How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Zero. I did have some interest when Suckling was still with the magazine, but he's gone.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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------ :2

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. :r :r

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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....:sh

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I don't know ANYONE that puts 15% worth of the cigars overall rating into the appearance.:cf2

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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. :2

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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."

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

thats because Scotty aint right :r :r

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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."

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

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.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Is that the Paragraph you copied a few posts down?
Don't encourage Scotty... Nor Jason (Bigjaygee or whatever haha) :tu

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Yes sir.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I don't read Cigar Aficionado, but this statement really bugs me. I have not had many (if any) cigars go from bad to great, but I've had many go from mediocre to good or good to great. On the reverse, I've had several that started out good and went bad, for various reasons, at the halfway point or thereabouts. IMO, it's just plain lazy to judge a cigar by the first 1/3 or 1/2 (unless it sucks).

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Read it, interesting...

With me I have found a couple Guys on C Asylum have similar tastes as me, so I'll keep their Reviews in mind. I like to try new Cigars as often as possible. I've been smoking for 3ish years, and I haven't smoked 1/20th of the Cigars out there. Always try new things :tu

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I agree - sort of.
I understand what you're saying and know that cigars will change somewhat. But if I'm not enjoying a cigar 1/3 of the way into it, I'm pitching it and lighting something else.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I put stock into some CA reviews.....Cigar Asylum :tu

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Just playing devils advocate here and not necessarily endorsing the CA top 25, but they are just that, the top 25. This implies that there are dozens, or hundreds below these, so a range of 85-96 seems appropriate. One would assume that those below the top 25 should automatically score lower.

For those who said that the reviews here on this CA are more valuable, I would have to agree with. Cigar reviews in terms of taste are entirely subjective though, which is why many reviewers break the scores down into categories, such as build, draw, etc.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I agree to a point...price point. I have my favs and do expand but for example a brand IMO that gets too much hype for what they put out and how they select who gets what is Viaje. There is a B&M near that gets their stuff in but is not an "authorized merchant" for whatever that is worth and he is a huge distributor and sells at or below MSRP on some items (no idea how) and I might pick up and try one from him but the notion of finding these sticks and how the company comes off to me discourages me from them. I'm not going to spend over $15 on a over hyped / ultra rare / very limited edition when I wouldn't want to give the brand my money in the first place. Hope that kinda makes sense.

I will however if I find a stick I like a bit there is something not quite "there" for me I'll try a different vitola of it as I am very into and firm in the philosophy of the trifecta of wrapper, filler and binder ratios and how they play on the flavor and strength profile. Recent examples being Undercrown and MUWAT. The smaller sizes are dramatically different than that of even a 50 RG going down to a 44 RG to 46 RG for those particular blends.

I'm the same way hence why I get leery on the $15+ sticks and if I want them despite how I feel about the two big auction sites being a little low on quality of care of sticks (i.e. arriving dry or cracked) I try and snag them there when I see them.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Yet look at their regular reviews, I can't remember seeing more than a handful of reviews under 84 in all the years I've read their magazine.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Yea, I won't go super crazy whenever I go into a BM. I do like to try and get different vitolas as well.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Sorry for post whoring today but moms day is a tough day for me and trying to not be stuck in my head about it.

I agree but also thought about other comments in that article about what the differences in a few bucks for a cigar with similar ratings to the top 25 landed them on the "best budget or value" sticks in the same issue. That does not make sense to me.

Not to mention taking the full advice of just a handful of guys as "experts" just does not make sense in this industry. Whether or not you love or loathe him I love Brian at Cigar Obsession and his vid reviews (which I normally do not like) as I find his opinion more in line with the "average joe" not to mention he is quite humors IMO. I'd take his reviews or Seth's Humidor, Cigar Coop and forums like these over CA any day.

This years #1 one after trying a few and reading about how they are judged blew me away. Its a very good cigar IMO but knowing they smoked only 20-30 mins of it they did not even allow that cigar to show its full potential as it starts out very good and IMO, and not that I am trying to validate it, I've smoked it differently and mentioned to people about smoking it a bit differently and got a overwhelming positive consensus on it, it blooms into a excellent stick. I guess what I'm saying is any cigar can start off with a bang and turn to sh!t and many many can start off good and turn to excellent in just 20 mins which they could never account for due to their ratings.

