James Suckling retires

[akumushi]

Now who will Habanos S.A. pay off to give their newest releases 100 point reviews?
I don't think he'll be missed as much as he'd hope to be. Expert or not, he struck
me and a lot of others as a grade A douchebag. Does he know CCs?
Sure, but there are a lot of BOTL that regularly post on this forum that know just
as much a he does and have half the attitude. After three years of following that
magazine, I'm not planning on renewing my current subsricption because frankly,
I get what I used to seek from that magazine in forums like this, and the two biggest
changes in why it didn't cut it for me anymore anymore was their coverage of CCs and
the abysmal condition of their website/forums. CA would be wise to update its business
model and focus on providing a more attractive online environment as well as getting
a spokesperson that doesn't make a lot of serious smokers roll their eyes. I think it's
a good opportunity for them to put out a new face. Mott and Savona may not have as
much knowledge as Suckling, but their bedside manners are a hell of a lot better

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by akumushi

.. Sure, but there are a lot of BOTL that regularly post on this forum that know just as much a he does and have half the attitude...

If you want to question the content of the magazine, that is fine since it is not Suckling's call, its Shanken's. To question his knowledge of cigars is simply ignorant and poorly educated and your statement that consumers know as much is highly questionable in itself, I dare you to name one consumer who knows as much, I can easily point out a number of "holes" (be it historical perspective or tobacco growing/fermentation/processing) in many a post on this board and others and I am not an expert on cigars by any means and certainly not on a level Suckling is. If you'd want to point out a number of cigar makers who know more than Suckling does, sure, I will be the first one to agree with the premise, but consumers? Not even close.

All I see is personal attacks and I am guessing they are mostly driven by envy of Suckling's great and easy (and more over, PAID for and, thus, FREE) access to the high life many wouldn't mind leading themselves.

Do not confuse and use envy with Suckling' actual knowledge of the subjects he wrote about. I am not a huge fan of his writings, Kramer sometimes comes up with more relevant and thought provoking ideas, but Suckling certainly knows his s**t.

[akumushi]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

If you want to question the content of the magazine, that is fine since it is not Suckling's call, its Shanken's. To question his knowledge of cigars is simply ignorant and poorly educated and your statement that consumers know as much is highly questionable in itself, I dare you to name one consumer who knows as much, I can easily point out a number of "holes" (be it historical perspective or tobacco growing/fermentation/processing) in many a post on this board and others and I am not an expert on cigars by any means and certainly not on a level Suckling is. If you'd want to point out a number of cigar makers who know more than Suckling does, sure, I will be the first one to agree with the premise, but consumers? Not even close.

All I see is personal attacks and I am guessing they are mostly driven by envy of Suckling's great and easy (and more over, PAID for and, thus, FREE) access to the high life many wouldn't mind leading themselves.

Do not confuse and use envy with Suckling' actual knowledge of the subjects he wrote about. I am not a huge fan of his writings, Kramer sometimes comes up with more relevant and thought provoking ideas, but Suckling certainly knows his s**t.

If Suckling does have this excessive knowledge as you say, it hasn't come across particularly strongly in his published work in CA in the time I've been reading it. If he regularly did more overt cigar history and processing content like that I would definitely have a higher opinion of his ouevre. Maybe, as you said, that is the editor's fault and not his own. Maybe he's far more interesting in person than the way he comes off in that publication, but as far as readership is concerned, I won't miss his editorial there, and that's what we were talking about here.

On your point of consumer VS. industry insider, you don't need to have encyclopedic knowledge of cigar history and cigar production to rate, recommend and review Habanos, you need first hand experience of the product; to have smoked a lot of them in a wide variety, and while I won't mention names out of respect, there are a lot of members of this board that have smoked a lot of Habanos, including rare and HTFs, whose opinion I would trust a hell of a lot more than Sucklings. Is that naive? Possibly, but maybe I prefer to listen to people who I've had interactions with that don't come off in a pompous manner rather than just taking Mr. 100 point CGR on his word because he is a so called "expert."

If people don't listen to a guy's views despite his vast and superior knowledge maybe it's because he comes off in a prickish way that's disconnected from the populace. Frankly, I don't seeit as envy on my part because there are plenty of BOTL on this forum smoking a lot more expensive smokes than you see being reviewed on cigar aficionado, with completely enviable stashes, that don't get slammed left and right from the people who make up the base of readership and give guys like Suckling their jobs and fund that lifestyle in the firstplace.

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by akumushi

If Suckling does have this excessive knowledge as you say, it hasn't come across particularly strongly in his published work in CA in the time I've been reading it. If he regularly did more overt cigar history and processing content like that I would definitely have a higher opinion of his ouevre. Maybe, as you said, that is the editor's fault and not his own. Maybe he's far more interesting in person than the way he comes off in that publication, but as far as readership is concerned, I won't miss his editorial there, and that's what we were talking about here.

On your point of consumer VS. industry insider, you don't need to have encyclopedic knowledge of cigar history and cigar production to rate, recommend and review Habanos, you need first hand experience of the product; to have smoked a lot of them in a wide variety, and while I won't mention names out of respect, there are a lot of members of this board that have smoked a lot of Habanos, including rare and HTFs, whose opinion I would trust a hell of a lot more than Sucklings. Is that naive? Possibly, but maybe I prefer to listen to people who I've had interactions with that don't come off in a pompous manner rather than just taking Mr. 100 point CGR on his word because he is a so called "expert."

If people don't listen to a guys views despite his vast and superior knowledge maybe it's because he comes off in a prickish way that's disconnected from the populace. Frankly, I don't think it's envy because there are plenty of BOTL on this forum smoking a lot more expensive smokes than you see being reviewed on cigar aficionado.

On the first highlighted point above, I find it way too simplistic. All I can tell you is that you can probably count those on CA who have been smoking Cuban cigars for longer that, say, 10 years, on fingers of what, one hand? Those who have never smoked a good number of older Cuban tobacco (the pre-Habano days and mostly that of Corojo) simply cannot have a proper perspective of what Cuban cigars can (and did) achieve. So, I still stand by my point of view, no consumer on this board is even close to Suckling. I have been smoking cigars for a long time now, my first was in 1977, but would be hard pressed to match Suckling's experience and perspective. I find it strange that those who have been smoking cigars and Cuban cigars in particular, for JUST the past few years (5-8 tops and in most cases way less) all of a sudden are experts on the subject. And I use word "strange" here in as a mild political correctness way as I can...

On the second point above. Please remind me, just how many unique readers are here on this board? And what is the circulation of the Cigar Aficionado (and Wine Spectator)? Compare the numbers and let me know who has more "listeners". Suckling drives the market (whether you believe nor understand this) while your "experts" here and other boards do what exactly?

I always tell people not to simply and automatically believe everything they think, open mind can be an eye opening experience especially when facts are in play.

Funny that it took Spectator just 4 people to replace ONE guy... But then again, he knows nothing according to you.

[Blueface]

I'm devastated.
Considering giving up cigars.