Today, we look at the performance of cigars on Cigar Coop by Country of Origin for 2023. Performance Rankings were introduced in 2012 as a statistical analysis based on the average numerical score of all cigars assessed on Cigar Coop. The purpose of performance rankings is to serve as a barometer in terms of how the cigars were evaluated. This is not meant to be an award but a look at how the scoring went and what we can learn from it.
For the 2023 year, a total of 148 cigars (down from 152 in 2022) were reviewed. The average score for the entire set of 148 cigars was 88.59. (Statistically, this was down 0.13 points from 2022, when the average was 88.72)
We used the following criteria to implement this:
- The cigar must have its score published from November 1, 2022, through October 31, 2023.
- All cigars scored were eligible regardless of release date. The goal is to see how the country of origin performed during the Cigar Coop Cigar Year.
- The majority of the cigars smoked were from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. As a result, these three countries have a significantly larger sample set than other cigar-producing countries. So, we divided the sampling data into two groups – small and large. A large sampling group had 12 or more cigars assessed.
2023 Cigar Coop Performance Rankings by Country of Origin
Large Sampling Data ≥12 Cigars
| Country | Avg Score # of Cigars (2023) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2022) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2021) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2020) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2019) |
Difference (2022 vs. 2021) |
| Dominican Republic | 88.65 (43) | 88.35 (37) | 88.69 (36) | 89.45 (51) | 90.19 (53) | 0.3 |
| Nicaragua | 88.53 (81) | 88.83 (96) | 89.30 (101) | 89.67 (85) | 89.96 (91) | -0.3 |
| Honduras | 88.17 (12) | 88.79 (14) | 88.63 (16) | 89.28 (25) | 90 (17) | -0.62 |
Small Sampling Data <12 Cigars
| Country | Avg Score # of Cigars (2023) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2022) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2021) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2020) |
Avg Score # of Cigars (2019) |
| Costa Rica | 90.75 (4) | 90.00 (1) | 91.0 (2) | 90.0 (2) | 91.33 (3) |
| United States | 88.5 (2) | 90.00 (1) | 87.5 (2) | 90.5 (2) | 89.66 (3) |
| n/a | 89.67 (3) | 89.00(2) | 88.4 (5) | 85.75 (4) | 85.00 (1) |
| Italy | 86 (1) | 88 (1) | 87 (1) | 87 (1) | 85.00 (1) |
| Mexico | 87.5 (2) | 91.00 (1) |
Assessing the Results
- For the first time since 2019, the Dominican Republic tops the large data set rankings.
- Since 2017, the average score for the country with the best average in the large data set has decreased.
- The Dominican Republic gained +0.3 in terms of average score. Ironically, Nicaragua lost 0.3 in terms of average score.
- For the first time since the 2019 Performance Rankings, Honduras did not place at the bottom of the large data set standings.
- There are still a large number of cigars from Nicaragua (81) compared to the next most, the Dominican Republic (43)
- Cigars produced in the United States, Costa Rica, and Italy were reviewed in 2023, but those countries had a small set of data and were only included for reference purposes.
Top Country of Origin Performers (Large Sampling)
- 2015 Dominican Republic 91.27
- 2016 Dominican Republic 91.44
- 2017 Nicaragua 91.07
- 2018 Nicaragua 90.97
- 2019 Dominican Republic 90.19
- 2020 Nicaragua 89.67
- 2021 Nicaragua 89.30
- 2022 Nicaragua 88.83
- 2023 Dominican Republic 88.65
