Cigar Reviews & Rankings

The following article treats premium cigars as both material artifacts and ongoing cultural practices. It aims to combine measurable criteria — construction, draw, burn, composition, market data, scoring systems — with a disciplined, sensory vocabulary for aroma, flavor and tactile response.

Historical Context and Cultural Frame

Tobacco and the objects made from it have a recorded history that reaches back to the first European contact with the Caribbean. One of the earliest European accounts reads that the Indigenous people “rolled the herbs, which they called tabacos, inside dried leaves and lit one end;” Christopher Columbus wrote of “men and women with a half-burnt weed in their hands, being the herbs they are accustomed to smoke.” (Source: Columbus journal (primary account)).

Brands, regional styles and rituals that surround premium cigars trace lineages through that early practice: plant selection, curing and fermentation, and hand-rolling techniques. The Cuban brand name Cohiba, for example, is explicitly linked to the Indigenous term and practice; Habanos, S.A. notes that the name relates to the Taíno word for rolled tobacco and describes the brand’s historical positioning. (Source: Habanos, S.A. – Cohiba brand).

Beyond such cultural lineage, contemporary cigar markets demonstrate that the product category is both global and segmented. One market estimate reports that “The global cigar and cigarillos market size was estimated at USD 54.79 billion in 2024,” with projected growth over the following decade. Economies of supply (tobacco-growing regions), retail infrastructure (specialty tobacconists and lounge networks), and shifting consumer preferences shape demand and the attendant rankings that critics and consumers produce. (Source: Grand View Research (market data)).

Anatomy of a Cigar: Materials, Construction and Immediate Indicators

A systematic review begins with material observation. A cigar comprises wrapper, binder and filler; each layer contributes to the sensory profile and to measurable performance.

Wrapper: The outer leaf contributes most visibly to initial aromatics and first impressions on the cold draw. Wrappers are typically classified by origin and coloration, from Claro to Oscuro; the latter often yields richer, sweeter, and darker aromatics on the cold draw and early ash. The tactile resilience of the wrapper — slight tooth, elasticity without cracking — forecasts handling and resistance to split.
Binder: A structural leaf inside the wrapper, often unseen, that supports combustion. A properly selected binder will ensure even burn and reduce the tendency to canoe.
Filler: The blend of long- and short-leaf tobaccos that produce the cigar’s core flavor, combustion properties and smoke density. A balanced filler will provide flavor complexity while maintaining consistent combustion and an even plug density.

Construction is initially evaluated through non-invasive measures: the cold draw, the feel of the roll (evenness, stiffness), the absence of soft spots, and the presence of a clean cap. These measures are predictive: a uniformly firm roll with a slightly springy give signals controlled filler distribution and a reliable burn.

Scoring Systems and Ranking Methodologies

Critical rankings of cigars use established scoring schemes and editorial processes. A widely recognized metric is the 100-point scale used by Cigar Aficionado and others; the scale is applied through blind tastings and structured panels. The magazine’s explanatory materials note the logic behind high-end scores and how panels characterize top-tier ratings. (Source: Cigar Aficionado — ratings methodology).

Further editorial explanation emphasizes that exceptionally high scores are frequently associated with cigars that show advanced complexity and balance; editorial commentary reads, “Scores that high are normally achieved by aged cigars that have had time to develop complexity and balance. The fact that these cigars scored so high right out of the factory makes them true prodigies in terms of tobacco.” (Cigar Aficionado quote and context).

Ranking lists — annual Top 25 or Best-of-year compilations — are typically produced by taking those highest-rated releases and subjecting them to comparative evaluation. Such lists are not purely popularity indices; they filter for craftsmanship, blend architecture, and evaluator consensus. The procedural transparency of a ranking exercise — criteria, blind conditions, panel composition — materially affects its credibility.

Methodology of a Rigorous Tasting

A consistent tasting protocol reduces subjectivity and allows reproducible notes. The following steps summarize a professional approach:

Visual and Tactile Inspection: Band removed, wrapper examined for oil, color, seams, cap integrity. Roll feel indicates filler distribution.
Cold Draw Assessment: Performed before lighting; cold aromatics and draw resistance offer early clues to flavor family and blend density.
Lighting and Early Phase (First Third): Observe initial toast behavior, ignition quality, and the alignment of flavors that appear on the first 10–20 minutes. Pay attention to smoke texture and initial strength.
Middle Phase (Second Third): Monitor flavor development, complexity, and balance. Track transitions between primary and secondary notes; evaluate burn and ash characteristics.
Final Phase (Final Third): Note the cigar’s ability to sustain structure and flavor without acridity. Evaluate backbone and whether the cigar supports down-to-the-band smokes without collapsing or trailing bitter compounds.
Objective Measures: Draw resistance (qualitatively described), burn rate (observed minutes per centimeter as a rough metric), ash cohesion, and any need for touch-ups.
Retrohaling and Palate Interaction: Controlled retrohale reveals nasal aromatics and can identify spice components that the mouth alone may not resolve.
Repeated Smoking and Sample Size: Whenever possible, a reviewer should sample multiple sticks from different boxes to separate batch variance from design characteristics.

