The elusive '100 point' cigar

[Oscar300]

On 3/12/2021 at 7:24 PM, zigarrenziggy said:

A 100 rating can only encapsulate the perfect cigar in that very moment in time, and only for that reviewer. In a week, a month, 10 years, your palate will change and it could change the rating. The way the Cigar Aficionado scores cigars (typically rating multiple times over the course of a cigar’s lifecycle), then I think it can be justified, given that particular reviewer’s experience with the stick at that time.

For myself, I can't imagine knowing what perfection is because I don't know what I don't know, so I would never rate anything a 100, with the way this system is intended to be used, that is. However, I'm perfectly content to keep trying to find it

This is the way.

[leebert]

On 3/14/2021 at 5:15 AM, Nino said:

I agree with that - as well as for any cigar smoked with good friends in good harmony. That's why maybe that 80's Lancero made that 100 points impression when I smoked it in HK with just a friend to share it with.

I've had many memorable cigars that any serious cigar smoker would consider a surefire 100 points in his book, but in my memory it is the experience that was 100% ( make that 150%) the cigars most certainly anywhere between 95 and 98 points, but I was too distracted to pay the attention they deserved .... here some of the most memorable :

2008 Lancero tasting at El Laguito, 1998 vintage compared to 2008. First private tasting ever held at El Laguito with Jimmy Ng, Urs Portmann, James Suckling, Max Guttmann, Simon Chase, Nakamura-san ( who provided the Jap. tea and cups ), Alex , Emilia Tamayo, Rafael Collazo et al :

http://flyingcigar.de/travel-cigars/200803-x-fdh-cohiba-lancero-tasting-el-laguito/

2009 Partagas 8-9-8  1998 to 2008 in the Partagas factory Salon de Catadores, with Jemma Freeman, Valerio Cornale, Simon Chase, Alex Iapicchino, Ana Lopez, Rob Ayala, Hamlet, Cpt. Keith, Urs Portmann, Jimmy Ng, Ajay Patel et al :

http://flyingcigar.de/travel-cigars/200903-xi-fdh-partagas-vertical-tasting/

2010 tasting 1960's RyJ Royal Duke, Plaza del Angel, Havana, with Alex, Simon, Colin Ganley, Deborah Zulueta, Olga, Jimmy et al :

http://flyingcigar.de/travel-cigars/201003-xii-festival-del-habano-ryj-royal-duke-tasting/

 

 

2011 tasting 1974 RG Lonsdales with 1974 Macallan, Hotel Conde de Villanueva by Jimmy Ng with all the usual suspects plus a NYT journalist who wrote a piece on the event :

http://flyingcigar.de/travel-cigars/201103-cuba-2011-private-dinner-and-tasting-1974-vintage/

But the most memorable 100 points cigar in Cuba was the one smoked on my first trip to the island with my buddy Stocki on the boat to Cayo Levisa after visiting Don Alejandro Robaina for the first time - and I don't even remember what it was ...

This is simply the greatest post I have read on an Internet forum - legit 100 - I mean it - which is about as rare as 100 should be  

 

Lee

[Ginseng]

Lots of excellent discussion in this epic thread. Here are my humble thoughts on the matter. It may seem contradictory, but as an engineer and a cigar sensualist, this is how I make sense of it. In bullet point form.

• The 100-point sensory rating is an ordinal scale masquerading as a ratio scale. This means we make judgments and comparisons between cigars that are fundamentally impossible or nonsensical. For example, is a 90-point cigar 10% or 100% better than an 80-point cigar?
   
•  While a ratio scale has a true zero as its lower limit, it does not have an upper limit. There can be no temperature below 0 °K, but temperature, as a concept, is unlimited. To propose 100 as the maximum means that, by definition, there can be no cigar superior to any that has ever been rated "100."
   
• The property being rated is a subjective construct, i.e., "quality." This is to differentiate it from a measurement such as "155mm" about which agreement can be achieved about the accuracy and precision of the measurement.
   
• "Quality" is defined in a number of ways that are partially overlapping, e.g., the cigar itself versus the entire proximate experience of the smoking of the cigar including time, place, company, libation, etc. If we don't agree on the degree of overlap and the nature and contribution of the non-overlapping areas, then there can be no agreement on the rating itself.
   
• The nature of a quality judgment is asymptotic and logarithmic in nature. If there was the possibility of a perfect score, cigars can come vanishingly close to but never attain it. And, ratings differences near the low end reflect much larger perceived differences than at the high end. That is, a "60" is way better than a "50" but the difference between a "90" and an "80" doesn't feel as great.
   
• The implicit assumption is that for there to to be a 100, there must also be a zero. But what exactly is a "0," or "20," or "50?" Have you ever smoked one? If not, how would you know how much better a 55, 75, or 95 needs to be to merit that rating?

These are some of the reasons why I believe it is nonsensical to attempt to rate "cigars" on a (zero to) 100-point scale. Basically, because there is commonly no agreement on what constitutes a "cigar," the property being rated, or the nature of the rating itself.

In other words, there ain't nothing wrong with the cigar, it's just that things all go to hell when we try to rate it.

[cigcars]

    *In my years of being a SOTL aficionado I would say I've had three (3) cigars that would have rated a 100 with me: 1987 a Peter Stokkyebe Santa Maria lancero (and I am NOT a long and skinny lover!) But I will  remember that cigar for the rest of my life for its near sugary sweet taste and mild, mild aroma. I haven't been able to find anymore since: My first authentic Cuban Montecristo No.2 -  OOO LA LA I was blown away by that smoke. I'll always remember that one: And finally a Padron 45th Family Anniversary. Very long lasting, very well satisfying. Thick, rich, aesthetically pleasing to hold, view and contemplate!  One of the few NC's out here well worth their costing a lot more than some Cuban smokes.

[cigcars]

On 3/13/2021 at 3:22 PM, 99call said:

Come on!!!    everything is better with Predator.    it contributes a 5 point swing at least

        **The Arnold Predator or the newer one with Adrien Brody?

[mprach024]

Just now, cigcars said:

        **The Arnold Predator or the newer one with Adrien Brody?

Technically....Brody was in “Predators” not “Predator”.  Useless info for the day