Now that some dust has settled on Cigar Aficionado unveiling their 2019 best-of list, with the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro having won the one-spot -- now that I've talked about it here & there & already -- I feel it's time for a definitive assessment. Where else but in the written form can you so well write for the ages & assemble terrible sentences such as the previous? Here's what I got...
I should say that this is not an examination of the cigars on the list. It's instead an examination of the list itself & the publication which posits said list. Since prior to the unfurling of the Top 25, I noted less than an average amount of buzz pertaining to the then-forthcoming news. In years past, there seemed significantly more 'handicapping' of what was to come, both by media & consumers. Now that we know the numero uno, I don't see a lot of buzz surrounding it, either.
Also what I've noticed & bitched about during 2019 is something which figures heavily here & which I'll break down further... that being Cigar Aficionado's apparent swing to more nascent cigar smokers -- a thing that flies in the face of 1/2 its name. This is on display via rudimentary articles posted online & shared thru social media platforms, seemingly to attract the noobs -- not retain the more seasoned smokers.
There's a series on how to spot 'fake Cubans.' Other articles on how to cut, light, & ash a cigar, how to store tubos, & "Should I Remove the Band on My Cigar While Smoking?" There is more, but the gist is hopefully got. I suppose you can say, & maybe rightly-so, that this is needed content in order to keep up with the blogs. Problem is, blogs do it better & CA is supposedly (again) for aficionados. What/whoever those are.
You can also say that CA needs, like any biz, to expand its scope. The best way to do this is to welcome new smokers, therefore readers, to the fold. But what about welcoming new Aficionados instead? Doesn't that seem nicer? Also, I mentioned blogs but won't again. I want this to be more of a print media assessment. To that end, what we got?
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& there you see where Cigar Aficionado is at. Mostly. Add to this sitch that they run on ads which cost an arm & a leg. This is of particular interest because it prices out boutiques. Their review prerequisites also eliminate those teeny companies. I think this is the heart of the matter. "Aficionados," whom I'm comfier calling seasoned smokers, are gravitating toward the boutique market. Thusly directly away from Cigar Aficionado. These boutiques have zilch voice in print media, CA specifically.
CA, at the end of the day, is right where they were cornered into, & willingly-so. It works for them, their advertisers, and also for newer smokers who like to feel better about themselves than they perhaps should. But that, in truth, begins well before they buy their first copy. That begins when they read all about cigars online before they smoke a month's worth of time. They hit the ground running & never look back. Also, they never learn to learn from their own experience & are maybe 'doomed' to miss the expert mark. It's a critical thinking personal experience thing which they lack.
Lack. "But why the lack of buzz, Kap?" you may ask. Simply, it's because people pick up new hobbies all the time -- & put them back down almost as often. So maybe CA ain't sitting so pretty, with a new fickle audience & while further alienating the more steadfast crowd. Also, they're a fucking magazine, mostly. Good luck to all magazines -- they sure need it. I just don't think websites are a fad. Media paying less attn. to the 25 is just them/us knowing their/our audiences.
In closing & in exception to the rule posited above, it sure was nice to see Warped on the list at #3. It'd be a great 2020 if the folks choose to reply to my emails sometime in the next 363 days or-so. I had zero luck units in '19.
::: very :::