I don't get it.

K

kansashat

What would Skeeter do?
I've done it, but I don't like to review a cigar after only one try.

I'm researching some possible bids on c-bid. First, I check the price that I can get the box for & try to shoot for no more than 75% of what my best price is.

Next, I go to the Top25 database to see how it's been recieved. I have an arrow up for positive, arrow down for disappointed & horizontal arrrow for lackadaisical (sp?) reponses (I make notes on a print-out of my watch list).

I see several positive reviews on a cigar (it's on my list as a possible purchase) & one bad one. The reviewer has been eyeing this cigar in his humidor for some time (it's his 1st) & admits he's been building his expectations. He smokes his 1st of the line that he has over-hyped in his mind already & has a bad experience with it. He then gives a bad review & says he won't try it again & compares the cigar unfavorably with a cheap bundle cigar that he smokes as an everyday smoke.

What did I do & what is the point of this thread? I completely dismissed his review as bogus & gave the cigar an "up" arrow (everyone else loved it). I just wish people would review cigars from a rational viewpoint.
 
Hence the benefits of blind reviews. Take away the preconceptions and hype.
 
In one review I remember, the guy gave the cigar reviews in the 2-3 range BECAUSE HE COULDN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE TO BUY AND TRY IT. He hadn't even smoked the cigar and panned it. How about THAT for a good review.

I like the ratebeer.com interface better because you can update your review if your experience with the cigar changes. I usually smoke at least 2 of any cigar to determine if I like it or not because there's usually one dud in a box. Because all people are different you're not going to always get rational reviews. There are some cigars that a lot of people like that I don't personally enjoy, and vice versa. You just never know.
 
Maybe it's just me but sometimes I try a cigar and don't much care for it. But then, after four or five sticks, the flavor grows on me.

Conversely, sometimes I fall in love with the first cigar out of the box but then quickly grow tired of it. (Had this experience with Mochas a few years back)

Unless the cigar is just truly God-awful bad, you should probably smoke a 5er before attempting to review.
 
I agree completely, and that's why you shouldn't put too much stock into reviews because you just don't know who is leaving them. It could be a very knowledgeable and experienced smoker, but it also could be from some bonehead. A while back I read some reviews (from some site on-line) on the PSD4. Some guy gave the PSD4 a poor rating because it was inconsistent. However, what was comical was that the inconsistency that he wrote about described the sick period that PSD4's go through (which explains the inconsistency that he experienced), but he had no clue.

By the way, I also agree with smoking two BEFORE reviewing a cigar. I try not to form too strong of an opinion before firing up a smoke for a second time. That's one reason I strongly prefer not to get singles in trades. ;)
 
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kansashat said:
I've done it, but I don't like to review a cigar after only one try.

I'm researching some possible bids on c-bid. First, I check the price that I can get the box for & try to shoot for no more than 75% of what my best price is.

Next, I go to the Top25 database to see how it's been recieved. I have an arrow up for positive, arrow down for disappointed & horizontal arrrow for lackadaisical (sp?) reponses (I make notes on a print-out of my watch list).

I see several positive reviews on a cigar (it's on my list as a possible purchase) & one bad one. The reviewer has been eyeing this cigar in his humidor for some time (it's his 1st) & admits he's been building his expectations. He smokes his 1st of the line that he has over-hyped in his mind already & has a bad experience with it. He then gives a bad review & says he won't try it again & compares the cigar unfavorably with a cheap bundle cigar that he smokes as an everyday smoke.

What did I do & what is the point of this thread? I completely dismissed his review as bogus & gave the cigar an "up" arrow (everyone else loved it). I just wish people would review cigars from a rational viewpoint.
Click to expand...

If "if and buts were candy and nuts oh what a sweet world this would be." No knock on your style of picking cigars to chase, my friend, just saying that's human nature for you. I've gotten away from reading reviews in the last six months b/c I've got a backlog of cigars to try that were gifted to me, and I've kind of settled down to three cigar makers for trying sticks new to me. I used to scan the reviews like you do though and used to decide to buy a cigar or not, based on a few individuals who I knew how they rate cigars. That is, I knew that if kansashat liked a cigar, then 9 times out of ten, I would like the cigar. If Seangar said there was too much cedar, then I wouldn't like it b/c Seangar liked a cedar taste in a cigar more than me.
I think that we have very similar tastes in cigars -- So here is the list of reviewers I used to trust: Seangar, Ashman, Elktwin, kansashat, PSURoss, PAPAPETE, and TxMatt (most of his reviews are in the threads). Hey, you could also PM me. I know you've probably tried 3x as many cigars as me, but there might be a few I could give you a heads up on. ;)
 
I know it is an uncertain method, but I have purchased so many cigars that I either didn't care for, or I grew out of before I came close to finishing the box, that I decided I needed some kind of rational approach to the purchase.

