Favorite/Least Favorite Cigar Band

[Skywalker]

There are certain colors that I think work very well on a cigar band. I really like red, green, brown, and gold or any combination of these.

On the other hand, I think there are colors or combination of colors that should not be on a cigar band.

My least favorite color on a cigar band is blue. I don't mind navy blue so much but that indigo blue sucks. Those new blue Gurkha bands look awful to me. I don't care for the CAO Italia band either.

I'm not saying anything about the quality or brand of cigars only the bands.

What is your favorite or least favorite cigar band???

[Bax]

I'm partial to the Opus Band and then the VSG band is cool too.

[icehog3]

I like the La Aroma de Cuba band best of all NC marcas.

[kelmac07]

La Aroma de Cuba the best "sweet pics" & Montecristo the worst "plain jane"

[troutbreath]

It varies for me. I like the simplicity of the Tatuaje bands. But I also like the grandeur and complexity of the Opus X bands.

The Gurkha Class Regent and Master's Select bands look pretty sharp, as do the VSG and Padron Anniversary series.



I'm looking at a baggie of bands here on my desk. I have never noticed all of the gold medals on these bands. There are 6 on the RyJ Habana Reserve, 4 on the Fuente, 4 on the LGC Serie R . . . where do they hand all of these out?

[JJG]

The Opus X band is pretty ornate as well as the Casa Fuentes. I've always though HdM and R&J bands are some of my favorite for CCs. A classic look and lots of gold are always impressive. On the other hand, understated bands like Padron, Montecristo, are cool too.

as far as my least favorite?

La Aurora barrel aged are damn ugly, but there are plenty of worse bands out there. I'm just drawing a blank right now.

[Skywalker]

Other bands I don't like:
RP Fusion (blue)
RP Double Maduro (sick mint green)!!!

I love Oliva Series bands; O, G, S and V!!!

Playboy (with the bunny) is classy!!!

[Rockestone]

I like the Gran Habano Band. I also like the simple Nub cigar bands.

[taltos]

My favorite band is probably the Masterblends 3 and least favorite the Alex Bradley Pryme band.

[sikk50]

My favorites in no order are: Don Arturi Gran Abiverxario, Augusto Reyes City Series, Opus, and DCM

Least favorites: any RP pretty much and Tats

I like extravigent bands for some reason lol

[groogs]

I like the San Cristobal band, and I don't like the most of the RP bands, because they are on RP cigars, same goes for Gurkha.:D

[JJG]

I like the La Aroma de Cuba band best of all NC marcas.

:tpd: forgot about these

[Skywalker]

Really like Cruzado and CAO LX2 bands!!!

[Ranger_B]

I really like the ESG band its super ornate but not too over the top. I can not stand multi band cigars.

[TripleF]

Fav is clearly the Diamond Crown Maximus. Waaaaaaaaaaaay cool :tu


Least fav belongs to one of my favorite cigars - Reserva Miraflor. Good thing the label doesn't indicate taste :D

[hotreds]

Fav is clearly the Diamond Crown Maximus. Waaaaaaaaaaaay cool :tu


:tpd:

[WildBlueSooner]

Love the Opus X and Oliva V/O Bands....not a fan of the tats

[darkninja67]

I like the ESG a lot.
I also like the La Aroma De Cuba Especial Edicion and the San Cristobal bands.

[lightning9191]

I tend to like the simple bands....nothing too flashy. I've not smoked cigars because they look like the manufacturers put too much money into marketing and not enough into tobacco.

[The Saint]

Favs-
Opus- I think the first really well done bands
ESG- Beautiful
LVH- These were designed by the same art group that did the Opus
DC Maximus-First time I saw it I went "Holy Crap, thats nice!"
CAO's MX2- Very cool design, not really that good looking, just a cool shape.
Free Cuba- One word.....BOOBIES!!
Perdomo Habano- Just looks classy

Least-
Cao Criollo- Looks like was once a paper grocery bag.
Angry Elf- Yikes!!
Fine Catch- Fishing with a cigar=good, A cigar with a fish on it= not so good
Avo XO- Just don't like an orange colored band
Herfdog- Looks likea 6 year old drew it.

[Jimbo14]

I like the CC Cohiba band. I also like the Opus X band.

I dont like the Montecristo and padron (non-anniv series) band

[troutbreath]

I like the San Cristobal band, and I don't like the most of the RP bands, because they are on RP cigars, same goes for Gurkha.:D


Forgot about this one. Beautiful!

[jjirons69]

CAO America are cool looking bands.

