Today, we look at Performance Data from The Smoking Syndicate for 2023. The Performance Rankings are a statistical analysis based on the average numerical score of all cigars assessed on Cigar Coop and The Smoking Syndicate. It is meant to be a barometer regarding how well companies scored overall for the year.

As we did last year, we took a look at the data from The Smoking Syndicate and sliced it in different ways. This is not meant to be an award, but a look at how scoring went and what we can learn from it.

We used the following criteria to implement the rankings

The cigar must have its score published during the 2022 adjusted Cigar Year on The Smoking Syndicate – November 1, 2021, through October 31, 2022.
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.
Only data from The Smoking Syndicate reviews was considered. Data from The Smoking Syndicate Roundtable was not included.

The Smoking Syndicate Scoring 2022-23

The following is a summary of all of the reviews from The Smoking Syndicate sorted from highest score to lowest score.

Cigar	Score	Country of Origin	Factory
Avo Cigars Seasons Fall (10/30/23)	92	Dominican Republic	OK Cigars
Espinosa 10 Years Anniversary (11/9/22)	92	Nicaragua	San Lotano
Foundation Cigars Olmec Corona Gorda Claro (2/14/23)	92	Nicaragua	Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua SA
Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf Toro 2023 (6/27/23)	91	Nicaragua	TABSA
Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull (9/16/23)	91	Dominican Republic	Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
Powstanie Connecticut Toro (9/22/23)	91	Nicaragua	Fabrica de Tabacos NicaSueño
Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Sonata Vibrato (9/1/23)	90	Nicaragua	Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
AJ Fernandez New World Dorado Robusto (3/31/23)	90	Nicaragua	San Lotano
Casa Cuevas Sangre Nueva Toro (5/20/23)	90	Dominican Republic	Las Lavas
Crowned Heads Four Kicks Mule Kick 2022 (2/21/23)	90	Dominican Republic	Tabacalera La Alianza, S.A.
JRE Aladino Limited Edition (10/13/23)	90	Honduras	Fabrica de Puros Aladino S.A.
Tatuaje Avion 13 Tuxtla * (6/20/23)	89.5	Nicaragua	My Father Cigas S.A.
Crowned Heads Azul y Oro (4/19/23)	89	Nicaragua	Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A. (NACSA)
Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Mi Querida Black SakaKhan (6/30/23)	89	Nicaragua	Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A. (NACSA)
Los Statos Deluxe Robusto (3/8/23)	87	Honduras	HATSA
Forged Cigars Shady Moose Toro (10/6/23)	82	Honduras	HATSA

A summary of average scores by year:

Year	Average	Cigars Reviewed
2022-23	89.72	16
2021-22	89.22	18

Country of Origin

There was data from the three countries. Consistent with how the scoring went on Cigar Coop, the order was 1) Dominican Republic, 2) Nicaragua, and 3) Honduras in terms of average score. Like the rest of Cigar Coop, cigars originating from Nicaragua made up the most reviews

Country	Average	Cigars Reviewed
Dominican Republic	90.75	4
Nicaragua	90.38	9
Honduras	86.33	3

Price Range

The median price point used for this analysis was $13.00. Both price ranges were close in terms of average score and cigars reviewed. Overall, the average price for a cigar assessed on The Smoking Syndicate was $12.62 – just under the median.

Price Range	Average	Cigar Reviewed
Under $13.00	89.06	9
$13.00 and Over	90.57	7

Factory

Due to a smaller data set, we only listed factories that had multiple cigars reviewed.

Factory	Average	Cigars Reviewed
Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua SA	91.50	2
San Lotano	91.00	2
Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A. (NACSA)	89.00	2
HATSA	84.50	2