The Cigar of the Year Countdown is a quantitative analysis of the best cigars of 2017. Other than the fact the cigar must be a box worthy cigar to qualify for the list, price is not factored into the Countdown. In this exercise, I take a look at the list from a value standpoint and see how the Top 30 would look.

With our annual Countdown, we factor price out of the equation and rate the cigars on merit and other intangibles. With the Value rating, we assume all 30 cigars weigh equally on merit and intangibles and simply rank them from lowest to highest price.

As a third step, I took a cross-section of the Countdown and the Value ranking and came up with a Composite ranking. The concept for this ranking is simple – I applied an equal weight for how the cigar rank versus how the price for the cigar was ranked. Points were then assigned for each of the two lists. 30 points for the top-ranked cigar, 29 points for the second-ranked cigar, etc. – all the way to 1 point for the 30th cigar. Points were then applied to the pricing: 30 points for the lowest priced cigar, 29 points for the 2nd lowest priced cigar, etc – all the way down to 1 point for the most expensive cigar on the list. The points were then added up.  If cigars were tied in price, the points were distributed evenly (thus the half points).

In the final rankings, if a cigar was tied with the same amount of points, the tiebreaker went to the lower priced cigar. This year, two Rothschild cigars, the Hoyo La Amistad Rothschild and Guardian of the Farm Rambo finished in a tie for #1. Given the Hoyo La Amistad Rothschild was the lower price, it wins the tiebreaker in the composite rankings.

Composite Value Ratings

Total Score in parentheses.

1. Hoyo La Amistad (Gold) Rothschild (51)	$6.49
2. Guardian of the Farm Rambo (51)	$7.80
3. Saga Short Tales Tomo II-Tales of the Land: Cotuí by De Los Reyes Cigars (46)	$8.50
4. La Aurora 107 Cosecha 2006 Corona Gorda Especial (44.5)	$10.00
5. Cornelius & Anthony Aerial Robusto (43)	$9.25
6. 601 La Bomba Warhead III by Espinosa Cigars (43)	$9.99
7. Crux Limitada Show Exclusive 2016 (38)	$11.95
8. EIROA The First 20 Years Colorado 50 x 5 (38)	$12.50
9. The Wise Man Maduro Robusto (37)	$10.50
10. Serino Royale Medio Robusto Gordo (34)	$9.20
11. Todos Las Dias Double Wide Belicoso by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust (34)	$12.45
12. Gaaja Maduro Torpedo by Bombay Tobak (34)	$15.50
13, Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Toro (33)	$9.50
14. Oliveros All Stars Small Batch No. 5 Basso by Boutique Blends Cigars (32.5)	$9,89
15. Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto by JRE Tobacco Company (32)	$7.00
16. Warped Maestro Del Tiempo (32)	$9.65
17. Toraño Vault E-021 Robusto (31)	$8.95
18.RoMa Craft Tobac Wunder|Lust Robusto (2017) (31)	$10.70 *
19. David P. Ehlrich Tremont Toro by MLB Cigar Ventures (29)	$9.50
20. Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder (25)	$9.50
21. Protocol Themis Toro by Cubariqueno Cigar Company (24.5)	$9.89
22. Archetype Sage Advice Toro by Ventura Cigar Company (23)	$11.99
23. Davidoff – The Master Selection 2016 (22)	$35.00
24. Davidoff Nicaragua 6 x 60 (21)	$19.20
25. Black Works Studio Sindustry Toro (20.5)	$10.00
26. Padrón 1926 Serie No. 90 Maduro (19)	$19.20
27. Mombacho Cosecha 2012 (19)	$21.95
28. Quesada Reserva Privada Barber-Pole Robusto (15)	$13.60
29. E.P. Carrillo Original Rebel Rebellious 54 (14)	$11.50
30. Diamond Crown Black Diamond Emerald by J.C. Newman Cigar Co. (13)	$20.00

 

Individual Rankings (Countdown and Value)

Below are the selections in the 2017 Cigar Coop Countdown sorted by rank (left) and value/price (right). The average price for a cigar making the Countdown was $12.28. This is down $1.10, as for 2016 the average price was  $13.38.

Rank points used to calculate composite score is in parentheses.

* Note: RoMa Craft Tobac Wunder|Lust Robusto was priced at € 8.75 (Euro). A U.S. Conversion Rate for 1/20/18 was applied to this price.