What a year it’s been, feels like it’s flown by far to fast even though at times it have felt like an eternity. The year of reviews started in February due to the cold weather and that I had far to much in University. In March I managed to find a local lounge that I was able to do some reviews in, but sadly that didn’t last long as they lost against the property owner demanded that they closed down the lounge with immediate effect. So it was back to doing reviews outdoors. With trying to peddle school, blind reviews for Cigar Journal and doing reviews for here sadly the blog had to suffer with less posting. As for Cigar Journal I have done 48 reviews this year, so nearly double of what I’ve posted here. But as I have a duty to them to do it, they have priority and I can’t disclose what I have tried for them.
In the beginning of July I went of a birthday trip to celebrate a friend with the friend group to Bornholm, Denmark, where we decided to cycle around the island and I sadly were involved in a cycle accident were I broke my collarbone and scraped up much of my body, so I was out of commission for some time to rest and heal.
In September I got invited by HENK to join him for InterTabac in Dortmund, Germany as they hadn’t done a tobacco fair since 2019 before the pandemic, so it was a rush to finally return. But this time around I wasn’t going there as a representative for Mellgrens Fine Tobacco as the shop sadly closed down 2021. I was going there to represent myself, to meet up my friends in the cigar industry to keep those bonds strong and meet new people. The trip was a very fruitful and I hope it will lead to more experiences in the future. And I got home with a huge bag of cigars for review.
ACHIVEMENTS OF THE YEAR
In January HALFWHEEL publicised their highly anticipated “THE CONSENSUS 2021 LISTS” and I got mentioned as one of the reviewers/publications they had used to compile their list.
Cigar Journal & Light Em Up featured me as a joint guest on their show on January 5th 2022:
“Welcome to the first live show of the year, with our panel of well-seasoned cigar industry professionals, media and trusted palates: Barry Beliveau from The Cigar Authority, John McTavish from Developing Palates and André Bornecrantz Dias from the Cigar Journal tasting panel and independent author. We will talk all things cigar reviews, ratings, the top lists and best cigar of the year”
Cigar Journal & Light Em Up featured me as a joint guest on their show on September 21th 2022
“One of the most important and biggest tobacco trade shows of the year is in the books. We’re back after the 2022 InterTabac in Dortmund. Together with an industry panel, we want to discuss the state of the cigar industry and look in the crystal ball for the remainder of 2022, live at the Light ’em Up Lounge, hosted by Reinhard Pohorec. Delighted to welcome Ferdinand Piet, André Bornecrantz Dias, Nick Hammond, Jose Blanco and Jorge Tapies with us today! Welcome one and all, thank you for joining us.”
On September 30th 2022 the website hit 100k views, a great milestone.
Fuente & Meerapfel Present: Meet The Professor – André Dias. I was the honoured guest and interviewed on October 2nd 2022. You can watch it here.
Cigar Journal Magazine – In issue 4/2022 page 10 I’m one of twenty people that get mentioned and get this cigar blog published as a trusted and knowable source. Check out my fellow contributors and tasting panel members also getting mentioned here.
Now to the stats of the blog!
During 2022 we had an amazing array of people coming in to read the blog, an astonishing 152 different nationalities, viewing the site 31,152 times from 14,108 individuals. A growth of 10.7% in amount of views and 27% in visitors, which is amazing! Additionally 23% in the amount of different nationalities. Many thanks to all new readers. In total I made 59 posts, out of these 52 were reviews which sadly was a decrease of 30% or 26 posts due to some unfortunates that happened during the year.
All time stats (July 2017-Dec 2022) for the page is 736 post (707 being reviews), 110,289 views from 44,427 people in 168 nations.
Top 25 Most Viewed Countries of 2021
- United States (8732)
- Sweden (6146)
- United Kingdom (1567)
- Netherlands (751)
- Finland (739)
- France (636)
- Spain (628)
- Greece (625)
- Germany (600)
- Turkey (525)
- Italy (514)
- Poland (494)
- Switzerland (490)
- Canada (460)
- Taiwan (443)
- Romania (360)
- Belgium (350)
- Norway (335)
- Hong Kong (307)
- Denmark (300)
- China (299)
- Australia (285)
- Vietnam (280)
- Indonesia (277)
- Lebanon (268)
Top 10 Most Viewed Reviews of 2022 (made in 2022)
- Caldwell X Kind Cigars Quick & Dirty Robusto (420)
- Casdagli Villa Casdagli Petit Exquisitos Peruvita (221)
- H. Upmann Connossieur No. 2 (186)
- Casdagli Villa Casdagli Lonsdale (149)
- Principle Commonwealth Ten Country Blend Limited Edition (146)
- Caldwell x Lost & Found Swedish Delight 5.0 Robusto 2021 (136)
- Lampert 1675 Edición Azul Short Robusto (118)
- Cavalier Genève Limited Edition 2022 (117)
- Jas Sum Kral Munchies Rocky Road Robusto (113)
- Casdagli Villa Casdagli Corona Gorda (110)
Top 10 Highest Scored Reviews of 2022
- Principle Commonwealth Ten Country Blend Limited Edition [97]
- Principle Money-to-Burn Middle East Regional Exclusive Leaf Master Churchill [95]
- Flor de Selva Año del Tigre Edición Limitada 2022 [95]
- Principle Archive Collection 1842 Lancero [94]
- Somm Sommelier’s Selection Pre-Release Robusto (2023) [93] (Not featured in Top 25 of 2022)
- Principle Martinique Lancero [93]
- Lampert 1675 Edición Azul Short Robusto [92]
- Cavalier Genève Limited Edition 2022 [92]
- Blanco NINE Lancero [92]
- Casdagli Basilica C No. 1 Maduro [92]
If you want to read My Top 25 Cigars of the Year 2022 Full List click it.
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