[beercritic]

Got my trial issue today. More than 1/2 of it was advertising. Golfing? in a cigar magazine? C'mon. I really don't care about celebrity "personalities," And there were reviews about camcorders, Tawny Ports (somewhat reasonable content), watches, a food slicer? Islands A car, a sport GPS, and a page on Shining Shoes? WTF? Damned little information on cigars. The interview with Alex Bradley was interesting, and the (useless to me) article on unobtainable Cubans was an OK read. Abbreviated anonymous blurbs posing as reviews about loads of cigars, mostly for folks who have no lack of $$.

I've seriously had better reads from cigar catalogs.

Is it safe to assume they also publish Malt Advocate? And, if so, does it also suck?


Venting,

Joe

 

[ChiTownHustler]

The topic was recently discussed here and ended with someone getting banned

 

[beercritic]

Appreciate the heads-up on the thread. I still need to know where the "non-permissible" line is drawn. I'm aware that personal attacks are not tolerated in most places (this is a good thing, IMO). Politeness does count. And folks should be able to disagree without resorting to stuff that'll degrade the quality of the site.

Joe

 

[Zogg]

In other news, it's a magazine. they have lots of easily accessible content on their website for free, grab any random magazine and its usually at least 50% ad's for stuff you are "statistically most likely to be interested in"

for instance...

Car magazines filled with highly modded imports will have nearly naked women selling men's deodorant or something, because most people who buy those magazines are young men. etc etc.


if you buy a car magazine such as luxy auto direct which is aimed more towards middle-aged well off business men, you'll see expensive watch ads, golf advertisements and other luxury items

its all marketing. *shrug*

 

[piperdown]

Appreciate the heads-up on the thread. I still need to know where the "non-permissible" line is drawn. I'm aware that personal attacks are not tolerated in most places (this is a good thing, IMO). Politeness does count. And folks should be able to disagree without resorting to stuff that'll degrade the quality of the site.

Joe

I suppose I try and treat others in this way:
They are right in front of me, I've just been introduced, and they are a potential client, partner or friend of the boss.
As you read more on Puff you'll get an idea.

As for CA....well, they're trying to keep in business where a lot of print magazines are either struggling or have failed. I also remember an article from a while back (not in CA, interviewing an editor?) that they are selling a lifestyle that happens to include cigars.

 

[Nathan King]

The topic was recently discussed here and ended with someone getting banned

I was the one that started the thread in question and was sort of shocked with how it ended up as my goal was only to spark conversation on two specific ratings, not to provide a thread aimed at denigrating the magazine with baseless accusations. Cigar Aficionado has its place in the world of cigars. Cigar related content in the print magazine is slightly more sparse than I would like; however, it is important to remember that cigars are a niche market. Magazines such as Cigar Aficionado must sometimes make business decisions and diversify to meet needed profit demands. The magazine still provides very useful services to those of us that enjoy a fine cigar.

And yes, I have actually bought something the magazine advertised. I'm serious about my caffè lattes and was willing to shell out the cash for an espresso machine they reviewed. It's a wonderful piece of equipment and extracts flavors from my beans that no other machine can.

 

[Richterscale]

It's definitely a Lifestyle magazine. I may not agree with their review process I still find it an enjoyable magazine. I happen to like The Good Life... it's a great part of the magazine IMO.

 

[Big Bull]

Got my trial issue today. More than 1/2 of it was advertising. Golfing? in a cigar magazine? C'mon. I really don't care about celebrity "personalities," And there were reviews about camcorders, Tawny Ports (somewhat reasonable content), watches, a food slicer? Islands A car, a sport GPS, and a page on Shining Shoes? WTF? Damned little information on cigars. The interview with Alex Bradley was interesting, and the (useless to me) article on unobtainable Cubans was an OK read. Abbreviated anonymous blurbs posing as reviews about loads of cigars, mostly for folks who have no lack of $$.

I've seriously had better reads from cigar catalogs.

Is it safe to assume they also publish Malt Advocate? And, if so, does it also suck?

Venting,

Joe

The same guy who publishes Cigar aficionado also publishes Wine Spectator.

It's the same thing....just with you guessed it wine.

 

[beercritic]

Oh, well. That's what a trial issue is for. Trial. I was hoping for more gar related stuff. Can't fault them for trying to stay alive in the world of printed zines.

Joe

 

[HectorL]

i looked through a couple issues before but never felt compelled to buy any...

