Cigar aficianado best of 2011...

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by DaBear

I'm not a big fan of Cigar Aficionado's rating system. Everything is rated on the first inch and then tossed, they don't look into how a cigar holds up throughout the smoke or with how it can start off rough but finish fantastic.

Where are you getting this information? As much distaste as I have for CA, I have a very hard time believing this.

[Brooks W]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Where are you getting this information? As much distaste as I have for CA, I have a very hard time believing this.

Yep.

"We do have a lot of cigars to review...often in a short period of time. So it would be virtually impossible to smoke every one down to the nub. Just as would be impossible to smoke four or five examples of a cigar to come up with our final tally.

I've also spoken with knowledgeable folks in the cigar business to re-affirm one of my core beliefs--that a cigar reaches a "running" state about a quarter to one half inch into the cigar. That's when the tobacco has warmed up and a taster or smoker gets a nearly complete profile of the blend and how the cigar is going to smoke. For me that reality also undermines the contention that you have to smoke a cigar more than halfway before you get to the good part...there's not a consumer product on the market anywhere that's going to be successful if you have to suffer to get to the good part. I won't dispute that cigars change as they are smoked, but I still would argue that not many people, me included, are going to hang in there through a long stretch of bad smoking.

So, how much of a cigar do I smoke. I've come up with a different answer than I gave about six months ago, and it is based on consistent observations of my smoking patterns. I spend at least 20 minutes per cigar...sometimes that's only a quarter of a cigar, sometimes it is half a cigar. I never take one or two puffs and rate a cigar. Every cigar gets a chance to show its stuff before I give a final impression."

http://forums.cigaraficionado.com/ev...032#3017072032

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Where are you getting this information? As much distaste as I have for CA, I have a very hard time believing this.

Check out my reply here:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpo...3&postcount=42