America's #1 Online Cigar Auction
first, best, biggest!

Last post 7 years ago by SashaG. 40 replies replies.
CI Catalog, Jan 2017 - Best Deals
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
What say you? What are the best deals in the newest catalog? Mine came today. So much drool. Anything you guys will be pulling the trigger on?

Thinking about picking up the Graycliff Mega-Sampler. 20 for $70. Thoughts on this one?

Still so many cigars I know nothing about. So hard for me to keep up.

Cracks me up on some of the descriptions for the low end cigars.
m j toal Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 03-06-2009
Posts: 3,226
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Thinking about picking up the Graycliff Mega-Sampler. 20 for $70. Thoughts on this one?


Stay away. Far away.
dharbolt Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 08-03-2013
Posts: 6,931
You beat me by a minute. My thoughts exactly
corey sellers Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 08-21-2011
Posts: 10,338
Run just run don't look back
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Why is that? I have heard good things about a couple on the list.
KingoftheCove Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Why is that? I have heard good things about a couple on the list.


1) You're willing to pay $3.50/ea for 20 of these dog rockets, because you "heard" a couple were good?

2) The 3 botl above, I'd wager, know more about cigars than the people you "heard" from.


Me? I'd like to thank you!! We need more noobs like you buying up these cigars to keep the lights on!

ps - google is your friend. With basic low-tech search techniques, you'll find what these cigars go for at auction...........and realize.........DOH!!............there are NO deals in the CI catalog.

but ignore that!

go buy em!!!!!!
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Wow. People are so harsh today.
corey sellers Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 08-21-2011
Posts: 10,338
Heed the warning
dharbolt Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 08-03-2013
Posts: 6,931
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Wow. People are so harsh today.


The ambitions of a new year were thoroughly crushed by the first day back to business...
dharbolt Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 08-03-2013
Posts: 6,931
corey sellers wrote:
Heed the warning


But really... buy tatuaje
corey sellers Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 08-21-2011
Posts: 10,338
Agreed
Nicar Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 03-18-2010
Posts: 14,972
I'm going for the Gurkha.....95% off...how can you go wrong!
corey sellers Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 08-21-2011
Posts: 10,338
Great smokes and at that price now that's a deal hope you have an oyx actelene torch to light them fuggers with

Beer
tamapatom Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2015
Posts: 7,381
dharbolt wrote:
But really... buy tatuaje

This was always a safe bet......until my purchase of P series without really knowing what it was first.....not overly impressed, just OK.
dharbolt Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 08-03-2013
Posts: 6,931
Ooohh yeah those aren't very good. Don't buy the series p htt
Nicar Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 03-18-2010
Posts: 14,972
If you bought the P series as a yard gar, quick lunch gar when you might have to toss it.....and you paid less than $3, it's good for a mix filler. Thing is, have to smoke it knowing it's a mixed filler...
tamapatom Offline
#17 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2015
Posts: 7,381
Less than $3....but as a DP Newell student, I feel I could have done better with something else.
KingoftheCove Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
tamapatom wrote:
Less than $3....but as a DP Newell student, I feel I could have done better with something else.

Very true...
Cigars I won recently at well under $3...
-Oliva V No. 4
-L'Atelier LAT56
-La Palina Maduro 56
-La Palina El Diario KB
-Tatuaje Tatoo Caballero
-MUWAT Night Crawler
-MB3s....4 different vitolas
-several different Kristoffs (not their cheapo lines)
-and of course Baitfish, and MoWPAs, etc.


Hank_The_Tank Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Thanks. Good to know. Not used to this whole bid thing. I need to work on figuring out what a good deal is.
namadio Offline
#20 Posted:
Joined: 11-24-2014
Posts: 1,621
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Thanks. Good to know. Not used to this whole bid thing. I need to work on figuring out what a good deal is.


Get drunk. Bid a lot. Repeat within a week to save on shipping.
99cobra2881 Offline
#21 Posted:
Joined: 11-19-2013
Posts: 2,472
It takes time

Watch auctions and compare prices at CI
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#22 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
99cobra2881 wrote:
It takes time

Watch auctions and compare prices at CI


This is one thing I do each time I consider bidding. Always check what they are selling for on CI.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#23 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
The main reason I was considering the Graycliff sampler was because when I first started smoking cigars and looking through sites like this one, people seemed to love their stuff. Good to know what people think of them now. The one cigar in that sampler that I have seen the best feedback on is the Double Espresso...thoughts on this one specifically?
SteveS Offline
#24 Posted:
Joined: 01-13-2002
Posts: 8,751
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
... Still so many cigars I know nothing about.