 

[miket156]

Being a life-long musician, I've had subscriptions to Keyboard magazine for years. It got the same criticism from subscribers: Too many ads, to little content. Although music is more about substance than style, The magazine crossed the line for me when they started publishing stories by "artists" that couldn't sing or play their way out of a paper bag. uke:

Unlike CA, Keyboard is not about lifestyle. CA can cover a lot of ground in areas where the average cigar Joe has no use for, but the average financially successful person might. In order to attract a wide audience, you have to appeal to a lot of people. Diversify, diversify.


Cheers,


Mike T.

 

[alboogie7]

i just subscribed for 2 years worth of issues for 2.08 an issue..not bad...

 

[Kypt]

I used to have a sub to it and dropped it many years ago. I expect the mass of ads, but it started moving away from being cigar centric and I didn't like it. I can read about my Leer jet and Veyron in other mags. ( I have neither) :rotfl:

 

[beercritic]

I can understand a paper based medium to be struggling, and at $2 an issue, it might be a worthwhile read. I suppose that the "Cigar" being much smaller than "Aficionado" might have been intentionally.


Joe

 

[Cigary]

I get that CA has it's followers and those that are critical about them whether it be their ratings, their ads or anything else they espouse. I read it but don't have to buy as I get my copy free so I read it with a grain of salt and do enjoy things about it that are relevant to me. Now, having said that I'd like to pose something that I think we are missing and that is it's a CIGAR magazine. It hosts more than just ratings or pictures of Astin Martins and Rolex Watches. It does serve a viable interest for those that espouse it's ok to smoke cigars. Would I change things if I were to be King of CA? Yep I would but the magazine tends to still be successful nonetheless without my help. I'd rather there be a magazine out there that manages to spread the word in an adult manner and with a bit of class rather than having the Cigar Movement choose Hustler Magazine or some other rag that just might denigrate Cigar Smokers as the rude crude fatasses that most people want to think we are as it is.

We need to let the non smoking lobby understand that we as Cigar Smokers aren't people who run around with a cigar hanging out of our mouths and wearing wife beater T Shirts with a slogan on it saying....Deer Hunting: Find One With A Big Rack And Mount It. At some point in time we need to take ourselves seriously and not let non smoking lobbyists keep the pressure on us and defeat us without even trying very hard...let's not beat ourselves. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Richterscale]

We need to let the non smoking lobby understand that we as Cigar Smokers aren't people who run around with a cigar hanging out of our mouths and wearing wife beater T Shirts with a slogan on it saying....Deer Hunting: Find One With A Big Rack And Mount It.

Speak for yourself!! haha sorry man I couldn't resist. I agree with you completely.

 

[HWiebe]

I buy CA (cause it's cheaper to buy at Chapters than to subscribe here in Canada... Go figure) and I do enjoy the reviews and interviews with cigar insiders. Every now and then it's interesting to read the celebrity BOTL stories too. I love the cigar of the year editions. You have to understand that printed media is dying and all the adds are there to keep it afloat. People get their info from websites these days, not paper reference so the fact that they still exist is a bonus for all BOTLs.

Gary's right. The mag paints our obsession in a far more favorable light than the majority of non BOTLs prejudge us to be. Let's not hate on our own here. They are out there trying to fight for our rights as BOTLs! Let's support them!

 

[alboogie7]

I can understand a paper based medium to be struggling, and at $2 an issue, it might be a worthwhile read. I suppose that the "Cigar" being much smaller than "Aficionado" might have been intentionally.

Joe

funny

 

[miket156]

I buy CA (cause it's cheaper to buy at Chapters than to subscribe here in Canada... Go figure) and I do enjoy the reviews and interviews with cigar insiders. Every now and then it's interesting to read the celebrity BOTL stories too. I love the cigar of the year editions. You have to understand that printed media is dying and all the adds are there to keep it afloat. People get their info from websites these days, not paper reference so the fact that they still exist is a bonus for all BOTLs.

Gary's right. The mag paints our obsession in a far more favorable light than the majority of non BOTLs prejudge us to be. Let's not hate on our own here. They are out there trying to fight for our rights as BOTLs! Let's support them!

You bring up an excellent point, thank you. I really didn't think of CA in those terms until you offered your insight in the overall situation with smokers/non-smokers. The beef I've heard so far is that there is not enough content about cigars, and more content about the lifestyle. Most of us don't live in the higher income brackets to buy what CA advertisers are selling.

But as you pointed out, there is plenty of negative publicity about smoking in general; we need to support "our" magazine and not "hate our own".

Cheers,

Mike T.