Throughout, a reviewer keeps clear distinctions between: (a) immediate sensory impressions, (b) replicable mechanical properties, and (c) subjective amplification informed by ritual and context.

Sensory Vocabulary: Textures, Flavors and Aromatics

To make tasting notes useful, the vocabulary must be precise and consistent. The following categories facilitate repeatable description:

Aroma (pre-light and in-room scent): descriptors such as fresh hay, cedar, leather, molasses, espresso, dark chocolate, dried fruit.
Mouthfeel / Smoke Texture: adjectives like velvety, aqueous, oily, astringent, or dry. Smoke density is noted as light, medium, full.
Taste Profile: primary flavors (earth, leather, cocoa, coffee), secondary notes (donuts of spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper), and tertiary transitions (caramelization, wood sap, mineral tones).
Retrohale Notes: spice intensity, floral lift, citrus peel, or toasted bread aroma as detected when exhaling through the nose.

A disciplined reviewer will specify where a given descriptor appears (first third, second third, final third) and will note persistence (how long a flavor lingers on the palate) and interplay (how sweetness balances acidity, or how spice supports a bitter backbone).

Case Study: High-Scoring Releases and What Ratings Describe

Annual editorial lists provide concrete examples for analysis. For instance, a prominent industry compilation named a high-scoring release the 2024 Cigar of the Year, assigning it a near-top rating. That placement signals a cigar that scored near the top of the 100-point scale after panel evaluation; the magazine that assembled the list remarks on the brand’s lineage and the cigar’s production context. (Source: Cigar Aficionado — Cigar of the Year (video)).

Such a score is a composite judgment: construction, balance, flavor development, and that ineffable sense of cohesion that occurs when tobacco components converge into a consistent, layered smoking experience. Scores in the high 90s are rare; editorial commentary suggests that many cigars achieving that range do so because they present complexity, balance and the kind of maturity usually expected only after cellaring. In a case where a product attains such ratings immediately on release, reviewers interpret it as an exceptional achievement in blending and leaf selection. (Ratings context).

Similarly, the Top 25 lists published by major periodicals are assembled by revisiting high-scoring cigars and conducting side-by-side tasting sessions to determine relative position. These lists shape consumer and retailer behavior: inclusion or ranking on such lists often increases demand and secondary-market interest.

Construction Defects and Practical Indicators of Quality

A technical review notes common construction issues and their effects:

Loose Pack / Overly Tight Pack: A loose pack yields a wispy smoke with little flavor concentration; overly tight cigars choke and produce poor combustion, requiring punch or re-lighting.
Wrapper Cracking / Veining: Particularly in Oscuro wrappers, superficial veining is normal; deep fissures that tear outward indicate poor cure or improper handling.
Canoeing: Localized uneven combustion, often remedied by touch-ups, but persistent canoeing indicates an imbalance in filler distribution or irregular wrapper humidity.
Spitting / Popping: Short bursts of combustible matter within the filler point to insufficient stem removal or uneven fermentation.

Each defect alters the assessment score under “construction” and “smoking performance,” which generally account for a substantial portion of the numerical evaluation.

Flavor Evolution: Phased Development and What to Expect

A cigar typically evolves across three phases, with predictable changes in body, spice and secondary aromatics.

Phase One (Initial Third): The cigar reveals its seed flavors — tobacco sweetness, toasted bread, light oak, or vegetal notes. Strength is moderate and smoke texture indicates the cigar’s body.
Phase Two (Middle Third): Complexity usually increases: a shift from singular notes to layered elements (coffee undertone emerging, a new leather dimension, or a developing mineral dryness). This is where blending finesse is most evident.
Phase Three (Final Third): The cigar either sustains complexity or collapses into a dominant, frequently bitter note. A well-crafted cigar will maintain balance and may introduce a final round of spice or sweetness before the structural end.

