2021 Reviews in Review

Before we start naming the winners of our various awards, we should probably think of a name for what we call it beyond “awards week.” But, we also precede the awards with a look back at the reviews of the previous year.

This is the third time I’ve done this analysis and I didn’t need to look at the numbers to tell you what the biggest takeaway should be: we reviewed fewer cigars in 2021 than we did last year.

As it turns out, we published 226 cigar reviews during 2021, 47 fewer (16.91 percent) when compared to 2020.

Here are links to the 2019 and 2020 versions of this article.

THE (SMALLER) BIG PICTURE

There are a few different reasons for that. While none of our staff has knowingly tested positive for COVID-19, that’s not to say we were able to smoke cigars 365 days during 2021. Without getting much into our personal lives, one of us was in the hospital for multiple weeks thanks to a waterborne bacteria, one of us spent the better part of a month moving, and one of us got to spend multiple weeks in isolation after close COVID contacts, thanks mom.

All those took days away from us when we could smoke and given that the process for producing a normal review at halfwheel involves smoking three cigars, it adds up.

But the largest reason behind the drop in published reviews was because for many weeks during the first half of the year, there simply weren’t many new cigars shipping to stores. We had internal discussions at two different points of the year about how to handle this during 2021—follow-ups to similar conversations that took place in 2020—and came up with four options:

• A. Review fewer cigars
• B. Review more new cigars from the handful of manufacturers who were consistently putting out new products in the first half (Altadis U.S.A., General Cigar Co., Viaje, etc.)
• C. Review more cigars from the same line
• D. Review older cigars

Like most things in life, we settled on a combination of things, albeit definitely not Option C. We tried to avoid Option B because we didn’t want to give a handful of companies a lot of extra opportunities to qualify for the Top 25, but I’ll admit there’s no perfect solution.

I could spend hours trying to explain to you how we choose what to review, but I’ll try to briefly explain some of the factors involved. We aren’t trying to review the most number of cigars possible, we aren’t trying to review the cigars we think will score the best, and we aren’t reviewing simply cigars we actually want to smoke.

As the one that chooses 99+ percent of the cigars we review, I am mindful of trying to fairly distribute the number of reviews for a company based on my understanding of the size of the company and how many new cigars the company is likely to put out in a given year. It’s more art than science, and sometimes there are some inherently limiting factors, like the availability of new Cuban cigars. There are some companies (RoMa Craft, Viaje and Warped come to mind) that probably receive outsized influence amongst our reviews compared to the company’s total production, but I’ve tried to do a better job at spreading the reviews around.

TOPLINE NUMBERS

Those 226 reviews we published in 2021 produced an average score of 86.27 (87.22 in 2020), the lowest average in the three years I’ve done this sort of analysis.

For a normal review, i.e. the ones published Tuesday-Sunday, we try to smoke three samples per review. For redux reviews and many of our Holy Grail Week reviews, it’s usually only one sample, which oftentimes produces a different distribution of scores.

Here’s the average score for each of those categories:

• Regular Reviews: 86.36 (87.01 last year)
• Redux Reviews: 87.06 (88.41)
• Holy Grail Week Reviews: 80 (86.33)

Note: The numbers mentioned for the rest of this article are going to reference the reviews as a whole, not just the full reviews. Also, when I saw “we reviewed X number of cigars” I’m referring to the number of reviews published and not the number of cigars actually smoked to produce said reviews.

At halfwheel, the most important score is 91. If a cigar scores 91 or greater and meets some other qualifications, it’s eligible for our Top 25. We had 36 cigars score 91 or above, though many of those were redux reviews or older cigars that would not meet those qualifications.

But that number is 17 fewer cigars compared to 2020, which is a 32 percent drop. Remember, we reviewed roughly 17 percent fewer cigars in 2021, so the decline in 91+ scores is outpacing the overall decline in the number of reviews.

For the first time, in the site’s 10-year history, there was not a cigar that scored 95+. Actually, the highest score for a cigar last year was 92, there were 11 of those awarded. It would take far more analysis to figure out why scores hit a proverbial ceiling at 92, but it wasn’t because of a change in scoring. We’ve used the same scoring methodology for years and it’s more than capable of giving cigars a score of greater than 92. For example, it took less than two weeks into 2022 for a 93 to be awarded.

On the flip side, the lowest score was a 40, albeit for a cigar that was roughly 80-years-old when I reviewed it. There were 18 cigars (7.96 percent of all reviews) that scored below 80 points. To add some context, that was ratio was 4 percent in 2020.

