Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary
July 12, 2010
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High Priced Flops: Which one do you regret most?
In a similar fashion as the Cigar Misconceptions article, I’d like to get some feedback from our readers. What I would like to know is, what was your most expensive cigar disappointment?
My most expensive disappointment in a cigar purchase came in the form of a Gurkha Class Regent. I picked up this stick at a local shop I didn’t frequent very often and choose it because I wanted to give it a second chance after not liking it so long ago. While I don’t remember what the price was, as it was several months ago, I do remember that it was most definitely more than I generally spend on a single stick.
Zino cigars. Always a disappointment.
I spent $37 each on 2 Stradavarius Robusto Majors. I found these to be exceptional! An exceptional waste of $74 that is! I cant say that the cigars weren’t good because they were quite nice, but no more so than plenty or other sticks at a third of the price. Im gonna save up a little and try one their violins. Maybe i’ll have better luck smoking one of those!!!
I blew $28 on 2 Camacho Maduro Triple Maduro 11/18.
Being that neither myself or my brother in law had tried this “hyped” cigar we were both looking forward to a FULL bodied treat.
What we got were 2 sticks which would not stay lit, tunneled and were extremely bland (they were in my humi @ 65%rh).
My first and last purchase of these.
I had a Padron Anniversario 1964 about four months ago that was an absolute ammonia bomb. At first I was only concerned about my nose catching fire, then looked around to see who had played the practical joke on me only to discover that I was home alone. I’ve had bad cigars before but never one that literally scared me. Bad things can happen to bad people when good sticks go bad.
Graycliff Crystal (white label). I’ve had other much, much cheaper brands w/ SG wrappers that put this cigar to shame.
Like Ace, I was most disappointed with the Padron 1964 Anniversario because after all the hype I heard about the cigar, I felt like I was smoking a Padron 4000. While the flavor was good, there was nothing interesting or complex about it.
My biggest disappointment would have to be the LFD Coronado. I bought a six pack of these after seeing them in the #2 spot on CA’s top 25 list. They were like smoking a dirty corn broom. My second biggest would have to be the $35 I spent for a Montecristo #2 at a b+m up here that was totally plugged and unsmokeable.
While in Switzerland a couple years ago for several weeks I bought four Cohiba’s (from an island not to be named). I paid a price too embarrassing to admit, as I look back, even given the better Swiss exchange rate at that time. Although they came from a good tobacconist and appeared to be properly humidified, the taste of the first might as well have been cardboard. The second one was the same. I gave the others away, warning the recipients and asking for their impressions. Responses were similar. After the fact, I compared the labels at a web site with much detail and pictures on spotting fakes, and I am confident they were genuine. Just not good. (The Dominican variety, while cheaper, don’t impress me, either.)
Rocky Patel Old World Reserve at $12 for the Toro and having loved the 90 and 92, just did not live up the expectation I had for it
Interesting responses here…for me, I would have to go with the RyJ Edicion Limitada #2. Comes in cedar lined ruby colored tube for $20 a piece. Haven’t smoked one yet but every one I pick up, has some kind of minor-major mold issue going on.
So far the Ashton VSG. The smell of the cigar while in my humi was fantastic and is probably the best cigar I have ever smelled however that smell in now way replicated in the cigar. Very blan.
HOWEVER still have a $35 Opus in the humi along with a Cohiba from Mexico that my father bought (it looks fake).
For me it has to be the AVO 80th. Last year I was looking for recommendations on a good birthday cigar and the AVO 80th was one of the recommendations I got that I was able to find in a local B&M. After selecting the only one that didn’t have significant battle scars, I brought it hope and lit it up. Good God was that cigar plugged! I would have been easier to suck soup through a brick than pull smoke through that cigar.
When I dropped by the shop again about a week later, the last injured stragglers were gone. To this day, I have no idea what that cigar tastes like, or whether or not it’s a good smoke.
Agree with Bob. Any Camacho in the 11/18 size has caused me problems. Not a single one has ever burned right.
Partagas 160. $18. Not bad at all but rather bland, just not much to it I thought.
Cuban Trinidad Robusto Extra at $56 for a single. which was like smoking a paper with no taste. What a waste of money. I could have gotton a box of Serie G Moduro for that price.
The La Flor Dominicana Ligero Mysterio was touted by the shop clerk to be the best cigar ever smoked. I did not share his opinion.
It was good but I was disappointed. It was definitely not worth the premium price I paid for it.
Fuente OpusX – I LOVE Fuente products, but at $15+ I could’ve had 3 nice Puros torps or SOMETHING else…wasn’t impressed.
