Cigar Dojo has announced the launch of its Cigar Ranker platform. The platform lets cigar enthusiasts crowdsource a Cigar of the Year. The platform is up and running.
For years, cigar media have curated Cigar of the Year lists. In 2011, Halfwheel published its first Consensus, an initiative designed to combine many disparate cigar lists from the cigar media. Cigar Ranker differs in that it lets any registered member submit their own list of up to 20 of their favorite cigars of the year. Users may modify their lists throughout the voting period. Using an algorithm, Cigar Ranker will then build a composite list based on the selections. A live leaderboard is also available.
One key difference between the Halfwheel platform and others is that the Consensus list is primarily curated by hand. In contrast, Cigar Ranker features one of the most advanced back-end systems seen for the Cigar of the Year selection. Many other crowdsourced initiatives by cigar media publications also rely heavily on manual processes.
On top of that, Cigar Ranker’s back-end offers detailed cigar information. This detailed information includes wrapper/binder/filler, brands, factories, country of origin, price range, and profiles.
“For years, cigar smokers have compared their personal lists with the rankings published at the end of each year,” said Eric Guttormson, owner of Cigar Dojo. “Cigar Ranker gives everyone a chance to take part. You can build your own list, see how it compares with the community, and watch the rankings change as the year unfolds.”
Many argue that crowdsourced cigar lists often become popularity contests that voters can manipulate through ballot stuffing. The Cigar Ranker has discouraged that by increasing the voting power of a submitted ballot based on the number of selections on a submitted list. In other words, a list of 20 cigars carries more weight than a one-cigar list. In addition, as the submission deadline approaches, the leaderboard will be taken down until the ranking period.
Cigar Dojo has a strict policy on cigars considered eligible for Cigar of the Year to be released during the actual calendar year. This policy will carry over to Cigar Ranker. Registered users will be able to nominate cigars not in the database for consideration.
For more details, see www.cigaranker.com or watch the promotional video.
Photo Credits: Cigar Dojo
