We Removed the Bands: Could Smokers Still Identify the Most Expensive Cigar?
Put four premium cigars on a table with their bands intact and price immediately becomes part of the experience.
Now remove everything.
No band. No box. No collection name. No price. Just four cigars and one question:
Could smokers identify which one costs the most?
The Experiment
For this blind cigar tasting, the concept is deliberately simple. Select four El Septimo cigars from different price points, remove their bands, assign each a random letter, and give them to a small tasting panel.
To make the test meaningful, participants should not be told which collections are included.
Each smoker scores:
- Construction
- Draw
- Aroma
- Complexity
- Balance
- Finish
- Perceived luxury
- Estimated retail price
Only after every scorecard is submitted are the cigars and prices revealed.
Choose Cigars with a Real Price Gap
The current El Septimo cigar collection makes this experiment particularly interesting because individual cigar listings span markedly different price levels.
Why Remove the Band?
A cigar band communicates before the cigar does.
Collection name, packaging, reputation, presentation, and known price can all create expectations. If someone knows a cigar is considerably more expensive, they may unconsciously expect greater complexity, refinement, or exclusivity.
Blind tasting removes much of that context.
The smoker has to judge what is actually happening in the glass, or in this case, in the smoke.
But Don't Ask Which Cigar Is "Best"
This is where the experiment becomes more sophisticated.
Most expensive and most enjoyable are two completely different questions.
A participant might correctly identify the highest-priced cigar while preferring another. Another smoker might rank the least expensive cigar first. Someone else may associate strength or smoke density with higher price and get the answer completely wrong.
Those disagreements are the story.
What Does a Smoker Think Expensive Tastes Like?
The most interesting part may not be whether participants guess correctly. It may be why they make their guesses.
Listen for statements such as:
- "This feels more refined."
- "The finish is longer."
- "The construction seems more precise."
- "This one has more complexity."
- "The smoke feels richer."
- "This tastes expensive."
Then compare those assumptions with the actual prices.
Control the Variables
A genuine blind tasting needs more than removed bands.
Store the cigars under comparable conditions. Use the same cutting method. Use the same lighting technique. Provide water rather than strongly flavored drinks. Avoid showing boxes or packaging before the reveal.
Where possible, choose comparable formats. A dramatically different ring gauge or shape could make identification easier for someone already familiar with the collection.
Use a consistent cigar cutter and lighter throughout the test.
The Reveal Is the Content
Do not decide the conclusion before conducting the tasting.
If everyone identifies the most expensive cigar, publish that.
If nobody identifies it, publish that.
If the least expensive cigar becomes the group's favorite, publish that too.
A credible blind tasting is more valuable than a predetermined victory because it gives readers something increasingly rare in luxury marketing: a result they did not already know before clicking.
What the Test Can Actually Tell Us
The experiment cannot prove that price does or does not equal quality. Premium cigar pricing can reflect many factors beyond immediate blind sensory preference.
What it can reveal is whether smokers can perceive the price hierarchy without seeing it, what characteristics they associate with luxury, and whether their favorite cigar changes when branding disappears.
That is a far more interesting question than simply declaring one cigar superior.
Would You Identify the Most Expensive One?
Explore the El Septimo cigar collection in Dubai and build your own blind comparison using cigars from different collections and price points.
Step 1: Choose your cigars online, without telling the participants what they cost.
Step 2: For VIP, corporate, gifting, or private tasting requirements, contact El Septimo Dubai through the website.
Final Thoughts
Luxury becomes much more interesting when you remove the label.
Perhaps smokers will immediately recognize the most expensive cigar. Perhaps they will confidently choose the wrong one. Perhaps price and preference will have almost no relationship at all.
We should not guess.
Run the tasting. Record the scores. Reveal the bands. Then let the results tell the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can smokers identify an expensive cigar by taste alone?
That is precisely what a controlled blind tasting can investigate. Price, packaging, reputation, and branding should be hidden until participants have submitted their evaluations.
Does a more expensive cigar always taste better?
No universal conclusion should be assumed. Price and individual sensory preference measure different things, which is why blind comparison is useful.
Why remove cigar bands during a tasting?
Removing bands reduces obvious brand, collection, and price cues, allowing participants to concentrate more closely on the smoking experience.
What should be scored in a blind cigar tasting?
Useful categories include construction, draw, aroma, complexity, balance, finish, perceived luxury, overall preference, and estimated price.
For adults 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.
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