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well okay, I've about had it with Cigar Aficianado. I will list the reasons here.
1) CA treats readers just like we are treated when going into bars and restaurants that allow cigars, whisked to the very back out of view and near the toilets. Now there is a little section in the back of CA for cigars.
2) I have noticed lately all the celebrities interviewed in CA aren't even cigar smokers, or at least they don't talk about it. (Kevin Bacon? Give me a break!)
3) I have noticed the same cigars are rated over and over, it is so predictable.
4) the magazine other than the cigar information is becoming flat out boring, a few interesting articles, but if I want non cigar related information I will get it elsewhere.
Now I understand their reasons for doing this, they consider it a move to gain more readership, and the letters confirm that more and more non smokers are reading it, fine, that's their business. And the word "cigar" on the cover seems to be getting smaller with each issue. So let them go to the non smokers, and put on a charade that they aren't giving cigars a back seat, I simply won't be renewing. Now Smoke magazine to me is ten times better. The celebrities are all cigar smokers and talk about that part of their life and all through the magazine are cigar related articles, and even the ones that aren't I find much more interesting that what's in CA. And I know many of you think the ratings are a scam, but at least Smoke has a much wider variety of cigars they rate, and the descriptions of the cigars are much more in-depth than the snobbish descpriptions used by the so called CA panel. I read the last issue of Smoke cover to cover, I barely picked up the new CA with Hackman on the cover, I skimmed through the ratings, learned nothing, if I take out last year's ratings of Churchills in CA I would probably see 90% of the same cigars as this years.

I am in total and COMPLETE agreement with you! I am so pissed with CA that I am not going to renew my subscription when this one runs its course. In my opinion, this mag has become a piece of crap. If you look at the cover of the Hackman issue, you'll see that , other than the name of the magazine, NOWHERE ON THE COVER IS THERE ANY MENTION OF CIGARS WHATSOEVER! And what about advertising? I have to turn 10 full pages to get to a cigar ad! Montecristo must have paid big bucks for that slot, competing with Mercedes-Benz, Amex, etc. which all precede it. Furthermore, the first cigar article is on page 184!!! The articles are pretty damn short as well, they even snuck in an article about driving in Cuba by James Suckling which had little to nothing to do with cigars whatsoever. They shed no new light on any cigar subjects that I care about as of late. cont.

I also agree with you guys!! CA is sliding the wrong way. I hope you all also vent your feelings with CA. It seems unlikely that they will change, seeing that they are driven by advertising money and profit not quality content that the CA name implies.

Ya know what saddens me the most about this? Will this affect CA's Big Smoke? I've never been to one but planned on my first this coming year. I'd even talked to some others about hitting the BIG Big Smoke in Las Vegas within the next couple of years. Maybe the event has already been affected. Anyone gone to a recent one? This is bound to affect the numbers that come out. After all, only the "hardcore" aficionados would go to something like this, the very people most disappointed in the format change.

I would also say, the article each month in Smoke by Lew Rothman alone is nearly worth the price of the magazine, and also another example of how Smoke is more relaxed and laid back, and targets down to earth types of cigar smokers. Rothman has mentioned that Cigar Aficianaodo goes to great lengths to never mention him, never have they interviewed him (even though he revolutionized the cigar industry) and hestitatingly mention his name in passing when they have to, mostly in Cigar Insider. Rothman is not the GQ, suave, elitist type of cigar dealer CA tends to favor, in fact he probably out and out antagonizes CA with his to me hilarious antics.

Lew's the best! You want good reading? I look forward to receiving his catalog purely for the enjoyment of reading the stuff he has to say. Will someone answer my earlier question on CA's Big Smoke? Also, does Smoke mag have anything similar?

CL, Rothman writes an article for Smoke

Oh -- when I asked about Smoke mag, I meant to ask if they had anything similar to CA's Big Smoke events. You'd think with CA's magazine format change and all the disappointment it's bringing out Smoke could have a pretty good turnout if they decided to put on a similar event. When I go to one, hopefully this coming year, I just want to go to the best.