[sevans105]

For me, there are two sets of hype. One from the manufacturer...advertising, MASSIVE releases, tons of events. And two, from the reviewers/smokers/blogosphere. Sometimes those two overlap with paid reviews and blogs.

In the first category, Drew Estate and Gurkha win hands down.

In the second, Opus and Davidoff. I WANT to like these. At the price points, I try REALLY hard to like these. But in the end, I've had Gurkha's better than Opus. These brands have the cache...they are the ones you smoke if you want to impress someone else. For me, they really aren't worth the money.

The Cubans don't have any advertising here in the US but the forums and blogospheres are full of their reviews and praises. For me, I really like the Cohiba VI, but I know not everyone does. I don't like it $30 a stick worth though. Actually, I can't think of ANY cigars that I'd pay that much for. But that's me. And my opinion.