HOOKAH BATTLE ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF A GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR HOOKAH TOBACCO FLAVORS

The award already has a name — Legendary Flavor.

It is known that, for this ambitious project, Stanislav Medkov teamed up with a person literally from the other side of the world — the founder of the HTReviews website. But first things first.

Let the creator of the idea tell us about his project himself.

Hookah Insider:

Stanislav, why is now the right time to launch an award like this? Are there so many tobacco flavors on the market that they need to be organized and ranked?

Stanislav Medkov:

For a long time, people have been asking us why we don’t organize a Hookah Battle for hookah tobacco brands. And it is true: in the hookah industry, brands often have to be compared with one another, especially when they offer the same flavor profile.

For example, I love melon and all its variations. My favorite flavor is Violet by Must Have — hello to them if they are reading this! But I also like Melon Blend by Tangiers, the American brand that pioneered dark boiled tobacco.

The idea is to collect 10 melon profiles from different manufacturers around the world and give them to judges from 12 countries to try. As a result, we will create a global ranking.

In total, we are planning 20 flavor profiles — 20 nominations.

The need for this is clear at least from the fact that many distributors, especially outside the Russian Federation, check ratings on platforms such as HTReviews before purchasing certain flavors.

Hookah Insider:

By the way, why did you choose a person from Vladivostok as your partner? Are there really no alternatives to his website?

Stanislav Medkov:

I have known Alexey Vaev, the founder of HTReviews, for a long time. I deeply respect projects with a long history, and HTReviews has been around for more than 10 years. Moreover, it exists purely thanks to the enthusiasm of its founder.

Of course, there are alternatives — for example, SmokeDex from Germany. But HTReviews has a strong advantage over it and other similar platforms. The website is very convenient when you want to check ratings, as well as reviews of different brands, manufacturers, and flavors.

Today, HTReviews has achieved incredible results: 700,000 visitors from 20 countries visit the portal every month.

I am very glad that Alexey Vaev and I have agreed to launch the joint Legendary Flavor project.

Hookah Insider:

Stanislav, it seems to us that there are more than ten variations of melon alone. How will the applicants be shortlisted?

Is there a chance that a truly worthy flavor may not make it into the top ten by mistake?

Stanislav Medkov:

You are right, there are definitely more variations. We will take the mechanics of the award from our colleagues in the wine industry.

In their case, manufacturers send their own product — a bottle of wine — to the experts’ table to be compared with other products in the same category. Whoever dares to enter the battle and sends their product gets a chance to win an award. That is the whole principle.

Hookah Insider:

Are you concerned that there may be a bias toward domestic brands, since the founders of the award are Russian?

Stanislav Medkov:

Yes, we are. That is why, as organizers, we decided to tell foreign brands about the project first, and only after that contact their Russian colleagues.

At the moment, we have already received confirmation from Tangiers that they will participate in all 20 flavor categories.

There are also several other interesting brands from different countries that we have reached agreements with, but I would prefer not to disclose their names yet.

Hookah Insider:

How can flavors be ranked when everyone’s perception is unique? For example, can you clearly decide which melon is better — Must Have or Tangiers?

Stanislav Medkov:

Good question. Between Violet by Must Have and Tangiers, I would probably choose Violet. But that is if I knew exactly what was in my bowl.

Now imagine a lineup of 10 hookahs: Violet by Must Have, Melon Blend by Tangiers, and eight more melon profiles from other dark tobacco manufacturers from different countries.

During a blind test, I will not know which brand is which. In that situation, it would be hard for me to predict what my choice would be.

Hookah Insider:

How difficult is it for even one person to decide which flavor is better or worse?

Stanislav Medkov:

In fact, it is not that difficult.

You receive 10 melon samples: sample A, sample B, and so on. You do not know which brands are inside.

You smoke all 10, record video notes, leave your own comments, and build your personal ranking — from the best sample to the worst. This is exactly the work the judges will do.

Hookah Insider:

Who will be selected as judges, and according to what principle?

Stanislav Medkov:

Over the 15-year history of Hookah Battle, we have gathered the names of several thousand participants in hookah competitions from 50 countries. They will form the pool of judges.

A good judge is someone who has been judged themselves. These people have traveled to different countries and presented their competition entries for evaluation.

There is only one problem: as I said, we have thousands of such people. We will try to choose the best and most experienced among them — 25 judges from 12 countries.

More than half of them are owners or managers of hookah lounges, and one third are owners of hookah shops.

Our judges are real experts: people who work directly with the end consumer through their businesses and who have achieved strong results in various professional competitions.

Hookah Insider:

Where will this battle take place, and how many days can it last, considering that each judge would have to try, if not smoke, 200 hookahs?

Stanislav Medkov:

It is important to avoid misunderstanding here. Legendary Flavor will not be held as one single event.

In reality, we will hold 20 events, each dedicated to a specific flavor profile.

For each event, five judges will be selected from the pool of 25. Moreover, they will be selected from those who volunteer to judge a particular flavor profile.

We will deliver 10 anonymized samples from different manufacturers to each of the five judges. I should note that this is not an easy task for us, because the judges are located in many different countries.

Each judge smokes 10 samples, creates a personal ranking, and records a short video report for each sample.

We collect this data from all five judges and release a mini-show in collaboration with hookah bloggers from different countries, where we announce the results of the battle for the best profile. The top 3 manufacturers receive medals.

So, 20 profiles means 20 events.

Hookah Insider:

Stanislav, how long do you think the whole project will last — all 20 nominations?

Stanislav Medkov:

About six months, from June to December 2026.

Hookah Insider:

Will you only work with medium strength? It seems difficult to compare light tobacco with strong tobacco.

Stanislav Medkov:

Yes, medium strength.

For light strength — Blonde Leaf — we may have a separate category. It definitely makes sense, since many foreign brands only produce this type of product.

Hookah Insider:

Are 20 nominations really enough? There must be just as many popular berry and fruit flavors alone.

Stanislav Medkov:

Perhaps 20 is not enough, but we are trying to assess our capabilities realistically. Organizing the entire international procedure within just one nomination is already a difficult task.

Twenty nominations is probably our maximum for this year. By the way, here are the 20 flavor profile nominations we have selected — see the illustration.