I Love Finding and Buying “Unpopular” Brands/Blends

First off, to be clear, let’s not confuse “”unpopular” with buying cigars that are often scorned by the community like Rocky Patel or Gurkha, which is really a shame because both brands make some great sticks. What I’m talking about here are brands and blends that don’t show up on most people’s radars.

It’s not that they’re unknown. It’s more of a case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. And as these sticks aren’t in many conversations or aren’t advertised as much as their more popular brethren, not much attention is paid to them.

To me, that’s a good thing for a couple of reasons. First, prices on these sticks tend to be lower compared to cigars of similar quality. In the case of Curivari, they do absolutely zero marketing and only show up at the PCA each year and go to no other shows. As a result of having low overhead, their super high-quality sticks can be had for $5 – $7 per stick depending on where you can buy them! Granted, that’s not always the case but I’ve generally found this to be true.

Secondly, because they aren’t well-known, many tend to sit in sellers’ inventory warehouses for a LONG time. My introduction to the Regius of London brand was through my local B&M where the owner had just purchased a box of Regius Sun Grown with a box date of 2019! Even though I paid full retail for them at the time, I scooped up most of the box because the wrappers were stained brown with oils. I’ve purchased more boxes since then and haven’t had a box date younger than 2020! I don’t know what the box date was of the Regius Small Batch Black Label that is shown in the picture, but its wrapper was a very nice shade of brown.

There is a downside to this and that is that many retailers do not carry these brands/blends, so it takes quite a bit of research to find them. But that’s okay with me. These sticks are so damn good that I’ve been willing to put in the time.

I’m almost reluctant to share which specific brands/blends fit this profile, but here are some:

• Regius
• Curivari
• La Aurora – Super old brand, but they have some fantastic sticks!
• Paul Stulac – Total sleeper brand. Paul Stulac is similar to Curivari. No marketing, just word of mouth. But IYKYK.
• Micallef – These are becoming more well-known, but are still off many folks’ radars.
• Tatuaje 7th Habano – If you can find these, they smoke like an Olmec Natural!
• Steel Horse – Not sure if this brand qualifies, but these are super high-quality smokes. You can buy these in the US at Sir Louis Cigars.
• Martinez – You can find these on Luxury, but I just buy them direct. I’m rarely out of the NYC Blend petite corona (Queens).
• Don Pepin Garcia – Often overlooked because of the focus on My Father
• Diesel Vintage – Totally overlooked as a cheap blend, but these are ass-kickers and super flavorful. Hey! Katman likes these!
• Man O’ War Puro Authentico Maduro – I get these on CigarBid. Anywhere else and they charge $7/stick.
• Alec Bradley The Lineage – Often overlooked smoke. I tried these on a whim once and have since always kept a few on hand.