Why a Calibration Sample
A reviewer's palate drifts. Not by much in any given week, but measurably over months and years. The cigar that scored 91 in 2023 may, evaluated today by the same reviewer under the same blind protocol, score 89 or 93. Some of that drift is the reviewer's; some is the cigar's (production batches change, vintage years differ, factory transitions occur); some is the joint product of both.
The calibration sample is the encyclopedia's mechanism for managing this drift. The 38 reference cigars are scored quarterly. The scores are compared against the encyclopedia's published values for those same cigars. Drift of more than two points on any individual reference cigar triggers a methodological investigation.
The 38 Selected Cigars
The sample is organized geographically: Cuban marcas first (eighteen cigars), Nicaraguan marcas second (eleven cigars), and Dominican specialists third (nine cigars). Each cigar identifies its sample provenance: vintage, format of acquisition, and rest period.
Cuban: Cohiba Behike BHK 52, Cohiba Robusto, Cohiba Siglo VI; Montecristo No. 2; Romeo y Julieta Churchill, Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill; Partagás Serie D No. 4, Partagás Lusitanias; H. Upmann Magnum 50, H. Upmann No. 2; Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2; Trinidad Fundadores; Bolívar Belicosos Finos; Por Larrañaga Picadores; San Cristóbal La Punta; Cohiba Behike BHK 56; Trinidad Reyes; Punch Punch.
Nicaraguan: Padrón 1926 No. 9 Maduro, Padrón 1964 Anniversary Exclusivo; Drew Estate Liga Privada No. 9, Liga Privada T52; My Father Le Bijou 1922; Aganorsa Aniversario Exclusivo; JFR Lunatic; Plasencia Alma Fuerte Generación V Sixto II; Tatuaje Reserva K222; Joya de Nicaragua Antaño; Camacho Triple Maduro.
Dominican: Davidoff Aniversario No. 3, Royal Release Robusto, Winston Churchill The Statesman; Arturo Fuente Opus X No. 6, Hemingway Short Story, Don Carlos No. 4; LFD Andalusian Bull; Ashton ESG; E.P. Carrillo Encore.
Quarterly Discipline
All 38 cigars are scored on the KCS rubric four times per year, in identical conditions: 21°C ambient temperature, 65% relative humidity, with no concurrent food or strong drink during the cold-draw and first-third assessment phases. The blind protocol prevents reviewer bias toward the published expectation.
The drift threshold is two points on any individual cigar. Drift below threshold is normal noise; drift at or above threshold triggers investigation. In four years of operation, four cigars have triggered methodological investigations; in three of those four cases, the investigation traced the drift to verifiable changes in factory production rather than reviewer drift.
