brand wary?

0patience

Bored again, so I thought I would ask this question.

Do you or have you ever shied away from a particular cigar, because of it's brand?
I find myself overlooking some cigars, solely because of the brand and was wondering if any of you ever ran across a brand that turned you off so much, that you now find yourself avoiding them?

taythegibs

VICTOR SINCLAIR!!! lol, they were worse then swisher sweets... I also seem to avoid Graycliff but im not sure why.

danielzreyes

Oliveros. All started with the Classic.....bleh.

MTuccelli

Pioneer Valley and 1876 Reserve

0patience

Ok, since I am not the only one who does this. I can't seem to bring myself to buy a Macanudo.
I thought it was just me who becomes brand wary. LOL!

skweekz

Puros Indios. And Graycliff.

Steve2010

Not so much BRAND WARY, but more like BRAND AVERSE.
Gurkha.
I like the Micro Batch TPB-1 and the original Blue Steel.
Other than that, the brand doesn't do anything for me.

wwhwang

Victor Sinclair. I'v heard and read a lot of horror stories about that brand. If any of the stories are true, I wonder how they even survived since the 90s.

Rhamlin

wwhwang:

Victor Sinclair. I'v heard and read a lot of horror stories about that brand. If any of the stories are true, I wonder how they even survived since the 90s.

Noobs and cheap prices. I once got a mazo of 20 corojos. For like 22$ even at that price it still wasn't a good deal. Talk about dog turds. But one brand I've often wondered about but never tried because of the band is Onyx.

j0z3r

Onyx is actually pretty solid as I recall...nothing to blow your mind but a good, everyday Maduro...been a long time since I've had one, used to be a lot of talk on here about them, but that was before AJ came to town.

I too bought the low price and gimmicky sales pitch on some VS corojos...thing is, I don't recall them being horrible, just not very flavorful and crappy burns...nothing I'd buy again. I stay away from anything Gurkha and Rocky Patel, those days are long gone. I won't touch Viaje with a ten foot pole, too elite for me.

jgibv

0patience:

Bored again, so I thought I would ask this question.

Do you or have you ever shied away from a particular cigar, because of it's brand?
I find myself overlooking some cigars, solely because of the brand and was wondering if any of you ever ran across a brand that turned you off so much, that you now find yourself avoiding them?

Yes....I have avoided some cigars because of their brand. Either I smoked something from them and it wasn't good and turned me off, or the reviews were mostly negative and I don't want to chance it, or they have a whole bunch of blends and it's hard to know what's good of that brand.

There's too many cigars out there to smoke bad ones or ones you don't like - and since there's always something new, I'd rather take a chance on a new brand/blend instead of buying something from a brand that I haven't liked in the past.

JZerby

For me, it's more price than brand. I generally don't go below $3 for a single cigar, and rarely do I go even that low. The only exception to that rule I have is the CCOM Brazillian.

gmill880

j0z3r:

Onyx is actually pretty solid as I recall...nothing to blow your mind but a good, everyday Maduro...been a long time since I've had one, used to be a lot of talk on here about them, but that was before AJ came to town.

I too bought the low price and gimmicky sales pitch on some VS corojos...thing is, I don't recall them being horrible, just not very flavorful and crappy burns...nothing I'd buy again. I stay away from anything Gurkha and Rocky Patel, those days are long gone. I won't touch Viaje with a ten foot pole, too elite for me.

I probably havn't had a Onyx in 2-3 years but as I remember they were ok , nothing special, but ok .
A guy I used to work with that smoked cigars always bought the bundles of what was called Factory Throwouts -- They looked more like factory throw-ups to me , and as I recall they were pretty bland too .

Heavy

Yeah, Onyx Reserve is a solid maduro IMO. They're definitely worth giving a shot, esp for the price

I tend to stay away from Gurkhas. The few I've had didn't do anything for me (Regent, a couple of the micro batches and another I can't remember) - I didn't think they were all that terrible but there are so many different blends/names that I just don't care to sort through all of them to figure out what I like. So I just pass on the whole brand.

Edit: I do like the Park Avenue, but that's the only thing from Gurkha I care to mess with.

dennisking

I usually shy from Puros Indios and Victor Sinclair. Also anything with gimmicky marketing like stuff from Nish Patel. Don't sell youself too short though. Someone mentioned Oliveros and I was of the same mindset til I had the Eight Zero. Someone mentioned price and I tend to agree to a point. Usually the really cheap sticks are cheap for a reason.

KingoftheCove

taythegibs:

VICTOR SINCLAIR!!! lol, they were worse then swisher sweets... I also seem to avoid Graycliff but im not sure why.

+1!