A recent example is the over priced hyped RP 50. What a dud. And I'd like to try the new RP birthday stick but sorry not paying $18 for one from a company that puts out cigars like Walmart does stores.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I think you agree with me all the way. If a cigar sucks, chuck it. My point was about a decent cigar getting better through gaining complexity, not toughing out a crappy cigar in the hopes of it getting better.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

This is true, but I can't imagine that it's advantageous for them to take up valuable print real estate for dog rockets. I see how it can skew the image of the scale though. My thought is that they don't necessarily give high grades to every cigar, rather, they focus one those that they deem deserving. Maybe it would lend them extra credibility to throw in some low rated, truly awful budget cigars as a benchmark for comparison.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

As a lot of people have said I respect the reviews on the Asylum more then anywhere. Every once in awhile I'm still disappointed. I know my likes and stick within that range, unless I read a good review or I'm gifted something then I give it a shot.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Or even some expensive dog rockets....How about a 42 for theTatuaje Lil Drac? ;)

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I tend to trust people over reviews written for the masses, when I say people I mean people I know and smoke with, I know that if Peter and Angel like a stick I will like it, their pallets are similar to mine, I am sure they are much more refined but I haven't been let down by asking their opinions on a particular stick I'm interested in.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Ya think? ;) :r

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Just a smidge ;) In all seriousness, even when I'm looking at a box of something I haven't tried or that has a few years on it, I always ask peter first, steers me away from the real dog rockets. I am just not comfortable buying a box on some person's word that I don't know or have trust built up in. (and well my pallet might be a bit more refined than Angel's :D :r )

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Your pallet may be a lot of things, but I guarantee you Angel's palate is worlds more refined than yours. :r

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

muy poco, but I like to see what might be new out there. I don't read CA, but am on their e-mail list and get sent their Top 25 list. The boys aboard the USS Green Bay love reading it, however, and I save the issues I get for their monthly box.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

:gary

I actually do like Ca's interviews with celebrities and will look over their top of the year list, but that's about where it stops.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Do they avoid smoking Gurkhas?

I did have a patient Friday in the ER mention he smoked cigars-he exclusively smokes Gurkhas from Cigars International. It didn't end up being much of a cigar discussion after that.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

:r

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I trust the reviews here more than anything else. I don't read CA.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I'm not a huge fan of CA. I trust other people I smoke with and know cigars, and also reviews and comments from members here. I find CA to be a bit biased in their findings. It's a nice reference but I routinely am not a fan of some of the sticks they rate highly. It all goes back to smoking what YOU find delicious.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I trust this place and halfwheel...Before I smoke a new (to me) cigar I search here for help on what to expect. I've also realized I have the palate of a dead goat and can't taste mulberry, cinnamon or Virgin Cuban thighs...Helps point out what to look for even if I can't find/taste it...

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

:tpd:
zero as i find that their taste preference is wayyyy.. different than mine...

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I appreciate the vote for halfwheel, however I'd put as much stock in our Top 25 as many other unbiased blogs (I don't consider ca unbiased, but that's just my opinion).

The main problem with ours is that's the Top 25 from what we've reviewed - not everything that was released that year. And of course, though it's averaged out from four of us, it's still our opinion.

Our Consensus Top 25 however...that's a much different story. Charlie painstakingly takes all the cigar blogs he can get his hands on (over 50 for 2012), takes their top lists, formulates everything into an averaged list, and then gets a Top 25 list from that. I honestly can't find a list that I agree with more of the top cigars than that one.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

I look at CA for the ads of all the stuff I can't afford :)

I was impressed with their choice of FDLA this year though. It's my favorite $5 stick.

Re: How much stock do you really put into the CA reviews and top 25?
 

Being they get advertisement revenue and probably a wink, wink, nod, nod for favorable reviews, I don't put much in their reviews. I don't know their review process, but if one guy is doing the robusto group, he's working his azz off trying to categorize 20 or more cigars monthly. If more than one is reviewing said group, they probably have different tastes and it skews things.

I do like product reviews, but I hate movie reviews. I like recipe reviews. Don't care much for beer reviews. I like to judge my own flicks and brews. For cigars, I like Cigar Asylum reviews best of all. I feel we all are unbiased and aren't afraid to call a spade a spade, plus being a member for a while, I kinda know what folks like and dislike. That being said, I do like to make my own opinion about a smoke.