Legend's rating system

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 hot 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.(update: because so many smokes fall in this category and there are legitimate levels within it I have added the 3.x to the 3s. 3.0 being a step above yard gar 3.9 being a great smoke but not quite top 25 and of course everything in between)

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.(update: I've added this back into the system with the 3.x because after doing a bunch of reviews I realized that there are legitimate levels within this rating) 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