Please read the following.
Please read the following.
Important: This web site and the information contained within are not affiliated with nor endorsed by Cigar Aficionado.
I wish to extend a sincere thanks to Cigar Aficionado (C.A.) magazine. All raw data is taken from the magazine and its annual buying guides. Although not everyone agrees with the magazine's ratings, they are however the single best source of quantitative data we currently have for premium cigars. Without the tireless devotion and duty of its editors and employees, the data for these statistics might never have become available. And just to think of the sacrifices they make in providing us cigar quality ratings.
CAVEAT EMPTOR. The impetus for this data was a susicion I harbored for many years that the price of a cigar in no way predicted its quality. I originally compiled the data to test that relationship. Analysis reveals a price-quality correlation (R-squared) across all brands of only 0.15 (highly significant). In other words, only 15% of prices paid for cigars can be attributed to quality. Other factors (e.g., marketing activities, consumer demand) account for 85% of the prices retailers charge (and consumers are willing to pay!) for cigars. Beware and trust your own judgement.
The dataset for these analyses includes all non-Cuban cigars rated by Cigar Aficionado and is current through the February 1999 issue. For each analysis, a minimum of 3 observations was required for inclusion.
For each table, rank is followed by category grouping, the number of cases included in the analysis, mean, standard deviation, and previous ranking. Ties in ratings were broken using the standard deviations. All differences may not be statistically significant.
Bookmark this page and check back for updates as additional C.A. ratings become available. Data for Cubans is now being included.
Query: Does anyone have any unique ratings that might have been published in C.A.'s Cigar Insider? If so, I'd love to include that data, too.
TABLE OF SITE CONTENTS
Quality Ranking of Top Non-Cuban Cigar Brands
Brand (n) Mean s.d. Prev.Rank
1. Opus X (9) 90.44 1.81 1
2. A. Fuente Don Carlos (5) 88.40 1.52 2
3. Padron Anniversario (7) 88.29 4.219 4
4. Diamond Crown (3) 87.67 2.08 3
5. Cuba Aliados (11) 87.64 2.54 5
6. Puros Indios (15) 87.53 2.77 6
7. Carlos Oliva (3) 87.33 1.53 8
8. Padron (17) 87.29 2.73 10
9. Daniel Marshall (12) 87.25 1.60 7
10. Savinelli (12) 87.17 1.90 9
11. A. Fuente Hemingway (7) 87.00 1.83 12
12. Graycliff (3) 87.00 2.65 NPR*
13. Bahia (11) 86.91 3.59 23
14. Montesino (7) 86.86 2.54 14
15. 5 Vegas (6) 86.83 1.94 15
16. Olor (5) 86.80 1.79 16
17. Flor de Florez (3) 86.67 1.53 19
18. Grand Nica (3) 86.67 2.52 20
19. Montecristo (13) 86.46 1.20 20
20. Arturo Fuente (25) 86.40 1.50 24
21. Tabacos San Jose (3) 86.33 1.15 NPR
22. Davidoff (28) 86.29 2.37 26
23. La Gloria Cubana (23) 86.13 2.42 25
24. Macanudo (42) 86.07 1.76 27
25. 8-9-8 Collection (10) 86.00 1.56 29
26. Felipe II (5) 86.00 2.92 NPR
27. Celestino Vega (4) 86.00 2.94 30
*Not Previously Ranked
Brands Recently Falling Out of the Rankings:
Lone Wolf
Diana Silvius
Fonseca
Palmarejo
La Perla Habana
Don Rene
Maxius
Cara Mia
Dos Rios
NOTES: (1) N(non-cubans) = 1908; (2) Average rating (ALL non-Cuban cigars) = 84.85; (3) S.D.(ALL non-Cuban cigars) = 2.80.
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Quality Ranking of Cuban Brands
Brand (n) Mean s.d. Prev.Rank
1. Ramone Allones (5) 91.20 2.28 1
2. Montecristo (11) 90.55 3.45 2
3. Cohiba (11) 90.09 2.95 4
4. Hoyo de Monterrey (13) 89.85 2.97 3
5. Bolivar (11) 89.64 2.25 6
6. Punch (9) 89.56 2.46 5
7. H. Upmann (10) 89.20 4.37 7
8. Romeo y Julieta (18) 88.72 2.97 8
9. Saint Luis Rey (3) 88.67 0.58 9
10. Vegas Robaina (4) 88.50 2.52 10
11. Partagas (20) 88.15 3.69 11
12. La Gloria Cubana (3) 88.00 1.73 12
13. Sancho Panza (5) 87.80 2.95 13
14. El Rey del Mundo (8) 87.63 2.39 14
NOTE(S): N(cubans) = 147; Average Cuban rating = 89.20; s.d. = 3.23.
Quality Ranking of the Worst Cigars by Brand
Brand (n) Mean s.d.
1. Flor de Filipinas (3) 75.67 2.52
2. Jose Llopis (4) 79.00 2.94
3. Santiago Silk (3) 80.00 2.65
4. La Hoja Selecta (4) 80.50 5.80
5. Orosi (3) 80.67 3.06
6. Ornelas (15) 80.87 4.55
7. Double Happiness (3) 81.00 3.46
8. Ballena Suprema (5) 81.00 2.00
NOTE: No. 1 is the lowest rated brand. Rated quality improves as you read down the list.
Cigar Quality Rank by Country
Country (n) Mean s.d.
1. Cuba (147) 89.20 3.23
2. Bahamas (3) 87.00 2.65
3. Indonesia (5) 86.80 2.28
4. Costa Rica (14) 86.71 3.38
5. Jamaica (65) 85.94 1.78
6. U.S.A. (61) 85.28 3.15
7. Nicaragua (152) 85.11 2.94
8. Dominican Rep. (980) 85.05 2.50
9. Brazil (6) 84.83 2.32
10. Honduras (483) 84.75 2.73
11. Canary Islands (41) 83.44 3.54
12.
Cigar Quality Rank of Non-Cubans by Size/Maduro
Category (n) Mean s.d.
1. Figurado (190) 85.74 2.55
2. Double Corona (144) 85.23 3.12
3. Maduro (129) 85.22 2.12
4. Petit Corona (102) 85.18 2.67
5. Corona (226) 85.14 2.55
6. Corona Gorda (108) 84.90 2.86
7. Churchill (356) 84.87 2.65
8. Odd-size (59) 84.69 3.31
9. Robusto (213) 84.64 2.59
10. Lonsdale (254) 84.27 3.14
11. Panatela (127) 83.37 2.84
Cigar Quality Rank of Cubans by Size
Category (n) Mean s.d.
1. Vintage (13) 92.92 3.59
2. Double Corona (9) 92.22 2.17
3. Robusto (15) 90.53 1.88
4. Lonsdale (23) 89.09 2.39
5. Corona (17) 88.94 2.38
6. Churchill (22) 88.82 2.74
7. Figurado (19) 88.26 3.00
8. Corona Gorda (7) 88.00 3.00
9. Petit Corona (12) 87.25 3.39
10. Panatela (8) 85.63 2.26
All content is intellectual property of...
Jim Pailin (aka ZenWarrior)
ZenWarrior
POB 1295
Wilmington, NC 28402-1295
United States
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