I won a fiver of these here back in April for $12, just placing what I thought was a throw-away low bid...........apparently not.

They’re available on FF for $16............that should have been my clue to stay away, but I didn’t do my homework. This was, as most of you know, the top-of-the-line AJ cigar back in the day, and for a fleeting moment I thought I “scored”.........heh heh..............I grossly overpaid.

Cigar had perfect construction, no visible seams, no veins, perfect burn and draw. Unfortunately, it tasted like chit. Had a rather foul ammonia room note off the foot, and a nasty fossil fuel retro/aftertaste of............diesel?.......turpentine?........ maybe both with a hint of ammonia tossed in? Oddly enough, no real ammonia off the head. But it did have that classic “cheap tobacco” stink to it.
I tossed it a third of the way in.

This can’t be a cigar that AJ is currently making. It must be made under license or something by CI.......who knows who is actually producing it.

Maybe after a few years rest it will become decent yard gar?
I won’t be buying again.

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Bury it, wait a few years, try again.

I've noticed some ultra-low-priced stuff coming out of CI seems to need years to get good. As an example, I got what were supposedly 601 La Bomba Flash Bangs (4.5x60) at $1 each net and Diesel Coronas (about 5x46 or so) at 75 cents each net back in December 2016 on their "10-pack plus $20 gift card" twice-yearly deal, and both were absolute ammonia-laced bitter garbage, harsh and unsmokeable, until recently. Now they're starting to get pretty good.

Took 3 years, but hey, I'll take it, as I already own them! Bought a lot, smoked one every 6 months or so as a test. Seems soon I'll be able to smoke the rest and enjoy them.

Downside: you have to wait 3+ years. Upside: $1.00 and $0.75 each. I'll gladly wait, given those prices.
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Eh, I’m sure they will get “better”.......................doubt they’ll ever be good...............time will tell......I won’t smoke any of the other 4 for a loooooong while.

reminds me of the AVO and Graycliff cigars that were pushed very hard at CI/Cbid a few years ago. Labels were identical, but the cigars weren't. Size of the vitolas sold here were different from the vitolas sold by the authentic factory, as were the tobaccos...

I got a batch of the Graycliffs from CI back in 2009. Blue label "Professional" in the "Pirate" (torpedo) vitola. Absolutely awful in every way. Schitt construction, burn, flavor, self-destructed during smoking. Every single one.

Same bands though, yep, and advertised as the real deal.
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The Grayclifff 30th anniversaries were good for a bit too

I got the Graycliff mega sampler off here back in June. I've went through half of it and all have been good sticks.

The AVO's of which you speak, Al . . . Would they be the XOs ?