September/October 2012 | Cigar Aficionado

In this issue

Cigar Aficionado's 20th Anniversary • September/October 2012

In the October issue of Cigar Aficionado, we celebrate 20 years of being the ultimate resource for cigar lovers. It starts with Editor and Publisher Marvin R. Shanken telling the tale of how the magazine was created and continues with various in-depth features that examine the magazine's impact not only on the industry, but cigar culture. This 274-page collector's edition includes works by famed authors Gay Talese and P.J. O'Rourke, a journey back in time with some of the pioneers of the cigar industry, a gallery showing every cover of the magazine, discussions with some of the celebrities who have graced our cover, a dream interview with some of history's most famous cigar lovers and much, much more. Plus, we look at slow play on golf courses, teach you how to get VIP treatment in a hotel, and argue why the NFL's quarterback rating system is flawed. Also, subscribe to Cigar Aficionado and receive the digital edition of our premier issue FREE!

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Features

An Interview with Marvin R. Shanken

In 1991, Marvin R. Shanken fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Cuba and to see first-hand the place where some of the world’s greatest cigars are produced. By the time he returned …

The Story of Cigar Aficionado

By 3 p.m. on May 19, 1993, the line to enter the first Big Smoke snaked around the circular elevator bank that soared from the street level to the eighth-floor lobby of New York’s …

Cover Stars

Fittingly enough, the subject of Cigar Aficionado’s first cover portrait in 1992 was . . . a cigar. The first two celebrities to grace the cover of the magazine, on the third and …

Still Walking His Cigar

Gay Talese, holding a glass of water in one hand and nothing in the other, sits on his living room sofa facing a writer from Cigar Aficionado magazine who leans forward waiting …

The Legends Speak

The most famous cigar smokers of yore aren’t usually available for interviews because they’re dead. But the 20th anniversary of Cigar Aficionado is an occasion sufficiently …

A Brief History of the Cigar Industry

The year was 1992. The American cigar industry was in poor shape. The customer base was aging and contracting, sales had been in a steady 30-year decline and the men who made …

Recollections

When Cigar Aficionado was launched in 1992, the hand-rolled cigar business was in the midst of a slow decline that had lasted for more than 20 years. Since then, the …

20 Years of Tastings

Twenty years ago, Marvin Shanken and Gordon Mott sat down in a boardroom with the people who would become Cigar Aficionado ’s first tasting . They closed the doors, lit up …

The Story Behind QB Ratings

There is ordinary nonsense, nonsense on stilts and then the ultimate howler: the NFL er rating system. If you want your biggest belly laugh of this millennium, take a look at …

Cigar Aficionado's Hall of Fame Class of 2012

Fifteen years ago, Cigar Aficionado honored six men for their dedication to the cigar industry by inducting them into the magazine’s Hall of Fame. Those men, industry giants in …

Cigars

A Growing Vision

Les Drent of the Kauai Cigar Co. is making sure that Hawaii is known for more than just beaches, sunshine and leis.

Ratings from this Issue

points

Vegas Robaina Unico

Issue Date: October 1, 2012

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Cuba Aliados Capa Habano Cabinet Reserve Robusto

Issue Date: October 1, 2012

points

Padrón 7000

Issue Date: October 1, 2012

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Tatuaje Cojonu 2012 Sumatra

Issue Date: October 1, 2012

Up Front

Twenty Years of Good Living

Twenty years! In August, 1992, we held the first copy, fresh off the printing presses, of Cigar Aficionado. Holding that glossy magazine in our hands was an exhilarating moment, …

Out of the Humidor

Dear Marvin, I could not agree more with your editors’ note from the magazine’s August 2012 edition! I’m seriously considering framing it and hanging it in my office. …