Why There Are No Ads Here
This one's easy. I don't like clutter on a page. I don't look at ads on anybody else's site. And I don't want to be beholden to someone who can pull their money. So there will never be ads sold here.
Clutter
I'm not a minimalist by any stretch of the imagination. But I enjoy order and simplicity, and ads wreck both. They clutter the page, I have to skip over them, and I don't look at them anyway. If I don't enjoy it on other people's pages, I'm not putting it on mine. I want the site to look clean.
What I've watched ads do to a hobby
I don't like how it feels when someone starts a cigar page, or a review channel, or whatever it is, because they enjoy it, and then it turns into being about the money or the free stuff they get. I don't want that here.
Beholden
The other half is independence. I never want to worry about being beholden to somebody, or about them pulling their ads. No ads, nothing to pull.
What this is instead
I'm not doing this to make money. I'm doing it because sharing a hobby I enjoy, one that has brought me rest and relaxation, with other people is a good time. So there won't be ads on my site.
More from the Deck
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.
The Case Against the 100-Point Scale
I scored cigars on 100 points my first year. A cigar I'd never smoke again landed a 78 and a phenomenal one an 87. That's why this site runs four tiers.