As pressed-for-time moviegoers may look to Roger Ebert for guidance at the multiplex, smokers use the magazines' ratings to cut down on their in-store browsing time. For cigar makers, meanwhile, the ratings can be the touch of life – or the kiss of death. When Cigar Aficionado gave a high rating to a Fuente Spanish Lonsdale cigar, the magazine's imprimatur helped to cause a run on the brand, rendering it scarce and highly sought-after and increasing the profile of Fuente's cigars in general. Every cigar maker covets a 90-or-higher rating from these influential judges.

But where do these numbers actually come from? For staffers at Cigar Aficionado, the reviewing process starts at the store. While music and book reviewers are often given free "review copies" of CDs or books (a practice that makes things convenient for the reviewer, but also diminishes his or her independence), Cigar Aficionado tries to buy cigars at close to retail prices.

This leads to big cigar bills for the magazine – but it also means the cigars they review are as much like the ones you buy at the store as is possible. (Unlike CDs or books, of course, every cigar is slightly different in composition and taste.) Sometimes, if a cigar is hard to find in stores, the magazine will request "review cigars"; ditto for cases when the magazine is trying to preview a cigar before it hits stores.

The members of the panel – all of them longstanding magazine staffers – are told nothing about the identity, price range, source, or country of origin of the cigar. A "tasting coordinator" – not a member of the panel – removes the cigar's band so that it cannot be identified by the panel's members.

The blank, anonymous cigar is then assigned a number so that its identity can be retrieved after it's rated. The members of the tasting panel then retire, separately, to their offices to smoke the cigars without consulting each other. Each member of the panel assigns the cigar a certain number of points, based on its performance in any of four categories.

First of all, cigars are rated by APPEARANCE and CONSTRUCTION. Is the cigar visually pleasing? Is the wrapper smooth, or wadded-looking? Is it moist to the touch or dry? Does it stay firm? Is it veiny or soggy? After all, a great-tasting cigar that wilts the minute you take it out of the box, or looks too unappetizing to be placed in someone's mouth, does smokers no good. Cigars can win up to 15 points in this category for being well-made and attractive.

Secondly, of course, the cigar is rated on its FLAVOR – a category that carries with it 25 of the possible 100 points. Who needs a good-looking but brackish cigar? Cigars should not taste bitter or leave a nasty aftertaste. Both taste and aftertaste should be smooth but full, complicated, and rich.

A maximum of 25 points can be won for various qualities ranged together under the general heading of SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS. How does it burn? Is it hard to light? Does it burn one-sidedly? Will the smoke burn your mouth, or feel cool and comfortable as it should? How hard do you have to pull to get a mouthful? All these questions and more are considered.

Finally, the tasters each give a score (up to 35 points) for OVERALL IMPRESSION. (Flavor counts most here.) Is the cigar good, bad – or great? And the question utmost in any dedicated smoker's mind – is it worth the money? The panel's various scores in each category are averaged and a final score is the result.

Ratings, of course, are always subjective, depending on individuals' taste – even if those individuals have well-developed, highly educated tastes. Your mileage may vary. For any smoker, the ultimate authority should always be your own tastebuds!

Thanks to Garson Smart for contributing this article to our humidors blog:

Tatuaje Cigars

First, you have to get to know a little bit about the cigar your smoking. You can do this by picking up a cigar magazine or by visiting some top cigar sites like Apexcigar.com. There are so many cigars out there to choose from. To get the one you like it really takes a little bit of research and trial and error.

After you have found a brand of cigar you like, next

you'll want to invest in a cigar humidor. cigar humidors help preserve your cigars by maintaining correct humidity levels and temperature. Usually cigar humidors hold from 20 to 25 cigars but some can hold upwards of 100. You might be surprised, but there are a tremendous amount of types of cigars out there. stick with some of the top brands like CAO and Savoy.

Now, you can't exactly carry around a cigar humidor with you, there pretty big and bulky in some cases. What you need is a cigar case or pouch. These can fit right into your coat pocket and can hold up to 5 cigars, sometimes more. They are good for transport, keeping your cigars clean and prevent them from being crushed. They also enable you to have a cigar of your choosing whenever you want.

Next your going to want to pick up a nice cigar cutter. Cigar cutters give you a clean end instead of bitting the tip off of one. I mean were not animals here. Cigar cutters can range from a couple of bucks to around a hundred dollars. Just depends on your taste.

Finally, the only way you are going to be able to

enjoy your favorite cigar that you just pulled from

your case is to have a fashionable lighter? Don't even think about picking up an everyday bic and lighting up either. You need something with a little style and class. There are various types of lighters like the Colibri and the Lotus. Just select a lighter that looks great to you and

that you'll feel comfortable pulling out and lighting up.

So now you know the cigar accessories that you need to become a professional cigar smoker. Once you have all the right accessories smoking a cigar will be a much more pleasurable experience. So I guess there is only one thing left to do, light

up!

Thanks to Shane Wilson for contributing this article to our humidors blog:

Get to know cigars first. Do this by buying a cigar magazine or getting some information online. Then, go to a tobacconist to check out some cigars. The tobacconist will give you his advice on the cigars he stocks.

Buy a cigar humidor. Humidors are usually made of wood, though I saw a marble one on Amazon the other day, and keep the humidity and temperature in the humidor at a certain level to preserve the cigars. Cigar humidors usually hold 20 or 25 cigars.

Get a cigar holder so that they don’t get crushed or dirty. Some cigar holders hold up to 3 cigars while some hold only 1. Purchasing a cigar holder is a must if you like smoking cigars at any time.

Get a cigar cutter. The best ones are made of stainless steel and feature a double blade design. The blades are extremely sharp so take caution when using it. Cigar cutters usually come in a practical, compact size.

Cigar punchers are great if you do not wish to use a cigar cutter. While the cigar puncher essentially achieves the same goal as the cigar cutter, it is more compact and classy.

Instead of using a match or a conventional lighter to light your cigar, get a proper cigar lighter. They come in a tube shape and are very efficient because you they include a cutter. So, you simply put one end of the cigar in to cut and then flip it around to light it. The cigar lighters use butane and are sold empty.

Thanks to Hein for contributing this article to our humidors blog: