As we have since 2020, we are publishing our performance ratings to look at the impacts of sponsors and samples on Cigar Coop for the past year.
Performance Ratings are a collection of analytical data for the past Cigar Year on Cigar Coop. The sponsored and samples categories were introduced in response to feedback the media consistently hears pertaining to scoring – namely, “sponsors compromise scoring” and “free samples compromise scoring.” I have long contended that sponsorship and samples are a part of the media landscape. At the same time, not something you can easily shrug off.
While these debates have been around for as long as I have been in cigar media, the impetus for this exercise came from a couple of defunct podcasts that existed in 2020: The Lounge Experience and The Bulb Podcast. On both podcasts, the question was raised about the impact of sponsors. I thank them for making this public.
Without further ado, here is the analysis.
Performance Rankings for Sponsored Cigars & Samples
The Basics
- A Sponsor is defined as a company that funds a marketing campaign on Cigar Coop. In this case, it is banner advertising on the website, or podcasts reads on the podcasts. The company is a distributor, brand owner, or manufacturer.
- For the record, Cigar Coop currently has 18 sponsors.
- Cigar Coop does not guarantee a review for every sample received.
- A Sample is a cigar that is provided by the company that manufactures and/or distributes the product.
- If a company only sponsored a portion of the year, they were still considered a sponsor regardless of the review date.
- If samples were used and cigars were also purchased for an assessment, the cigar is said to have had samples provided.
- Samples are always disclosed on Cigar Coop reviews.
- Samples are never used when distributed at a Trade Show. Only samples from official marketing channels of a cigar company are used for reviews.
- Samples always come from official channels of a cigar company. We do not accept gifted cigars for review. All cigars for the Cigar of the Year Countdown are re-purchased.
- A total of 168 cigars were assessed for “the Cigar Coop Cigar Year” from November 1st, 2023 through October 31st, 2024.
The Results
Averages included for each with the number of cigars included in the data set in parentheses
| 2024: Avg (# of Cigars) | % | 2023: Avg (# of Cigars) | 2022: Avg (# of Cigars) | 2021: Avg (# of Cigars) | 2020: Avg (# of Cigars) | |
| Overall Data Set | 88.45 (168) | 100.00% | 88.59 (148) | 88.72 (152) | 89.06 (163) | 89.45(172) |
| Sponsored Brands | 88.85 (78) | 46.60% | 88.57 (69) | 89.15 (61) | 89.22(59) | 89.35(70) |
| Non-Sponsored Brands | 88.10 (90) | 53.40% | 88.61 (79) | 88.44 (91) | 88.96 (104) | 89.53(102) |
| Samples Used | 88.33 (83) | 46.60% | 88.57 (69) | 88.80 (75) | 89.29(98) | 89.29(75) |
| No Samples Used (All Purchased) | 88.56 (85) | 53.40% | 88.61 (79) | 88.65 (77) | 89 (65) | 89.67(97) |
A detailed breakdown:
The Analysis (2024 Data)
When it comes to the sponsor data, if there is a year you want to beat us up, this will be the year. The scoring for sponsors came out higher than non-sponsors. The average score for cigars from our sponsors was 88.85 compared to 88.10 for cigars from non-sponsors. That is a 0.75 point difference. It is also worth noting the average score from sponsored cigars increased 0.28 points (up from 88.57 in 2023).
The goal each and every year is to do an honest review, and I’ll stand by a position this is done with honesty and integrity in an ethical matter. There will be some years where the sponsor number will be higher – we saw that in 2021 and 2022. My opinion is just because the sponsored cigar average came out higher means we were swayed. I think its more important to be transparent on the data, present it to our audience, and as always you can judge us.
As for the sample data, we seemed to depend a little more on samples this year as it almost was a 50/50 split. As a curator of this list, I think samples do have their place. Ideally I’ve always said a 50/50 split of samples and non-samples used for assessments is a healthy split.
Final Thoughts
Every time the allegation comes up about sponsors and samples corrupting cigar media, I understand it, but I also scratch my head. I can’t believe this is 2025, and the cigar media still has to answer this. What I can say is providing this data gives some context where you can decide for yourself whether sponsors or samples influence how we assess.
Sponsors and samples are a part of the media framework. . We rely on sponsors to keep the lights on. We also still rely on samples as well, and our feeling is that as long as it comes from official media sources, there is nothing wrong with it.
Over the past few years, I’ve encouraged other media to also dig into their statistics. I’m happy to say more media has come on board and provided their data on this topic. I thank them for answering the call.
