[Giant & 49er Fan]

First of all, great topic Tim!

A recent study poll from the IPCPR asked 400 cigar smokers what influences them when purchasing a cigar. It surprises me to find out that still 50% say it's the reccomendation from the tobacconist. All the magazine and internet ratings were polled at 8% if I remember correctly.

Here is my order for rating...
1) Burn: without a good burn/draw... flavor is usually thrown out the window
2) Construction: a cigar is an artform to me. if it's underfilled or poor quality then flavor is again thrown out the window
3) Flavor: this is a no brainer
4) Price: i have to consider how much someone is asking for the cigar as "I" always find myself compairing the smoke to what else I could be smoking, as good, for less $$$
5) Appearance: who cares if it rates high on everything else. some wrappers are just better looking than others.