Uncovering the unrecognized cigars

 

Top cigars lists time seems to have ended for the season, but there are many excellent cigars that haven’t been recognized.

Listen to “Uncovering the unrecognized cigars”:

 

How can more excellent cigars be recognized?

At Cigar Sense, we’re committed to awarding product excellence in premium cigars, released at any time and based on reliable evaluations. Our approach is data-driven, using objective measurements to rank cigars. We do this by looking at two factors:

  • our cigars quality index, which is not based on personal opinions or preferences, but rather on descriptive analyses by our trained panelists, consolidated using statistics
  • consumer liking, which we predict by matching each cigar in our database with the unique preferences of our members.

What is quality, anyway?

At the end of the day, the final quality of a cigar, meaning the quality as perceived by end users, is what matters most, and that is determined by the consumer’s experience and personal taste. It’s only by actually smoking a cigar that we can truly determine whether we like it or not.

How can we know, before buying it, if we will like a cigar?

While buying and trying every promoted cigar is said to be the only way to find out what we like and don’t like, there are much better techniques and resources available to help guide your choices and develop your palate. We discussed the “paradox of choice” in prior episodes and some tips follow below.

The hard fact: the average cigar is recommendable to not more than 60% of cigar lovers based on THEIR preferences. Not everyone will love every cigar and generic cigar reviews (meaning non personalized) cannot tell us whether we will like a cigar or not.

Reviewers’ personal preferences, a must?

When it comes to generic cigar reviews, many people believe that personal biases and preferences are necessary. While it’s true that tastings are subjective, it’s important to understand who is doing the tasting:

  • If it’s a consumer, then their personal experience and enjoyment are extremely important.
  • But if it’s a professional reviewer, guiding consumers, then personal biases should be excluded and the focus should be on providing objective information.

The myth that every review must reflect the personal preferences of the reviewer, and that there is no other way to do it, has been debunked by sensory analysis. However, the application of such norms requires a lot of efforts and investments.

Consumers often rely on reviews when making buying decisions, and it’s not uncommon for them to follow the preferences of a particular reviewer for a while.

What are the best ways to make informed buying decisions?

The best ways to respect your own palate are:

  • Education to develop your own tastes. By gaining a better understanding of cigars through reliable, science-based resources, consumers can make informed decisions and encourage companies to communicate more accurately about their products.
  • Use of independent personalized recommendations, it’s simply easy and fast if coming from an accurate resource.

 

So, at Cigar Sense, we’re dedicated to helping consumers choose cigars that are best suited to their own individual tastes, while also uncovering the unrecognized cigars by awarding the companies that produce high-quality blends that meet the preferences of consumers.

Let’s respect our palates and continue to enjoy popular and less popular premium cigars, as long as they taste good for us.

 

References

Product Excellence Awards program: https://www.cigarsense.com/product-excellence-awards-by-cigar-sense/
Science-based tasting education: https://www.cigarsense.com/courses/a-cigar-tasting-course/
Independent personalized recommendations: https://www.cigarsense.com/
Tasting seminars: https://www.cigarsense.com/virtual-seminars/

 

Your feedback on Cigar Sense podcast

You can ask your questions, make comments and be featured on the show! Let your voice be heard. Email Franca 

The podcast is sponsored by our premium members. We have no cigars sale, nor ads sale revenue. Just like for the Cigar Sense membership and our educational resources, we strive to provide independent and reliable information.

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This podcast is brought to you by Cigar Sense founders and paid members. With the free Cigar Sense membership, you can obtain personalized recommendations of cigars that best suit your unique individual tastes. In a few simple steps, you can see what your top cigar picks are from the thousands of cigars available on the market. You can also explore sensory and other cigar attributes as Cigar Sense helps you better understand what you like and dislike in a cigar.

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