Big Tony,
I have a log. It's grown so much that I now call it the Big Log. When I got serious about cigars I decided to keep track -- a spreadsheet was the answer. I tracked online costs, my inventory, size, shape, wrapper, binder, filler, country, others' ratings, my own views, etc. I've reached the point, however, where I know what I like, a good value, and where to go to get both without spending time with it. So the Big Log's not getting much bigger. A log is a good tool to accelerate through the steepest part of the learning curve, however, and I'd recommend using one.