The Performance Rankings were introduced in 2012 as a statistical analysis based on the average numerical score of all cigars assessed on Cigar Coop. It is meant to serve as a barometer in terms of how the cigars were assessed
Today we slice this data by Factory – a category introduced for 2017. This is not meant to be necessarily an award, but a look at how scoring went, and what can we learn from it.
We have returned to using the adjusted cigar year method that fits our site – namely November 1, 2019, through October 31, 2020. For the 2020 year, a total of 172 (down from 174 in 2019) cigars were considered for this analysis. The average score for the entire set of 172 cigars was 89.45. (Statistically, this was down 0.54 points from 2019 when the average was 89.99)
We used the following criteria to implement this:
- The cigar must have its score published during the 2020 Adjusted Cigar Year on Cigar Coop – November 1, 2019, through October 31, 2020.
- All cigars scored were eligible regardless of release date. The goal here is to see how the factory performed during the Cigar Coop Cigar Year.
- Ties were broken with the factory with more cigars assessed breaking the tie (there were no ties this year).
- A minimum of five cigars assessed made in a particular factory were required to make this ranking. For reference purposes, we list all factories used.
- While for the Prime Time Awards we separated by small and large factories, this distinction was not made for the Performance Rating. The Prime Time Awards factored in other intangible factors other than score. Performance Ratings are purely based on average score. The Prime Time Awards include intangible factors and are voted on by all three members of the Prime Time team while this author assessed all of the cigars scored on Cigar Coop.
The following are the 12 factories and their average scores that met the criteria above to qualify for this list. The number of cigars from the factory is listed in parentheses.
| Factory | Total | Average | |
| 1 | Tabacalera Perdomo | 5 | 91.20 |
| 2 | Plasencia SA | 6 | 90.33 |
| 3 | Tabacalera La Alianza | 10 | 90.00 |
| 4 | Las Lomas | 5 | 90.00 |
| Tabacalera La Flor | 5 | 90.00 | |
| 6 | Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua SA | 8 | 89.75 |
| 7 | La Zona | 6 | 89.67 |
| 8 | Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua | 15 | 89.60 |
| 9 | My Father Cigars SA | 10 | 89.50 |
| 10 | Tabacalera de Garcia | 5 | 89.20 |
| 11 | JC Newman PENSA | 6 | 88.67 |
| 12 | La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate | 7 | 88.57 |
| 13 | Unknown | 6 | 87.00 |
Observations
- There were 13 factories that met the minimum five cigar rule. Technically the 13th factory was a catch-all for undisclosed factories for cigars reviews, so in reality, there are 12. It is important to note that 12th place doesn’t mean the worst factory, it just is the lowest average of those factories that met the minimum criteria.
- Last year, the top two spots were held by the Dominican factories (Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia and Tabacalera La Alianza). This year Perdomo Cigars and Plasencia SA from Nicaragua take the honors. It was the highest placement for Tabacalera Perdomo and Plasencia Cigars SA since we have tracked performance ratings.
- Tabacalera Perdomo won mostly for its own brand, but also had one rating from Pure Aroma Cigars for the Lords of England release.
- While Perdomo’s 91.20 is the lowest average score in the four years the factory topped the rankings, it is important to know that we have been more stringent in scoring and scoring across the top 12 cigars listed above was down as a whole.
- Ernesto Perez-Carrilo Jr’s Tabacalera La Alianza and AJ Fernandez’s Tabacalera AJ Fernandez de Nicaragua are well known to be choices to make contract brands. There was no surprise these had 25 cigars between assessed on Cigar Coop (up from 24 combined last year).
- Julio R. Eiroa’s Las Lomas factory was the top-performing Honduran factory on Cigar Coop for 2020.
Other Factories
Those factories which did not reach the five review minimum are listed below for reference:
| El Reloj | 1 | 92.00 | |
| Tabacalera Carreras | 1 | 92.00 | |
| El Aladino | 2 | 91.50 | |
| Tabacalera Palma | 4 | 91.00 | |
| De Los Reyes SA | 1 | 91.00 | |
| TAVICUSA | 1 | 91.00 | |
| Nica Sueno | 4 | 90.50 | |
| Las Lavas | 2 | 90.50 | |
| Tabacalera Pichardo | 2 | 90.50 | |
| Quesada Cigars SA | 3 | 90.33 | |
| Raices Cubanas | 3 | 90.00 | |
| Diadema Cigars de Honduras SA | 2 | 90.00 | |
| NACSA | 2 | 90.00 | |
| Tabacos de Costa Rica | 2 | 90.00 | |
| Charles Fairmorn | 1 | 90.00 | |
| San Lotano | 1 | 90.00 | |
| Tabacalera de Aragon | 1 | 90.00 | |
| Tabacalera L&V SRL | 1 | 90.00 | |
| Tabacalera William Ventura | 1 | 90.00 | |
| Micallef Cigars SA | 2 | 89.50 | |
| Casa Favilli | 2 | 89.50 | |
| General Cigar Dominicana | 4 | 89.25 | |
| TABSA | 4 | 89.25 | |
| Cigars Davidoff | 3 | 89.00 | |
| El Paraiso | 2 | 89.00 | |
| El Titan de Bronze | 1 | 89.00 | |
| San Judas Tadeo | 1 | 89.00 | |
| Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia | 4 | 88.75 | |
| La Aurora SA | 3 | 88.67 | |
| GR Tabacaleras Unidas S.A. | 2 | 88.50 | |
| Tabacos de Oriente | 3 | 88.33 | |
| HATSA | 4 | 88.25 | |
| J. Fuego Cigar Co de Nicaragua | 2 | 88.00 | |
| OK Cigars | 2 | 87.50 | |
| ABAM | 1 | 87.00 | |
| La Pequena Vega | 1 | 87.00 | |
| Manifacturre Sigaro Toscano Lucca | 1 | 87.00 | |
| Tabacalera Magia Cubana | 1 | 82.00 |
Top Factory Performers
Since 2017 when we introduced this metric, four different factories have had the highest average.
2017 La Zona (Nicaragua)
2018 Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua SA (Nicaragua)
2019 Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia (Dominican Republic)
2020 Tabacalera Perdomo (Nicaragua)
