[shilala]

The Esteban Carerra is an RP blend produced by Oliva, and it absolutely rocks.
I LOVE Indian Tabac Super Fuertes, and have enjoyed a bunch of other Indian Tabac blends.
I have yet to find any with Rocky's name on them that I have enjoyed. I had a Fusion MM a few days ago and quite frankly, I'd be ashamed for my name to be on it.
The flavor was lousy, the construction sucked, the draw was crap, the burn very inconsistant, and these are cigars that I have let set for a year.
Chuck made some points earlier about "all the brands".
My answer to that is "do you want to make good cigars, or do you want to make money?"
Look at Oliva and Fuente, for instance.
They don't have to introduce a new cigar every week because they are committed, proud, and absolutely insist on producing a product of the highest queality that they can put their name on with pride.
Rocky drags maduro wrapper through dye and syrup so he can make a few bucks.
Big difference. Real big.
So far as Gurkha goes, I have no idea what the hell they're thinking.
CAO falls somewhere in between. If there's a company that fits the thinking Chuck was talking about, I think it would be them. Their intent is to provide quality and variance, and they have limits.
I think Rocky's heart is in the right place, but I think he's willing to compromise at any level just to move cigars. I think it's a shame because he has real talent, and it doesn't take many compromises to ruin a guy's good name.