I never have much and never cared for the mag as its the cell phone OS equivelent of "bloat ware."

They give me ideas but I don't get the cult following of it other than revenue and being the I guess first publication to gain world wide fame.

And after reading this: http://www.cigaraficionado.com/blogs/show/id/17025

I get it but I don't.
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Zero. I did have some interest when Suckling was still with the magazine, but he's gone.
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I take absolutely ZERO stock in any of Cigar Aficionados reviews. When your scale is from 96 (best I've seen) to an 86 (worst I've seen)...doesn't leave much room for in between. If I smoked a cigar and thought it was an 86 (based on a scale of 100), I'd say it was a pretty damn good stick. Now if it was a 96, I'd say it was fantastic. If it sucks...why not give it a score of 6? ------Rant off------ :-)

While I faithfully read it each month...still waiting for the day when I purchase my first $ 5,000 pen, $ 35,000 watch and a Lamborghini. :-) :-)
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I subscribe, look forward to getting the magazine and reading it when it arrives. I can't remember buying a cigar related to their reviews, but read each one regardless.

As far as how much stock I put in their reviews and top 25.... Well, about the same as I do with anyone's....:-)
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I don't know ANYONE that puts 15% worth of the cigars overall rating into the appearance.:-)
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i prefer the thoughts and reviews of the inmates here over Ca....people here dont get a dime everytime they say they like a cigar. :-)
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I think you get all that at your 10 year subscription mark, Mac.

Iirc, they smoke an inch or two, and then write a review based on that, and pitch the Cigar
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A big fat 0. How am I going to take the word of someone who I have never meet or talked too. I don't know what they like, or even if they smoke the whole thing (might just be rumors but I had been told they smoke half and done. And it wasn't from my bro). This is my opion.
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I did not know that. When did that happen and any knowledge surrounding his departure? I'm not saying this as a gay derogatory statement but he was always a bit to "fruity" for me. I enjoy David's blogs though.
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As with any reviewer - be it cigars, wine, food, guitars, cars etc - I find someone whose tastes/interests/preferences are in line with my own, and place their reviews higher than others.


That being said, I've never placed any stock in cigar aficionado's reviews. I do find some of their other articles interesting though.
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I'm on about 7 cigar forums in one form or another and have quickly gravitated to this place the most frequently and just started posting quite a bit as I wanted to observe the ebb and flow. This is the most user friendly in terms of members, non-elitest, by far the most hilarious and like that its so diverse in the cigars talked about and doesn't sack ride a particular brand or two. A passionate group yet down to earth.
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Reviews are like opinions and opinions are like a$$holes,everyone has one.
Coming from the pompous morons at CA makes them that much less important.
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I like to hear that.

We've got a pretty good group here that is well balanced. We're not without our warts but the people are proud of what they've built here.
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Brian skim through the link I posted and read Gordon's comments in the comment section on that. That was the straw that broke the camels back for me but do agree with a statement he made and Im paraphrasing "like most things if you start out a cigar and get a little into it and hate it you aren't going to wait an hour to see if it transitions into something you might like."
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As well as they should be. Its a great eclitic place. Not often do I read a few members posts then make note of them and seek their posts daily. "Lockspur" absolutely cracks me up. My same sense of humor but figured I best get known a bit before releasing the hounds.
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this is the only forum i am on....and if you say this is the "most user friendly in terms of members, non-elitest, by far the most hilarious and like that its so diverse in the cigars talked about and doesn't sack ride a particular brand or two. A passionate group yet down to earth." then i dont think i am missing anything on the other forums.
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thats because Scotty aint right :-) :-)
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Like many have said, I am not influenced by CA reviews, though I read them every issue.

Myself and others have mentioned it before, but over time on the site here you will often find an inmate or two who seem to have very similar tastes you, and it is those friends whos reviews I will be most interested in reading.
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I guess it depends on your perspective. My favorite two brands are almost exclusively very very hard to find so I like to bounce through other forums posting here and there, start with some entry level trades to establish trust amongst the community and through that to get access to secondary market purchases and trades.

To be fair I don't hate everything about CA and there is some good info and I like their "beyond the brand" videos and such but I despise and will never again post nor visit the CA forums. What a bunch of just complete a-holes for the most part. CP has some great members but not quite as diverse as here. Frankly I really like how laxed it is here in that you can be a complete smart ass and politically incorrect (obviously not grossly over PI) and people just pile on it and embrace it. Its like hanging out with your buds in person.

The attitude here where members don't act like party line voting Republican and Democrats and if its not "their" brand or someone says something they don't like about it they jump down their throat and flame them is refreshing. Its also as I think I mentioned before its not just people posting pics of R&HTF sticks that few have access to. Its like some of those guys have some serious small dick issues they need to boost themselves up on a cigar forum by posting pics of a cigar. My .02 guess I should get off my soapbox but at 6'4" its more like a 1/4 sheet of plywood =P

Back to the topic, this I found interesting, disturbing and somewhat making sense...

From Gordon Mott -- "We do not smoke all of the cigar, but after injudiciously saying once that I (I don't speak for all the tasters) only get the cigar "running," in tobacco speak, before giving it a final rating, I have revised that comment. I have observed my process carefully since that statement, and I spend somewhere between 20 to 30 minutes on each cigar...smoking three to four during an afternoon of tasting with some time to clear my palate between each cigar. As always, just as in the Wine Spectator, all cigars are tasted blind except where otherwise noted. Our scores are meant to provide a guide for consumers to make selections based on flavor and performance--I will, and have always argued, with smokers and cigar smokers who say "you have to get to the 2nd half of my cigar to the good part." That just doesn't work for 99 percent of normal consumers of any product--and carries about as much weight as saying, Open that bottle of wine 24 hours before your dinner party...it will be ready to drink by then. If a cigar tastes poorly at the outset, very few people will wait out the 20 to 40 minutes to get to the "good part." That doesn't mean it won't acquire some different flavor profiles, but I would wager that in 20 years of rating cigars, the number of times a bad cigar has turned great could be counted on one hand."

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I don't go out of my way to read the magazine, although when I do, I find their interviews to typically be well put together journalism. As for their reviews, I might pay attention to their profile notes, but I couldn't care less about their ratings numbers.
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