified cigars, this means, the one who is gonna rate the cigar does not know what brand it is. Also take note that some brands have very different tastes depending on their size. A lot of people confuse the size name with a brand. To keep things clear the first name on the cigar, that's the brand. The rest are specifications from the cigar, is it dark, long, torpedo shaped etc. So look for the specific cigar, a Jr Corona No.5 doble maduro will not taste like a Jr Petit Corona doble Maduro.

Cigar tasting has become so refined that the term vintage is now being used for cigars, this means a Partagas vintage 1997 will be an ordinary Partagas that was produced in the year 1997. Because cigars get better with time, (properly stored, that is) cigar ratings can be inaccurate as a bad cigar, vintage 2000 could be superb in 2005.

Another point you should be aware of in cigar ratings is the personal liking of the taster of the cigar. If you have discovered that mild cigars with a hint of cocoa or coffee are your favorite and you read the cigar ratings of a Cuban cigar lover, you will be seriously disappointed. Every cigar you like will have zeros in his cigar ratings and Cigars that taste strong and harsh (as most Cuban cigars do) will get five star ratings every time. Look for someone that likes the tastes you are enjoying now. It's also common that a cigar that you like today will not be all that great 3 years from now, as your appreciation and palate will change slowly, even more so if you are just learning to appreciate smoking. That is why some cigar ratings will let you see a little about the person doing the testing, so you can judge if his palate is in the same liking as yours.

Also, some cigar testers tend to prefer a certain brand, so when they change flavor they are immediately displeased by the new cigar, this is often the case with Cuban cigars, because they have a very different taste from all the others, people who grow accustomed to that particular taste will not like the others, and vice-versa.