Barry, nice read. I agree on smoking more than one stick. I usually try to do 2 but sometimes the situation dictates only 1. Like the time I was gifted a Flying Pig. I couldn’t pass up reviewing that. The experience I had was great. Had there been severe issues I would have taken them to Drew Estate and not written the review based on the 1 stick.

I second that. I have an almost identical process. I always try to take back at least one or two in a social setting before sitting down to do my final review. Great read barry.

Very interesting. I agree that the TikiBarOnline article was very thought provoking.
I currently review a cigar as a first impression. That is how I have always evaluated a new cigar personally, so I’m sticking with it for the time being. I currently purchase all my review cigars, so taking a 3 stick flier on something I haven’t ever tried is a bit of a stretch. As I stated in my methodology, that is subject to change. I’m glad that the TBO article is getting this much play. It is very informative for a new blogger, like me, to read how some of the more established folks are doing things. Thanks for sharing your methods so clearly.

Very nice, Barry. Apparently we all use similar methods with a few subtle differences. I also like to smoke several sticks of a cigar before I review it. My first one is usually smoked in the car away from other smokers where I can just enjoy it for what it is; a cigar. I always say basic is better & I think the methods you’ve outlined here are solid. Now about these “weasels” give them a couple of loads of shitty cigars & I think we’ll all see them disappear rather quickly. They only want free sticks because they’re too cheap to invest in the “risk” involved with trying a new cigar let alone 3 or more & not liking them. Just my opinion. Loved the article bro. Keep the solid info, news, & reviews coming.

-DaByrdman-

Very well said Barry! I really enjoy reading What you have to write! You put a great perspective on things…. Keep up the great work…

Good points Barry. I agree with your methodology and the fact you post it is one thing that makes readers confident in your reviews.

Barry-

Thanks for shedding some light on this subject. Just so you know, we appreciate your reviews and your willingness to take our cigar to local stores in NYC and telling the owners that we deserve a shot in their humidor. That really means a lot. There’s been quite a storm on the cigar boards/twitter/forum/site lately about freeloaders. There are freeloaders in all walks of life that ruin it for those who are honest! That being said, I have no problem sending somebody some cigars to review. (I think you actually purchased yours) We don’t even have a problem donating a box or other SWAG for contests. The problem comes when somebody tells you that they have a cigar club that needs a box for the herf because they’ll “do a Podcast and really push your product.” “Once the members find out how great it is, they’ll be buying boxes left and right.” “Our Podcast has a ga-jillion subscribers, so you know we’re legit and have will have people knocking down your doors to get the cigars.” Have we heard this podcast yet? No. Have we heard from the Club yet? No. That’s when it becomes frustrating. It just becomes tough because we try to be fair to everybody. It becomes frustrating when we get demands for multiple cigars and then we never see the review, or it’s 2.8 sentences long. But, at the end of the day, the more our cigar is reviewed, the more publicity it receives. The more publicity, the more we sell…you get the picture.

Clint

I agree with Straight Up. And Barry: an epidemic? Do you mean like the bubonic plague or HIV? Perhaps the metaphor is lost on me, but I haven’t come across many sites where the reviewers receive free cigars without providing in-depth reviews…

We’ve only been approached once regarding sponsorship, and we had fairly stringent rules about how we would review sponsor-provided cigars. Are cigars so expensive that you need to put all that work into a review site to get three free cigars? Seems unlikely to me that anyone would put in so much effort only for free stuff, and I somehow doubt there are many reviewers out there who would. I’ve never come across any, at least.

Barry,

Thanks for describing your review process. I’ve reviewed for Smoke Magazine, and for individual sites occasionally. I use a very similar system, although I am willing to review on 2 cigars UNLESS I ran across an unusual issue (e.g., plugged cigar, strange taste, construction/burn issues, etc), and then I try to include a 3rd cigar to balance my review.

For each cigar I take detailed notes of pre-burn, by thirds, environment conditions (eg, inside, outside, windy, etc), and beverage. I then combine all those in my review, breaking out both commonality in my individual smokes, as well as very unique characteristics I noted in one of my review cigars (eg, if 1 cigar had canoeing issues), to be fair.

As for free-loaders, the industry split seems less about reps providing cigars to legitimate groups, sites and reviewers, and almost entirely on “reviewers” who don’t follow up with their reviews as they promised.

Great blog!

TriMarkC