I was wondering when the Opus X would show up! Mike if you did like Opus X we have more reasonable pricing here in DC:
http://www.twitpic.com/1jdj
I agree about the Camacho triple maduro. A cigar that I was excited to try turned out to be a very ordinary smoke that cost me $10.50.
I would have to say a Domincan Monte White label toro size, it was fricken brutal, not one stitch of flavor.
wow Jerry, those are great prices on Opus
RyJ Edicion Limitada 2007. It was one dimensional throughout and had a horrible burn. I was somewhat disappointed in the Illusione 88. It seemed sort of bland and went out twice. It was only $8, but still a disappointment.
I’ had never bought a Cohiba untill just recently. All my smoking buddies said they just weren’t worth the money and that all I would be paying for was the name. Well what do they know right? Evidently more than me. I got suckered into buying a monster of a cigar from a smokeshop owner who claimed I couldn’t go wrong. To put it mildly, I could have rolled up a rocket from my cat’s litter box and enjoyed it more, and for what I payed for it the Dr. visit for doing it would have been less.
I would have to say either the zino platinum or the partagas 160. The zino’s are just to light and lacking in much flavor for me and their wrapper is so thin they cant handle being thrown in with other singles. and the 160, not a bad stick but not with the 16-20 bucks, and cant be compared to the 150 at all.
Had an Ashton Aged Maduro #50 that just was just OK, no complexity at all. A couple of hours later I torched up a Nester Vintage 654 Maduro which was about one tenth the cost and blew the Ashton away.
I agree with the VSG, but everything CAO except the CX2 & Italia were greatly overpriced. The America I had was so plugged and boring 1D hickory flavored. The Brazilia wrapper and most other CAO wrappers always tear with the slightest bump or scratch. I don’t want a thick wrapper, but for the $$ it shouldn’t be SEE THROUGH!
I would have to say the Opus X I bought last year at my local B&M for $25. Wanted to ditch it halfway through but lamely finished. Wish I woulda ditched it. Just not my taste. I had an Anejo as well and thought it was about the most boring smoke I’d ever had.
Funny thing is I love the Camacho Triple Maduro, though I bought my first one thinking it was hype and that it would suck. Absolutely loved it though. But I get mine for about $7 a stick. About one in five do seem to have problems staying lit though.
I worst ever for me was the $21.00 I spent for my first Opus X. I was really looking forward to a great smoke, but the stick was a bit plugged. I smoked it on a hot afternoon outside on an empty stomach. The tight draw made me puff way too hard and it kicked me..Hard! I might try another one after a full evening meal.
The Padron 80th. I loved the cigar, just that for $30 I thought it wasn’t as good as the 1926 Anniversary line. So for $18, I can get a cigar that I think is better. However, that being said, if anyone want’s to buy me a box of the Padron 80th’s, I would be incredibly happy LOL!!! Good cigar, just not worth $30 so it’s in my will not buy again category.
Dave
Some prior-year Camacho Liberties and most of the Patel higher-end lines never fail to disappoint me. Downright poor cigars (for me) were the Diamond Crown Maximus and all the Dunhills that I have tried.
I am a devoted Padron man. I love the 1926 #9 Maduro and natural sticks and smoke the maduro 80th Anniversary regularly.
When I recently tried the 80th Anniversary natural, I was completely disappointed. The cigar had absolutley no flavor and was a complete waste of $40.
Island Prince Kauai Cigar (natural). At any of the tourist-type places the singles go for $20-$25 a single. I think the ones we smoked were closer to $16.
It has an ineresting mild flavor at the beginning. But there was an inch or so that made me feel sick. I couldn’t throw it away halfway so I continued and it got back to smokable. It stayed that way for a little while, then wouldn’t stay lit.
If you want a “hawaiian” tobacco cigar for your collection, great. But if you want to smoke it, I’d look elsewhere.
I love Ashton Cab’s….Tres Petit. So I tried the VSG Tres Mystique which was supposed to be such a great one to try.
The burn was almost as bad as the draw (tried 5 total) and the aroma and flavors were nothing to write about, except how disappointing they all were. Oh yes…Gurkha’s suck too. Well I mean it was like trying to suck air through a pencil.
I will continue to enjoy my Ashton Cab’s as well as AVO Preludio’s.
I agree with the comment above about the Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve. It’s a good smoke, but I consider it inferior to the Vintage 1990, which sells for less than half the price. Another big disappointment was the Graycliff Crystal. I had previously smoked a Chateau Grand Cru and found it a remarkably good smoke, but the Crystal smoked like a $2 cigar.
I admit I am a sucker for cigar bands. To me the presentation and packaging of a cigar is important. Paid a dear price for it at my tobacconist for it. Perhaps, I am naive, but the Padron anniversary cigar labels are beautiful, but man, I could tolerate the over powering taste. Too long a finish too. However, I fell in love with the Partagas Decadas, one of only two Partagas I can smoke. C.
