Was just smoking a Punch Rare Corojo that I hadn't revisited in years, and it got me thinking, what were some of your favorite smokes in the pre-Pepin era or when boutiques blew up on the scene? Was it all Fuentes and Littos? I came into the hobby in '05, so I don't have a good frame of reference for anything before that. For instance, I remember when the CAO Brazilia came out and was a big deal.

Just wondering if there are any hidden gems back then that can still be had.
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Interesting question. I was really into Montecristo when I first started. Pepin was getting hot at about the same time tho.
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I used to smoke a few Fuentes, the Spanish Lonsdale and the 858, a few hemingways and Don Carlos. A LOT of Padrons, too.
The only boutique smokes I smoked back then were Havana Sunrise, which were pretty good for the boom,
and maybe a few EARLY Perdomo cigars....way early. There was a box pressed torpedo that was called X that was
pretty tasty til the recipe changed..that and it had a sprayed maduro wrapper. Perdomo basically fell apart, IMO, long ago.
He was interviewed in an article where he said that his rollers were leaving the ligero out of cigars because it made it hard
to roll them. It was being mixed in with the trash. Before he ever stated that, I began to taste a real difference. I quit
buying his stuff. They said they fixed all the problems, but I wasn't buyin it.
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Cusano Vintage 1997
Indian Tabac Arrow
Bayamo
LGC Serie R
Don Lino 1989

It's been a long time since I've smoked any of these but I remember them to be good back then
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I remember many years ago some national magazine came out with an article that called Don Mateo the "world's best cheap cigar". A buddy at work and I bought a couple mazos to split.

Tasted like ass, only assier.
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Is "assier" even a word :-)

I don't care, I'm using it.
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Yes it is, Chief.


:-) :-)
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I got into smoking around 2006 and stopped in 08 sometime.

I remember CAO Brazilias being big (though I never got into them), Padrons being all the rage (loved them), and Torano smokes were spoken about a lot as well. The RP Vintage lines were hyped as were Gurkhas (never liked any of either group that I smoked). La Flor Dominicana were also becoming popular around that time.

I just started up again and there has definitely been a shift. Pepin was just being talked about when I was on my way out if my memory serves me correctly and now he seems to be front and center as are Perdomo and Oliva.

That's just from my vantage point though.
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Started really getting into it around 06 as well
Remember the red and blue band Olivas being awesome.
First boxes of NCs were Cusano 18 paired maduros and some of the Torano Exodus line. Still enjoy the Toranos but haven't had a Cusano in a long time.
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La Gloria Cubanos, El Rey del Mundo Robustos (and others), Punch (the rare Corojo isn't retro, came out post 2000), Hoyo de Monterrey, HdM Excalibur, and some others are all cigars I enjoy from pre-'90s boom years.
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I started smoking in 93/94. My main go-to brands were LGC and Padron. Padron has been remarkably consistent over the years and today they still taste the same to me as when I first discovered them. The LGCs are not as good as they were back in the day, but every once in a while you come across a good one. Special occasion smokes back then, for me, were Davidoffs. Still are too!
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Gentlemen, that there is your quote of the day. :-)
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+1
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Yeah, I bought the Don Mateo's then as well. Very much assier.

MCS
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LGC Wavell
El Rico Habano original release (the strong one)
El Rey Del Mundo Robusto Oscuro
Anything Avo


MCS
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LGC Wavell and Churchills
Dunhills
Lone Wolf (yes, I'm the one who bought them)
Hemingways
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The Olivia O. Yes, the one with the cloth band. Blew my mind.
Macanudo Onyx Reserve.
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That magazine obviously suckered a few of us, Scott. :-)
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There were lots of boutiques and trendy cigars back in the boom time. LGC Wavells were on everyone's list and cigars from the Villazon factory like ERDM, Excalibur and well-aged Consuegra. LaLuna was a cult boutique as was Astral (went under and was bought by JR).

And, Saka was an internet poster, not a company exec.

So, expensive cigars for guys in the know are hardly new.
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Are you saying the the LGCs, ERDM, Excaliburs, were boom cigars - or trendy???
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