legend's Rating system

[Legend]

I wanted to create this thread for 2 reasons. 1 give a deeper understanding of my rating system and 2. Have a thread I can put a link to in my signature so those who don't know can check it out if they care (which most won't buy there might be a few)

I do a simple impression of the cigar what I liked or disliked and have a 5 point scale.

1 dog rocket. This is a crappy cigar. Of course better than a machine rolled. But harsh. Fast and got burn. Bad flavor or no flavor.

2. Yard gar. This is a descent smoke but its okay to smoke it if your are working in the yard. Or don't have time to finish.

3. Good smoke. Better than a yard gar. Hate to not finish it.

4. Premiums. these are great smokes. You will want to take your time. Have it with friends really enjoy it. They will be in your top 25.

5. Super premiums. These are your top 5 cigars. They are well constructed. Burn well. Taste awesome.

Now to explain the reasoning. I only do a simple impression because for the most part everybody's tastes are different and most will pick up different flavors. Gnats-assing all the hints of this an that will only distract from your own thoughts on the stick and face it those really long reviews get boring IMO.

The 5 point scale is setup to categorize the smokes into what we really already do. Crap. Ok. Good. Really good and our favorites. Take the CA model. 1 to 100 and categories 2 through 5 all land typically in the 80 to 100 range. So you have 80 points to rate a cigar you will not like. And only 20 to rate the majority of the smokes you smoke. For the most part we know what is crap (or dog rocket) and won't smoke it so why waste 80% of our rating system on them. Most of the cigars out there that we smoke (unless we are fortunate enough to be very wealthy or only smoke our very favorites infrequently) fall into the 3 rating. Good smoke. In the CA ratings these will typically fall within 85 to 95. (if CA ratings were accurate and not influenced by advertizing) do I really care that one smoke is a little better than the other? Not really. Its a good smoke so is the other. Another thing is how many cigars have gotten 90+ ratings? Just devalues the rating. Using the 4 and 5 for the very best 20 to 30 cigars gives it meaning. A 5 is one of about 5 cigars. That says something. A 4 also. By making the top something elite it gives meaning to the rating. I don't know about you but when I hear of another 90+ rating from CA I no longer take notice.

So simple. Meaningful. And useful. My 2 cents

[Legend]

Update to the rating system.

The 3 is just too broad of a category. But they are all still that category. Good smoke even a great smoke that isn't quite a top 25 or so.

So ongoing the 3 will have a point after it. 3.0 to 3.9

3.0 will be a darn good smoke that is just a step above a yard gar.

3.9 is that great smoke that you can't quite say is a top 25 smoke.

And of course all the levels between.

[Shaz]

I've just set up a spread sheet to keep track of all the new cigars I've been trying lately. I use the typical 1-10 scale for things such as appearance, construction, etc. Similar to Top25Cigar but more categories, and then average them out. But I've also added your rating system as well as it's more to the point. Between the two, it gives me a good idea where the smoke stands.
I agree that the #3 category is too broad, but all I do is subdivide it this way. 3-, 3, 3+. Keeps it simpler and resolves the problem.
Thanks for posting this. I found it useful.

[totallytentative]

I was thinking about your rating system the other day because I like reading your reviews. I was thinking you could gain a whole extra level of graduation by making Dog Rockets 0 rather than 1 and sliding things down from there so you could have something like "pretty good smokes" and "really good smokes" as 2 and 3.

Numerically it doesn't sound very good ("a pretty good smoke is 2 out of 5??" would be the thought), but it makes the range broader.

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by Legend

I wanted to create this thread for 2 reasons. 1 give a deeper understanding of my rating system and 2. Have a thread I can put a link to in my signature so those who don't know can check it out if they care (which most won't buy there might be a few)

I do a simple impression of the cigar what I liked or disliked and have a 5 point scale.

1 dog rocket. This is a crappy cigar. Of course better than a machine rolled. But harsh. Fast and got burn. Bad flavor or no flavor.

2. Yard gar. This is a descent smoke but its okay to smoke it if your are working in the yard. Or don't have time to finish.

3. Good smoke. Better than a yard gar. Hate to not finish it.

4. Premiums. these are great smokes. You will want to take your time. Have it with friends really enjoy it. They will be in your top 25.

5. Super premiums. These are your top 5 cigars. They are well constructed. Burn well. Taste awesome.

Now to explain the reasoning. I only do a simple impression because for the most part everybody's tastes are different and most will pick up different flavors. Gnats-assing all the hints of this an that will only distract from your own thoughts on the stick and face it those really long reviews get boring IMO.

The 5 point scale is setup to categorize the smokes into what we really already do. Crap. Ok. Good. Really good and our favorites. Take the CA model. 1 to 100 and categories 2 through 5 all land typically in the 80 to 100 range. So you have 80 points to rate a cigar you will not like. And only 20 to rate the majority of the smokes you smoke. For the most part we know what is crap (or dog rocket) and won't smoke it so why waste 80% of our rating system on them. Most of the cigars out there that we smoke (unless we are fortunate enough to be very wealthy or only smoke our very favorites infrequently) fall into the 3 rating. Good smoke. In the CA ratings these will typically fall within 85 to 95. (if CA ratings were accurate and not influenced by advertizing) do I really care that one smoke is a little better than the other? Not really. Its a good smoke so is the other. Another thing is how many cigars have gotten 90+ ratings? Just devalues the rating. Using the 4 and 5 for the very best 20 to 30 cigars gives it meaning. A 5 is one of about 5 cigars. That says something. A 4 also. By making the top something elite it gives meaning to the rating. I don't know about you but when I hear of another 90+ rating from CA I no longer take notice.

So simple. Meaningful. And useful. My 2 cents

Simple and yet effective rating system for someone who just wants the nuts and bolts of a cigar. I like it,,,,it works. So it is written so it shall be done. If I want a more detailed analysis I could always take it downtown and have it analyzed professionally. This gets my vote,,,you sir are a legend in both our minds!

[Legend]

Originally Posted by totallytentative

I was thinking about your rating system the other day because I like reading your reviews. I was thinking you could gain a whole extra level of graduation by making Dog Rockets 0 rather than 1 and sliding things down from there so you could have something like "pretty good smokes" and "really good smokes" as 2 and 3.

Numerically it doesn't sound very good ("a pretty good smoke is 2 out of 5??" would be the thought), but it makes the range broader.

I had thought of this too. I have been thinking the 3 was too broad for about a month now and my first thought was that. Make dog rocket 0 but lie you said an darn good cigar being a 2 out of 5 would be confusing. I did like the suggestion of shaz. 3-,3,3+ and may even go with that.

[GTCharged]

I'm sorry to pull this up to the front, but this is a very good system. I'm going to be using this in a chart to keep track of the gars I smoke. If I could give ring, I would!