REVIEWERS BY NUMBERS

For the first time ever, we basically split the number of reviews evenly.

• Brooks — 87.3 Average (76 Reviews)
• Charlie — 84.29 Average (75 Reviews)
• Patrick — 87.2 Average (75 Reviews)

While I normally produce the lowest average scores, I was also the only one whose numbers changed dramatically compared to 2020. Brooks’ average score in 2020 was 87.25 and Patrick’s was 87.98. My average score was 86.41, meaning a more than two-point drop. The median scores were 88 for Brooks and Patrick and 86 for me.

I had 12 out of the 18 cigars that failed to score 80 points.

On the flip side, Patrick scored five cigars 92 points, Brooks scored four, and I scored just two.

As a reminder, none of us actually know what the scores will be as we are reviewing the cigars. Those numbers aren’t calculated until the reviews are turned in and right before they are published.

Country	Count	Average
Costa Rica	2	89
Cuba	15	83.27
Dominican Republic	66	86.08
Haiti	1	88
Honduras	25	87.84
Mexico	1	89
Nicaragua	101	86.72
Undisclosed	7	79
U.S.A.	8	88

BY COUNTRY

There’s not much that jumps out to me comparing this data by average score, but I was intrigued by the data points regarding the number of cigars we reviewed by country.

First, we reviewed more cigars from the Dominican Republic (63 last year) and Honduras (23) than we did in 2020. While it’s also a slight increase, remember, we reviewed roughly 17 percent fewer cigars in total, meaning those two countries far exceeded the frequency trend line. I think it’s worth pointing out that factories in those two countries, particularly Honduras, experienced far greater COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, specifically when it came to prolonged closures.

Nicaragua did not have the same sort of 2020 closures, but in conversations with people in the industry, it seems that the lasting effects of COVID-19 and the resulting world change might be more impactful in Nicaragua, certainly compared to the Dominican Republic and Honduras. We reviewed 38 fewer Nicaraguan cigars in 2021 compared to 2020, a 27.34 decline.

If nothing else, Nicaragua is the leader when it comes to countries producing new cigars, so if the quantity of new cigars declined in 2021, it’s no surprise our reviews followed suit.

Company	Average	Count
ACE Prime	85.5	2
ADVentura & McKay	89	3
AGANORSA Leaf	86	2
Aging Room	87	1
AJ Fernandez	86	1
Alec Bradley	90	2
All Saints	85	1
Altadis USA	86.22	9
Amendola	86.5	2
Arturo Fuente	89	5
Ashton	87	1
Asylum	88.67	3
Baracoa	80	1
Black Label Trading Co.	88.67	3
Blackbird	74	1
Bohekio	88	1
Caldwell Cigar Co.	84.5	4
Camacho	86	1
Casa Cuevas	87	1
Casa Current	89	1
Casdagli	88.5	2
Cavalier Genève	90	3
CLE	79.5	2
Córdoba & Morales	86.5	2
Crowned Heads	88.6	5
Cubariqueño	74	1
Curivari	91	1
Dapper	91	1
Davidoff of Geneva USA	89.21	14
Drew Estate	79.8	5
E.P. Carrillo	88.67	3
Epic	92	1
Espinosa	84	4
Felipe Gregorio	88	1
Ferio Tego	88	2
Foundation Cigar Co.	84.25	4
Fratello	85.5	2
General Cigar Co.	84.92	12
German Engineered Cigars	72	1
Gran Habano	85	2
Gurkha	91	1
Habanos S.A.	83	14
Hiram & Solmon	83	1
Howard G.	80	1
HVC Cigars	87.68	3
Illusione	86	3
Isabela	88	1
J. London	90	1
J.C. Newman	85.5	2
Joya de Nicaragua	91	2
JRE Tobacco Co.	88.67	3
Jas Sum Kral	83	1
Karen Berger	85	1
Kristoff	87.5	2
La Corona	40	1
La Flor Dominicana	88.25	4
La Palina	87.67	3
Lampert	84	1
Matilde	87	2
Miami Cigar & Co.	86.5	2
Micallef	86	1
My Father	91	3
Nat Sherman	87	1
Oliva	90.67	3
Padilla	88	1
Patoro	92	1
Perdomo	84	1
Plasencia	87	3
Pure Aroma Cigars	87.5	2
Quesada	82.25	4
Rocky Patel	88	2
Rojas	87	1
RoMa Craft Tobac	89.67	6
Room101	88	2
Saga	79	2
Serino	87	1
Southern Draw	87	2
Stallone	66	1
Tabacalera SLU	87	1
Tarazona	86	1
Tatuaje	89.29	7
van Horssen	91	1
Viaje	87.6	10
Villiger	90	1
Vintage Rock-A-Feller	80	1
Warped	86	4
Wildfire	89	1

BY COMPANY

My Father (3 reviews) and Joya de Nicaragua (2 reviews) both averaged 91 point scores throughout 2021. There were two companies (Epic and Patoro) who averaged 92, but that was the result of only reviewing one cigar from each brand.

