This is kind of an odd question, and a little out there, but I hope to start an interesting discussion. What gives us the taste that we do? By that, I mean what we choose. We are "modern" in palate. We smoke a variety of cigars from many different brands and countries in search of complexity and particular profiles as well as construction and value. This is tied to other things as well, like alcohol. We sample different beers of a huge variety of styles from several countries searching again for complexity and superiority in profile. Beers, rums, whisk[e]ys, wines...but why? Why were our fathers insistent on one thing - the local beer and "his" cigar brand? Our dads smoked box after box of one cigar, King Edwards, White Owls or whatever. Our dads drank case after case of shitty local beer (Olympia, Lone Star, Old Style, Stroh's, Schaefer, etc.) and/or bottle after bottle of Jim Beam or whatever "affordable" spirit he chose. So why can't recent generations settle on anything but variety and complexity? Boutique cigar brands, craft breweries and the such have exploded in the last decade, but why?
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I think the simply answer is because we can. We have much more access to different products than ever before. With the internet, which has really expanded commerce, the consumer has greater access to much more products. I am sure there are many other reasons to your question.
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I don't smoke just one brand of cigar, but my tastes in alcohol are pretty basic. I'm not that hard to please in terms of complexity with cigars either. Although most people seem to shun one-dimensional cigars, I tend to enjoy many one-dimensional smokes.
I also think that we have much less of a sense of brand loyalty than we did fifty to one hundred years ago. Not that there's anything wrong with that (well not much wrong with it).
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I think the question can be answered by availability and supply and demand. My dad didn't have the choices we have today and his dad had even fewer choices. Some smart people started giving us choices with micro brews and premium cigars and it turned out to be a good idea. Some rise to the top (not neccesarily the best but the best marketers) and they create demand which keeps them in business. Does it make us bad to partake in things our parents couldn't? I bet if the same stuff was available back then, it would probably do pretty well. Not as well as today because of te internet but pretty well.

MCS
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:-) I don't think there was nearly as much choice in the past (in fact, I certain there wasn't).
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I hate to say it but I think it's due to lack of advertising.

If you look at other consumer goods segments, you'll find that brand loyalty is very high. Soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, clothing, electronics are dominated by brands with strong media campaigns that in turn builds brand loyalty.

Cuban cigars have almost no advertising and my guess is overall there is low brand loyalty except maybe for the global brands. I'd also guess that in the US where print and POP advertising is allowed for cigars, brands such as Macanudo, Punch, White Owl, and Davidoff have stronger brand loyalty due to their (IMO) greater marketing efforts. But otherwise there is no direction except personal unbiased preference.
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Didn't say that it makes us bad. I just find it interesting that there's been such a change of consumer taste, and I suppose choice is a good answer to that. Old dad had a choice of maybe three domestic cigars and the two local beers while we have easy access to hundreds of cigars and beers from many, many places. But I think it's more of a curiosity thing because these things are available to us. How many of us would be satisfied with only our very favorite of each? I guarantee all of us would choose variety instead, simply because things are available to try. Brand loyalty is interesting too. We all have favorites, so shouldn't we logically be loyal to those brands or products?
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Yes, but we don't have to purchase that product exclusively. We will continue to purchase the one's we like, along with other things, but we will consistently return to those favorites. That is still being loyal in my book.

I like Burger King, but I also enjoy something from Wendy's from time to time. If I go to Wendy's every now and then, but still continue to spend money at Burger King as well, I would consider that still being loyal to Burger King.
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Alex I think I'm the exception. I could quite easily smoke Cohibas and only Cohibas for the rest of my life, if asked to pick a single one it would be overwhelmingly Lanceros. I'm currently on a drive to turn 80% of my stash (collection is to grand a word for it) into Cohibas. I'm simple like that.
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I think its just a case of most people like variety. Imagine eating the same meal for dinner every day of the week, even if its a good dish you're going to get tired of it after a while. Cigars and drinks are the same way, its always good to try something a bit different.
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:-) That is me!! I like to change it up every now and again...from Maduro to Triple Maduro. :-):-)
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