If a Brand Ever Sends Me Cigars
Would I take free cigars from a brand? Yes. With one caveat that covers everything: nobody gets to decide whether I review a cigar or what I say about it. If a brand isn't okay with that, it doesn't have to send me anything.
The rules
I'll say whatever I want about the cigar. I'll review it how it truly is. If I love it, I'll tell you. If I hate it, I'll tell you. Nothing gets sugarcoated.
No brand or company sees the review until it's posted on the site. I won't talk with them about what I liked or didn't like before anyone else gets to read it.
A free cigar gets the same opinion a bought one gets. Instead of me buying the cigar, someone gave it to me. That's the only difference. It isn't better because it was free and it isn't worse because it was free. It goes on what the cigar really is, the same way a gift from a friend gets reviewed today.
A review is never a bribe for more free cigars. I don't need them. That's not why I do this.
Where I bought it
I don't say where I buy my cigars, with one exception: shop exclusives. If a cigar is a shop exclusive, I'll name the shop, because that's the only place you can get it. Several cigars already reviewed here are shop exclusives. Some I really like, some I don't like very much. The shop gets named either way, and so does the verdict.
The reality
No one has ever offered to send me cigars. I don't think anyone really will. But if someone does, those are the rules, and they're on one page a brand can read and agree to before anything ships.
Why
I do this to share what I think about the cigars as I smoke them. My palate isn't everybody's palate, and that's okay. You can love a cigar I hate and I can love a cigar you hate. Either way you get the real review from that night, that afternoon, that smoke. Not something sugarcoated, and not something that never got posted because somebody gave me something for free.
More from the Deck
Why There Are No Ads Here
I don't like clutter, I don't look at ads, and I don't want to be beholden to anyone who can pull one. So there will never be ads sold on this site.
Why the Deals Page Has Rules
The deals page started as a list I kept for myself. The rules exist because most deal emails aren't deals, and I got tired of reading them all to find one.
The Verdict Distribution, Out Loud
35 cigar reviews: 6 Box Buy, 12 Five-Pack, 11 Hand-Me-One, 6 Not Even Free. The grade curve behind every verdict on this site, published so you can hold me to it.