Here's a "how to" I wrote to show about reviewing cigars. Reviewing a cigar is almost completely opinion, but here's how I write mine.
Look: When you first get to your local cigar shop, or online (wherever you buy them, it doesn't matter), you want to take a look at the stick and just analyze the basic features that it brings. Examples: look at the wrapper (what color is it? Light? Tan? Dark?), look at the cigar tag (does it have a basic design? Or something unique?), and figure out exactly who makes the cigar you are looking at, what size, and know style for the specific cigar you chose (toro, gordo, corona, etc.). *Remember, the color of the wrapper is no indication of how strong the cigar will be*. If you can't find the specifics of the cigar you chose, ask the owner of the shop, or look it up online. After you look over the basics, check and see if you can see any visible veins and/or seams and see the amount of caps the stogie has. Average cigars have 2, sometimes you can find one that has 3-4.
Feel: After reviewing the look of the cigar, you're going to want to get a basic feel for the stick you chose. First, feel the wrapper... does it feel soft? Does it feel like sandpaper? Does it have an oily feel to it? Those are just the basics, you can, if you choose, get more detailed. Next, feel and see if the cigar has a tight pack or a loose pack. If you feel that the cigar has a loose pack, the cigar will most likely burn faster and have an easy draw. For a tighter pack, the cigar will most likely do the opposite and burn slower with more resistance in the draw.
Smell: This is the last step before lighting up the cigar. Smell up and down the cigar and see what it smells like. If you have read cigar reviews before, you probably heard the reviewer say what the cigar smelt like. (Normally it has an earth/soil aroma). But, not everyone is going to smell the same thing, so you need to smell it yourself to see what you get out of it.
Smoke: The first step for smoking, is lighting the cigar. In this post, I'm not going to describe how to light a cigar, one, because that would take a while, and two, because how you light up a cigar is strictly your preference. There are several ways to do it, just find what works for you. Ok, now that I got that point across I can continue... When you get the cigar lit up, you want to take your first 2 or 3 puffs and see what flavors you get out of them. You can get several flavors out of one cigar, or you can just get one flavor... it really just depends on the cigar. Once you decide what flavors you got, make a note of them so you don't forget. Then, you describe how the finish is. In case you don't know, the finish is the taste in your mouth after you take a puff, you usually can describe those as harsh, smooth, spicy, etc... When that is all done, you're going to want to review your cigars in halves or thirds. The way I do my reviews is I do 1/3 and describe what flavors I get, smoke to the 2/3 point and describe the flavors, and then I finish it off and tell what the end consisted of. You're going to want to describe how even/uneven the burn is, how the draw is, and how much smoke you are getting out of the stick. Remember, it's your review, so you describe what YOU got out of the cigar. Which brings me to another piece of advice. It's best not to look up the cigar you purchased and see another's review on it. Your palate is different than anyone else's. Ex: you may be getting a coffee flavor out of a cigar, and the person next to you may be tasting some chocolate. I believe it's psychological... if you read a review on the cigar you're about to review, I believe it prepares your taste buds to get the same flavors as the review you read, which could be totally different than what you would have tasted if you had not read the review. So, it's best to just review it yourself first, then you can read what you want to read about it. Again, this is all my opinion, not required.
Now that you have my steps to reviewing a cigar, I hope that you can go out and start reviewing some! One last thing.. keep it short. Personally, I hate long cigar reviews. Before I started reviewing stogies, I would be at a cigar lounge picking out a cigar. When I finally decided on one, I would pull a review of it up on my phone and start reading it. I wouldn't end up reading the whole thing because it was 5 paragraphs. That's a turn off. So, keep it short and to the point. Well... at least try.
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