RP Fusion (electric blue) bands are horrible.

I think Partagas bands (round red and gold) exemplify what I see in my mind's eye when someone says cigar bands.

[Smoke Naked]

Don't have a favorite but the worst I've yet to come across is the Bahia Blu band.

[e-man67]

I like the ornate character of the Opus X, Ashton VSG and ESG, DCM, but I love the simplicity of bands like Tatuaje and MonteCristo...

[Mr.Maduro]

The Padron Anniversary Bands. The 1926 especially is extremely elegant IMO. The colors on the anniversary bands compliment the cigars nicely.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n36/MrMaduro/padron_80th_perfecto.jpg

[Rockestone]

The Padron Anniversary Bands. The 1926 especially is extremely elegant IMO. The colors on the anniversary bands compliment the cigars nicely.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n36/MrMaduro/padron_80th_perfecto.jpg

:tpd: I forgot about that one. Probably my favorite.

[skullnrose]

Favorites I agree with the padron anny , and I've always liked the VSG band.
Least favorites Gimmicky double banded sticks.

[gnukfu]

I like the Oliva cloth bands and San Cristobal bands

Don't like the cuban Montecristo bands...too plain and too brown....doesn't stop me from collecting em though! :dance:

[NickyTeen]

A couple favorites are San Cristobal and La Aroma de Cuba. A couple really bad ones have to be Reo and Vibe by Rocky Patel ( todays Joes special) and OneOff( nothing against the peace sign, just don't care for it on a cigar band).

[jlaker]

Nice topic!

I like the appearance of the Damond Crown Maximus bands as well As the Padron Anny's as my favorites. I really like the LGC and Punch bands as well.

Although I like the cigars, the Vegueros bands leave something to be desired, I guess that's why I don't smoke the band huh?

[Starchild]

A few I have always liked:
CAO Brazilia - love the colors against the dark wrapper, and the similarity to the Brazilian flag
Oliva G, O, and especially V- I like the style and elegant simplicity of these
Partagas - just classic
Opus X - just cool


I don't like:
Sancho Panza - just too plain, love the sticks
Flor de Oliva - loud colors, and just too tacky
Oliveros XL - probably why I have no desire to try one
Victor Sinclair - just too big, and add nothing to the appearance of the stick

[poker]

I really like the Partagas 155 bands for some reason.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp96/poker_player/155-band.jpg

[jledou]

I like the DPG Cuban Classic bands but don't really like the regular Padron bands.

[Starscream]

The Padron Anniversary Bands. The 1926 especially is extremely elegant IMO. The colors on the anniversary bands compliment the cigars nicely.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n36/MrMaduro/padron_80th_perfecto.jpg

:tpd:
I also like A. Fuente gran reserva labels, CAO Sopranos, Punch, and Partagas

Least favorite: El Mejor, 601 bands, and I don't like the new Pepin Blue label (I loved the old band).

[DocLogic77]

My favorite is the VR band.

[ahc4353]

Pics would really be nice in this thread. :hm

[spivy]

Favorites:

AF FFOX for Overall Style
Dunhill Cuban for Simplicity

Least Favorite
Gurkha

[Mr B]

My fav's are the San Cristobal and the La Aroma de Cube Especial Ed.
The Cubal Libra has a pretty lame band and the cigar sucks too.
I agree w/ ya Darrel on the baby blue bands, LAME.

[Prospector]

Favorites are San Cristobal (we have parrots) and Opus (just plain classy). Also like most of the 5 Vegas bands.

Least favorites are any of the Bahia line (just doesn't say 'cigar' to me) and Erin Go Bragh (can't quite make this connection either)

[ahc4353]

I really like the Partagas 155 bands for some reason.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp96/poker_player/155-band.jpg

Thanks for the photo Kelly. Without it I would never know what one looked like. Thanks.

BTW it is a nice looking band. Bet what it goes around isn't half bad either! :D

[Skywalker]

Pics would really be nice in this thread. :hm

No likey:
http://img.cigarsinternational.com/p/200/cs/g/cs-ghd.jpg
http://img.cigar.com/p/300/cs/i/cs-ixa.jpg
http://www.cigarsetc.com/images/uploads/Rocky_Patel_Fusion.jpg

Little known fact:
Of all the colors in the spectrum, blue is an appetite suppressant. Weight loss plans suggest putting your food on a blue plate. Or even better than that, put a blue light in your refrigerator and watch your munchies disappear. Or here's another tip: Dye your food blue! A little black will make it a double whammy.

