This item contains many cigars not rated 90+ by Cigar Aficionado.

They do say something like "at one time rated". But I checked it out too, and found most rating below 90 at the current time. Also, some are not very expensive per box. But, then again, the Macanudo is expensive, so it is not a terrible deal. I can't say much for the smoking though, since I gave away the sampler I purchased as a present. But I will say that is was nice to have such a fine assortment of cigars in my humidor before I did give it away. Consider it a way to have a good assortment of quality cigars quickly.

these ratings cigar catalogs love to use are so deceptive. Say if one size of a certain cigar got a good rating, the catalog will just give that rating as if all sizes apply equally. For example, La Flor Dominica, size A has a 92 rating, but that size is never even offered in catalogs, but there is the 92 rating with the rest of the cigars. Also it is typical for catalogs to use a rating that occurred many years ago. Sure over many tastings, a cigar every now and then will get a good rating, that then is what is used. Liciendos (sp) many years ago got a 93, and that is still being used in catalogs, even though these days it seldom gets over 85. You can't blame the companies, they do what they have to do to sell cigars, but it is smart not to base you cigar buying on what catalogs tells you what the ratings are. Mark my words, soon you will see La Gloria Cubana in catalogs sport the 91 rating the Wavell size recently received.

a few months ago i checked this one out and the sampler is legit (i was bored I guess). only thing was the la gloria cubana wavell maduro got the 90 rating, not the natural wrapper, but the sampler I got had a maduro anyway. other thing was that another time I got a replacement witha 5 vegas torpedo instead of the don lino in the sampler. by the way sometimes Cigar Afic's ratings are different on the site vs. the magazine - anybody know why - more recent???

Its probably rated 90+ in the Cigar Insider, the side publication/newsletter that CA puts out, instead of rating 90+ in the magazine...Could that be it?..I don't subscribe to the newsletter.

You guys all make good points. If you think about it, we only use the ratings to determine if we should try a cigar we never had. Once we had a cigar, we form our own ratings regardless of what any publication has said. I find that CA is very inconsistant with their ratings and that SMOKE's ratings are driven by co-op advertising dollars. Before trying something new, I try to check two or three ratings to see if there is a trend in thoughts by the different panels. In the CA website I trust other smokers views on cigars more than I do the rating itself. Also, if one brand has many different cigars with a high rating I am more inclined to give that companies unrated stogie a shot. One other thing, we have seen a plethora of $30 boxes of "never heard before" name brand cigars floating around. If you think these cigars suck, your probably right. They are cheap for a reason.

Who cares about 90+ ratings, I go for PRICE, wrapper, size, brand and sometimes maybe if it has a nice, pretty band around it...

Topped for Tac and ELK HUNTER