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Cigar Reviews

S

SamGuss

Active Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2002
Messages
1,907
Hi everyone,

The last couple of weeks I have been doing cigar reviews on this site (A Newbies Take - in What Have you Been Smoking thread) and reading others. I have gotten a few approvals on my reviews which is always ego-rising but I don't want to end up soundi ri same e ol andI feel like I might be headed that direction.

What I would like here with this thread is to see some advice, tips, lists, whatever on and about reviewing cigars. Especially when it comes to describing tastes and also on how people "rate" cigars on the various points.

My wish is this to help not only myself grow into a better reviewer of cigars (both here and personally as I do a review with 90% of my cigars at least in my CIgar Dossier - about 50% - 75% end up here lately) but for or others out there also doing their own reviews - whether public or private.

For myself at my stage of cigar enjoyment 75% of my rating is based of the taste, 20% off of the burn and draw and 5% off the looks. For me taste is the single most important aspect of cigars. I would rather smoke a great tasting cigar with a bad burn for example than a bad tasting cigar with a great burn and look.

So can we get some feedback here on this topic?

Thanks in advance!

Sam
 
First of all, I think you've been doing a good job, so I wouldn't change much. Here's what I like to see in a review. For starters the smoking environment is important to sort of calibrate the rest of the review. Were you inside? outside? alone? with a group? what were you drinking (if anything)? what time of day was it? did you just finish a big meal? etc. Next pre-light impressions: appearance, construction, aroma, pre-light draw. These are important not so much from the standpoint of the quality of this particular cigar, but to let others know what to expect in this cigar. Then of course burn, draw, volume of smoke. The flavor is most important, but these things can be annoying if flaws exist. A bad draw can ruin even the best tasting cigar. When it comes to the flavor itself, it's hard to pick out the flavors that you read in the 'pro' reviews like orange peel, leather, coffee, etc. It's harder still if you try to seek these flavors out; let them come to you. Usually it's not that it tastes like vanilla (or whatever) but that you get the general impression of vanilla. It reminds you of vanilla more than it tastes like it. Another thing that can be helpful is to compare it to other cigars. If you're reviewing cigar A and it's similar to cigar B except with a couple of differences, point that out. Someone who's tried B will have a better time understanding the tastes you observed in cigar A this way.

Keep doing the reviews Sam, you're doing great so far. I may contribute some myself right along side if that's ok with you.
 
Thanks and great advice Tiresius!

Would be more thanhappy to see your reviews side by side with mine. Matter of fact send me an IM and perhaps down the road here we could do a blind stick review with each other or get together on a particular cigar we both have and compare notes.

See you on the boards :)

Sam
 
I think if you sat down and compared the same cigar in similar settings would be really cool...

Emo
 
emodx said:
I think if you sat down and compared the same cigar in similar settings would be really cool...

Emo
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Interesting idea... I'm game as long as the cigar is not smoked:

1) on the golf course
2) in the clubhouse

I just don't have access to these places (yet lol).

Sam
 
Sometimes, my smoking buddy Neil and I will get together and smoke the same cigar. Well, ok we each smoke a cigar of the same type. :p Sometimes you get more out of it this way. Once, we were here at my place after visiting our local shop. They had been running a promo on H. Upmann and we had gotten a few No. 100's as freebies. So we decided to sit out on my porch and try one. About midway through he goes, "Tastes kinda nutty." I had been thinking that there was some sort of distictive flavor, but couldn't quite put my taste buds on it. When he said that, it instantly hit me. I said, "Yeah, tastes like hazelnuts." And Neil goes "Exactly!". We were both tasting the same thing in the cigar, but if we hadn't been together, neither one of us would have come up with a name for it.
 
SamGuss said:
What I would like here with this thread is to see some advice, tips, lists, whatever on and about reviewing cigars. Especially when it comes to describing tastes and also on how people "rate" cigars on the various points.
Click to expand...
No advice, no tips, and no lists!!! You're doing one hell of a job. :thumbs: :thumbs: Keep up the good work. :D We all gather here to celebrate cigar smoking, but it's still an individuals experience. Your experience and your style is all you need to be bringing to the table. Great reviews!!! :)
 
Here is a post I found on a different cigar site that give a lot of great things to think about when reviewing a cigar.

