What's most important when rating a cigar?

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by itsme_timd

With the CA ratings recently past I've been talking with a lot of people about magazine ratings, online ratings, reviews, etc. All of the systems have pros and cons (well not all of them - some just suck) but I was curious what everyone else thinks.

Looking at the factors below, what order would you put them in when rating a cigar? To take it a step further - how would you rate each of those factors as a percentage (X of 100) of the overall score?

Just curious to see how the average cigar smoker would do this.

- Flavor
- Construction
- Appearance
- Burn
- Price

For me, price relates to value and has nothing to do with the cigar itself. I would also put Burn as part of construction (storage conditions can have an effect on burn).

For me, 75% flavor. 20% construction. Appearance 5%. I don't care very much about appearance. One of my favorite smokes, H. Upmann Naturales, are ugly buggers but are a divine smoke.

My YMMV.

[itsme_timd]

Originally Posted by pnoon

For me, price relates to value and has nothing to do with the cigar itself. I would also put Burn as part of construction (storage conditions can have an effect on burn).

For me, 75% flavor. 20% construction. Appearance 5%. I don't care very much about appearance. One of my favorite smokes, H. Upmann Naturales, are ugly buggers but are a divine smoke.

My YMMV.

I was curious to see how much appearance played in. When we're looking at cigars in the store or pics on the internet it's easy to let appearance make us drool, but some cigars I really enjoy look like they may have been rolled by monkeys.

Price and value are the same IMO. At some cigars may be a great value at $10.00 and others are overpriced at $5.00.

Thanks for the input!

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by itsme_timd

I was curious to see how much appearance played in. When we're looking at cigars in the store or pics on the internet it's easy to let appearance make us drool, but some cigars I really enjoy look like they may have been rolled by monkeys.

Price and value are the same IMO. At some cigars may be a great value at $10.00 and others are overpriced at $5.00.

Thanks for the input!

I agree Tim. But when "rating" a cigar, I don't consider price. Different retailers charge different prices. It's not a constant and the cigar does not change if I paid $5, $8, or $50 for it.

[Ashcan Bill]

Personally I'd rate construction first. If it's tight, plugged, whatever, any enjoyment I might get is gone. A so so cigar that smokes well does me a lot more good than a flavor powerhouse I can't smoke. I agree with Peter that burn is a facet of construction.

Then comes flavor. Good flavor is the deciding factor as to what I buy.

Cost comes next. Not affordability so much as value for the money.

Appearance I could care less about. I'm not trying to impress anyone, and a rough looking cigar doesn't bother me at all.