[neoflex]

I think there are plenty of people still buying and smoking a lot of the older long standing brands but as cigar smokers we are always searching for the holy grail. I know I still smoke and stock a fair share of some older brands like Padron, Fuente and Punch but if something new comes out, guess what? I'm trying it. Doesn't mean I no longer like the older brands but as others have mentioned our tastes and preferences change over time. Also, when something new and good comes out it's going to have some buzz especially here on the boards and it's going to be discussed until something new takes it's place especially nowadays where it seems like new blends are introduced daily. We on the boards also have a wealth of knowledge that the average cigar smoker who does not frequent boards might not have and those people sometimes tend to stick to the older long standing brands where the group of us that do discuss our hobby online tend to seek out the newer stuff and sometimes even know about it before the local retailers do.
Great topic by the way and it was fun to stop and think about how it all started for me and how far this hobby has come along for me. When I first started smoking back in college I would only smoke Punch exclusively.