Da-Glyde: I'm curious. When have you last smoked and compared the Purofino Milenium, Davidoff Gran Cru and Davidoff Millenium?
I recently learned that Roger Ralphs, aka Doc Puro, is no longer associated with Purofino. As you might know, Purofino was actually produced by Gabriel Lardizabal at Honduras-Cuban Tobaccos (HCT)in Danli Honduras.
The Purofino Milenio brand and frontmarks are now owned by a distributor/vendor who could be deemed a competitor of CBid/CI so it's inappropriate to discuss the source of information regarding the blending of the cigars. But, as we discussed in prior posts, the brand is commissioned to Alec Bradley, who, in turn, has them rolled at Kelner's factory in the Dominican Republic, where the Davidoff is also rolled.
Personally, I have no stake in any similarity or dissimilarity; other than my wallet. I buy Davidoffs when Davidoff runs their "buy two, get one free specials." I was gifted a sample pack of Purofino Milenios when they were released about a year ago, and was astounded at how similar they were to the Davidoffs. Recently, I saw that the banding on the Purofinos changed from white to blue, so I bought three sizes; corona, torp, and churchill to see if the blend had also changed. To my satisfaction, the blend has remained consistent. I asked a source in the cigar business, who confirmed my impression.
I'm smoked cigars regularly for over four decades, and while my ability to discern taste has admittedly diminished over the past 60 years, I think I still have a pretty good sense of similarity of cigar blend. It, of course, remains up to the individual to determine what they like or don't like. And, if I may add, once you've been to the factories and witnessed the production, you come to realize that there are many identical cigars in the marketplace bearing different brands.
