Our 2014 Year in Review coverage concludes with a look at how the various cigar brands did on Cigar Coop for 2014. This analysis is based on the average numerical score of all cigar assessed on Cigar Coop.
A total of 257 (up from 232 the previous year) cigars were considered for this ranking. The category was renamed “Best Brand Performance” since this category is purely based on quantitative scoring throughout the year.
We used the following criteria to implement this:
- The cigar must have its scored published during the 2014 Cigar Coop Cigar Year that ran from November 29, 2013 to November 27, 2014.
- All cigars scored were eligible regardless of release date. The goal here is to see how the brand performed during the Cigar Coop Cigar Year.
- A manufacturer grouping must have 5 scored cigars to be eligible.
- Ties were broken with the manufacturer with more cigars breaking the tie. (Although this year all of the ties also were tied with the same amount of cigars)
- In cases where a company had less than five cigars, we grouped that company under a holding company or distribution umbrella. If there is a brand that tends to operate somewhat autonomous and had five cigars, it was separated out as its own entity.
Best Brand Performance 2014: Regius Cigars
Regius Cigars narrowly beat out Debonaire Cigars by 6/10 of a point in the average score. It was a home run year for Regius as we covered them for the first time. The Regius Damaris was a top five cigar. The brand also scored nicely with the Regius Claro Especial Exclusivo USA (#22) and the Seleccion Orchant lines. It was back in 2012 when the UK-based Regius Cigars first entered the market and 2014 has really proven to be a great year for this company. Brand owner Akhil Kapacee has done a masterful job at bringing high quality products to market that have been consistent and enjoyable each and every time.
Certainly Debonaire and Davidoff’s achievements cannot be overlooked either as they came in #2 and #3 respectively.
The following are the 17 brands that met the criteria above to qualify for this list.
| Rank |
Brand |
Score |
| 1 | Regius Cigars (5) | 93.40 |
| 2 | Debonaire Cigars (5) | 92.80 |
| 3 | Davidoff Cigars (including Avo / Zino) (12) | 92.17 |
| 4 | A.J. Fernandez (5) | 91.80 |
| 5 | My Father (5) | 91.60 |
| 6 | Tatuaje (19) | 91.58 |
| 7 | Viaje (12) | 91.00 |
| 8 | Drew Estate (including Joya / Balmoral) (7) | 91.00 |
| 9 | Miami Cigar & Co (including La Aurora) (6) | 91.00 |
| 10 | E.P. Carrillo | 90.57 |
| 11 | Camacho (Including Room 101/Ditka) (11) | 90.36 |
| 12 | House of Emilio (9) | 90.33 |
| 13 | Oscar Valladares Tobacco Company / Leaf (6) | 90.33 |
| 14 | Sindicato Cigars (5) | 89.80 |
| 15 | Rocky Patel Premium Cigars (6) | 89.33 |
| 16 | General Cigar (11) | 89.27 |
| 17 | Altadis (5) | 89.20 |
Randon Thoughts
- Our goal was to bring scoring down from 2014 as we felt we were higher than most industry sites. Last year we had 13 brands score over 91. This year it was down to 9. More significantly we had only 3 brands over 92 while last year we had nine. The goal was to make it more of a challenge to score higher and this goal was achieved.
- Only 17 brands had the minimum five cigar rule. There is no quotas set for how many cigars are reviewed – it just turns out like that. Last year, we had 20 brands alone over 90 point average.
- Looking at the numbers, it is a fair argument to say we went too heavy with some brands, and not heavy enough with others. While we don’t want to set quotas, we do want to make sure we are doing all brands justice.
- Last year’s winner, La Palina only had four cigars assessed and did not qualify.
- Tatuaje led the pack with 19 assessments, but much of this was due to the eight releases in Pudgy Monsters and a revisiting of the five releases in Little Monsters.
- Regius and Debonaire qualified for this list for the first time and had enough cigars to make it to #1 and #2.
