Not a love/hate relationship, but probably just as useless

[craig]

I said in that other thread that I would post this, so here goes. Your mileage will vary. Everybody's tastes are different.

I smoked a whole bunch of singles earlier this year - from various samplers, bombs, tag-alongs, box-splits, etc. Almost all of them were new to me, as I don't experiment with new stuff very often. For background, I've indicated some reference cigars. In any case, one can't deduce much from smoking a single cigar because there is just not enough consistency - even within a box - and the label has more effect on one's perceptions than one might want to think. Anyhow, here goes, sorta ranked:

Maduro - my references are Padron Maddies (within their respective price ranges).
Oliva V Maduro Torpedo - Whoomah! Unfortunately, very HTF.
CAO Brazilia - Great value maduro. Better balanced cigar than the AB.
Alec Bradley Trilogy Exotic Maduro - Much more maddie than the CAO. Sweet (taste, not slang).
Camacho SLR Maduro - Similar in quality to the CAO and AB sticks, but I preferred the Brazilia. Some dye or something evident.
Arganese ML3 - Nice, but nothing special.
Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ Maduro Selectos - As ML3.
La Gloria Cubana Serie R Mad - Tannins indicated potential/need for aging. Was too fresh for me. Could be good in a couple years.
Graycliff 1666 - Well-constructed and balanced; I just preferred the taste of the maddies listed above more.
La Flor de Cano - See Graycliff, but not as good.
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Maduro - This particular cigar was tasteless and probably not indicative of the brand. My guess is poor storage.

Natural - references here are the Cuban Partagas brands (Partagas, Bolivar, Ramon Allones), and the (Cuban) Quintero for low-end smokes.
Farm-rolled Cuban - Not complex, but massively good tobacco taste. Smoked blind.
Fuente OpusX Petit Lancero - Too much hype to know if the cigar was as good as it seemed, but it sure was nice.
Tatuaje Havana VI PC - Not quite a Party Short, but in many ways close.
601 Oscuro Corona - A slightly sweeter DPG. Very good, although I prefer the Cubao among the EO brands.
Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Robusto - Your basic, good, DPG
Fuente Hemingway Short Story - Benchmark Cammie.
La Riqueza #4 - Great stick. Awesome stick if you like sun-grown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.
Ashton VSG Enchantment - Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. Yum.
Diamond Crown Maximus #5 - Great, just not worth the price.
Padilla 1968 - Quality stick, just a bit more to my liking than Illusione
Illusione f9 - Quality stick, but a little bit too much like a Joya de Nic (richness) for my tastes.
Diamond Crown - Quality stick, unique taste.
Fuente Don Carlos #3 - Quality stick, just …
Tatuaje Havana VI Artistas - Smoked hot, not as good as the other Tat, but could be this particular cigar
Cuesta-Rey Stanford's Cameron Reserve Pyramid #9 - Quality stick, but I've decided that I don't have a strong liking for Cameron wrapper.
Oliva Master blends 3 Robusto - Quality stick, just not for me.
Gran Habano 3 Siglos - Complex. One of the filler leaves had a taste that I didn't care for, though. (I like GH #5's.)
La Flor Dominicana Limitado II - If you like Litto, then you'll like this one.
La Flor double ligero lancero - Power, a bit unbalanced in favour thereof, as expected.
Litto Gomez Diaz Cubano - Surprisingly neither complex nor a powerhouse. Good solid smoke.
Oliva V Lancero - Maybe I had too high expectations for this stick, given the hype - or maybe natural Oliva V's just don't do it for me.
Joyo de Nicaragua Antano 1970 - I've had this one before. Still too much for me. Had two enjoyable inches, and then slept for fourteen hours.
Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ Sublime - Nowhere near as good as the other DPG JJ
Pinar del Rio Oscuro - Website said it was a maddie; tasted like a sun-grown to me (and nowhere near an Oscuro colour). Partially plugged, otherwise it would have rated a bit higher.
Arganese CL3 - Honest corojo flavour, just prefered the maduro wrapper version (ML3).
Oliva V Double Toro - Split on me, seemed to have too much tobacco, tastes were lost compared to the V Lancero.
Carlos Toraño Virtuoso - Good medium smoke, prefer more omph.
Carlos Toraño Signature - Good mild-medium smoke, prefer more omph.
Macanudo 1968 - Churchill good, robustos (had 2) boring.
Rocky Patel Sun-grown Corona - Good honest medium smoke, but nothing special.
Por Larrañaga Cuban Grade - Enjoyable mild/medium, just nothing stood out.
CI Legends Yellow label (DPG) - Good cigar, but seemed to only hint that it was a DPG.
Felipe Gregorio Icon - CI house brand. Very mocha, almost unnaturally so.
Fonseca MATASA 30th Anniversary - Quality tobacco, overwhelming richness. I had to put it down after an inch. Too rich-tasting for me.
Avalon Juke - The cigar itself was okay; weird, by being better after the half-way point. However, the cigar stunk (aroma).
Alec Bradley Havana Sun grown - Too mild for me. Macadoodlish.
Fake Cohiba Robusto - Unbalanced, blend seemingly non-existent.
Acid Mojo - Gross sandalwood scent/taste. Taste improved when the wrapper was removed.
Perdomo2 2008 LE - Something in this cigar didn't agree with me. Maybe a rotten bethune? I puked on this one within an inch.
Fake RyJ double corona - Disgusting.
Fake Cohiba Esplendido - Disgusting.

[alliaphagist]

I appreciate this. Of course I realize that tastes vary, ranking cigars is impossible, singles vary in quality, blah, blah, blah. But this is still a nice starting place to check out some new cigars.