[Sethomas]

Yeah, I've at the very least grown comfortable buying them. Obviously they're not as good as the Cubans because the Dominican soil isn't as rich, but they still manage to fit in a great deal of flavor in a very well-crafted binding.

I'll justify my premium name-dropping with the fact that I really enjoy El Mejor maduros, for which I generally pay no more than $2 a cigar. The problem with them is that the wrapper falls apart as the maduro leaf soaks saliva much worse than any other cigar type I've noticed, so it begins to fall apart and look nasty/be a pain in the ass toward the end. When R&J started making maduros, as I prayed they would for years, I at first was amazed at how the better construction improved the maduro experience but every now and then I'll run into the same problem after having paid four times the price as the El Mejors (albeit with more subtle overtones added to the experience). For the distinctly Romeo y Julieta experience, I think that their Viejo line is the best in the American market. I've only seen, I think, their 1876 line in places other than good tobacconists, so I'd guess that's what you saw. It's a good line to be sure, but I'd recommend their others for the fact that once you begin talking about cigars that cost no less than $6 for a decent size, tacking on 50 cents makes a huge improvement. I guess that has to do with "if our name is on it, it shouldn't cost less than..." marketing, but I was impressed when someone pointed out to me that Arturo Fuente has some very good values right beside their super-premium lines. (Their Curly Top, or whatever misnomer they gave it, only costs like $2.50 at most tobacconists.)