2024 Year In Review
The year is still young and there are plenty of new cigars on the horizon, but before we look forward, it’s important to look back for a retrospective view of last year. Cigar Aficionado and our twice-monthly digital newsletter, Cigar Insider, put hundreds of cigars through our blind tasting process in 2024—628 to be exact. Sifting through a year’s worth of ratings all by yourself can be a daunting task so we’ve done it for you with the aim of giving some context and broader meaning to all the data. We compiled the ratings, crunched the numbers and analyzed the scores of 2024 to bring you a concise picture of the cigar industry and how it performed.
Since late 2020, the cigar industry has experienced a period known as the “New Cigar Boom,” a pandemic-born upswing in the market—including import numbers exceeding 450 million cigars. Three years later, some expected the bubble to finally burst. It didn’t. The numbers for 2024 are not yet complete, but the most recent data provided by the Cigar Association of America (October 2024) showed impressive numbers with 362.8 million cigars imported over the 346.8 million for the same period in 2023, an increase of 4.6 percent. A significant portion is due to Dominican shipments rising from 82.9 million in October 2023 to 94.2 million cigars in 2024, a 13.6 percent increase. Nicaragua, the largest exporter overall, showed a small uptick of 3.5 percent.
Although a minor producer in the handmade cigar market, Costa Rica demonstrated remarkable robustness last year, more than doubling its exports from 1.1 million cigars in 2023 to 2.3 million last year. Honduras, a much-larger producer than Costa Rica, did show some slowing, dropping 6.7 percent to 54.7 million.
Of the 628 cigars rated last year by Cigar Aficionado and Insider, the majority came from the largest cigar-producing countries, known as The Big Four: Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Cuba. Of that total, 358 cigars earned scores of 90 points or higher (57 percent), a six percent increase over 2023. While there were more high scores overall in 2024, fewer cigars earned 93 points or higher with 68 in 2024 (10.8 percent), versus 80 in 2023 (12.9 percent). Some of these high performers ultimately found their way onto the Top 25 list. (Note: This analysis does not include our Top 25, which undergoes a separate retasting.)
Within that high-scoring group, 46 cigars scored 93 points, 15 earned 94 points and seven cigars achieved Classic status on our 100-point scale, with six 95-pointers and one 96-pointer. Four of those Classic cigars came from Nicaragua, two from Cuba and one from the Dominican Republic. This Classic class of overachievers was slightly larger in 2023 with seven 95-pointers and as many as five cigars scoring 96 points.
In 2023, Nicaragua displaced Cuba as the leading source for top performers, and retained its position in 2024, with 32 cigars scoring 93 points or more (36 in 2023) compared to Cuba’s 18 cigars (20 in 2023). The Dominican Republic was not far behind Cuba with 14. Three came from Honduras and one from the United States.
Individual high scores are indeed impressive, but one also must look at the bigger picture. In of consistency, Cuba netted the most top scores with 55 out of 77 total cigars scoring 90 points or higher (71.4 percent) for an average score of 90.81. Nicaragua, the largest exporter of handmade cigars to the United States, wasn’t far behind, averaging 89.93 points, but only 156 of the 273 Nicaraguan cigars we rated (57.1 percent) scored 90 points or more. It’s worth noting that while Cuba’s overall average was higher, Nicaragua’s sample was considerably larger.
Though close in of average score, Nicaragua’s average price ($14.71) is still thankfully well below that of Cuba’s ($54.06), which remains the most expensive cigar-producing country. Four of the Cubans we rated in 2024 cost $100 or more, all of them Cohibas. One even exceeds $200: the Cohiba Novedosos (92 points, 210 euros, or $218). Three Nicaraguan cigars released and rated in 2024 retailed for $100 or more: Plasencia Alma del Fuego Ometepe Edición Limitada (92 points, $100); Rocky Patel Conviction (94 points, $100); and Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Edición Doble Diamante Toro (95 points, $150). The $100 smokes from Nicaragua are special releases, whereas some of Cuba’s $100-plus cigars are regular-production cigars.
Despite a few unusually pricey smokes from Nicaragua, the country’s average price was not significantly affected—roughly $2 more than the previous year, and bargains could still be found with 19 Nicaraguan cigars retailing for $8 or less.