Blue food is a rare occurrence in nature. There are no leafy blue vegetables (blue lettuce?), no blue meats (blueburger, well-done please), and aside from blueberries and a few blue-purple potatoes from remote spots on the globe, blue just doesn't exist in any significant quantity as a natural food color.

I don't eat my cigars but I do think of them as something tasty!!!

[flat6nut]

OpusX, Ashton ESG, and Maximus Diamond Crown, are by far the best looking.
the Playboys are just plain cheap and gay...wont ever smoke one their so cheap looking.

[Giant & 49er Fan]

Favs: RP Winter Collection - Clean, Classy and Pops of the dark broadleaf
Alec Bradley Tempus - Unique
La Riqueza - Very Cuban traditional box is cool too
San Cristobal - Colorful and bold

Lame: Nub
Davidoff
ALL Fuente (except opus)
ALL Ashton (except san cristobal)

[Mr Edmundo]

The ugliest ones for me are
The Brick
Man O War
Oliveros XL
Gurkha
RP Fusion
Don Kiki
Indio Puros
Flor de Oliva
Taboo ( sorry Rob )
Actually, if Taboo had a classier looking label, I have a feeling these would have even wider appeal. These smoke like a more expensive cigar, but the label is a bit cheesy.

My faves are from the simple classics on many CC's like Montes, Cohibas, or nc like Tats, Padron.
I realy like some of the ornate ones like Padilla Anniversario, Gran Habanos 3 Siglos, most Camacho, Carlos Torano usually and especially the Virtuoso. That looks awsome against the dark wrapper. Same with Onyx Reserve. I like some of the modern designs like CAO Brazillia (not so much the Italia, don't know why) and the CAO MX2 is unique. I also like the classic reds like H Upmann, Punch, A Fuente.

[shortstory5]

i like them simple.

i dislike anything that has pictures of people on them.

[Skywalker]

OpusX, Ashton ESG, and Maximus Diamond Crown, are by far the best looking.
the Playboys are just plain cheap and gay...wont ever smoke one their so cheap looking.

Playboy and gay in the same sentence???:hm

Cheap maybe???:D

[Cerius]

The Padron Anniversary Bands. The 1926 especially is extremely elegant IMO. The colors on the anniversary bands compliment the cigars nicely.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n36/MrMaduro/padron_80th_perfecto.jpg

Exactly what I was thinking upon seeing the thread title.

And good things always seem to happen after a PAN26 in my experience :ss

OP, my friend Andrew Herfd' with you the other day. Good to know there are more of us around here then I thought.

[Snake Hips]

I'm looking at a baggie of bands here on my desk. I have never noticed all of the gold medals on these bands. There are 6 on the RyJ Habana Reserve, 4 on the Fuente, 4 on the LGC Serie R . . . where do they hand all of these out?
If you look at the box art, all of the Cuban marca gold medals were handed out a century or more ago at various world's fairs and such. For example, Romeo y Julieta's boxes have the medals labelled Jerusalem, Melbourne, Paris, Brussels and "Alveres" handed out between 1885 and 1900. H. Upmann has Chicago, London, Paris, Vienna, Moscow, Porto and a bunch from Spain from the late 1800s as well. One of the medals on the Cuban Bolivar band says "Leopold Roi des Belge" in reference to the famous (infamous perhaps) King Leopold of Belgium. Unfortunately the ones on Partagas, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Por Larranaga, El Rey del Mundo, Ramon Allones, La Gloria Cubana and Fonseca art and bands are indeterminable or don't say at all. As far as non-Cuban brands like Arturo Fuente and La Aurora, I think the flanking gold medals are part of a generic, classic cigar band design that you see among lots and lots of brands like El Rico Habano, Punch, La Gloria Cubana, La Aurora, Arturo Fuente, Gran Habano and many more I can't think of right now.

As for my favorites and non-favorites, I'm a classicist, so I like the old-school Cubanesque designs, with La Aroma de Cuba [and Edicion Especial] being a favorite as well as La Riqueza, La Aurora, all Cuban Hoyo de Monterrey bands, Cuban H. Upmann (the new colored band), Cuban Punch, Cuban Romeo y Julieta and Cuban Fonseca. I dislike most generic, modernistic and cheap-looking bands. CAO, non-Cuban Dunhill, Arturo Fuente (excepting the Anejo version), Flor de Oliva, Arganese, Taboo, Drew Estates, Buccanero and Rocky Patel are the worst offenders of my taste. Contrary to logic, band art does have an affect on my buying habits. As for contemporary designs, I do have a weakness for the Ashton Magnum, Diamond Crown Maximus, Davidoff, San Cristobal and Tatuaje bands. Some of the Camacho bands are pretty cool too.

