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.
Inspired by Developing Palates, today we introduce a new category – prices of cigar. This is not meant to be an award, but a look at how scoring went, and what can we learn from it. In this case we look at the average score based on a particular price range.
For the 2021 year, a total of 163 (down from 172 in 2019) cigars were considered for this analysis. The average score for the entire set of 163 cigars was 89.06. (Statistically, this was down 0.39 points from 2020 when the average was 89.45)
We used the following criteria to implement this:
- The cigar must have its score published during the period of November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2021.
- All cigars scored were eligible regardless of release date. The goal here is to see pricing and scoring mapped during the Cigar Coop Cigar Year.
- These prices are based on MSRP or as close to possible. Most cigar companies do not include media on price adjustments. Where possible we tried to validate this data.
- Cigar pricing ranges in $2.00 intervals were done starting at $6.00 and going to $20.00. Cigars under $6.00 and over $20.00 were counted using “bookend” ranges.
| Range | Average | # Cigars Reviewed |
| Under 6 | 88.00 | 2 |
| $6.00-$7.99 | 88.71 | 17 |
| $8.00-$9.99 | 89.05 | 42 |
| $10.00-$11.99 | 89.11 | 37 |
| $12.00-$13.99 | 89.15 | 27 |
| $14.00-$15.99 | 89.33 | 12 |
| $16.00-$17.99 | 89.40 | 10 |
| $18.00-$19.99 | 91.00 | 1 |
| $20.00 and Over | 89.00 | 12 |
Assessing the Results
- The majority of the cigars reviewed were in the $8.00 to $13.99 range (106 cigars) with the $8.00 to $9.99 leading with 42 cigars
- A small amount of data was captured for $6.00. This is because our focus is primarily premium cigars and not bundled cigars which tend to dominate this pricing.
- A small amount of data was captured in the $18.00 to $20.00 range – there is no explanation I can offer here.
- Scoring increases gradually from the under $6.00 category all the way through the $18.00 to $19.00 category. It probably is better to look at the $6.00 to $7.99 category through the $16.00 to $17.99 category. The higher the price, the higher the average score.
- There was a drop off with the over $20.00 category. Of the nine price ranges used, this finished 7th.
- Excluding the Under $6.00 and $18.00 to $19.99 categories, the average score difference is only 0.79 points
