We will limit this to 20 Geeks initially, although I may allow more depending on interest. The pass will be open for 2 weeks to join. I will then assign each person a number and then draw numbers to match who sends to whom. After I've closed the pass, each person has a week to send out their package. Once all cigars have been received, then I will post a starting date for the reviews.
The three cigars you send should be unbanded & devoid of any identifying packaging. They should be labeled A,B,C (or 1,2,3, or I,II,III -- feel free to go crazy, but don't forget what they are!). Send a range of cigars: one 1-4 dollar cigar, one 4-8 dollar cigar, and an 8 plus dollar cigar. For the purpose of this contest/pass and to be consistent with past Round Robins, we are going to use list prices of cigars (if you got a fantastic deal, use retail). Your target spend should be in the 16-20 dollar range. To make the pass a little more interesting, you will send 2 other cigars (making it a 5 cigar pass) that you think the recipient will enjoy. The extra 2 cigars can be unbanded or banded, but make sure they are clearly labeled as extras. Please make them respectable cigars! The only budget cigar should be for the blind review. Please identify which cigars are the extras, and here's why:
1 Point will be awarded to those who guess correctly which is the high cost, medium cost, and low cost cigar.
3 points will be awarded to those who can name the blender. In the case where a person blends for another label (i.e. DPG for Tatuaje), you must correctly guess the blender.
5 points will be awarded to those who guess the cigar correctly. You must correctly guess the vitola, not just the label/manufacturer.
The maximum point total is 18, in which case you correctly guessed the low, mid, and high priced cigars as well as the specific vitolas.
The one with the most points will receive a premium 5-pack from me. In the event of a tie, the person who reviewed all three cigars FIRST wins.
Post reviews in the thread as you smoke; there is no need to wait. In the review, make your guess. The reviews don't have to be anything fancy - simply something you would post into the reviews database will suffice. After all three of your reviews are finished, the sender can reveal what the cigars were. The cut off for all reviews will be June 30th, 2013.
The honor system is in place, but if I find out that you were cheating by telling people what they smoked via PM, the prize will go to someone else. Have fun.
One point - there is a somewhat significant time commitment for this pass between sending the cigars, smoking them, and writing reviews. Keep that in mind when requesting to join as the cut-off for reviews is June 30th, 2013.
