I've found that I've fallen in a bit deeper into this and so finding a box that would ship for <$100 may not be cheap enough. Liking Avo Classics and finding CAO Golds comparable, but not cheap enough I'm on the hunt again but wanting something <$2.50 a piece.

I had tried Backwoods way back when and thought they were OK, though I hadn't ever had a real cigar. I bought some the other day and found that I just don't care for them at all.

Looking around in the under $2 section at CI I see I can go with a cheaper cigar (I like a Robusto) or I could even go with some sort of cigarillo, which seems appealing in its own way. I figure I'll order up some CAO Gold Karats as I like their Robusto, but I'd also like some opinions on mild to medium cigars and cigarillos that aren't machine made. I'd prefer to have the option of buying a small bundle to ensure that I do enjoy them, but also as I don't have storage for too much more than about 30 standard cigars at the moment.

I'm not keen on whether or not short-filler really detracts from the smoke. What is the shortcomings of it?