• by Larry Dobrow , February 8, 2004

Hoping to restore some integrity to the cigar publishing business, attorney and cigar maven Woodrow Pollock has launched CigarWise, an online lifestyle magazine (www.cigarwise.com). The mag, which debuted on Feb. 5, plans to do something almost unheard of for a fledgling entity--eschew endemic advertisers.

The unusual strategy was formulated in response to questions about the credibility of cigar reviews in other publications, both online and off. "Some magazines within this business, they have a reputation," Pollock says gingerly. "You see a rave review, and then you look through the mag and there's a full-page ad. Then you see a low-rated cigar and there's no ad. If our readers know all we're going to do is tout advertisers, why bother?" He declines, however, to identify advertisers already on board, and a brief look at the site reveals next to no ads as of presstime Friday.

Thus, all cigars will be evaluated blindly, with the review panel prohibited from looking at labels. "We want the trust of our readers," Pollock continues. "If we get that, we won't have to worry about advertising." The mag's credibility on this front will soon face its first test: Pollock manufactures cigars, and swears that his products (due in a week or two) will receive the same treatment as those made by others.

Billing itself as a "cigar lifestyle" title, the magazine will cover topics ranging from sports and technology to gaming and travel. While CigarWise isn't exactly teeming with advertisers just yet--in fact, some of the stories in its "lifestyles" section read suspiciously like press releases-- Pollock is optimistic that marketers of spirits, consumer electronics, and travel destinations will quickly step up to the plate. Why? The expected presence of upscale men who have long embraced the cigar lifestyle.

"Smoking cigars is like an event. It's not like buying a pack of cigarettes and lighting up when you get the urge," Pollock explains. "There are specific interests associated with smoking cigars, and we're going to cover as many of them as we can." The mag will also run "Women and Cigars," a regular section written by and for female cigar fans.

Although it has been published for less than a week, CigarWise has already found itself embroiled in controversy. The mag pulled its first cover story, an expose about the ease of purchasing Cuban cigars via the Internet, when writer Ron Wilson started to receive threatening phone calls and mail. While CW released a statement asserting that "we stand by Mr. Wagner's research and his journalistic integrity for standing by his work," Pollock doesn't have much to add about the incident beyond "I'm a little pissed off about this."

Looking forward, Pollock hopes to lure 100,000 visitors per month through the first quarter of 2004, growing the sum to 500,000 by the end of the year. "It's not an unrealistic number, given the nature of the publication and the market," he says. CigarWise will eventually go offline as well, with Pollock hoping to debut a monthly or bimonthly print companion by this time next year. "Today's smoker is not satisfied with what's out there," he adds. "I'm not going to name names, but what used to be the bible for cigar smokers no longer gets it done. It's no longer carried in smoke shops."

It's not too much of a leap, really, to suggest that CigarWise's success hinges on capturing the enthusiasm of aficionados like Pollock. "Me, I'm not Ulysses Grant, sitting around smoking 40 sticks per day," he quips. "But I like to unwrap the cigar, feel it, smell it, cut it. It's a ritual, really. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way."