[meadmaker]

Love the CAO MX2 and LX2

[Jimbo14]

I think the Taboo band is really not good..

http://www.cigarnewbie.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/taboo2.jpg

[Aldebaran]

I enjoy the more minimalist bands. The NUB are a perfect example of a band I like.

[Caymus]

I think the Perdomo labels are beautiful. I don't love the cigars, but would buy a frameable print of that label. I also like the La Riqueza and Cruzado labels...simple, but classy.

I used to be in the wine industry, and I really think labels and product names have much more influence than people want to admit. For the occassional (once a month) cigar smoker, is it a coincidence that everyone knows Arturo Fuente and Macanudo ? Could part of the reason be that the names sound exotic yet they are easy for Americans to pronounce ? In the wine world, has Merlot become the red wine of choice for the masses because it's a french, exotic word that can be pronounced ? What about Dom Perignon ? Do non-wine drinkers confidently order a bottle of "Dom" because it's easy to pronounce and is a status symbol ?

Same thing with label art. I used to rep a product called "Q.C. Fly Pinot Noir" with a big giant fly on the label...ugly as hell...couldn''t sell that stuff at all. But the wine was really good ! Crap wine with pretty labels sold all day long.

[Dunkel]

I like San Cristobal, Cuesta Rey, and Alec Bradley Harvest 97 bands.

I dislike all the Tat, One Off (friggin' hippies), and Sancho Panza.

[BillyCigars]

Favorite: Davidoff. Simple and very elegant.

Least Favorite: Puros Indios. The end. :r

[VirtualSmitty]

Favorite: Davidoff. Simple and very elegant.


Agreed! Though the Zino and Winston Churchill bands are pretty catching too.

My least favorite: nub

[cort]

Favorite - San Cristobal - Just so damn cool and colorful.

Least Fav - OneOff - A weak @ss orange peace sign...come on?


:banger

[gbum]

opus x of course... love those goldish band... more curve..more complex... ol' skol style..

hate those very simple band like tat..just a font with no design at all... might as well don't put a band at all...

[Skywalker]

Exactly what I was thinking upon seeing the thread title.

And good things always seem to happen after a PAN26 in my experience :ss

OP, my friend Andrew Herfd' with you the other day. Good to know there are more of us around here then I thought.


We'll all have to get together soon!!!:tu

[csbrewfisher]

I think the Perdomo labels are beautiful. I don't love the cigars, but would buy a frameable print of that label. I also like the La Riqueza and Cruzado labels...simple, but classy.

I used to be in the wine industry, and I really think labels and product names have much more influence than people want to admit. For the occassional (once a month) cigar smoker, is it a coincidence that everyone knows Arturo Fuente and Macanudo ? Could part of the reason be that the names sound exotic yet they are easy for Americans to pronounce ? In the wine world, has Merlot become the red wine of choice for the masses because it's a french, exotic word that can be pronounced ? What about Dom Perignon ? Do non-wine drinkers confidently order a bottle of "Dom" because it's easy to pronounce and is a status symbol ?

Same thing with label art. I used to rep a product called "Q.C. Fly Pinot Noir" with a big giant fly on the label...ugly as hell...couldn''t sell that stuff at all. But the wine was really good ! Crap wine with pretty labels sold all day long.

Further proof of this can be found in the shampoo aisle of your local store. The difference between a $1.99 bottle of shampoo or conditioner and a $5.99 bottle is the packaging. The eyes of the women are drawn to the unusual bottle. I have verified this with several women I know, including my wife. They admit it, and lament it.

[BlackDog]

Favorite - San Cristobal - Just so damn cool and colorful.

Least Fav - OneOff - A weak @ss orange peace sign...come on?
:tpd: My fav and least fav as well.

[Skywalker]

I've always thought this band was very classy:
http://www.cigarinspector.com/images/brand/dornier-logo.jpg

[pmwz]

fav: trinidad + bolivar
least: perdomo fresco

[Blindjimme]

I've always liked this band. The red, white and green with gold and black :tu especially in my hand with an inch of ash on it!

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/Blindjimme/cs-j2a-view3.jpg

Least favorite, 777 / J. Fuego. Great cigar, ugly plastic band. :td

[Steelergar]

I like the Oliva Masters Blend and Mi Barrio bands.