Rate my 'Grab Bag'

rudel.dietrich

I have only been here a few weeks but this city contains some wonderful tobacconists. One that I think will become my favorite has what are called 'grab bags' loosely translated in English. They are plastic bags of 8 sticks. You can see what is in them but they are all thrown into a barrel and you have to kind of dig around for them. Today they had them on special as a holiday sale item. I grabbed one that looked appealing on first look. Here is what it contained. Give your thoughts on what I got. Most of these I have never tried so it should be interesting. I love these types of things because it lets me get a wide variety of flavors and styles. Here is what my bag contained. CAO Brazilia - 5x56 size CAO Italia - 5x56 size CAO LX2 - 6x60 Rocky Patel Sun Grown - 4.4x55 (I love Sun Grown sticks) Gurkha Estate Selection Vintage Shaggy Presidente - 8x52 (this thing is a beast, probably a two hour smoke) Los Imperialista - size is probably 7x50 (I know nothing about this one? Never seen one before, the band is kind of cheap looking. It could be a cheap throw in) Graycliff Profesionale PG - 5.2x50 Small cigar that I don't know anything about. Any good? Partagas Sabroso Rojito - 5.7x44 Not sure about this one either. So how did I do? In USD I paid about $56 for the eight. Zurich though is one of the most expensive cities in the world though, so keep that in mind.

BigT06

Many of us on this forum (and I would venture to say most of the Americans) have a personal relationship with a cigar.com rep who give us great deals... so we are prob a little jaded when it comes to paying msrp for cigars. That being said, I know basically nothing about the area you are located, so its hard for me to give an accurate opinion on if you got a good deal based on local pricing/availability...

I will say this, though, if ccom ships to your location, you should definitely get hooked up with a rep for your future purchases. I recommend tblythe@cigar.com... that's Tim the Beard. He's the man.

Marker

Rudel, You got a good sampler with many varied NC cigars to try. In Europe NC cigars cost more than most CCs. As an example a Diesel d.x we can get here for about $3 each would go for $11 in Europe. But they can get a BBF for about the same.

See what you enjoy and if you like them good on you. Let me know if you would like more NCs to try if you like something from your grab bag.

bigharpoon

I can't say if you got a good deal or not (financially) since I don't live in Zurich but as far as cigars go...the CAOs, RP Sungrown, Graycliff Pro are all really good. I haven't had the others.

rudel.dietrich

Cubans do indeed go for a little higher than non Cubans. They do have grab bags of Cubans that go for about 10 Euros higher. In all honesty the Cubans are not vastly better or even slightly better than the non Cubans. It really just depends on the individual brand. But just because something is Cuban does not make it instantly better. But I suppose that makes sense since so much expertise and knowledge has poured out of Cuba the last several decades and many of it's leading growers and blenders have gone on to set up factories in Central America, Miami, Tampa and the Dominican. And Cuban seed has made it's way out of the country as well. About the only difference remaining is Cuban soil in which the plants are grown in. That will be hard to replicate

j0z3r

I think you did just fine on that grab bag, nice selection. I enjoy the Graycliff Professionale, smooth and on the mild side of medium, they age very well.

Rhamlin

I've been doing quite a bit of checking into what prices are like in other countries. I'd say you did just fine myself. Actually probably better than fine. For your area. Though I've not looked at prices in Switzerland just basing my guess on European prices as a whole.

havanaal

The sad part about this is that the prices probably beat NY (with its exorbitant taxes). I may as well be living in Europe. Without the benefits.

Rhamlin

havanaal:

The sad part about this is that the prices probably beat NY (with its exorbitant taxes). I may as well be living in Europe. Without the benefits.

Yeah New York is crazy high. Good thing PA is close by.