A Deep Dive Into Our Ratings

Breaking down and analyzing our cigar ratings from the past year

- By Gregory Mottola

A year’s worth of ratings can provide enormous insight regarding the state of the premium cigar industry, but that much information can be difficult to recall all at once, which is why we’ve compiled this detailed analysis of 2021. It’s our annual, data-driven examination of 12 months’ worth of blind tastings, putting the spotlight on the countries that produced the highest-scoring cigars and the brands that consistently rose to the top of our 100-point system. Not to ignore your wallet, this report also serves as a price guide showing which countries delivered the best (and worst) bang for your buck.

All the scores compiled here are a result of our blind-tasting process. During evaluation, our panel of reviewers do not know the identity of the cigars, as the original bands are removed and replaced with a numbered label. Blind-tasting is the only true way to remove bias—conscious or not—and arrive at the most objective conclusions about any given cigar, and it’s the way we’ve rated cigars since 1992. Between the six issues of the magazine and the 24 issues of Cigar Insider, our twice-monthly newsletter, we rated 628 handmade cigars in 2021, most of which came from the four major cigar producing countries of the world: Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Cuba. Forty-three percent of the cigars from that grand total (268 cigars) scored 90 points or higher. This is an extraordinary show of consistency, especially considering the continuing logistical challenges of the pandemic.