Okay, here is the lowdown, the bottom line, if you will... As with any domestic cigars, there are ISOM's that you will love, and there are those you will hate, it all just depends on the individual palate. Now, I don't know how familiar you are with how most of the domestic cigar manufacturer's got their start, but a great majority of them smuggled ISOM seeds and started their respective companies using the exact same seeds as the ISOM's.
The reason that ISOM's have become such a prized possession is twofold... For one, the Pinar del Rio region of ISOM has some of the best conditions for growing tobbacco in the world, and as such, any tobbacco grown there has a better chance of turning into a good cigar simply because of the conditions it grew in.
Now, what many do not realize is that even with such a wonderful climate, the people growing the tobbacco still must put in intense effort into creating a wonderful smoke, and the fact is that many ISOM companies, due to the nationalization that took place, just don't have the same standards for production that they used to.
This fact, combined with the fact that many other areas of the world (i.e. Nicaragua, Honduras, D.R.) have very similar climates, and the fact that the companies based out of these areas have excellent production standards, has shifted the gold medal from ISOM's to domestics over time... Not that ISOM's are bad cigars, as you can still find many high quality smokes, but they just aren't as overwhelmingly excellent as they used to be.
The 2nd reason so many people clamor for ISOM's is the taboo factor, which I'm sure you can understand well enough. So, the bottom line, as I was slowly getting to, is this: as with any cigar, try a few before you invest in a box, shop around, and find what you like.
I hope this has helped you, and if you have any more questions, I'm sure we'd all lend our experience...
