Name shmame - just give me a good cigar

By Gary Korb

What's in a name? It all depends on how important a name is to you. Like most consumables, a good name goes a long way in the premium cigar business. If you're a savvy cigar smoker and I offer you a Fuente, Padron, Davidoff, Rocky Patel, or a Pepin Garcia, you’re likely to be smoking it before I realize it’s even left my hand.

Then why are so many "house" and "boutique" brands being sold, despite all the numerous name-brands that are available? First and fortunately, cigar smokers like variety and are generally open to trying new cigars. Most people nowadays are looking for a good buy, and house brands or non-name-brand cigars, are a great way for cigar smokers to keep their budgets in check. Moreover, many house brands are made by top manufacturers, so by association with an already proven name, it has more cred up-front.

There is something to be said for many name-brands such as Fuente OpusX, Hemingway, Montecristo, Cohiba, Rocky Patel, CAO, Davidoff, Padron Anniversary, and the like. The key to their success has been a long record of producing great tasting cigars year-after-year.

Since I work for a major cigar retailer, I've been fortunate enough to have smoked just about every variety of name-brand and non-name-brand cigar. The fact of the matter is, a good cigar is a good cigar. Period. Yet there are some cigar smokers who insist on smoking the name-brand cigars regardless of the quality, flavor and value available in the myriad non-name-brands. Are they cigar snobs? Maybe they just feel safer buying a known entity.

It seems like, these days, younger cigar smokers are more open-minded about the value-priced non-name-brand cigars and so-called "boutique" brands, whereas a good portion of veteran cigar smokers (largely the seniors) tend to stick with what they know, mainly the "big tobacco" name-brands that were most prominent when they first began smoking cigars.

Even the most highly respected name-brands can't guarantee that their cigars will deliver the goods every time you light them up. Scores of cigars made in the top factories are returned each year due to tight draw, cracked or peeling wrappers, bitter taste, etc. To be fair, the high priced name-brand cigars generally tend to be well made, but there are also plenty of lower-priced bundle and non-name-brand cigars, that stack up to or even surpass many of the most prestigious brands.

Over the years, there's been a vast improvement in the overall quality of non-name-brand cigars, too. I've been recommending alternatives to name-brand cigars for years now, and have rarely received a complaint. It's not so much a reflection on my "expertise" as it is a reflection on the exceptional quality of the cigars themselves. Cigar smokers today are well informed, so you can't afford to sell them junk; they just won't stand for it - and they'll call you out for it, too, by posting on one of the many cigar community and cigar review websites.

Cigar community sites are one of the best resources for finding good non-name-brand cigars to smoke. For the most part, they have no particular brand loyalty, so they tell it like it is - and God bless 'em for smoking just about everything they can get their hands on to review.

When it comes to non-name-brand cigars, there seems to be more loyalty toward respective retailers. If a particular retailer successfully markets their home-grown brands by garnering converts, those customers tend to place more trust in the what the retailer is offering. It’s a win-win situation for the cigar store because they're able to sell their exclusive cigars in addition to the popular stock name-brands.

Suffice it to say, like premium wines, which are often compared to premium cigars, a higher-priced name-brand doesn't necessarily make it better, just as a lower-priced non-name-brand doesn't necessarily make it inferior. Be brave. Go where few have gone before and try some non-name-brand cigars. You probably won't give up all of your name-brand favorites, but you will find some real treasures throughout your quest.    (_[ca]__{{{