We rated 174 cigars from the Dominican Republic, with an average score of 89.33 points; 84 scored 90 points or more (48.3 percent). None of these Dominican cigars hit the $100 threshold, but their average cost was still higher than Nicaragua at $16.01. We rated 13 Dominican smokes that retail between $30 and $64. On the other end, there were 12 cigars under $8, nine of which scored 90 points or higher.
Honduras was lowest in both average score and cost among The Big Four. We rated 81 Honduran cigars, and they had an average score of 89.16 points and an average cost of $11.27. There were no Classics, but three cigars rated 93 points or higher: the Gran Habano Habano No. 3 Lunch Break (93 points); The Edge Corojo Torpedo (93); and Alec Bradley Tempus Natural Corona (94). All three retail for less than $9, showing the value found in Honduras.
The United States, Costa Rica and Mexico have a much smaller presence in the U.S. marketplace, which is reflected in the number of ratings from each country. Fifteen U.S.-made cigars were tasted, with five earning 90 points or higher for an average score of 88.67 points. Mexico and Costa Rica interestingly shared many of the same figures including sample size (four cigars), average score (88.25) and number of 90-pointers (one cigar each). In of price, they averaged out to be both the cheapest and most expensive non-Cuban countries ($11.08 and $30.25, respectively). But the sample size is quite small.
The size of a cigar is often chalked up to personal preference, but it’s more than that. Proportions of a blend can have a serious impact on how a cigar ends up performing. Four sizes had average scores of more than 90 points and all scored quite closely: Lonsdale (14 cigars rated) took the top position at 90.36 points; corona (17 cigars rated, 90.29 points); petit corona (30 cigars, 90.10 points); and figurado (95 cigars, 90.02 points). The first three are less-commonly made in today’s market and their smaller sample sizes reflect that, but it is interesting to note that they are all on the thinner side and performed similarly. The figurado (the best-performing size of 2023) is a more elastic size as it can be any length or thickness so long as it has at least one tapered end. With by far the largest sample among the four highest-scoring sizes of 2024, figurados offer a much greater representation of overall performance.
Next up were robustos, Churchills and the rare “A” size. Robustos are a mainstay in most product lines, with 102 examples tasted last year. Today’s market has trended towards shorter, fatter smokes with longer cigars such as the Churchill and the “A” seen by many as a lengthy commitment. With 83 rated, the Churchill still has a significant following, but the “A” is on the endangered list—we only rated 12.
Tied for an average score of 89.59 points were miscellaneous (29 cigars rated) and toro (148 cigars rated). Miscellaneous is our classification for unusual cigars with measurements that fall outside of standard parameters. Toros (also known as corona gordas) have more specific dimensions, measuring between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 inches with a thickness between 46 and 59 ring gauge. According to the past two annual retailer surveys in Cigar Insider, the toro usurped the robusto’s long reign as most popular size among consumers. With 148 rated by this magazine in 2024, toros have the largest sample size of any format rated and provide the most accurate representation for performance.
Measuring between 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 inches long, double coronas fall somewhere between Churchills and “A” sizes. We rated 13 of these lengthy cigars last year, and they averaged 89.15 points.
The lowest average was a tie between two sizes at opposite ends of the spectrum: grandes (66 cigars) and panetelas (19 cigars) at 88.95 points. Grandes are cigars with a thickness of 60 ring gauge or more, whereas panetelas are the thinnest, ranging between 36 and 40 ring gauge. Long and slender, panetelas are prized by aficionados because their thinness allows the wrapper to play a larger role in the flavor, whereas a girthy grande emphasizes the filler.
In a year that saw the rise of cigars retailing for $50, $60 and even $100 or more, the sobriquet for cigars as “the affordable luxury” seems to be less and less applicable. But there are also many excellent hand-rolled cigars to be found retailing well under $9. If a year’s worth of ratings told us anything, it’s that overall quality of handmade cigars remains quite high. And while 2024’s annual import numbers are not yet complete, it seems like the industry is still growing. The last few years have seen handmade imports reaching or suring 400 million units, and it looks like 2024 will also reach this impressive benchmark. Rather than burning out, as some speculators fear, the cigar industry continues to burn brightly.
