Cigar Advisor - A Fresh Look at Cigar Magazines

A Fresh Look at Cigar Magazines

This highly informative article by Colin Ganley and David P. Diaz titled, "Cigar Magazines Compared" presents a fair and balanced look at the old and new crop of cigar magazines. Due to space limitations, I've only reprinted the introductory background information and the results of their reviews. But I encourage you to read the entire article, which has much more data (and photos) explaining how Ganley and Diaz came to their conclusions. - G.K.

Cigar Magazines Compared
By Colin Ganley with David P. Diaz

BACKGROUND
Since the early nineties, many cigar magazines have come and gone from tobacconist’s shelves. Some have longevity (i.e., Cigar Aficionado, European Cigar Cult Journal) while others are relatively new (i.e., Cigar Press, Florida’s Cigar Snob).

As Americans have increased their consumption of cigars since 2001, the number of cigar magazines has grown. Today, no fewer than nine cigar magazines are printed regularly in English and are available in the United States.

How do these magazines differentiate themselves? How can we decide which ones to read? Do some have more cigar content than others?

Cigar Research and Stogie Fresh have teamed up to compare these magazines based on strictly objective criteria. Readers prefer different magazines for different reasons; not all of which are easily quantifiable. In order to be fair, the comparison we conducted includes variables that can be strictly quantified. We made no attempt to discern the quality of the magazines or their articles because such a determination is subjective. Nevertheless, by looking carefully at these magazines, we were able to come up with some interesting facts that may help you decide what magazine may fit your preferences.

RESULTS OF REVIEW
The results were fascinating. The purpose of this comparison was not necessarily to determine which cigar magazine is the best but rather to differentiate between the many different magazines offered today.

Our results show that there are definite differences in coverage among the various cigar magazines. While some showcase cigar content, others focus on local cigar events or even men’s lifestyle products. The matrix and graphs provided identify some of these differences, but in some cases the strengths of certain magazines must be explained in this essay. To do that, we will briefly explain the findings about each magazine.

Cigar Aficionado
Perhaps the best-known cigar magazine, Cigar Aficionado contains very little cigar related content, other than reviews. Only 12% of its pages are devoted to cigar related content. The issue we selected contained only seven articles on the topic of cigars out of 197 total pages. The explanation for this is that Cigar Aficionado is devoted to “the good life…for men.” Its focus appears to be luxury lifestyle goods/services of which cigars are only a part. Though its newsstand price is the highest of any magazine we reviewed, when the subscription price is averaged using total number of issues per subscription, Cigar Aficionado has one of the lowest per issue prices ($3.32), second only to the regional Cigar Snob magazine $2.00/issue). If cigar information is your focus, you can do better than Cigar Aficionado, but if you are looking for information about a wide variety of lifestyle interests for men, CA may be for you.

Cigar Clan
We were conflicted about including Cigar Clan Magazine in this comparison. The reason is that this magazine is not currently being printed in English and distributed in the US. Our emails to the company were not returned. At the recent IPCPR trade show, this magazine was present and representatives claimed that they intend to distribute in the United States again soon. For this reason we included it in this comparison. Unfortunately, we were unable to use any pricing information but the content comparison was interesting. As you see, it has extremely descriptive cigar reviews. This and beautiful photography are among the magazine’s strengths. From what we have been able to gather, it is currently being printed in both Russian and German.

Cigar Magazine
A tremendous amount of cigar-related content and a wide range of coverage are among this magazine’s strong points. As seen in our data, Cigar Magazine was one of only two magazines (also ECCJ) to cover all four topics we sought. Additionally, it contains the second highest percentage of pages with cigar-related content and, when calculating the cost per cigar-related page (6 cents), Cigar Magazine holds the highest value (i.e., lowest cost per page). Cigar Magazine provides long articles, which explore many facets of the cigar industry from vintage cigar-box art, to modern cigar factories.

Cigar Press
This one-year-old magazine is a newcomer. It strives to reach a younger cigar smoking demographic with edgy cartoons and unique cover art. It is the smallest (page count) magazine in the bunch but the quality of writing is high. Its focus is on the U.S. cigar consumer. Though this magazine has in-depth cigar-related articles, it also branches out into non-cigar related topics such as reviews of beers and includes event pages that are mostly photos.

Cigar Report (The)
The Cigar Report is a small format magazine (much smaller pages than the other magazines). Its articles are short but full of information. With only 88 pages in the issue we examined, it is perhaps the smallest magazine in the comparison. It is sent to subscribers of other magazines for free and therefore has wide distribution. While the recipients are not necessarily cigar smokers, they are affluent. It ranked in the middle of the pack in nearly every category.

Cigar Snob (Florida’s)
As a single state publication, this magazine is unique among its competitors. While it does not have much cigar-related content (11% of total pages), the writing is of high quality and it has a specialized focus. It provides extensive coverage of cigar events in Florida, including a calendar of events and pictorial coverage of those events. This magazine, therefore, appears to not compete well nationally, but in fact it suits its local readership very well. As a local magazine it does not have the broad appeal we looked for, but that is not its aim.

European Cigar Cult Journal
This magazine covers the entire breadth of topics we sought for this comparison. It has the highest ratio of cigar content to total pages (67%). Due to the inclusion of a gift, the subscription price of this magazine is higher than many of the others, but the shelf price places it in the upper-middle of the group. This magazine has one of the highest numbers of reviews, the most cigar related articles and the highest percentage of tobacco-related pages. It also has one of the lowest prices per cigar-related page.

Smoke Magazine
Statistically, this magazine fell into the middle of the group for most quantifiable variables. This magazine is printed in low-gloss or matte finish and has been published longer than most magazines in the group. The magazine covers Cuban and Non-Cuban cigars but not (or rarely) events or industry news.

Tobacconist Magazine
This industry insider magazine is published by the IPCPR, the industry trade group. It has the highest number of pages of any cigar magazine considered. Because it is a trade magazine it does not do cigar reviews and is the most expensive magazine in the group. It does, however, cover the US market with long, in-depth articles. Because of its U.S. focus, it does not cover Habanos but does cover other topics in great detail.

Read the entire report! £

About the writers
Colin Ganley MSc. is a teacher and researcher at Oxford University. He specializes in Economics and Early-Modern World History. Colin is also a freelance journalist and runs the website cigarresearch.com.

David Diaz is the president of StogieFresh.com and the editor of the Stogie Fresh Cigar Journal. He has served as an educator, researcher and writer and has taught in the Health Education and Health Science field for nearly 30 years. He possesses an earned doctorate from Nova Southeastern University.