'hbooker said:
This is an Informational Post on how to write a decent cigar review.

First things first..
Describe the cigar you are smoking.
Give the Vitola (size name) and try to have the production date avilible also.
Also the location where it origionated.
Like this:


Partagas 150 "AA" 7 x 49
Dominican Republic
mfg Oct 1995

Now that you have established what you are going to review there are truly no hard set rules to guide you that I have found reliable. What I have always chosen to do is this;

Describe the cigar in a deep detail as you can, so the reader has a chance to visualize the cigarwhile they are reading.
try something like describing the cigars color, and apperance.

Then describe the "scent" of the cigar as you appreciate it yourself the reader will also get the idea from your desciption.

(of course it helps if you sellect a good cigar to do a review on - but thats not always the case..)

Now try and describe your setting, this is an often times overlooked part of a review - we all know a good cigar is good but we all have agreed that a good cigar can become great in the right setting - socially or when your with some close friends. In mentioning thet "setting" add the weather conditions also.

Now onto the meat of a review.

Cip or punch? describe it -
PreDraw flavors?
How was the draw? Was it?

Easy - as though you were sucking on a straw?
Great- It offered limited resistance but was real easy to draw..
Firm? - Offering a bit more resistance but not un-pleasuarble.
Labored - Just a Bit too tight but smokeable..
Pluged - Like sucking on a wooden dowel


Now The Lighting of the cigar..
Describe - did you stick the end of the cigar in a fire pit to start it?
no seriously..
When you light a cigar and you "toast the foot" this offers a description many writers miss out on.

You now get into the NOSE of the cigar. (this is where you can smell the cigars scent - or its nose) Descibe the smell when you initially light it up before you take your first pull, drag or puff.


Now at this point you get to describe what type of flavor you are experincing, many writers for the Fru fru reviews get into a weird labeling thing "It was a meaty robust flavor with a sage hint.." (sounds like a steak no?)

What I tend to use if flavors I have tasted in the world through either "smelling them" or eating them.

When your smoking the cigar look for subtle nuances of flavors such as a peppery or carmel type.. We all get to taste but how you describe it makes a difference. "It reminded me of wet grass" - to me this says this cigar made me think of a pile of wet grass left on the lawn too long. Yet that may be the exact refernce needed..

One time I was writing a challenge review, and the cigar was a Fake Cuban Cohiba, I wrote - This cigars taste was unlike anything I had experienced yet the taste was familiar to my nose, that when it struck me I khew the exact combination...... It tasted like the scent of some Hay not just any hay this was like the hay that had been used in a horse stall for 2 weeks yes it was just like horse urine soaked Hay with some mildew that had been light on fire... (yummy) you get the idea...


Onward as your cigar changes try and describe this to your readers.

"as I smoked on it changed into a ____ and it had built to a __"

Also when you write describe the memory of the cigar - this is the aftertaste that is left between you smoking it..


Describe the entire cigar all the way to the finish did you nub it or did you toss it out?

The close your review with either a recomendation or a warning.


Now if you write reviews using these outlines you may find yourself on a manufacturers list of reviewers, this simply means that each time they want to release a new cigar they may send you a couple pre release samples for review.
I have done these types of reviews for several years and have found myself on those sampler lists occasionally.

One thing more, have some fun and try and communicate your experience to the reader.


hbooker
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Thanks hbooker! :thumbs:
 
Aparently, hbooker and cc have some history, but it sounds like good information. Thanks, Cory.
 
I would consult Wilkey, If your looking for a "checklist" of things to include in your review, He is 'da man.
 
I certanly am flatterd to have such attention cat, Nice touch..

Cant for the life of me figgure out when you and I have interacted at anytime.
Must not have been that important for me to remember.
Glad all is well - as always..

Again Im flattered you think of me...No matter what you think of me.
hb
 
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