A reviewer traces specific transitions (for example: “First third — toasted almond and hay; second third — dark chocolate and espresso roast with subtle black pepper; final third — iron mineral and dry cedar with a restrained sweetness”), noting time stamps where appropriate. These annotations assist readers who replicate the smoke and compare impressions.

Comparative Ranking: What Scores Mean for Consumers

Numerical scores translate into consumer decisions in predictable ways:

90–94 (Outstanding): The cigar demonstrates pronounced quality and will satisfy aficionados seeking well-made, flavorful sticks without pushing into experimental territory.
95+: These are often aged releases or limited runs showing exceptional balance and complexity. Consumers purchasing cigars in this range are frequently collectors or experienced smokers seeking distinctive, investment-grade experiences.
80–89: Reliable everyday choices for those preferring quality without premium price constraints.

Critics caution against exclusive reliance on scores. Because scores compress multiple axes into a single number, two cigars with identical ratings may present very different experiences (one extroverted and peppery, another layered and subtly woody). Therefore, pairing a numeric score with a precise flavor map and construction notes yields a more useful guide.

Market Indicators and Consumption Patterns

Industry data provides a framework for reading market signals. For the global category, one research estimate states that “The global cigar and cigarillos market size was estimated at USD 54.79 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 102.17 billion in 2033,” reflecting both premium and mass segments and the inclusion of cigarillos. (Grand View Research: market report).

At a national level, import and sales data illustrate where premium demand concentrates. Industry reporting indicates that “The United States imported 430.03 million premium cigars in 2024,” a figure that situates the U.S. as the dominant distribution market for many manufacturers. (Source: Halfwheel summary of Cigar Association of America data).

On consumer prevalence, epidemiological analyses provide demographic scale: the best national estimates from the PATH Study and NSDUH suggest that approximately 0.7–0.9% of U.S. adults smoke premium cigars. That low prevalence explains why premium cigar culture is a specialized market segment with high retail concentration in specialty tobacconists. (Source: systematic review summarizing PATH estimates (PMC)).

Retail sentiment also matters: a survey of U.S. tobacconists found that near half reported sales increases year-over-year for a particular sampling period, indicating resilience within the specialty channel even as broader tobacco narratives shift.

Construction, Regional Terroir and Producer Notes

A cigar’s character often relates directly to geographic origin:

Cuba (Vuelta Abajo, Pinar del Río): Known for mineral and earthy backbone, with certain Cuban brands historically employing additional curing or fermentation steps. The Cohiba brand, for instance, is linked in marketing and brand history to that lexical lineage. (Habanos — Cohiba brand background).
Nicaragua (Estelí, Condega): Tends to produce fuller-bodied, soil-driven profiles with spicy and peppery notes, often favored by manufacturers seeking power and structure.
Dominican Republic: Frequently associated with milder, sweeter profiles and broader aromatic breadth due to the variety of seed and processing techniques used.
Honduras: Known for a balance of earth and cedar with a sturdy backbone and often used in blends to add structure.

Producers also influence style: a master blender such as José “Pepín” Garcia has become synonymous with a particular profile. The commercial success of certain lines — and their subsequent placement in rankings — flows from a combination of farm control, leaf selection, and the human capital of expert rollers. Profiles of successful factories emphasize continuity of technique, quality-control steps and a trained workforce.

Ritual, Pairing, and Consumption Context

Cigar drinking is ritualized: the cutter, lighter, the initial toast, and the pacing of draws form an ensemble that affects sensory perception. Specific pairing suggestions emerge from the cigar’s flavor profile:

Coffee / Espresso: Pairs reliably with medium- to full-bodied cigars showing cocoa, roasted nut and espresso notes.
Aged Whiskey / Cognac: Works well with cigars offering dried-fruit sweetness and toasted oak.
Stout or Porter: Complementary to cigars with chocolate and coffee undertones, where the beer’s roast compounds align with the cigar’s final third.

Pairing is not only sensory matching but also pacing: spirit or beverage temperature and the cigar’s burn rate interact to alter the perception of sweetness, bitterness and spice.

A Note on Public Health, Regulation and Responsible Consumption

While this article focuses on craftsmanship, it acknowledges that cigars are a tobacco product and are subject to public health guidance and legal regimes. Regulatory measures vary by country and frequently touch labeling, taxation, advertising and sales to minors. Public-health data documents that cigar use is far less prevalent than cigarette use but is not risk-free; prevalence metrics and regulatory signals influence manufacturer strategies and consumer access to new releases.