Well, to some extent, you'll always be able to say that ... but the first thing I'd like to impress on you as you navigate your way around the wide and wonderful world of cigars, is that NO one else tastes things the way you do ... so NO one else can tell you what you will and won't like ... YOUR taste profile should be your sole guide ... and, if you're anything like I am, there will be more cigars you don't like than those you do ... oddly enough, you'll also probably find that your taste profile is an ever-evolving thing ... some cigars I used to consider as favorites, I no longer enjoy as much, or in some cases, at all ...

You asked about Graycliff ... some Graycliffs rank among my #2 sons favorites, others no so much ... I don't agree with him on most of them ... there are a couple I really enjoy that he says "mehhh" about ... and which of us can predict what you will think? ...

5ers and samplers are a good idea until you know how you feel about a specific cigar ... if you're going to screw up and buy something you find you don't like, best it's a minimal mistake ... that Graaycliff sampler, for example, might yield something you like, it might not, I don't know and neither does anyone else in these forums ... their taste profiles are uniquely their own ...
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#25 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
SteveS wrote:
Well, to some extent, you'll always be able to say that ... but the first thing I'd like to impress on you as you navigate your way around the wide and wonderful world of cigars, is that NO one else tastes things the way you do ... so NO one else can tell you what you will and won't like ... YOUR taste profile should be your sole guide ... and, if you're anything like I am, there will be more cigars you don't like than those you do ... oddly enough, you'll also probably find that your taste profile is an ever-evolving thing ... some cigars I used to consider as favorites, I no longer enjoy as much, or in some cases, at all ...

You asked about Graycliff ... some Graycliffs rank among my #2 sons favorites, others no so much ... I don't agree with him on most of them ... there are a couple I really enjoy that he says "mehhh" about ... and which of us can predict what you will think? ...

5ers and samplers are a good idea until you know how you feel about a specific cigar ... if you're going to screw up and buy something you find you don't like, best it's a minimal mistake ... that Graaycliff sampler, for example, might yield something you like, it might not, I don't know and neither does anyone else in these forums ... their taste profiles are uniquely their own ...


Thanks for the advice. That is why I am here. Live and learn.
tonygraz Offline
#26 Posted:
Joined: 08-11-2008
Posts: 20,173
Having smoked several Graycliff cigars and not finding even one of them I would buy again at any price, I would advise staying away from anything they make.
gummy jones Offline
#27 Posted:
Joined: 07-06-2015
Posts: 7,969
throw out some low bids on some fivers on here
make sure you settings for shipment are "once weekly"
and go from there

i have caught flak for it on here before as well and even though i certainly know my favorites (and have plenty of them), i still prefer to sample a wide variety of sticks at various price ranges. some a dogrockets, some are diamonds in the rough and a lot are so so

for me, having a tasting event with good friends and a good pairing is more fun than sitting around smoking a padron anniversary by myself (most of the time)
dstieger Offline
#28 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
Hank_The_Tank wrote:

Cracks me up on some of the descriptions for the low end cigars.


Haven't opened their catalog in years....was there something else in there?


KingoftheCove Offline
#29 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
tonygraz wrote:
Having smoked several Graycliff cigars and not finding even one of them I would buy again at any price, I would advise staying away from anything they make.

This is a rather strong statement here Hank.
Given the number, and type of cigars Tony smokes per day, it should give you an idea about Graycliff that is eerily similar to the first three responses you got.
dstieger Offline
#30 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
Been awhile, but IIRC, the blue and red labels were nearly unsmokeable - crystal (white?) was decent when found for <$3 ; original DE was awesome (but word was that blend changed for the worse) regular espresso (not DE) was absolutely horrid --

there was some ugly threads on here about either rebranding, or misrepresentation of the brand - - both about the tobacco and origin --- explanations were weak...I think it was phillyjack that had a few choice words about it

the one hidden gem for me is the ci legends purple (supposedly graycliff-related) -- at sub $3 prices, this is a darned good mild cigar
midmofan Offline
#31 Posted:
Joined: 04-25-2014
Posts: 1,108
Back to the OP, instead of shopping the paper catalog ,I look at the daily deals and specials on the CI and CigarDOTcom websites. There are often very good deals on good cigars with free shipping. I don't think I have purchased anything via the paper cat. in a long long time.

I do like getting the paper catalogs though. If you ever feel lonely are unwanted, just get on these guys mailing list.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#32 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
I mostly like to look at it to see what is new and to drool over cigars I could never afford. Didn't realize that their "deals" aren't very good. I know that now. So it will just continue to be a way to look at cigars.

As far as their descriptions:

Dark Shark
The Shark is back!

