How many of you guys smoke the lesser known brands? Everyone knows of Cohiba, RyJ, Partagas, etc., but to be honest there are several brands that I know nothing about. I would hate to be missing out on something good from say:

Jose Piedra
San Cristobal
Quintero
Juan Lopez
Vegas Robaina
Vegueros

Of course the flip side is I can barely afford all of the ones I want from the brands I know!!!!

I've smoked a few Jose L Piedra conservas out of a box I got in Spain last summer. I must say it's a grand smoke for the price, I think I paid about €27 ($36 or so) for 25, less than a quarter the price of Monte 4s or Romeo No 2. They are machine made as I think all the JLPs are. Cuban aroma, lovely dark somewhat sweet wrapper, flavour cedar, hints of coffee, fairly well put together, good draw, I smoked about five or so out of the box before I swapped the last 20 for 10 monte 5s, they are a fine every day cigar or to give away to non-regular CC smokers, it'll make you look generous!
The new San Cristobals are getting great reviews. The Muralla looks fantastic, I can't wait to get my hands on a few, I haven't seen them in Ireland yet but I'll get some in Spain this summer again.
Can't help you with the others I'm afraid.
Good luck.

I could only comment on three and as you are aware this is just my experience :

JLP- decent flavor but consistent draw problems, cheap and it shows ; I have had a box of the Cazadores for over three years and I have just lost interested in them, one dimensional and uneventful.

Quintero- The worst flavor of any Cuban made, makes me ill, bland and tasteless.

San Cristobal, One of my favorites. Very good construction and draw, the flavor is smooth and mild/medium while still very interesting. Never had a bad one.

Just my 2 cents

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Elaw,

I've also enjoyed the Saint Luis Rey, both the Corona and the Serie A. Nice draw and even burn with a flavor like cappuccino on leather. I also had my first Cuaba Salamones the other day - a big smoke - and enjoyed it, too.

JLP and Quintero are machine made cigars, not bad for a Cuban yard gar but not something you would want to sit back and smoke after dinner(unless you want).

The Vegas Robania's, SCdLH, and Juan Lopez are all very nice. Get some singles and give them a shot, it all depends on your own taste.

San Cristobal, Vegas Robaina, lesser known?
Perhaps in NJ but not in the rest of the world.

Although both have existed for less that 10 years, the marques have garnered a lot of praise from the rank and file cigar smokers.

IMO the SC El Morro and the VR Famosos or Don Alejandro should never be passed over if available.
As for the Vegueros, they are not as popular.
I have tried them all except the Seoane, I like the Mareva and usually get them when I can.
They are not as complex as a lot of other CC's but have a good Cuban tobacco profile.
Vegueros also have the distinction of being the only Cuban cigar rolled in and made with leaf grown exclusively in the Pinar del Rio region.

As said, Piedras and Quinteros are totally machine-mades and IMO not very good. Particularly the Piedras. There's a reason they're so cheap. Funny story - a friend of mine who is a long-time Cuban cigar smoker picked up a 5 pack of the JLP's at a LCDH on a whim just out of curiosity. He said he smoked about 1/2" of one and threw them all away. His comment was, "I've had better cigarettes."

Vegueros-I've tried only a few, but the ones I had I didn't care for. Bland and grassy...no substance.

San Cristobal-Everything from the giant El Morro to the petite El Principe is excellent. Not a bad vitola in the entire marca. The El Principe explodes with leathery and sweet coffee flavors. The larger cigars also have a coffee undertone with molasses-type flavors as well.

Vegas Robaina-Another very good marca from top to bottom. The Don Alejandro doesn't do alot for me, but it's still a decent cigar. The Unicos, Clasicos, Famosos and Familiars are all fantastic. Coffee and woodiness are the predominant flavors for me. Except for the Don Alejandro, these are medium-full in strength.

Juan Lopez-My experience has been mainly with the Seleccion #2 (a robusto). A woody, slightly sweet and straight-forward cigar. With a few years of age, they become milder, sweeter and more complex with some toffee flavors in the background. This cigar was one of my epiphanies in realizing how much better Cuban tobacco is than tobacco from the rest of the world.

i happen to like peidra,good value...san cristobal is one of my favorite marca's with the la punta being my favorite.i havn't had much experience with juan lopez,just a box of#2 and a few pc's,the 2's are very underrated,taste great and correct me if im wrong are one of the last habanos to go bandless[my box is from oct 03]...vegas robaina,a+ familiar,famosos and unicos are my favourite of the line,there a bit pricey but worth the extra money,if you want a differnt and unique tasting habano....

never had quintero or vegueros.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll need a couple more months to get everything in order that I currently want, and set aside. So then I can start exploring a bit more.

Speaking of the non-mainstream brands, I just finished a Quai d'Orsay Gran Corona I picked up on a whim a few weeks ago. While I normally prefer a little bigger ring guage than this lonsdale, I really enjoyed it a lot. A rather firm draw produced a lot of thick, creamy smoke, mild to medium bodied, tasting a little of breakfast cereal (I like breakfast cereal). It burned in a perfect circle all the way down, and went very well with the Chimay ale I drank with it.

Depends on your view of mainstream brands. Of those you listed, San Cristobol is the best IMHO. Other brands you could look into are Diplomatico's and La Glorias. QDorsay is also an excellent 'off' brand. Like HavanaRob stated, try some singles of said brands first. Get 3 at least of what your curious about, in case one of them is 'off'. that way your giving the cigar a chance. Good luck.

I second for Diplomaticos, Quai d'orsay, Juan Lopez... And let us not forget Saint Luis Rey. But I think also taht SCLH and Vegas Robaina are not lesser known brands anymore.

An interesting adendum to this thread would be to mention that there are some machine made brands, namely Los Statos de Luxe and Troya, that make a very decent smoke when aged more than 5 years and, wouldn't you know it, old ones are relatively easy to find. Got about a half dozen Los Statos from 1998 last summer and they where fine!

I've only had one #2 but, I third the Diplomaticos!!