Abstract: To evaluate the moisture retention performance of cigarettes more comprehensively and objectively, ten representative cigarette brands were selected for this research. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) and gas chromatography (GC) were used to evaluate key indicators, such as the equilibrium moisture content and the drying rate constant (k value) of cut filler, the water-binding state and the total moisture content in the mainstream smoke. The CRITIC weighting approach was used to establish a comprehensive evaluation method for cigarette moisture retention performance, calculating objective weight coefficients for these indicators. The results showed that: 1) There were significant differences in equilibrium moisture content among the cigarette brands (11.67%-13.17%), with moisture predominantly existing as strongly bound water (T₂₁ peak integration area proportion >88%). The total moisture content in mainstream smoke ranged from 8.358 to 12.330 mg/g, while the drying rate constant varied between 0.289 5 and 0.376 1. 2) The CRITIC-derived weight coefficients for the four indicators — equilibrium moisture content of cut filler, proportion of strongly bound water, total moisture in mainstream smoke and drying rate constant — were 0.168 4, 0.214 7, 0.308 9 and 0.308 1, respectively. 3) A comprehensive evaluation of the moisture retention performance of different cigarettes revealed that their comprehensive moisture retention performance scores ranged from 61.78 to 97.90 points, with significant differences. In summary, a comprehensive evaluation method based on four cigarette indicators was established, which effectively reflected the objective differences between the moisture retention performance of different brands of cigarettes, and thus providing a useful approach for evaluating the moisture retention performance of cigarettes comprehensively.