This top-selling handmade ain’t the prettiest girl at the prom but it may be the least worst option in this price range - especially if you like maduros. That’s ’cause this mild-medium number really ain’t half bad. Crafted with a dark Broadleaf maduro wrapper and an all long-filler blend of Cuban-seed tobaccos, Dark Shark is indeed a lot more premium than it appears at a glance. And that’s probably why I’ve had such a damn hard time keeping these things in stock. Expect rich, mellow maduro flavor for as low as $25 per mazo of 20. I’m done with the sales pitch....Dark Shark sells itself. Buy it or don’t - doesn’t matter to me - I’ve got a long list of guys waiting for their usual 5-10 mazos per month.
KingoftheCove Offline
#33 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
I mostly like to look at it to see what is new and to drool over cigars I could never afford. Didn't realize that their "deals" aren't very good. I know that now. So it will just continue to be a way to look at cigars.

As far as their descriptions:

Dark Shark
The Shark is back!

This top-selling handmade ain’t the prettiest girl at the prom but it may be the least worst option in this price range - especially if you like maduros. That’s ’cause this mild-medium number really ain’t half bad. Crafted with a dark Broadleaf maduro wrapper and an all long-filler blend of Cuban-seed tobaccos, Dark Shark is indeed a lot more premium than it appears at a glance. And that’s probably why I’ve had such a damn hard time keeping these things in stock. Expect rich, mellow maduro flavor for as low as $25 per mazo of 20. I’m done with the sales pitch....Dark Shark sells itself. Buy it or don’t - doesn’t matter to me - I’ve got a long list of guys waiting for their usual 5-10 mazos per month.

You just need to learn how to "translate" catalog descriptions.
I'll help you with this one.

"This is an ugly dog rocket, not worth half what I'm charging you, and it tastes like camel chit."
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#34 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
KingoftheCove wrote:
You just need to learn how to "translate" catalog descriptions.
I'll help you with this one.

"This is an ugly dog rocket, not worth half what I'm charging you, and it tastes like camel chit."


My favorite part is where it says "Dark Shark Sells Itself" bahaha
midmofan Offline
#35 Posted:
Joined: 04-25-2014
Posts: 1,108
dstieger wrote:


the one hidden gem for me is the ci legends purple (supposedly graycliff-related) -- at sub $3 prices, this is a darned good mild cigar


That is about my favorite Legends even though it would be the "Graycliff" rolled not by Greycliff but under license....

Disappointed in the Don Pepper Legend (blue) and Oliva (brown) not bad but packed very loose and thought should be better and can get the real thing on daily deals often for not much more.
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#36 Posted:
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
Interesting. Years ago, when the Legends series started, Manuel Quesada / Fonseca was the legends blue - one of the original 4 in the series. Then, iirc, it became 8 cigars in the line, and Pepin was the 9th or 10th one added and carried the Yellow band. Nestor Placencia was the original brown band.
Pudding Mittens Offline
#37 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291

The CI catalog should be renamed "Laugh At The Prices People Pay When They Don't Know CigarBid Exists"

Pudding Mittens Offline
#38 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
Thunder.Gerbil wrote:
Interesting. Years ago, when the Legends series started, Manuel Quesada / Fonseca was the legends blue - one of the original 4 in the series. Then, iirc, it became 8 cigars in the line, and Pepin was the 9th or 10th one added and carried the Yellow band. Nestor Placencia was the original brown band.

Few remember it, but years ago there was also a gray label/band by Cusano. I have a box of them somewhere. Not bad! But discontinued many years ago.
Thunder.Gerbil Offline
#39 Posted:
Joined: 11-02-2006
Posts: 121,359
Pudding Mittens wrote:
Few remember it, but years ago there was also a gray label/band by Cusano. I have a box of them somewhere. Not bad! But discontinued many years ago.


Yep, that was the one that came out around the same time as the Pepin yellow. I don't remember if Cusano or Pepin was #9.

Those were insanely short lived. Like less than a year. Once Davidoff bought Cusano, they put the kabosh on that line.
SashaG Offline
#40 Posted:
Joined: 04-27-2016
Posts: 12
Try every blend for yourself at least once. You may find a blend no one seems to care for tastes fine to you. That is why I try to smoke every blend at least once and if I like I try it in different sizes. As for the Graycliffs I have not burned the NEW batches of the Orig. Red or Prof Blue yet, but the 10 year Vin Mad and 30 year Vin Cam. are excellent smokes after a few months of naked cedar aging. Never liked the Espresso cause it was to small but it is still a solid smokes as well.
Users browsing this topic
Guest