Starting with our review of the GTO Anesthésia Maduro, you may have noticed some changes to the review format on Cigar Coop.  It’s going to be first in a series of structural changes being rolled out in the next few months to better enhance the reviews.

Cigar Coop has always looked at reviews as of an educational source as much as a review site. As the curator of the reviews, I felt some changes were needed to make it easier to use a review for educational content as well as how well the cigar performed.  Looking at that, there are four main components to a review.

1. Introduction: This is the backstory of the cigar, the cigar line – as well as the brand, and the people behind it. It’s not a section we name drop or brag about what we got in the mail for free. It’s more important that we have the contextual information about the product we are reviewing. If we can’t write an introduction, we don’t review the cigar.
2. Specifications: This is the data behind the cigar – the blend, the sizes, and the physical appearance of the cigar. This is noted by Blend Profile, Vitolas Available, and Appearance sections, which have been staples of Cigar Coop reviews for many years.
3. Performance: This is the how the cigar smoked – everything from the pre-light draw, tasting notes, burn, draw, strength, and body. This is noted by the “Preparation of the Cigar Experience”, “Flavor Profile”, “Burn and Draw”, and “Strength and Body” sections that have been staples of cigar Coop for years.
4. Overall Assessment: This is “at a glance” the impressions of the cigar as a whole. This includes Final Thoughts, Summary Data Points, the Ratings, and a Reference Section – all things that have been staples to Cigar Coop reviews for many years.

The first step to the enhancements was installing Headers for Specifications, Performance, and Overall Assessment. A decision was made not to put a eadingh in for Introduction. It’s a simple change, but it allows one to easily find these key components in our longer reviews.

There will be more to come. Over the upcoming months, improvements will be made to each of these sections. We expect this to improve the overall experience of our reviews.