Yeah, I like AJ too; Diesel and MOW Virtue/Armada are my top 3, but lately it seems he's been going the super-premium route. I'm wondering if Alex or anyone can tell me if he's moving all his stuff upstream, or is he just expanding and is still gonna blend some budget sticks?
What I mean is, is he gonna go the Davidoff route and only do super-premiums from now on, or is he gonna go Camacho, and release both super-premium and budget sticks?
+1
If this is the case, I'm in. I find that I enjoy AJ style of blending also. The corona sampler got me hooked. There was only one in the sampler that I wasn't to particular about. With that said, if he is going the route of my favorite brand and company(Camacho). Then he's got me. I like the choice of having a brand that can produce a buget friendly cigar up to a Super Premium that I will buy. Example, Camacho Corojo is a little over 4 dollars, triple maduro 12 dollars and for that special day or event a Camacho PE. Love them all yet, I find myself reaching for a MOW Puro Authentico more than anything lately along with a MOW Ruination. So, it would be a good thing to see him go down that road. That's providing for the masses my friends and you can't go wrong there.......
Completely agree here, Rick.
The guy has redefined what a $3 cigar is, and now there's more to accomplish. My guess is that there will always be kick a$$ inexpensive lines that he blends, but now there will also be more of a variety, and thats cool.
The other thing I would remind people about is that the san lotano line is the only one thats actually 100% in his control. So there's going to be alot of overlap with his blends and such becuase their for differnt brands. So maybe LHC wants to have a budget line, a medium line and a premium line, and so does MOW and San Lotano. well it may not be him saying that 2011 is the year of AJ moving to all premiums, but its probably more that the MOW people want all 3 categories represented, and he blends for that line, also the LHC people want all 3 lines represented, and he happens to blend for them as well, and you know what? San Lotano is his. Of course he wants to represent himself, especially to a brand that will now be reviewed by more mainstream magazines. . . . anyway, just kep that in mind. We see LHC, MOW, Sol Cubano, San Lotano, Diesel, etc, as "AJ blends" and they are blended by him but they aren't all AJ owned blends. I'm not a blind AJ follower myeself, but I love alot of his stuff, and am happy to see the man do well.
and dang, on a side note, I really need to try some comachos one of these days. I hear nothing but good things about them, but I always forget when its buying time.
Yes ultimately I know there is a market for $14+ stogies and I have no problem with that. But that price will put it out of reach for many. I kind of gauge stogies with drinks from a bar: Under $5 is inexpensive, $5-$9 normal, and anything over that better be something special because I won't be buying many of them.
Comments
The guy has redefined what a $3 cigar is, and now there's more to accomplish. My guess is that there will always be kick a$$ inexpensive lines that he blends, but now there will also be more of a variety, and thats cool.
The other thing I would remind people about is that the san lotano line is the only one thats actually 100% in his control. So there's going to be alot of overlap with his blends and such becuase their for differnt brands. So maybe LHC wants to have a budget line, a medium line and a premium line, and so does MOW and San Lotano. well it may not be him saying that 2011 is the year of AJ moving to all premiums, but its probably more that the MOW people want all 3 categories represented, and he blends for that line, also the LHC people want all 3 lines represented, and he happens to blend for them as well, and you know what? San Lotano is his. Of course he wants to represent himself, especially to a brand that will now be reviewed by more mainstream magazines. . . . anyway, just kep that in mind. We see LHC, MOW, Sol Cubano, San Lotano, Diesel, etc, as "AJ blends" and they are blended by him but they aren't all AJ owned blends. I'm not a blind AJ follower myeself, but I love alot of his stuff, and am happy to see the man do well.
and dang, on a side note, I really need to try some comachos one of these days. I hear nothing but good things about them, but I always forget when its buying time.
Hey bro, I'd be down for a box split when the time comes if ya want