Pudding Mittens wrote:The EARLY versions of the Old World Reserve and Decade were great... then IMO later versions seemed to become flavorless.
Lots of cigar companies seem to do this. Introduce a new line with high quality, "hook" people, then after awhile, use cheaper tobacco and hope they won't notice and will stick to their established buying habits.
Again, all IMO. It could be my imagination, but I doubt it.
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It's not your imagination. Several brands have come and gone using that as their model. The greatest fraud was CAO.
CAO used to make decent cigars. Like around 99-2003. They had I think around 4-5 lines. They were always the same and could be counted on. They weren't expensive and were a great bang for the buck. Then the in-breds took over the place. They started new lines each and every month almost. The Cigar world was on fire for CAO. The cigars were a virtual cornucopia of trying to please every palate. Then, as the first release wanned and the next round hit the beach the palates didn't lie. It was a different and weaker cigar than the box said it was. The fanboi's all went ablaze with "You don't know what you're talking about" and I actually felt like I really was the kid in the fable "The Emperor's New Clothes". I was the only one that saw it. I started talking to people that were in the business and that actually knew Cigars and what it took to manufacture them. They all stated they could NEVER keep the plates spinning because they didn't have the product to deliver. You have to own the entire process from start to beginning. You have to grow, cull, store, roll, box and distribute the product. You let someone else do the heavy lifting then it's going to suffer. They don't care, they're getting paid!
There were several lines that were exceptional. The Criollo in the wooden drawer boxes were THE pinnacle of what they were capable of. It rivaled the Cuban Cigar Experience. It delivered. The 2nd wave wasn't the same lip tingling pleasing taste the 1st release was, but it was still a good cigar. The gig was up with the Brazilia and the Italia...even cigars out of the same box on the 1st release were vastly different. They were just rolling whatever they wanted, shoving it in the box and kicking off the loading dock as fast as possible. The Gold, Maduro and the Cameroon...the ones they started with were ghosts of what they were.
No, they were the shiftiest manufacturer out there. If you met up with them at release parties and talked to their rep they'd only preach the hype and refuse to answer the questions. By the time I washed my hands of them even them couldn't keep the plates spinning. They even saw the forest for the trees. It was just pathetic. I really wanted the cigars to live on after they were bought out, but the original recipe is lost. It's just about selling and if you talk to anyone they still preach the lie and tell you that "You're wrong! We sell hundreds of thousands of them each and every day!" I just gave up and let it go. Then...one of their reps signed on here and started up the ol "Hype & Roll" schtick. He started a thread...and bailed. Hasn't been back since. I imagine it's still here, but I'm too damned lazy to look for it...that and I don't need to change my mind about them.
You know the drill though.
