Imho there are plenty of great smokes to be had, even at affordable prices. I love nicaraguan puros....there is a nic profile that I really dig. But if I had to pick a holy grail smoke, it would be one that is long gone -- the original cao anni's made by Douglas (mid to late 90's). His costa rican maddie cao anni was a great smoke. Perdomo then got ahold of the brand and it lost a lot of flavor and construction.
Diamond Crown maximus are awesome smokes too, but way out of my price range. Old version St Louis Rey (honduran, iirc, from mid 90's) were awesome smokes too. Heck, just recently I was remembering the original Indian Tabacs - from when Patel was producing them (late 90's).....those were darn good, and the maddies had some kick. But again, my overall vote would go to Douglas CAO's.