The full list of the Top 5 Companies by average score, for companies that received multiple reviews during 2021, is as follows:

• T1. My Father (91)
• T1. Joya de Nicaragua (91)
• 3. Oliva (90.67)
• T4. Alec Bradley (90)
• T4. Cavalier Genève (90)

If you pay attention to our awards of late, it should come as no surprise that Joya de Nicaragua has made this list before, this is the third straight year it’s been in the top five. It’s also the only company that’s managed to place in the top five in multiple years.

	Average	Count
AgroIndustrial Nicaraguense de Tabacos S.A.	84	1
Blackbird Dominicana	74	1
Casa Fernández Miami	87	1
Charles Fairmorn	86	1
Charles Fairmorn Factory	89	1
Cigars Davidoff	90	7
De Los Reyes	83.33	3
Diadema Cigars de Honduras S.A.	87.67	3
El Titan de Bronze	88.25	4
Estelí Cigars S.A.	85	1
Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A.	89	2
Fábrica de Puros Aladino at Las Lomas Jamastran	88.67	3
Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.	90.33	3
Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A.	89.67	6
Fábrica Oveja Negra	88.67	3
Flor de Copan	90	1
G.R. Tabacaleras Co.	86	1
G.R. Tabacaleras Unidas	84	1
General Cigar Dominicana	81.4	5
J. Fuego Cigar Co. de Nicaragua	89	1
J.C. Newman PENSA	85.5	2
Kelner Boutique Factory	88	1
La Aurora Cigar Factory	86	3
La Flor de Copan	89.5	2
La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate	79.8	5
La Zona Cigar Factory	83.25	4
Las Villas Cigars	66	1
MATVEJA S.A.	85	1
Micallef Cigars S.A.	86	1
My Father Cigars S.A.	89.79	14
NACSA	88	2
Nueva Matacapan de Tabacos S.A. de C.V.	89	1
O.K. Cigars	89	4
PDR Cigars	83	1
Plasencia Cigars S.A.	86.33	3
Quesada Cigars	81.67	3
Raíces Cubanas	89.67	3
San Lotano Factory	83.75	4
Southern Classic Cigars	86	1
STG Danlí	86.5	2
STG Estelí	87.33	3
Supreme Tobacco S.A.	88	1
Tabacalara Las Lavas S.R.L.	87	1
Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia	89	4
Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.	89	1
Tabacalera AJ Fernandez	87.5	12
Tabacalera CM	88	1
Tabacalera de García	82.33	3
Tabacalera Flor de San Luis	87	1
Tabacalera La Alianza S.A.	88.67	3
Tabacalera La Flor S.A.	88.25	4
Tabacalera La Isla	83	2
Tabacalera La Palma	90	1
Tabacalera Palma	87.5	2
Tabacalera Perdomo S.A.	84	1
Tabacalera Pichardo	86.6	5
Tabacalera William Ventura	84.78	9
Tabaclaera de García	87	1
Tabacos de Costa Rica	89	1
Tabacos de Costa Rica S.A.	89	1
Tabacos de Exportación	87.33	3
Tabacos de Oriente	89.5	2
Tabacos Rancho Jamastran	86	1
TABOLISA	90.67	3
TABSA	86.17	18
TAVICUSA	87	3
The CLE Factory	85	4
Undisclosed	83.14	28

BY FACTORY

Similarly, Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A.—or at least the two Oliva factories in Estelí that split the company’s production—averaged 90.67 points, the top average factory score.

The full list of Top 5 Factories by average score, for companies that received multiple reviews during 2021, is as follows:

• 1. Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A. (90.67)
• 2. Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A. (90.33)
• 3. Cigars Davidoff (90)
• 4. My Father Cigars S.A. (89.79)
• T5. Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A. (89.67)
• T5. Raíces Cubanas (89.67)

Joya de Nicaragua and NicaSueño were both in the top five last year, the only ones in the top five to repeat. NicaSueño barely missed out on three consecutive years in the Top 5 here as in 2019 it finished in sixth, missing out on that fifth spot by .25 points.

You can download the full data here.

Here are links to the 2019 and 2020 versions of this article.