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Cigars or cigar brands to avoid?

I'll try anything once, and I have heard the same about Thompson Cigars
 
Just an echo of the replies you have already seen here, but for the most part, I will at least give something a try once (except for the nasties Like Doc mentioned). If I find I don't hate it after one, I'll grab a few more, or a fiver to really see if I like it. I find it's hard to really see if it's worth picking up a box from just one stick. Even after sampling a few, it can still be hit or miss on a box, but in general, they won't get worse with age if they're kept properly.

I must say don't just go by what others say, or the rating CA gives something. Those can be good starting points, but only you can decide what suits your taste buds. I've found there have been sticks that people rant and rave about that I couldn't stand, and vice versa. You never know until you give something a go!
 
Not sure why but I stay away from the Altadis stuff. I'm sure they make some good smokes but I cant bring myself to smoke non Cuban cigars with Cuban names...
 
I'll try anything once. If it is not to my liking it goes on my S list. If I have more then one of them, I give them to the "I will works for cigar's" guys along the road. :p
 
So much of a cigar depends on the company and the reason for smoking. There are so many cigars out there floating around try everything. Even then, people’s tastes tend to evolve, so the coffee infused cigar you love today might be the one you’re pawning off on you’re brother tomorrow.

Smoke what you like is the best advice.

I am always comparing the wine versus cigar world. The top 100 wines of 2011 are impossible to get, and the top 10 cigars of 2011 are readily available, mostly. You would never hear a sommelier say drink what you like, for they are the authority on what you should like, two different worlds.
 
Stay away from any of the Tatuajes or Pepins, if you find or have some you had better send them to me for appropriate disposal. :laugh:
 
I like backwoods :p I carry a pouch around with me when fishing to keep the skeeters away.

And I dislike 5 Vegas Reds but some people like them.

And the Gurkha Legend is still one of my favorites.
 
I like backwoods :p I carry a pouch around with me when fishing to keep the skeeters away.

Shhsh! I also smoke Backwoods when fishing. Partly for convenience; partly prudential judgement. When kayak fishing, things tend to get wet. Trying to wrestle with a paddle, a rod and a #52 Churchill at the same time gets confusing. Besides a Backwoods feels more appropriate when catting or bass fishing than does a Liga Privada No. 9 by Drew Estate. Besides I like that gritty Backwoods taste. Actually use a natural tobacco wrapper. Reminds me of those dirty Mexican secundo cheroots, another of my secret, guilty pleasures. Brings me back to my redneck roots. Biggest problem with the Backwoods today is that the wrapper quality has deteriorated over the years. Not uncommon that two out of a 5 pack are unsmokable. I noticed that some vendors were only selling them by the singles. Turns out that weed smokers started using them to make their blunts.
 
I have a bunch of short-filler crap cigars I got for guests haha. I find that if I smoke an occasional cheap, short-filler cigar, it makes me appreciate the taste of the better cigars once I have one. Just my opinion. But I kind of get sick of the latter even when I have one. You can definitely taste a difference once you smoke them.
 
I am always comparing the wine versus cigar world. The top 100 wines of 2011 are impossible to get, and the top 10 cigars of 2011 are readily available, mostly. You would never hear a sommelier say drink what you like, for they are the authority on what you should like, two different worlds.

I totally agree and disagree. Much of the wine world is just as you describe. However, in the true wine geek world, where people discuss wine on boards like this, the answer to a similar question about wine would be similar- drink what you like, etc.

One of the differences is that the proportion of wine geeks to overall wine drinkers is much smaller than the proportion of cigar geeks to the total universe of people who enjoy cigars. I also have encountered plenty of label whores in the cigar world that talk more about who rated or ranked the cigar than what they actually liked or disliked about it.

Sorry to post off topic.

As to the original question. I don't have any brands of legitimate cigars that I completely avoid. I learned my lesson a few times in the wine world about ruling out a category of anything based on a few bad experiences.
 
In general, I hate criollo and candela wrappers, and shitty construction. But tastes vary.

~Boar

For example . . . HdM cigars always explode on me. But lots of folks love 'em, and have no problems.

I've probably smoked over 50 HdM cigars. I really like them... a lot. :love: I can't remember ever having one "explode" on me. They do seem to have a delicate wrapper and I have had a few minor wrapper issues but it was only a slight inconvenience.
 
I actually really like the Baccarat candela cigars- easy, quick smoke. No super bad after taste and can smoke them back to back w/o getting burned out. Good/bad is all relative. In my opinion, if you can purchase it at the local quickie mart or bodega- it isn't really worth writing home about, those are typically quick smokes when you are in a pinch or just want a wrapper :D
 
In general, I hate criollo and candela wrappers, and shitty construction. But tastes vary.

~Boar

For example . . . HdM cigars always explode on me. But lots of folks love 'em, and have no problems.

I've probably smoked over 50 HdM cigars. I really like them... a lot. :love: I can't remember ever having one "explode" on me. They do seem to have a delicate wrapper and I have had a few minor wrapper issues but it was only a slight inconvenience.

Every Dark Knight, Excalibur, etc. that I've ever had, the wrapper has split lengthwise, stem to stern, and started unraveling by the time I get an inch smoked. I can't explain it either, and it always bums me out, because that first inch usually tastes pretty good.

Speaking of individual tastes, my kid sister, bless her heart, sent me a dram and a cigar for my birthday last October.

The cigar was an ACID Kuba Kuba. ???

It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. Probably the single worst cigar I've smoked since that awful cognac-infused Gurkha in the faux wax capped glass tubo.

But my kid sister sent it to me, for my birthday, so I cowboyed up and smoked the whole damn thing. :blush:

~Boar
 
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