Today, we examine the performance of cigars on Cigar Coop by Factory for 2024. The Performance Rankings were introduced in 2012 as a statistical analysis based on the average numerical score of all cigars assessed on Cigar Coop. They are meant to serve as a barometer for how the cigars were evaluated.
In 2024, the average score for the entire set of 168 cigars was 88.45. (Statistically, this was down 0.14 points from 2023, when the average was 88.59.) This is not an award but an analysis of scoring.
We used the following criteria to implement the rankings
- The cigar must have its score published during the 2024 adjusted Cigar Year on Cigar Coop – November 1, 2023, through October 31, 2024.
- In the event of a tie, the factory with the greater number of cigars would win the decision. (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 also separately list the factories with fewer than five.
- While we separated by small and large factories for the Prime Time Awards, this distinction was not made for the Performance Ranking. Intangible factors other than score are also used for the Prime Time Awards. Performance Rankings are purely based on average scores. The Prime Time Awards include intangible factors and are voted on by seven members of the Prime Time team while this author assessed all of the cigars scored on Cigar Coop.
- We simply cannot review cigars from every factory. As a result, yes, some factories were missed.
2024 Cigar Coop Factory Performance Rankings
- Overall Average Review Score: 88.45 (168 Cigar Reviews)
The following are the 12 factories that were included in the Performance Rankings. This is based on having five cigars reviewed from that factory.
| Rank | Factory | Count | Average |
| 1 | La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate | 5 | 89.60 |
| 2 | San Lotano | 6 | 89.50 |
| 3 | Fabrica Puros de Aladino S.A. | 6 | 89.33 |
| 4 | Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua, S.A. | 6 | 89.17 |
| 5 | Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. | 7 | 89.00 |
| 6 | Casa Carrillo | 5 | 89.00 |
| 7 | Nicaraguan American Cigars, S.A. | 5 | 88.80 |
| Tabacos Cubanica S.A. | 5 | 88.80 | |
| 9 | OK Cigars | 5 | 88.40 |
| 10 | My Father Cigars S.A. | 12 | 88.33 |
| 11 | The CLE Cigar Factory | 5 | 87.80 |
| 12 | La Aurora S.A. | 9 | 87.33 |
Observations
- This year, we moved the minimum threshold to five cigars reviewed in order to qualify for the list. Cigars below the threshold are listed separately for reference purposes at the end of this article.
- Eight of the twelve factories that met the minimum threshold exceeded the average cigar score for 2024.
- Factory Breakdown by Country
- Nicaragua – 7
- Dominican Republic – 3
- Honduras – 2
- For the third year in a row, My Father Cigars S.A. had the most cigars reviewed from a single factory on Cigar Coop.
- Eight different factories have topped the Factory Performance Rankings in the eight years of doing this.
Other Factories
Those factories that did not reach the five review minimum for a factory are listed below for reference. There isn’t much to infer from these numbers as each computation was from a much smaller dataset.
| Factory | Count | Average |
| Tabacalera Perdomo | 4 | 91.00 |
| Tabcalera Familia Disla | 1 | 91.00 |
| Fabrica de Micallef | 1 | 90.00 |
| Plasencia CigarSASA | 1 | 90.00 |
| Tabacalera Las Lavas SRL | 1 | 90.00 |
| TacaNicsa | 1 | 90.00 |
| Tabacos de Costa Rica | 4 | 89.75 |
| Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia | 4 | 89.50 |
| De Los Reyes Cigars SA | 2 | 89.50 |
| TABADEX | 4 | 89.25 |
| Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. | 3 | 89.00 |
| El Rey de Los Habanos | 2 | 89.00 |
| Tabacalera Von Eicken | 2 | 89.00 |
| El Titan de Bronze | 1 | 89.00 |
| Fabrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A. | 1 | 89.00 |
| La Zona | 1 | 89.00 |
| Fabrica Oveja Negra | 4 | 88.75 |
| El Reloj | 3 | 88.67 |
| J.C. Newman Puros de Estelí Nicaragua, S.A. | 2 | 88.50 |
| Tabacalera Magia | 2 | 88.50 |
| Tabcalera de Garcia | 2 | 88.50 |
| Cigars Davidoff | 3 | 88.33 |
| TAVICUSA | 4 | 88.25 |
| Honduran American TobaccSA.A. | 4 | 88.00 |
| Luciano Cigars Factory | 2 | 88.00 |
| Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A. | 1 | 88.00 |
| Fabrica de Tabacos HVC, S.A. | 1 | 88.00 |
| Nueva Matacapan de Tabacos S.A. de C.V. | 1 | 88.00 |
| San Judas Tadeo | 1 | 88.00 |
| STG Estelí | 1 | 88.00 |
| Unknown | 4 | 87.25 |
| San Judas Tadeo | 2 | 87.00 |
| Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera | 2 | 87.00 |
| Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas SRL. | 1 | 87.00 |
| Garmendia Cigars | 1 | 87.00 |
| Oscar Valladares | 1 | 87.00 |
| Tabacalera Carreras | 1 | 87.00 |
| Tabacalera La Isla | 1 | 87.00 |
| Agricola Ganadera Norteña S.A. | 4 | 86.75 |
| El Septimo | 2 | 86.50 |
| General Cigar Dominicana | 2 | 86.50 |
| Villiger de Nicaragua | 2 | 86.00 |
| Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A | 3 | 85.67 |
| El Paraiso | 1 | 85.00 |
| Tabacalera Palma | 1 | 85.00 |
Top Factory Performers
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)
2021 San Lotano (Nicaragua)
2022 TABADEX (Dominican Republic)
2023 Tabacos de Costa Rica (Costa Rica)
2024 La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate (Nicaragua)
