Cigar results/quality recording

[Dorsetman]

The subject of cigar record keeping features quite frequently and I see some members use paper journals, some use an online facility, whilst a number utilise a spreadsheet format. I am considering a spreadsheet type of record and I would appreciate it, if I could have your observations on my preliminary thoughts. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

• Brand
• Origin
• Name
• Size
• Strength
• Ring
• Price
• Acquisition Date
• Humi Date
• Smoke Date
• Burn (burn time, in minutes)
• Maintenance (This gets a score from 1-10, with 5 being what you would normally expect, lower for more re-lights, tunnelling, canoeing, etc, higher for a low-maintenance burn)
• Flavour (my rating for how much I enjoyed the flavour. This also goes from 1-10, with a 5 being of normal flavour, not bad, but not memorable)
• Body (my rating for the strength of he cigar, from 1-10. 5 would be medium-bodied, lower is more mild, and higher is fuller)
• Overall (my overall rating for the cigar. See below)
• Comments (Where purchased/obtained from, key recollections about flavour, and body)

Regarding the Overall rating, I use a 1-5 system as follows:

5 - I will smoke this any chance I get at any price

4 - Great smoke

3 - I would enjoy it again, but not crave it

2 - I would smoke this given limited options

1 - I won't smoke this again

[ha_banos]

My notes went from something quite similar, to ... a photo. If you can keep up with the notes, great! The tasting notes and a score surely is enough. And perhaps a note of date acquired and smoked.

Like the simple score. Have you looked into the 100 point system?

[Dorsetman]

My notes went from something quite similar, to ... a photo. If you can keep up with the notes, great! The tasting notes and a score surely is enough. And perhaps a note of date acquired and smoked.

Like the simple score. Have you looked into the 100 point system?

Thanks for your thoughts. A 100 point system that may be a step too far for me, but I'm certainly interested in finding out about it.

[Tomm783]

I ended up using my inventory spreadsheet and writing in the comments column “box worthy” if it was and if not, I write nothing. I’m not refined enough to write lots of thoughtful tasting notes, I either like it or I don’t!


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[Dorsetman]

I ended up using my inventory spreadsheet and writing in the comments column “box worthy” if it was and if not, I write nothing. I’m not refined enough to write lots of thoughtful tasting notes, I either like it or I don’t!


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Thanks for your thoughts - but have have you returned to a cigar that you previously had not enjoyed and had a pleasing experience? I ask, because I've noticed numerous comments from members that tastes can change over time.

[simwells]

Thanks for your thoughts - but have have you returned to a cigar that you previously had not enjoyed and had a pleasing experience? I ask, because I've noticed numerous comments from members that tastes can change over time.

Consistency is what makes rating cigars incredibly difficult especially with cubans. I don’t do anything myself but cigars can really vary box to box and within a box they are a natural product minimally processed in many ways so that will always mean cigars won’t always be the same.

You will find your tastes change over time yes, mine also change with what I’m drinking or have drunk or ate. Mood and setting also has a remarkable impact on how they taste.

Personally if I tried a scoring system I could put down notes and a rough score out of 10 but much more than that would vary heavily and end up a complete mess that might just be me though! Others manage it though so it may be down to how peoples minds work, as I know if I sat down to do it I’d feel like I was trying to quantify the human mind and the unmeasurable!


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[Dorsetman]

Consistency is what makes rating cigars incredibly difficult especially with cubans. I don’t do anything myself but cigars can really vary box to box and within a box they are a natural product minimally processed in many ways so that will always mean cigars won’t always be the same.

You will find your tastes change over time yes, mine also change with what I’m drinking or have drunk or ate. Mood and setting also has a remarkable impact on how they taste.

Personally if I tried a scoring system I could put down notes and a rough score out of 10 but much more than that would vary heavily and end up a complete mess that might just be me though! Others manage it though so it may be down to how peoples minds work, as I know if I sat down to do it I’d feel like I was trying to quantify the human mind and the unmeasurable!


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Many thanks for your thoughts and they make perfect sense. I have never been into diarising my thoughts or movements but as I appreciate the relevance in keeping a form of inventory, particularly for recording storage time, then limited observations could also be recorded. I suppose I am looking to borrow a wheel that someone else has already invented!

