Quote:
Originally Posted by JJG
I would say most of the popular brands today are fairly new. (within the last 10-15 years) I know some of them have been around longer but probably as boutique brands, not widely distributed to the average late 90's B&M.
I think the reason for the shift away from some of the older brands has to do with the fact that the average smoker has a wealth of information available to them online and tend to be better informed than they might have been 15 years ago. In my opinion it has also led to an industry-wide increase in the quality of what's being produced because frankly, smokers have higher expectations.
That being said, I think the internet has done wonders for storefront retailers too. I notice them carrying more of the exciting cigars generally discussed on this board instead of the usual blah brands like Macanudo, red-dot Cohibas, etc...
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Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back for being one of the nouveau cigar smokers that is so much more educated and has a much more refined palate than the old smokers.
(sorry, I just couln't resist the attempt at a bit of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm)
You suggest that the most popular brands are the new ones. Hmmm. Got the figures to back that up? I'd say Fuentes, Upmann, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Partagas, LGC, dare I say it Macanudos, and other long-time brands, outsell the newcomers by a very large margin.
I would agree that some of the newer brands/makers like Tatuajae, Pepin, and such are more "popular," if by that you mean they are discussed more. You hear them talked about more than the long-time brands, but I'd love to see what people have more of in their humidors.
Yes, there is more information available today, but that isn't always a good thing. I remembered the plethora of information out there about cigars during the boom - pooled ignorance I liked to call it. Guys talking on different internet groups about the latest, greatest new cigar to come down the pipe. And the more expensive it was, the more they liked it. It was like a badge of honor to proclaim how many boxes of it they had puchased. I remember a guy talking about the Nicole Miller Robustos he had purchased, paid $10.25 a stick for a box. JR Cigar had them a year later, and I got two boxes for $29.95.
Do smokers have a higher expectation today than they did? I don't know, but I am inclined to lean the other way. I think the "cigar boomers" had great education, the internet was available to them and cigar clubs were all over the place. I think that they had unrefined palates and didn't want to listen to old smokers, "what do you know, you've been smokin' "Brands X,Y,Z,P,D,&Q for 10 years, what would you know about the new blends?" They were shoving their high end sticks in people's facing, trying to impress everyone with their refined tastes. However, there are the smokers that have come through that age which were not, and are not wow-ed by slick packaging, a new name, a high price tag, and the tastebuds of others.
There are some cigars that are bandied about these boards as the beat all and end all of cigar smoking. We won't get into whether they are or are not. Some of them are great. (Like what you smoke, and smoke what you like.) But, again and again, and again I see those old standards being passed around, boxes purchased, and reviews made.
Oh, and red dot Cohibas are not a old time blend, didn't debute until 1997 (if memory serves me correctly). And, as far as I was and am concerned, it is one of the worst cigars on the planet.
This past weekend, my cigars were a very mixed bag: Cabaiguan Robusto Extra, Taboo HSG Toro Grande, Punch Rotschild, Oliva V Lancero, and a AF Chateau maddie.
I do like the fact that this question I have posed has raised such discussion and conjecture.
Love it!
Keep the ideas flowing.