The problem with perusing the reviews is that I don't know most of these guys, so have no idea if we have simliar tastes.

I won't list my watch list here cause it is quite large (it has 18 boxes on it), but I have already crossed 8 boxes off because they are either going too high (over 75%), or the reviewers either responded negatively or in an unimpressed manner.

Of the rest of the candidates, there are about 4 that are well within the purchase criteria I have set (they are well under, at present, the 75% ceiling I have set & have been recieved positively).

Of the 4, I have smoked 2 & know they are worth picking up.

I won't list them here because I don't wish to generate extra interest in cigars that I am thinking of bidding on. ;)
 
I agree, except that I use 70% as my top price for boxes. I am not in that big a hurry and can wait for another day. I will go a bit higher for a fiver, if I have already won some lots and the shipping costs are negligable, and I really want to try that particular stick.
Unless it is just a real puke fest, I think 5 is enough for me to decide. Some times a few weeks or months of rest makes a big difference, and I always set some of them back.
I get more advice and ideas from this forum than anywhere else. Tastes differ, but the people here try to be honest in their appraisals, and discount whatever 'hype' you seem to get elsewhere.
I give the dog rockets to my son, trying to be supportive and all...
:D
I give him some good ones too.
 
I think reviewers shoud always give a stick two chances. There are several sticks I try and don't care for, but then circle back around to and find I like.
 
The rating system that I use at home allows me to average the scores that I get for a particular cigar. I try not to review a cigar unless I have had at least two from two different boxes. I am even happier when it is three from three. I usually will not spring for a box unless I have had good results with 3 to 5 singles with some being from different sources.

The above being said, there are people that I know that think that I like nearly every cigar that I smoke since most of my reviews are positive. That is not particularly true. If I smoke a cigar and don't like it, I usually will not buy another one. There are just too many cigars that I DO like to waste time trying to warm up and develop a taste for one that I don't like. Consequently, I probably will not take the time to review such a stick. If I do like a stick on the first smoke (or at least am interested enough to purchase a second), I will often purchase two or three more and "keep score". Now if these don't impress me, I may take the time to write a less than flattering review. Even then, it has to have limits. If a $10.00 stick just tastes like ass to me or burns poorly, I may write a review as a warning. If, on the other hand, a $1.50 stick tastes like a $1.50 stick, I probably won't bother. Heck, what was I expecting anyway?

Another thing is that I really pay very little heed to the "taste" portion of other people's reviews. I look for comments on burn, smoke, construction and the like. If someone says they do not like the taste of a certain cigar, but discuss how well made it is, I will try it. Who knows? My tastes may differ and I may like it. On the other hand, if a cigar is panned due to poor performance, I probably will not bother to buy it regardles of how good others say it tastes. Again, there are too many sticks out there that I do like and that perform well for me to waste time with a poorly made and poorly burning product.
 
It seems that we concur on the "suspect" nature of T25 reviews, though I will admit that I consult it prior to making bids on a stick I haven't tried.

FWIW, I use a few standards when browsing the reviews:

1. If there are fewer than 5 reviewers, take it with a grain of salt.

2. If one or two bad reviews out of a dozen drag the score down, it was probably just a bad hair day for those one or two guys.

3. If it's more-or-less a unanimous thumbs-down, pass on the stick.

I must say, though, that I prefer the "immediacy" of tossing a question out onto the forum, and getting some real-time feedback.
 
Good thread Mr Hat, some interesting reading. My predicament differs a little again. Because of the limited choice here DU and that I get all my gars from the net overseas I end up with a lot of singles.
Still if I try a cigar and it was no good and it was my 1st I won't even post a review. But leave it until I try it again one day. If however I stumble on a particulary good cigar that i have only one of, I check other reviews to see if they were similar to my smoking experience. If what I find was similar to what I experienced then I will most likely post a review. A classic example of this was the Carlos Torano Signature Perfecto I had just they other day. Smoked that and thought damn that was good. Jumped on to T25 and CS and checked out the reviews. Found that others had a similar experience, this was when I bumped the thread posted by Seangar and attached my thoughts.

I tend to trust the thoughts of only "certain others" as well. Mostly members here that joined before me. This is nothing against newer members, it's just that I think even over the Net you can eventually get an understanding of a persons character and tastes. If you read enough reviews you begin to see a pattern in what they like. As newer members post more, you also get to see what they go for and slowly your "base" of "trusted reviewers" grows. This way if I come across a cigar that I wish to try but has not been reviewed by a FOG then you have another base to look at.

Just my :2 Thanks for the great topic.
 
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