[Simon Bolivar]

I have a cigar diary dating back to 2000 & every single cigar listed since 2004. I have photos of nearly every cigar since, filed qaway under marca & vitola. It's a library I can refer too & pull when required. So for my 2penny's worth, yes, it's certainly worth keeping a diary for the reasons already stated by other members. You'll find it especially useful in your first few yrs as you discover what you do & don't like but a yr or two after that, you'll notice how your tastes change & indeed, the cigars change due to changes in blends or good or bad harvests ect.

I do score mine on Appearance/ Draw,smoke,ash / Flav/ Value for money/ Overall satisfaction. I mark each section out of 10, dble the total & you get a score out of 100. The only real use for that is many others score out of 100 so they maybe able to relate to your scoring but there's an age old debate whether value for money should be included or not.

I know my system works for me as when I haven't smoked a particular cigar for a yr or two, I remark it go back & check against my diary & if both were good examples then the score with be within one or two points of the previous.

I have a separate list for all my current stock, showing box codes, yr & numbers held. Another list shows all the Cuban cigars I have smoked, over 440 vitolas so far. That one also shows current values of the stock held, bit of a concern at the moment with a bill expected when we cross the Channel.

I have a list showing all the boxes I have bought since 2004, I started this so I could h=plan how often I needed to buy boxes of fav's to ensure i always have some 5-10yrs old to smoke. The only problem with that, is it's a little scary seeing the total amount spent over 16yrs! But my current stock value isn't too much lower.

How much info you add to your diary is a personal thing but I would expect you'll reduce the amount of info after a few yrs as, unless there is something wrong with the cigar you have smoked a 100 of or it's outstanding, there isn't much to add.

There are various online methods but i have heard a lot of people lost their info when one site crashed (wasn't it CubanInfo?) so happy to have my old spreadsheets. I take a photo or three of every cigar & who's with me, then I write it up on the rig, when I have time, using the photos to jog my memory.

Last thought, the diary is the fall back when your senior yrs approach & other memories fade. Reading a line of tow about a cigar & I can recall most of the event. Without a diary, after a couple of yrs, it all blurs into a smoky haze.

[Dorsetman]

I have a cigar diary dating back to 2000 & every single cigar listed since 2004. I have photos of nearly every cigar since, filed qaway under marca & vitola. It's a library I can refer too & pull when required. So for my 2penny's worth, yes, it's certainly worth keeping a diary for the reasons already stated by other members. You'll find it especially useful in your first few yrs as you discover what you do & don't like but a yr or two after that, you'll notice how your tastes change & indeed, the cigars change due to changes in blends or good or bad harvests ect.

I do score mine on Appearance/ Draw,smoke,ash / Flav/ Value for money/ Overall satisfaction. I mark each section out of 10, dble the total & you get a score out of 100. The only real use for that is many others score out of 100 so they maybe able to relate to your scoring but there's an age old debate whether value for money should be included or not.

I know my system works for me as when I haven't smoked a particular cigar for a yr or two, I remark it go back & check against my diary & if both were good examples then the score with be within one or two points of the previous.

Last thought, the diary is the fall back when your senior yrs approach & other memories fade. Reading a line of tow about a cigar & I can recall most of the event. Without a diary, after a couple of yrs, it all blurs into a smoky haze.

Many thanks for that information. I certainly can understand your comments regarding memory - my recall for events in the 60's through the early 2000's is crystal clear, but what I did 5 minutes ago..................?

[Tomm783]

You have to remember Simon Bolivar is a connoisseur with a palate like a sommelier where as I am a passionado with a palate like a person with no palate hence the refinement that comes from experience 😂

Perhaps one day I’ll be up there with our “experienced” members 😂


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[jerryr]

When I started with cigars, I obsessively logged and recorded everything. Many years later I barely manage to keep an up to date list of what stock I have. I know it’s between 850-1000 cigars, possibly lower as I haven’t been out of the country in a year and don’t think it’s likely in the near future either. I know what marques I enjoy and which cigars stand out in my memory. Besides which when I rummage through my humidors I often find a box or a couple of singles I’ve totally forgotten about, adds to the excitement.


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[Dorsetman]

When I started with cigars, I obsessively logged and recorded everything. Many years later I barely manage to keep an up to date list of what stock I have. I know it’s between 850-1000 cigars, possibly lower as I haven’t been out of the country in a year and don’t think it’s likely in the near future either. I know what marques I enjoy and which cigars stand out in my memory. Besides which when I rummage through my humidors I often find a box or a couple of singles I’ve totally forgotten about, adds to the excitement.


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That makes sense, when starting on the journey one needs to research the market and then home in on those that provide greatest pleasure.