Cigar Aficionado

Cigar Aficionado is an American magazine that is dedicated to the world of cigars. Published since September 1992, the magazine is known for its articles about different brands of cigars worldwide, and for the celebrities that have appeared on its cover. It is also noted for its opposition to the Cuban embargo. The magazine was launched by Marvin R. Shanken's M. Shanken Communications, the publisher of Wine Spectator magazine since 1976. The current editor is David Savona.

Cigar Aficionado
Cigar Aficionado has regularly used cigar-smoking celebrities on its covers, such as this issue featuring actor William Shatner.
EditorDavid Savona
Total circulation
(December 2014)
256,355[1]
First issueFall 1992
CompanyM. Shanken Communications
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.cigaraficionado.com
ISSN1063-7885

Publication history

Origins

Cigar Aficionado magazine debuted in the fall of 1992, launched in New York City by Marvin R. Shanken, longtime publisher of Wine Spectator magazine. Prior to launching the publication, Shanken engaged in extensive market research, collecting more than 1300 four-page surveys of cigar smokers which detailed their occupation, income, net worth, travel tendencies, as well as their drinking and smoking habits.[2] Survey results revealed a well-heeled and dedicated male demographic, with survey respondents professing an average household income of $194,000 and a net worth of $1.54 million and claiming to smoke on average ten cigars per week.[2] Shanken launched a large-format glossy magazine aimed at corralling these readers and advertisers of products targeted to this audience.

Cigar Aficionado began as a lifestyle magazine, including coverage of wine, spirits, travel, gambling, and antiques, in addition to interviews with leading personalities in the cigar industry and feature articles relating to the cigarmaking industry. From the beginning the magazine emphasized interviews with celebrity cigar smokers, including cover stories on Rush Limbaugh,[3] Bill Cosby,[4] George Burns,[5] Jack Nicholson,[6] and Arnold Schwarzenegger.[7] The new magazine's successful blending of lifestyle reports and celebrity glitz has been credited with contributing to the 1990s cigar boom.

The publication scored its first great journalistic coup on February 4, 1994, when editor and publisher Shanken met Fidel Castro in Havana for a two-hour interview.[8] During this interview Castro recounted the story behind the establishment of the Cohiba brand, told stories of the importance of cigars to his life as a revolutionary in the mountains of Cuba, and explained his decision to give up cigar smoking in August 1986 as part of a national campaign against tobacco use.[8] In addition to these topics of special interest to cigar smokers, the interview touched upon bilateral relations between the United States and Cuba, during the course of which Castro accused the United States of repeatedly "moving the goalposts back" for ending the Cuban economic embargo and said that "no other country has as unblemished behavior about human rights" as Cuba.[8]

Ratings

From its inception, Cigar Aficionado has made use of blind taste testing of cigars, comparing the merits of one brand to another, expressed on the basis of a 100-point scale similar to the one successfully used in sister publication Wine Spectator.[9]

Cigar of the Year

YearCigarRatingFactory LocationRef.
2020E.P. Carrillo Pledge Prequel98Dominican Republic[10]
2019Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro96Nicaragua[11]
2018E.P. Carrillo Encore Majestic96Dominican Republic[12]
2017Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Shark97Dominican Republic[13]
2016La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull96Dominican Republic[14]
2015My Father Le Bijou 1922 Torpedo Box Pressed97Nicaragua[15]
2014Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado96Nicaragua[16]
2013Montecristo No. 296Cuba[17]
2012Flor de las Antillas Toro96Nicaragua[18]
2011Alec Bradley Prensado Churchill96Honduras[19]
2010Cohiba Behike BHK 5297Cuba[20]
2009Padrón Family Reserve No. 45 Maduro95Nicaragua[21]
2008Casa Magna Colorado Robusto93Nicaragua[22]
2007Padrón Serie 1926 No. 997Nicaragua[23]
2006Bolivar Royal Corona94Cuba[24]
2005Fuente Fuente OpusX Double Corona95Dominican Republic[25]
2004Padrón Serie 1926 40th Anniversary93Nicaragua[26]

See also

References

  1. "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Alliance for Audited Media. June 30, 2012. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  2. "Welcome to the Cigar Aficionado Club," Cigar Aficionado, vol. 1, no. 1 (Autumn 1992), pg. 11.
  3. Cigar Aficionado, Spring 1994.
  4. Cigar Aficionado, Autumn 1994.
  5. Cigar Aficionado, Winter 1994.
  6. Cigar Aficionado, Summer 1995.
  7. Cigar Aficionado, Summer 1996.
  8. Marvin R Shanken, "A Conversation with Fidel," Cigar Aficionado, vol. 2, no. 4 (Summer 1994), pp. 46-59.
  9. See, for example, "Robusto Blind Tasting," Cigar Aficionado, vol. 1, no. 1 (Autumn 1992), pp. 30-35.
  10. "Top 25 Cigars of 2020". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  11. "Top 25 Cigars of 2019". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  12. "Top 25 Cigars of 2018". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  13. "Top 25 Cigars of 2017". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  14. "Top 25 Cigars of 2016". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  15. "Top 25 Cigars of 2015". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  16. "Top 25 Cigars of 2014". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  17. "Top 25 Cigars of 2013". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  18. "Top 25 Cigars of 2012". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  19. "Top 25 Cigars of 2011". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  20. "Top 25 Cigars of 2010". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  21. "Top 25 Cigars of 2009". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  22. "Top 25 Cigars of 2008". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  23. "Top 25 Cigars of 2007". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  24. "Top 25 Cigars of 2006". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  25. "Top 25 Cigars of 2005". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
  26. "Top 25 Cigars of 2004". Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado.
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