I've had the Thompsons that came as part of a gift set with a humidor , lighter and cigars . They had black bands with white lettering and a red outline in a robusto size , nothing special , not harsh , just an uneventful smoke . I did smoke all 25 that came in the set , they were all pretty bland but none were plugged . I've also tried the Free Cuba brand that Cigarsinternational.com sells , nothing special either . So my experience with these 2 were nothing that would get me to buy more . However taste is subjective so you'll never really know unless you try some .