Cigar Dojo has announced the launch of Cigar Ranker, a new online platform that gives cigar enthusiasts the ability to create, rank, and share their own Cigar of the Year lists.
Available now at CigarRanker.com, the platform allows users to search the eligible 2026 cigar database and build a personal Top 20 ballot. Cigars can be added, removed, and reordered throughout the year, allowing each ballot to change as new releases become available.
Rather than relying on a small panel of reviewers, Cigar Ranker combines ballots from verified cigar enthusiasts to produce a live community leaderboard. Each position carries a different point value, with a user’s No. 1 cigar receiving 30 points and the No. 20 selection receiving one point. Results update as ballots are submitted and revised.
“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.”
I think the biggest takeaway from this news myself is this seems to be a more interesting way to create a list that rival’s the ‘Consensus’ over at Half Wheel. Each year, Charlie Minato compiles every list from the cigar media and averages out every cigar based on its placement to create a top list of the most popular cigars.
Cigar Ranker also uses a voting-power system designed to discourage ballot stuffing which I can tell you myself was a concern the moment I heard about this, so I am glad Dojo thought ahead on this. Once upon a time, in our first year, we tried to do a Cigar of the Year list that was crowd source based and it became victim of some kind of ballot stuffing operation as these things always tend to. Dojo says a user’s influence increases as more positions are filled, rewarding complete ballots rather than accounts created to support a single cigar. Submitted picks are tied to verified users, while cigar entries are reviewed to prevent duplicates, errors, and ineligible releases from entering the database.
Beyond the main Top 20, Cigar Ranker offers live data showing the brands, factories, countries of origin, wrappers, price ranges, body profiles, and other characteristics represented across the community’s selections. Users can also generate a custom image of their ballot for sharing on social media.
Unlike a traditional year-end list, each Cigar Ranker ballot remains open for revision during the voting period. Users can return as often as they like to add newly released cigars, remove previous selections, or change the order of their rankings. Cigar Ranker is available exclusively to adults age 21 and older. The platform is a community ranking and information service and does not sell tobacco products or process tobacco purchases.
There is a video below that helps showcase Cigar Ranker.
