CI catalog Observations

[kenstogie]

Perusing through the CI catalog for September 2009 I noticed a few things. It's not often I am observant so I decided to write it down and share. Maybe you disagree or maybe you've noticed the same thing.

Ghost Ratings-One of the things I noticed was that every cigar in there is rated 90 or higher. By who or what in many cases it doesn’t say. Alright not EVERY cigar but a lot of them sure are. I personally don’t pay too much attention to ratings but a rating without a source I pay even less attention to. That’s not to say that these are bad cigars, they’re not. In fact I have had many of them that I like a lot, but where do these ghost ratings come from?

Descriptions-Have you ever read some of the descriptions in the CI catalog? They are a hoot. Here’s some actual descriptions “is a veritable candy bar” “the indefatigable Zen Master of cigar blending” “kind of boring” “aint the world’s finest” “not be winning any awards” “less than spectacular brand” “sure beats a sharp stick in the eye” “among the most horrific handmades ever” I don’t think I need to elaborate.

Strange pricing- So I Like Indian Tabac and I really like the Super Fuerte line both the Maddies and nats. It seems like the later ITSF’s are dyed or use the “maduro-madic” process but that’s something else so I digress. On page 46 you can get 25 Toro (6x52) Maddies for $59.95 but on page 66 you can get the same toro’s 3-10 packs for $59.97. You don’t get the box with the 10pks but really you are not missing anything. I think 5 cigars are worth 5 cents.

Good Deals-All that being said there are some pretty good deals to be had but if you want to bargain hunt more you can do the Cigarbid.com (aka the devil site) thing or wait for the special on cigarmonster or joecigar.

Interesting Cigars-There are also some interesting cigars that maybe great but I will probably never buy. These include the 5-Vegas Relic, Cask Strength and Miami, Nica Libre, pretty much all the Padilla’s (well maybe I will get those some day) and all those odd Rocky Patel blends like ‘Summer’ and ‘Ocean Club’and ‘Puro Cabano.’ I don’t think OC was in this catalog but it’s still one of those odd blends. There's probably many more but these are the ones I noticed right off.

So I am sure there’s some other strange stuff in there that I missed. Admit it you’ve picked up the CI catalog, what have you noticed?