rfenst wrote:Ever think they are not test cigars, but just rolled out of whatever small batches of tobacco available or that the manufacturer isn't really testing, but instead selling 2nds or low price point cigars?
I think there are a few are like that - and I pointed out them in the reviews - but there are others where its known they started out as blendlabs then were "promoted" to the manufacturer's regular lineup. The quality of a number of them is just as good as anything you will find anywhere.
So i think it's a mix. Some small batch ones where they that can't make enough of to make it a full run, some truly experimental sticks to see how they go and a few true "seconds."
Note that the "Seconds" that are advertised many places are not really "seconds." In the opinion of many - me included -they are ones that were made to be sold as "seconds" from the very start. You can tell they are not the same. Not a regular cigar with a blemish but a one made to be cheaper from the start - just like the specially made cheaper clothes made just for the "outlet" malls.
The blendlabs I have tagged as probably seconds are ones that, underneath, really are as good as the real thing but they DO have something strange about them. One was a box-pressed stick that was only "pressed" on three sides sort of making it a very odd shape. Tasted and burned fine but was still very odd.
Another great thing with the blendlabs is you could try a lot of different blends sizes and styles of (with a few exceptions) very good cigars very inexpensively.
I have a large supply now of cigars that are either just as good as or nearly as good as Kristoffs, AFs, Davidoffs, Aging Room, LGC and more for $1-4 per stick. That simply just can't be done anywhere else, so it is sad thinking this will probably end regardless of the underlying story behind each one.