For those of you who said the Padron 1964 was a bit of a let down did you have a maduro wrapped cigar or the natural. I ask because I’ve had two maduro 1964’s I thought that they were pretty good but I can’t say the same for the two natural 1964’s. Also I liked the one Camacho Triple maduro that I had and though it burned and tasted great …that being said all these negative comments may keep me from purchasing another; I mean they are a bit overpriced and it seems I had a good one.
my biggest waste was on an LG Chisel.. $13 and nothing to show for it… boring flavors, and not really as strong as it was touted. Its because of that stick that the LG small batch II’s that I bought the same day have yet to get cut. (don’t know what I’m waiting for lol)
Ian- you might get better response from questions if you pop in to the forums and post. btw… I much prefer the Naturals in every one of the Padron anniverssary lines, but like the maduros in the regular series.
The Tatuaje Gran Cojonu – This is one bad a#$ mother f&*&^ing looking cigar. No band, dark, bold, and rugged – not sure why but appearance wise its probably my all time favorite. For me it sort of encapsulated the essence of what a cigar should look like. And I remember I sat ga-ga eyed inspecting the cigar for at least 1/2 hr before lighting it up. But as far as the taste, nothing but leather, leather, and gobs of more leather. Its the one taste in a cigar that I really don’t care for. If you are a fan of leather this cigar is for you. I’m a huge fan of Tatuaje and bought two boxes – doh! – hope they get better with time.
These comments are interesting BUT totally worthless to a novice cigar smoker.Some of my absolutely favorite smokes have been panned here.Obviously these comments are totally subjective and make for lively discussion but should not be used as a guide for a new cigar smoker.Such a person would be steered away from some of the finest smokes in existence today(Padron 64,Ashton VSg, (my bias of course) .
I’m going to add an ESG to this list
had one a while back, and thank god It was a gift…
It was nice, but give me a break… it is no where near worth the $20+pricetag.
I’ve gotten more enjoyment out of my Edge Counterfeits.
LkyLindy-
opinions are like…well you know..
your comment (based on your statement) is just a worthless as the rest of them. Information is power… the more educated a novice smoker can be, the better decisions they can make.
So what if a couple “experienced” smokers think a stick is overhyped and over priced? the novice still has free will to decide for themselves.
were not holding a gun to anyone’s head here.
I think this type of article will always be controversial. Considering that cigars are often a matter of taste, one persons cherry is another lemon. So coupling that with the fact that we are talking about high priced cigars here, you’ve got yourself an explosive topic
Most of the comments here are either about a flawed cigar, i.e. plugged etc, or about one that just wasn’t to their taste. And spending a bunch of money on a cigar that is hyped up that does not taste to ones liking will leave the person disappointed at best. Take for example my comments on the Padron 80th. Now it’s a good cigar in my opinion but they hyped it up so much and limited it’s production to artificially jack up the cost. It’s basically the same cigar as the 1926 series just in a BP Perfecto. Ok, neat. But it tastes no different then the 1926 series for twice the price. And the Perfecto size made the wrapper too thick in my opinion and it had burn issues.
Take another example, the LX2 that is currently on the front page. Wow, talk about people that are disappointed. No manufacturer set’s out to disappoint customers however, a double ligero is going to have a slim fan base under the best of conditions. So bam, check out all the negative comments.
And as far as advice for new smokers, personally the best thing a new smoker could gleam from this thread is beware of high priced cigars in general. They rarely are worth the price tag.
Dave
When I know a cigar is supposed to be good and I had a bad experience I will typically do the research again to make sure I am getting the vitola that is considered the best/highest rated in a line. Then I try to acquire it again from an alternate source in case my previous source may have mis-handled them or gotten a bad batch.
At the point I am re-evaluating I almost always use H2O as my beverage of choice so I can really let the cigar stand on its own.
For those who had issue with the Camacho 3x Maduro I recommend trying the 6×60 or Robusto as I think they are superior smokes to the Torpedo which turns south near the end or the elusive 11/18 which can be kind of Boom or Bust! If you are a maduro lover you need to keep trying this cigar as it is maduro paradise that can’t be found anywhere else.
Padron’s with ammonia is a cigar that with some age would probably be excellent like most Padron’s.
Cohiba’s were IMO better long ago. I have a friend who deals strictly with Cubans and I will occasionally get a Cohiba he recommends, I think the Siglo V was the last one he gave the thumbs up and it was pretty good just very expensive.
My bust Cigar would have to go to the CAO Vision. How they ever got on the CA Top 25 list seems criminal to me. I have tried to convince myself I like the cigar to no avail as I really wanted one of those jacked up neon humi’s.