architeuthis
I see what you're doing!!
I don't like CA, and I find a LOT of regular guys who do cigar reviews are actually better at it than the CA guys...
Cigar Aficionado good mag?
- Thread starter muhren
- Start date
Totally corrupt money grabbing whores. Notice how on the cover AFICIONADO is always bigger than Cigar... they are stretching out beyond the smoker audience and be a men's leisure rag ... kinda like PLAYBOY without the tits.
Notice how the only cigars that are rated 100 are the ones you'll never smoke ? Always
the 15 year old Cubans they happen to get their hands on. And as mentioned before, the big advertisers get the big ratings.
During the cigar boom of the 90's they were the LAST ONES to notice that the craze was directly related to the decline in the quality of our beloved smokes.
That fat slob bastard Marvin Sharwhatever looks like he should be laid out in some alley behind a dumpster drinking Thunderbird and fighting a crack whore for the last rock rather than interviewing Fidel Castro on the geopolitics of the cigar trade or
rating a vintage Monte #2.
If they spent as much time on cigars as they do on the ads , maybe just maybe it would be worth a read. Totally disgusting
Notice how the only cigars that are rated 100 are the ones you'll never smoke ? Always
the 15 year old Cubans they happen to get their hands on. And as mentioned before, the big advertisers get the big ratings.
During the cigar boom of the 90's they were the LAST ONES to notice that the craze was directly related to the decline in the quality of our beloved smokes.
That fat slob bastard Marvin Sharwhatever looks like he should be laid out in some alley behind a dumpster drinking Thunderbird and fighting a crack whore for the last rock rather than interviewing Fidel Castro on the geopolitics of the cigar trade or
rating a vintage Monte #2.
If they spent as much time on cigars as they do on the ads , maybe just maybe it would be worth a read. Totally disgusting
Fourtotheflush
BoM Apr 12'
I totally agree with you here. To a point. I think that most of the bloggers do a great job with detailed reviews and CA only gives you a snippet of information. And that snippet is typically only the 1st inch or so of a cigar.....
:angerhead
On the other end of the spectrum you have bloggers stating that they are tasting cardamum and star anise and thai basil in their cigars. Totally ridiculous. Ive seen a couple state crazy things like the above. Ive reviewed a couple where I went over the top with some crazy taste profiles.
I have subscribed and read it cover to cover for years. To me it is like GQ; a lifestyle magazine. I give it as a gift subscription to a couple buddies every year.
Anyone here been in one of the pictures in the back of the issues?
Anyone here been in one of the pictures in the back of the issues?
I recently subscribed and am somewhat happy with it although I did expect more meat and potatoes articles but I'm probably not its primary taget audience due to my less than 6 figure salary and hobbies or lack of (I don't play golf).
ciggy
"TommyBoy"
I get it but wouldn't say I love it. It's an ok read but I find it leans toward the upperclass and can be a bit bias. About the only thing I like is the discription of new cigars or cc's I'm not privy to. I probibly will not renew.
Exactly how I feel. I feel they're a bit bias and target the high-class audience rather than the cigar community as a whole. I do check out their issues once in a great while though.
BrooksW
BoM June '09
While I have never tasted any of the above, I HAVE tasted some weird flavors...remember that for the most part, you are not actually "Tasting" any flavors (other then tobacco), but your mind is taking what you are tasting, and converting it into flavors that you are familiar with (or the closest to it that you are familiar with)...
For example, while smoking the Cohiba Gran Reserva (review here, fwiw), I SWORE I tasted Honeysuckle....When I was growing up (in a military family) I lived for 3 years in Panama, and we would go around and pull the stems out of Honeysuckle plants and suck on them...
Now, do I think that the tobacco ACTUALLY tasted like Honeysuckle (or had Honeysuckle in it?) No, of course not...but that is what INSTANTLY popped into my mind while I was smoking it, and that is what I tasted...
Hope that helps!
~brooks
Agreed. Much like wine––you're not drinking herbs, you're not drinking soil, you're not drinking berries, etc., you're drinking crushed and fermented grapes. But, depending on the terroir, the method of fermentation, the blend, etc. both grapes and tobacco can yield all kinds of flavors that, as Brooks said, are merely your mind's interpretation of what you're tasting and smelling, both of which are heavily connected to memories.
As far as going over the top, well . . . until reviewers start talking about tasting shrimp cocktail or foie gras, I'll hold back on that kind of criticism. There's nothing remotely absurd about any of those flavors you mention (at least they're all in the plant family). I think the problem lies more in people's perception of the nature of cigar reviewing (and sometimes this lies with the reviewer himself): for some reason, there are people out there who assume that what people are tasting have anything to do with some objectifiably determinable or quantifiable flavor or aroma that they've gotten "right." For me, reading cigar reviews is more interesting for how they disclose the reviewer's thought-process, including his assessment on what he's tasting.
How many reviews have we read that say roughly the same thing about a given number of cigars and their profiles––leather, chocolate, coffee, pepper, earth? Read ten Tat reviews on the web and about six or seven of them will say that's what they taste. Why, then, the difference in the assessments if they all present the same basic flavors and smell? There's the issue of strength, the harmony of flavors, the way the flavors develop, etc. Good reviewers, to me, are the ones who allow me access to what the cigar made them think....
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Following their declarartion of the cigar of the year I bought 3 of them on another forum. It was a disgusting cigar with what looked like a tree branch in it. it was a 3" long peice of very hard tobacco vein. very poor for a "cigar of the year " or is just who spends most on advertising ?:sarcastic
Agreed. Love the articales, the cars and stuff. Fun to read their concept of cigars. I take it all with a grain of salt as they do make money advertising. Fun mag.
Another ditto...
I just started subscribing to it this year and have enjoyed it. The articles have been good and while I don't agree with some of the ratings some seem to be right on. Maybe its being preferential to advertisers or maybe it's the stick they happened to smoke... I dunno. Not for me to judge.
I just started subscribing to it this year and have enjoyed it. The articles have been good and while I don't agree with some of the ratings some seem to be right on. Maybe its being preferential to advertisers or maybe it's the stick they happened to smoke... I dunno. Not for me to judge.
It has very pretty pioctures in it. I distrust most of what is said by "experts"...know the definition of an expert? That's a fella who is afraid to learn anything new, 'cause then he would not be an "expert"!
I thumb thru it at my B&M if there is nothing else to do...no one else in the lounge to talk to..
Mostly I think it is a venue for advertizers to try to convince you to spend too much money for their products..and not just cigars....
I thumb thru it at my B&M if there is nothing else to do...no one else in the lounge to talk to..
Mostly I think it is a venue for advertizers to try to convince you to spend too much money for their products..and not just cigars....