How I score

Cigars get the same 100-point scale I use for wine at International Wine Report. In practice the scale runs from 50 to 100, and anything I publish is somewhere in the bands below.

95 to 100	Classic. The kind of cigar I'll remember a year from now.
90 to 94	Outstanding. Real depth, and it changes as it burns.
85 to 89	Very good. I'd happily smoke another.
80 to 84	Good. Solid, with nothing that pulls me back.
70 to 79	Fine, but something held it back: flavor, draw or burn.
Below 70	Flawed. I'll say what went wrong.

What moves a score

Mostly what's in the smoke: flavor, balance, how the cigar develops from the first third to the last, and how long the finish stays.

Construction counts when it gets in the way. A draw that fights me or a burn I have to keep touching up costs points, because it costs flavor.

What doesn't

Price. A $6 cigar and a $30 cigar are scored on the same scale. The band, the box and the hype don't count either.

Value is its own number

For the best value lists I take my score, subtract 80, and divide by the cheapest price per stick I've found. A 92 at $8 a stick scores 1.5. An 88 at $5 scores 1.6. Anything at 80 or below doesn't get a value score.

Samples

If a brand sends me cigars, the review says so. A free cigar gets scored exactly like one I paid for.