Cigar Poll: Should We Continue Scoring Our Reviews
Posted by toasted on Mar 17, 2010 in Reviews | 11 comments
To Score or Not To Score…
We need some reader help! There are lots of opinions out there on whether cigar review websites should give a score when they review a cigar. It is a subjective practice and, besides, most people either ignore them completely or take the opposite approach, and pay more attention to the score than they should. Some say leave the scoring to the professionals, such as the magazines, while others say that even they are often off based. Everyone has an opinion, and ours may be starting to change!
The website you look at today is version 3.0 and we’ve scored cigars on a 10 point scale on each version, dating back to 2008. As we’ve continued to review cigars, we’ve also noticed that we have an awful lot of cigars falling in the 8.7-9.1 range. This is in part because of our habits – we usually have a decent idea of the cigar before smoking it, we work within the same price range most of the time, and there aren’t a ton of cigars that either make you angry for wasting your time or make you exuberant for sending you toward tobacco ecstasy – most cigars are in that mid, 8.7-9.1 range, in my opinion, and I’m great with that – that is a great score in my mind.
So, the question for today’s post, for which we need some reader support, is whether we at Toasted Foot should continue to score our reviews. We need your most honest feedback – do you ignore the scores and think they are worthless and overly subjective, do scores detract from the review, or do scores add to the review?Help us out!
We’d like for you to answer the poll in our first sidebar to the right and leave a comment on this post, if you’re so inclined. It would be a huge help to us as we continue to move forward. And thank you for all of your support!
Jed and Matt, Toasted Foot
11 comments
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I think the scoring is awesome. It atleast gives me an idea as a new cigar smoker as to what I will enjoy. Thanks and keep it up.
I would prefer you include a score as well. I take everything into account. Regardless of whether I agree/disagree with the review, and scoring. Or if I even put it to use. I make the call on what I will smoke or not. But I find reviews and scoring very interesting and how someone comes to their conclusion on a cigar. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Jason!
In my opinion, your scoring system is very well done. Each characteristic is scored and explained. I think it is one of the best systems out there. That’s why I check here for reviews on a daily basis.
I take scores into account as much as I do someone else’s tastes. People may smoke the same cigar and come to completely different conclusions and I’m ok with that. I would also agree that many cigars fall into that sweet spot with few going below or beyond your expectations.
I wouldn’t change a thing with the way you do your reviews. Keep up the good work gentlemen!
Thanks Tony, the frustrating part is how they all fall into that sweet spot. Though it is kind of to be expected, it can be an eye soar to have such a large group of smokes in that range and makes me wonder if people just brush it off…
I prefer reviews to have scores. I also agree that your scoring system is very well done. I wouldn’t change a thing. I think a final score adds to the overall review. If a large amount of reviews fall within a certain range, so be it.
If they were just looking at the scores down the side of the page they may, but the idea is to read the review. If there was anything I might change it would be the score next to the review link (although I personally like it).
People who read the rating and not the review are doing themselves a disservice. If you take too much stock in the score than you will probably end up disappointed in many of the cigars you smoke. For instance, you smoke a Monty 4 and decide to pick up a Nestor Miranda SS thinking it is going to be the same because of its rating you will be sadly mistaken!
I know that’s an extreme example but you get the idea…
Great analogy Tony with the Monte and SS; the scoring is so subjective b/c of the weight we give to certain areas of the smoke. Some may care only about taste, even if the appearance is wretched. So, they may pick up two sticks w/ similar scoring but like the flavor of one way better, while the other scored well because of the appearance and burn. We also give a fair amount of weight to value, because that is important to us…
Please keep your scoring. I would recommend being tougher in your scoring than you are currently. (When I review cigars, my “normal” range is 7-8.5, and a cigar has to be “blow my mind” incredible to get 9+)
Thanks!
I agree with most of the above. I think having a score gives us a standard measure. Yes my tastes are not similar to what you always have, but it is a subjective score based on a rubric. I like to see how it worked out for you and then rate it my self.
I *usually* ignore the score, but I esp. appreciate the outliers, those w/WICKED high or WICKED low…