They put the baby oil on them boutiques to make them all fancy :poke:
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I'm pretty familiar with the dying of maduros and some other tricks of the trade that manufacturers use, but I have never heard of the "adding nicotine" deal. Can you give an example of a cigar like this or explain the process you're referring to?
Same goes for baby oil, I know it has been used by some companies to make cigars appear more attractive in photos, but I have never heard of the actual product being sold being coated in baby oil. In fact, I can't imagine it, because years ago we considered using baby oil in some photos but decided against it as it was horribly messy to work with and rendered the cigars unsmokable (by our standards.) Any further insight on these methods would be appreciated.
Obviously, beyond looks, labels and notoriety what it all comes down to is taste and how it's delivered. So, upon reading a lot of reviews lately, even though I won't personally detect all mentioned, I've determined I am most likely to dislike/like a cigar with the following attributes. Dislike: coffee bean, licorice, cedar (if overly predominant), wood, grass, toast, char and powerhouse. Like: cinnamon, cocoa, nutmeg, leather, chewy, smooth and long finish. Yeah, that's it.
I too like "rustic" looking cigars, and agree that Padrons always have a bit of character to them. I'm usually wary of cigars that look too perfect. Too much sheen = over-humidified and will taste bitter. I keep my cigars at 65RH. My wrappers might lose some sheen, but they taste and smoke great.
I will say I'm a bit of a sucker for marketing. I can't help but like some of the more intricate bands, such as My Father. It sometimes steers me wrong. I had a La Galera Habano in lancero that looked pretty impressive, but underneath all of that artwork was a very mediocre smoke. I also love all of the marketing that's being done by the boutique sellers, particularly Dunbarton and Caldwell. They just look cool.
But the most important thing to me is finding a good reviewer that you trust. I like Katman, and if I'm buying online, I like to poke around his website. His end of the year "best of" lists are always top notch.