Cigar Magazine Comparisons

D

Dr. Stogie Fresh

SilverBack
I just collaborated with Colin Ganley of CigarResearch.com to write up an article that compares Cigar Magazines.

This article is not going to tell you which magazine is the best, because there ain't no such animal for every person. The magazine that is best for you will be related to your likes, dislikes, interests, etc. In other words, its subjective.

However, we compared 9 popular cigar magazines one purely objective considerations: shelf price, subscription price, total pages, percent cigar-related pages, number of reviews, words per review, and cigar-related articles. We also make note of the kind of coverage each magazine has: Habanos coverage, non-Cuban coverage, etc.

People are finding this an interesting read and I've been getting a lot of feedback so I thought I would share it with you. Let me know your thoughts. You look at the data and you be the judge.

Here's the link: Cigar Magazine Comparisons

Doc
 
Very cool breakdown!! Each cigar mag does have a different target audience of smoker (and other non-cigar info).

CA is obviously has the snob factor, but # of reviews.

Cigar Magazine had nice long articles, but definitely a vehicle for General Cigar, Altadis and the big boys.

ECCJ's bi-lingual content weighs it down IMHO.

Cigar Press seems to have promise as newcomer, especially cause they reviewed the best beer ever - BELL'S from Michigan!!!!
(weird event pics though)
:2
Thanks for a great piece!!
 
I just read this, excellent essay, Doc (thanks for the quick email)!! This is the proof I've needed. Many of my friends always ask me why I don't subscribe to certain VERY popular cigar magazines. I always pull out the first magazine on Doc's comparison list. I find the cigar portion of the magazine and squeeze it together and say, "This portion is about cigars, the rest is adds or interviews (which in most cases is with an athlete or actor)."

I subscribe to "Cigar Magazine" and that is the only cigar magazine I recieve in the mail. The rest of my knowledge and entertainment comes from Stogie Fresh, Mind of Men, Stogie Review, Dog Watch and of coarse, all of you at Club Stogie.

Not to knock other cigar magazines, but you have to ask yourself what you're looking for in a magazine. Many of the "cigar" magazines are good publications and should be marketed as more of a "Mens magazine", but if you want a cigar magazine that consist's of mostly cigar information and articles, you need to do your research or you just might be disappointed.

The Doc, has done the research for us, so, we should be able to judge for ourselves which magazine is right for each of us.
Thanks again Doc!!
 
Thanks... very interesting. I pick up Cigar Magazine, and have always wondered if it was the best mag or even the most magazine for my dollar. I see now that it is right up there and lot better than some of the others... Great work.
 
If you just want straight news and good reviews of the latest products you can't beat Cigar Insider. Yes it's expensive but far better than the others IMO. :2
 
Great article! I had a day off last week and stopped by my local Barnes and Noble and bought copies of all four cigar mags they had on sale -- ECCJ, Smoke, Cigar Magazine, and Cigar Report (I already get CA through a free sub). After pouring through them I came to about the same conclusions you did. For my needs it stacks up like this:

CA -- A complete waste of time and paper but as long as I'm getting it free I won't complain.

Smoke -- Fairly entertaining but a bit light. I do like how they discuss some of the newer and bigger cigar lounges across the country. Will buy the occasional issue.

Cigar Magazine -- Fairly lengthy articles and very nice looking. Will buy regularly.

Cigar Report -- Not free for me it was $3.99 at the news stand. I liked it but not enough to seek it out.

ECCJ -- I liked this one quite a bit and appreciate that they also cover pipes and pipe tobacco. I enjoyed reading about many of the Cuban and even NC brands not available here in North America. Plus the bilingual articles give me a good excuse to brush up on my rusty German. I'm planning to subscribe in the near future.
 
That is a very nice and well thought out article. Well Done!

Personally, I feel that the "European Cigar Cult Journal" is the best of the bunch, by far! "Smoke" and "Cigar" are tided for 2nd place, and Cigar Aficionado is totally worthless!!!

I do not have access to the others that were mentioned.
 
Great article, Doc. Looks like I need to get an issue of the ECCJ and Cigar Magazine and peruse through them.

Any comparisons done as to the number of advertising pages in each magazine? Although it's not essential to choosing a magazine, it would be interesting information.

Once again, nice job.
 
i agree, i liked this article, its very informative.

i subscribed to cigar magazine a couple of weeks ago and im still waiting for my "free gift"
 
woops said:
Any comparisons done as to the number of advertising pages in each magazine? Although it's not essential to choosing a magazine, it would be interesting information.
Click to expand...

Nope, we didn't look at advertising pages per se, but you are right, it would be interesting.

Thanks for the props on the article.

Doc
 
Was anyone surprised by any of the results? Was anyone tempted to purchase another magazine other than those you've already tried?

With 9 print magazines out there, we obviously need to take our time and carefully consider our choices.

For me, Cigar Magazine has been my favorite. I have to admit, I have had some personal problems with Lew Rothman, so I won't purchase or subscribe to Cigar Magzine in the future, even though I think it's a good magazine.

I think Cigar Press has good potential but I'm not tempted to purchase a subscription yet.

ECCj is not something I've considered, just because I think it's a waste to have a bi-lingual publication when I can't read a word of German.

What do you think?

Doc
 
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