SleevePlz

I teach in a high school and teenagers discuss their "swag" all the time. So despite the fact that my local B&M owner insists I will probably love SWAG cigars, I just can't bring myself to purchase something with that written on it. Also, Gurkha kind of scares me away. Apparently, I'm not a "Rolls Royce of Cigars" kind of person.

jgibv

SleevePlz:

I teach in a high school and teenagers discuss their "swag" all the time. So despite the fact that my local B&M owner insists I will probably love SWAG cigars, I just can't bring myself to purchase something with that written on it. Also, Gurkha kind of scares me away. Apparently, I'm not a "Rolls Royce of Cigars" kind of person.

LOL about "swag" - that's funny.

And I'm with you about Gurkha - I've bought a few of them and have a couple others from trades/bombs. Haven't smoked a Gurkha yet but I am just leary of the brand - there's so many frickin blends, it makes me think of the saying "a jack of all trades is a master of none".

j0z3r

SleevePlz:

I teach in a high school and teenagers discuss their "swag" all the time. So despite the fact that my local B&M owner insists I will probably love SWAG cigars, I just can't bring myself to purchase something with that written on it. Also, Gurkha kind of scares me away. Apparently, I'm not a "Rolls Royce of Cigars" kind of person.

Imo the only thing SWAG has going for it is a cool presentation...the cigars (again IMO) are crap.

danielzreyes

j0z3r:

SleevePlz:

I teach in a high school and teenagers discuss their "swag" all the time. So despite the fact that my local B&M owner insists I will probably love SWAG cigars, I just can't bring myself to purchase something with that written on it. Also, Gurkha kind of scares me away. Apparently, I'm not a "Rolls Royce of Cigars" kind of person.

Imo the only thing SWAG has going for it is a cool presentation...the cigars (again IMO) are crap.

If I'm not mistaken, Oliveros = Swag. Therefore Swag = blehhh

Roberto99

Pretty much along the lines of others here, did the Victor Sinclair thing years ago as a true rookie. Probably one of the main reasons I didn't have a cigar for a dozen years or so.

ShotgunJohn

I agree with staying away from VS, I smoked VS when I first started out but and thought I liked the Series 55 Sungrown, then I explored better brands/blends. The other brand I stay away from is Acid, I just can't stomach them anymore. I use to smoke them a lot when first smoking, but now I have moved past flavors. At least DE proved they can create great sticks without infused botanicalsoils in their LP series.

0patience

Threadjack alert:

ShotgunJohn,
Just looked at your site with all the balloons. That is some serious artistic talent!
Very Cool!!

marineatbn03

And I just bought a VS sampler, now I am kicking myself, especially with how long I will have to wait to even get them here. But, I never tried them, so, Eh.

catfishbluezz

marineatbn03:

And I just bought a VS sampler, now I am kicking myself, especially with how long I will have to wait to even get them here. But, I never tried them, so, Eh.

It's ok bro...it happens to the best of us. Good thing is, you'll have something to smoke while you wait for the next order and the next order will taste that much better

Personally....Ghurka, CAO, and many others I cannot think of at the moment but there are plenty.

marineatbn03

Yeah, I think I will be placing my next order very shortly, right now, I am just kind of sitting back and deciding on what that will be, damn noobs.

catfishbluezz

marineatbn03:

Yeah, I think I will be placing my next order very shortly, right now, I am just kind of sitting back and deciding on what that will be, damn noobs.

It happens bro...once you get stateside, the trading will be much easier. For now, ask for help...and look at the samplers to build your taste. Don't buy because something is cheap, buy because something is good. I think you would be hard pressed to find many people on here whom wouldn't like the Ruination vs My Father sampler for $50... Thats the kind of stuff you should be looking at

catfishbluezz

marineatbn03:

Yeah, I think I will be placing my next order very shortly, right now, I am just kind of sitting back and deciding on what that will be, damn noobs.

It happens bro...once you get stateside, the trading will be much easier. For now, ask for help...and look at the samplers to build your taste. Don't buy because something is cheap, buy because something is good. I think you would be hard pressed to find many people on here whom wouldn't like the Ruination vs My Father sampler for $50... Thats the kind of stuff you should be looking at

marineatbn03

Thanks a lot. I will check that out for sure.

Vulchor

I have nothing really furthr to contribute, but I always feel when Sinclair is mentioned that I have to AGAIN state as a public service announcement that it is the ONLY cigar I ever smoked that made me gag. Now the Gurkha Sherpa is awful, I mean awful.....but the Victor Sinclair Bamboo made me literally dry heave. Thank You for this.

As a whole, in addiiton to VS, I shy away from Gurkha and RP (though more his family extensions than his stuff)-----I think when you make too many sticks, you oftne give up quality and they seem to have done this. Not a big fan of Padilla either, but that is more just a my palate vs someone elses kinda thing.

Steve2010

Here's my case for the Gurkha Crest:

http://www.cigar.com/cs/forums/thread/354614.aspx