The Cigar of the Year List season has finally come to an end . For episode 125, Hector Alfonso Sr. of Espinosa Cigars, Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac and John McTavish of Developing Palates are all back for an Industry Panel to recap the highs and lows of the season. Plus, we will get […]
Feature Story: Story of the Decade – Pepper Creme Soda with Fried Chicken
The Decade of 2010-19 was certainly a dynamic one for the cigar industry. Outside the world of tobacco, the industry’s battle in the U.S. against the federal government on regulations was front and center. It would have been easy to pick that as the story of the decade, but in terms of a selection here, […]
2019 Year in Review: The Composite Value Ratings for 2019
The Cigar of the Year Countdown is a quantitative analysis of the best cigars of 2019. The Countdown is built strictly on merit and does not factor in price. A few years ago, I started to take a closer look and see how this list would look if price were to be factored in. The […]
2019 Year in Review: Company Performance for 2019
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. Today we slice this data by cigar brand, a category we have ranked since 2012. This […]
2019 Year in Review: Vitola Performance for 2019
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. Today we slice this data by Vitola – a new category introduced for 2015. This is […]
2019 Year in Review: Country of Origin Performance Ratings 2019
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. Today we slice this data by Country of Origin – a category introduced for 2015. This […]
2019 Year in Review: Best Factory Performance for 2019
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 Today we slice this data by Factory – a category introduced for 2017. This is not meant […]
Feature Story: The Decade List – 2010 to 2019
It’s a project that has been ten years in the making – or at least almost 18 months. The concept for doing a Cigar of the Decade selection started in July, 2018. I was driving outside Alburquerque, New Mexico heading to Las Vegas for the IPCPR Trade Show. I had just talked to Sam Morales, […]
Prime Time Awards 2019: Person of the Year – Alan Rubin
The Prime Time Awards are voted on by each of the three members of the Prime Time Podcasts. The awards look at the impact on the cigar industry. Today, we unveil our choice for 2019 Person of the Year. This award looks at the individual who for better or worse had the most significant contributions to the cigar […]
Prime Time Awards 2019: Large Company of the Year – Altadis U.S.A.
The Prime Time Awards are voted on by each of the three members of the Prime Time Podcasts. The awards look at the impact on the cigar industry. Today, we unveil our choice for 2019 Large Company of the Year. This award factors things such as innovation, continued quality, and impact to the industry. […]