CI "Fake" Cigars?

[wabashcr]

The Los Blanco cigar that he reviewed was made by the company owned by David Blanco as opposed to the unnamed DR factory pumping out the dogrockets.

It would appear that way, since I believe Blanco actually sent him the cigar. His review is just a year old, so I'm sure some unsuspecting people have bought the CI version, since it has the exact same name and band.

As for Ave Maria, yes, it's an AJF stick, but I believe it's a CI exclusive. So I'm not sure what's stopping them from building a decent reputation, and then pulling the old bait and switch again. if AJ has any stake in it, they could easily buy him out and move to a cheaper product. I hope they don't, because I love those smokes.

Contrary to what I've posted in this thread, I don't dislike CI. Actually quite the opposite, I've had nothing but good experiences buying from them. One particular business practice of theirs (that I'm sure isn't unique to CI in the industry) seems really unethical to me. But I don't think that makes them a bad company. To me it's just a bit of a black eye. Overall I think CI is a good outfit.