https://www.smallbatchcigar.com/blind-atabey-review

Although it hasn’t been announced officially yet, this Friday will mark the very first time our Blind Review Panel has given a cigar a perfect rating!  Well, as perfect as our system allows.  Each week we ask our Panel to suggest a purchase recommendation to a friend with the choice of single, five pack, and box.  For the first time in almost 90 reviews, a cigar has received a triple-box recommendation! 

Read our Blind Atabey Review, our first ever Triple-Box Recommendation!

To give you an idea of how momentous this occasion is, I can count on both hands the times a cigar has been reviewed with two box purchase recommendations.  That’s about 10% of the cigars that have come across their desk, and we haven’t slouched at putting winners in their hands for review.  To see what they’ve reviewed so far, just click here and scroll through memory lane. 

On the brink of such a historic moment, I wanted to provide some insight into the process at the behest of our reviewer from Wisconsin. 

The Process from Start to Finish

After a selection has been made based on availability, the Small Batch crew begin the tedious process of unbanding and labelling the cigars that will go out to our Blind Review Panel.  It’s easy to take this process for granted because it’s not something we see every day, but it really is a crazy task when you think about it.  If you’ve ever removed cigar bands from room temperature cigars before, you know exactly how much of a pain in the neck it really is.  Nevertheless, our amazing Small Batch crew deftly removes the bands and replaces them with numbered labels.  These labels are how our Panel identifies them each week.  

Read our previous Q&A with the Panel

Usual packages include somewhere between 8-12 cigars, and we try to schedule it so that the first cigar has at least two weeks of rest before it's up for review.  Including myself, a total of four packages go out – only one box will contain cigars with the original bands on them, and that’s what I use to photograph each week for the review.  

Once a cigar has been reviewed, they email it my way with the numbered identifier, and I compile their portion into the overall review.  Usually they’ll drop a comment in our Hangouts group as well, and I’ll reveal the cigar after everyone has sent in their email. 

We ask each reviewer to include a summary, an if/then statement, pairing suggestion, and purchase recommendation to a friend.  For the most part, that’s all that’s included in the review email.  Sometimes, though, they’ll include comments about what they think the cigar is as part of a side conversation.  It’s always interesting to see when they get it right or draw parallels to another brand that would be taken as a huge compliment.    

Once the reviews are in, I’ll take a picture of the cigar and remove the background via photoshop. This picture goes on the featured image for the review page and is used again so that you can get a better view of the entire cigar.  If you ever see something funky going on with the picture, it's probably because I forgot to take the picture during peak times of sunlight without it being too dark or too bright.  Most of the time they're taken with my cell phone in an environment that isn't particularly friendly to photography. 

View the cigars that scored the highest in 2018

Each piece of the puzzle from our Panel gets added into the overall review format, and then everything gets posted with minimal editing involved.  For the most part, I’ll only edit grammatical errors so that we keep the original voice and tone of the review.  Uncut and unfiltered is the way we like ‘em!  

What it’s like from the Coordinator perspective

When I’m able, I like to enjoy the same cigar that’s being reviewed as I compile the results.  While every Blind Review feels like an experiment, my own experimentation occurs with full working knowledge of what I’m smoking. Still, it’s interesting to see the thought patterns that occur on a personal level. 

Sometimes I like to read a review before I light up the cigar and see how it affects my thoughts for the first few minutes.  It’s uncanny just how much influence preconceived notions can have… even knowing and expecting it to happen!  Often enough, I find myself nodding along to the review while I smoke the cigar as my brain makes pathways to connect what I’m experiencing to what I’m reading and expecting. 

Then, as I read the second review something magical begins to happen.  Cognitive dissonance!  Whereas some of the tasting notes might be similar, the second review will likely have a different attitude and feeling towards the cigar.  Now my viewpoints are conflicted, and I have to make a decision about what I believe instead of just nodding along.  

Adding a third review to the others makes it even more complicated.  Knowing how potent preconceived notions are, have my opinions been shaped by two of the three reviews, or am I siding with two favorable reviews because that would also be my personal opinion in a vacuum?   

Hear from our very own Brian about smoking broken cigars

This tug of war is something that I look forward to every week!  There’s something therapeutic about challenging your own beliefs or opinions, and I never get tired of it.  

It’s also interesting that, inside of the same cigar experience, I can see what everyone’s saying about the cigar in their review.  Like it or hate it, even use different descriptors and tasting notes, it’s still easy to experience their point of view while you’re enjoying the cigar.  Someone says they’re pulling something akin to toasted marshmallow from their cigar, and you can roll the smoke around in your mouth a bit to see where they’re coming from.  

How much of an accolade is the Triple-Box? 

Well, we weren’t sure if we’d ever find a cigar that performed just right for each reviewer!  Given all the differences that any three people can have from different parts of the country, it really is amazing that we’ve finally reached the highest level of consensus on a cigar.  These guys tell it like it is and are asked to make a decision on one cigar throughout any given week.  

Any number of things can wreck their experience such as weather, scheduling conflicts, mood, or even a poorly constructed cigar that might only be a 1 in 100 occurrence.  I know I’ve smoked through a box or more of some cigars without issue that one of our reviewers couldn’t get to draw, or instead tunneled like crazy.  Handmade products aren’t supposed to be 100% consistent.   

If you've made it this far, you'll probably enjoy this discussion

Another thing to keep in mind is the personal preferences of each reviewer.  I know for a fact that Wisconsin disapproves of cigars that are heavy on the cedar, and Oregon feels a certain way about floral tasting notes. California says that he’d describe his tastes as “preferring to taste something funky than nothing at all.”

The triple-box recommendation was something that we often talked about, but always knew in our minds that it may just never happen.  I think this means that Atabey is our champion until another arises to the occasion!  Read the Blind Review that earned our highest accolades here. 

Many thanks to the Small Batch crew and our Review Panel for making this happen each week!