Best Practices for Retailers and Collectors

A number of practical recommendations emerge from technical and market observations:

Humidor Management: Maintain relative humidity at 65–70% and temperature near 18–20°C for long-term storage. Consistency reduces wrapper cracking and preserves intended combustion.
Box Splits and Proofing: Purchase multiple cigars from different boxes before forming a long-term view on a release’s character; this reduces the chance that a single defective box skews perception.
Record-Keeping: Maintain tasting logs with date, vitola, batch identifiers and subjective scores; repeated measures clarify aging effects and batch variation.
Buy-Back and Secondary Market Awareness: Recognize that highly ranked cigars (particularly limited runs or high-scoring annual winners) may command secondary premiums; check provenance and storage conditions when transacting in secondary markets.

Examples of How Reviews Influence Markets

A magazine award or Top 25 placement can materially impact demand. High-profile editorial placements are followed by retail sell-outs and increased pricing in secondary markets. The chain runs from critical appraisal to consumer expectation to retailer ordering decisions, and, ultimately, to producer planning. For manufacturers, the capacity to garner high scores — through leaf access and quality control — translates into brand equity and expanded distribution opportunities.

On Objectivity and Subjectivity in Tasting

An expert review balances empirical observation and calibrated subjectivity. Objective elements — ash color, burn uniformity, draw characteristics, and the absence/presence of construction defects — are measurable and repeatable. Subjective dimensions — perceived sweetness, emotional resonance, ritual pleasure — vary by palate and context. A reviewer’s responsibility is to separate the two: to record objective data systematically and to frame subjective impressions with language that other readers can operationalize.

The discipline of blind panel tasting, standardized protocols and multiple-sample verification reduces personal bias. At the same time, narrative tasting language remains necessary for conveying how a cigar feels and changes over time.

Representative Quotations and Editorial Authority

Selective, verbatim editorial statements from recognized authorities and industry sources anchor evaluative practices and market context:

“The two Christians met with many people on the road going home, men and women with a half-burnt weed in their hands, being the herbs they are accustomed to smoke.” — Christopher Columbus (journal entry). (Primary source (PDF))

“Scores that high are normally achieved by aged cigars that have had time to develop complexity and balance. The fact that these cigars scored so high right out of the factory makes them true prodigies in terms of tobacco.” — Editorial commentary on rating logic. (Cigar Aficionado)

Each quote above serves as a touchstone: historical, evaluative, brand-specific, market-level and supply-focused.

Practical Guide: How to Read a Review and Use Rankings Wisely

When consulting reviews and rankings, apply the following approach:

Check the Panel Method: Prefer sources that declare blind conditions, panel composition, and sample size.
Read Flavor Maps Carefully: Note phase-specific descriptors and whether the reviewer sampled multiple sticks.
Consider Construction Metrics: If a high-scoring cigar shows repeated burn issues in reviewer notes, that reduces its practical appeal.
Match to Preference: A high numeric score aligns with quality, not necessarily with a specific flavor preference. Use descriptive terms (peppery, cedar, sweet) rather than scores alone to predict enjoyment.
Account for Age: Many cigars favor some cellar time. If a review notes immediate maturity, consider it exceptional; if not, cellaring may materially change the profile.

Responsible Stewardship of Reviews

A reviewer and a retailer both have obligations to accuracy. Claims that rest on empirical testing (burn rate, consistency across boxes) should be reported with transparent methodology. Anecdotal claims (personal nostalgia, ritual meaning) are legitimate but should be labeled as such. This separation preserves the credibility of ranking systems and helps consumers make informed choices.

Final Considerations

Premium cigars are complex commercial artifacts anchored in agricultural practice, manufacturing precision and human ritual. Reviews and rankings function as navigational tools for consumers, retailers and collectors; they are most useful when anchored in transparent methodology, verifiable construction observations, and precise sensory vocabulary.

Market data shows a substantial global category and significant U.S. demand for premium sticks, but prevalence among adults remains modest, reinforcing the specialized nature of the segment. High editorial scores are rare precisely because the criteria — balance, complexity, craftsmanship — are exacting. When a cigar achieves top-tier ratings immediately on release, reviewers interpret that as the result of exemplary leaf selection and blending.

For the reader seeking to use reviews wisely: read numerical scores alongside detailed tasting notes and construction reports; prioritize sources with explicit methodologies; and, when possible, sample multiple sticks before forming definitive judgments. The discipline of tasting is both technical and human — it benefits from clear procedure, careful writing and the humility that comes with recognizing the limits of a single palate.

Key cited sources (selected within the text)

All sources above are linked where they are referenced in the article text.