Are Cigar Ratings Worth Trusting? A Balanced Look at Scores
Cigar ratings are useful — but they're not the whole story. Here's an honest look at what ratings get right, where they fall short, and how to use them wisely.
The short answer
Ratings are a useful filter but not the only one. A high-rated cigar that doesn't match your flavor preferences or strength tolerance won't satisfy you regardless of its score. Use ratings alongside tasting notes and your own palate.
Cigar ratings are everywhere — on websites, shelf tags, box toppers, and marketing emails. The promise is simple: a number tells you whether a cigar is worth your time and money. But are cigar ratings actually worth trusting? The honest answer is: yes, with some important caveats. Here's how to use them well and where they genuinely fall short.
What ratings do well
They reflect real evaluation
The major publications — Cigar Aficionado, Halfwheel, Cigar Coop, Cigar Journal, Cigar Dojo, Cigar Snob — are run by experienced reviewers who smoke extensively and evaluate with consistent criteria. When Cigar Aficionado calls a cigar "outstanding" with a 92, that score came from a blind tasting panel that evaluated construction, draw, flavor complexity, and overall impression. That's real work.
A high rating from a credible publication tells you the cigar cleared a meaningful quality bar. For time-pressed buyers who can't smoke everything before buying, that's genuinely useful information.
They help you navigate a massive market
There are thousands of premium cigars available. Ratings give you a starting filter. Shopping for a gift or a special occasion cigar? Filtering for 90+ scores narrows the field dramatically and keeps you in reliably excellent territory.
Blind tasting removes one major bias
Publications that use blind tasting — removing the band so reviewers don't know what they're smoking — genuinely reduce brand-name influence on scores. That's a real methodological strength. A small-production cigar from a lesser-known country of origin gets the same evaluation as an iconic brand from Havana.
Where ratings fall short
They reflect one palate — or a small panel
No matter how experienced, a reviewer is a person with individual sensory preferences. Someone who loves earthy, full-bodied Nicaraguan blends will naturally reward those qualities. A reviewer partial to smooth, creamy Connecticut-style cigars may score the same Nicaraguan a few points lower. When one publication's 90 is another's 86, both can be right.
This is why reading tasting notes alongside the score matters enormously. The notes tell you what the reviewer tasted — and whether that profile is one you'd enjoy.
Strength and body aren't in the number
A 93-rated cigar could be mild and creamy or full-bodied and intense. The score doesn't tell you. If you're earlier in your cigar journey, an outstanding full-bodied cigar might be overwhelming rather than pleasurable, regardless of what the critics say. Always check the strength profile. Our cigar strength guide explains what mild, medium, and full mean in practice.
Cigars vary between samples
Handmade cigars have natural variation. The specific cigar that earned a 94 in a reviewer's session isn't the same physical cigar you'll smoke — it came from a different box, rolled by different hands on a different day. Humidity, tobacco lot, and rolling can all introduce variation. A 94-rated cigar can have an off-day; an 87-rated cigar can surprise you.
Production changes over time
A blend that scored 91 several years ago may be slightly different today. Tobacco is an agricultural product — wrapper leaf, binders, and fillers can shift with harvests and aging. Ratings reflect a moment in time, not a permanent quality certificate.
Not all publications are equally rigorous
Some ratings found on retailer websites or in promotional materials are self-reported by manufacturers or based on limited methodology. Major, independent publications with published review processes are more reliable than promotional scores. Learn to distinguish between a score from a publication with a documented methodology and a marketing claim.
How to use ratings wisely
The best approach treats ratings as one input among several, not the final word:
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Use them as a filter, not a verdict. Start with 90+ from a reputable publication, then dig into the tasting notes to see if the flavor profile suits you.
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Track whose palate matches yours. When you smoke a highly rated cigar and love it, note the publication and reviewer. When you're disappointed by something they praised, note that too. Over time, you'll know whose scores to weight most heavily.
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Read the notes, not just the number. "Notes of cedar, leather, and white pepper with a creamy finish" tells you far more than the number 91 alone.
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Smoke first when possible. Many shops offer singles. If you can try before committing to a box, do it.
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Log your own reactions. The Casa DNC app lets you rate cigars yourself. Your personal ratings history becomes the most reliable guide you have. Browse our cigar library to find cigars with published ratings you can compare against your own experience.
The bottom line
Cigar ratings are useful, earned through real work, and worth consulting — especially from publications with transparent, blind-tasting methodologies. They're not universal truth. A 90+ from a credible source is a reliable signal of quality. Whether that cigar is right for you depends on factors the score can't capture: your palate, your strength preference, the occasion, and what you happen to love about a cigar.
Use ratings to open doors, then trust your own experience to decide whether to walk through them. If you're still building your tasting vocabulary, how to taste a cigar like a pro is a good place to start — and if you're new to cigars entirely, begin with our best cigars for beginners guide before worrying too much about scores.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I always buy cigars based on ratings?
- Ratings are a useful filter but not the only one. A high-rated cigar that doesn't match your flavor preferences or strength tolerance won't satisfy you regardless of its score. Use ratings alongside tasting notes and your own palate.
- Can a cigar score differently across publications?
- Yes, often significantly. Different publications use different criteria, weighting, and reviewers. A cigar might earn a 92 from one outlet and an 87 from another. This is why reading multiple reviews — and noting whose palate aligns with yours — is valuable.
- Are blind tastings truly objective?
- More objective than open tastings, but not perfectly so. Reviewers still bring their own palate preferences and sensitivities. Blind tasting removes brand bias but not the inherent subjectivity of taste itself.
- Do production variations affect cigar scores?
- They can. Handmade cigars have natural variation. The cigar that earned a 94 in a review might smoke slightly differently from the one in your hand, due to differences in rolling, humidity during production, or tobacco lot. Ratings reflect a specific sample at a specific time.
- Is there a way to find ratings that match my personal taste?
- Yes — track which reviewers' descriptions align with what you enjoy when you actually smoke the cigar. Over time you'll identify whose palate resembles yours, and their ratings become much more predictive.
Keep reading
How Are Cigars Rated? The Blind-Tasting Process Explained
Curious how cigars get their scores? Learn how reviewers blind-taste cigars, what gets judged — construction, flavor, draw — and how ratings are made.
Cigar Rating Scale Explained: What the 100-Point Scores Mean
What does a 93 actually mean on a cigar? Learn how the 100-point cigar rating scale works, what each band means, and how to use scores when shopping.
Colorado Wrapper Explained: The Balanced Middle of Cigar Wrappers
What is a Colorado wrapper? Learn why this reddish-brown cigar leaf sits between natural and maduro, with cedar, dried fruit, and balanced medium-bodied flavor.