AJ Blends Just Suck
Smokindaddy
Posts: 1,107 ✭
I know this thread is going to be very unpopular with a lot of the members of this forum, remember this is just my personal opinion and review, if you do not agree please be kind and respectful.
Through the forums here I have met a lot of amazing people, and getting to know what people like and being able to share what I like has been a great part of the process. I have been very fortunate to have received some awesome sticks from members here due to trades or bombs and just like many of the members here I will try a stick a few times before I completely write it off. That being said....
AJ blends and brands, for me, just suck!! I have tried and revisited a lot of his stuff lately. I know he is known as the budget blender and thats exactly what they are for me. I look at his product and yes I agree the price he offers his stuff at is hard to beat, but to me it really comes down to what kind of cigar smoker you are. Personally I would much rather save a little more of my budget up and buy better quality over having yard gar quantity taking up space in my wineador. Don't get me wrong, I do have my go to stick that I refer to as my yard gar, but I have very few of them. Reason being, getting to smoke a cigar is a treat for me. I smoke a couple times of week and when I do smoke it's not going to be an UHC or Man of War. I could treat cigar smoking as a daily thing but in my opinion it would not have the same meaning behind it as it did when I first got into the hobby. I jumped into this hobby not because cigars tasted good, the first stick I ever smoked was a baccarat, I got into this hobby because of the history behind it. Cigar smoking was once and kind of still is a very classy thing to do. Cigars were smoked for special occasions and to celebrate new life and for the more avid smokers, cigars were a treat or a show of status. Now days with some of the quality of sticks that are out there, and the quantity that are being smoked, is like having a humidor full of 3-5 dollar cigarette singles. Over the past 12 years I have been able to depict what I like in a cigar and what flavor profile does it for me. So now it's just not the history that I enjoy with this hobby.
Back to the review; In my opinion, most AJ blends are the same. I don't get much difference at all. There is nothing that grabs my attention and makes me think I need to buy a box of any of the sticks Ive smoked. I have tried AJ sticks ROTT and aged and have not been impressed. I honestly think that AJ and everything he produces is over hyped due to his training from a known master blender and add to that pricing that would blind and convince anyone to buy mass quantitys of below average sticks. To sum this review up, I am not a fan of AJ Fernandez and probably never will be.
I know there are a lot of AJ fans out there and Im sorry if what I wrote upsets you. I also know there are a lot of people on the forums that will disagree with some of the brands I love, such as Padron, and thats totally fine. There is one thing I can offer to AJ fans, sticks. If your an AJ fan PM your addy and anytime I get AJ sticks sent my way, I will be more then happy to send them out equally to everyone.
Through the forums here I have met a lot of amazing people, and getting to know what people like and being able to share what I like has been a great part of the process. I have been very fortunate to have received some awesome sticks from members here due to trades or bombs and just like many of the members here I will try a stick a few times before I completely write it off. That being said....
AJ blends and brands, for me, just suck!! I have tried and revisited a lot of his stuff lately. I know he is known as the budget blender and thats exactly what they are for me. I look at his product and yes I agree the price he offers his stuff at is hard to beat, but to me it really comes down to what kind of cigar smoker you are. Personally I would much rather save a little more of my budget up and buy better quality over having yard gar quantity taking up space in my wineador. Don't get me wrong, I do have my go to stick that I refer to as my yard gar, but I have very few of them. Reason being, getting to smoke a cigar is a treat for me. I smoke a couple times of week and when I do smoke it's not going to be an UHC or Man of War. I could treat cigar smoking as a daily thing but in my opinion it would not have the same meaning behind it as it did when I first got into the hobby. I jumped into this hobby not because cigars tasted good, the first stick I ever smoked was a baccarat, I got into this hobby because of the history behind it. Cigar smoking was once and kind of still is a very classy thing to do. Cigars were smoked for special occasions and to celebrate new life and for the more avid smokers, cigars were a treat or a show of status. Now days with some of the quality of sticks that are out there, and the quantity that are being smoked, is like having a humidor full of 3-5 dollar cigarette singles. Over the past 12 years I have been able to depict what I like in a cigar and what flavor profile does it for me. So now it's just not the history that I enjoy with this hobby.
Back to the review; In my opinion, most AJ blends are the same. I don't get much difference at all. There is nothing that grabs my attention and makes me think I need to buy a box of any of the sticks Ive smoked. I have tried AJ sticks ROTT and aged and have not been impressed. I honestly think that AJ and everything he produces is over hyped due to his training from a known master blender and add to that pricing that would blind and convince anyone to buy mass quantitys of below average sticks. To sum this review up, I am not a fan of AJ Fernandez and probably never will be.
I know there are a lot of AJ fans out there and Im sorry if what I wrote upsets you. I also know there are a lot of people on the forums that will disagree with some of the brands I love, such as Padron, and thats totally fine. There is one thing I can offer to AJ fans, sticks. If your an AJ fan PM your addy and anytime I get AJ sticks sent my way, I will be more then happy to send them out equally to everyone.
1
Comments
can we show this guy the door?
just kidding.
its cool. not everyone likes every stick. there are a few big name brands that people **** after here that i could give two *** about. personal preference.
....ha ha
...mods... thats a good one....
I always give a cigar more than one chance and sometimes its just not for my liking. There has been other Brands that alot of people love and i just cant stand. Everyone has different likes and dislikes.
we are having an honest discussion about cigars.
Alex is a reasonable person who understands that not every blender is for every person. if everyone liked the same cigars then Cigar.com would only have one listing in their brands list and the forum would be one dull place to hang out.
i think it takes balls to get on this forum and point out why you dislike one of the forum's favorite blenders. i respect that. he didnt say that AJ was a jerk, or that Alex was stupid for selling that blender's product. he said he was not a fan and explained why.
if i was Alex i might discuss what he has tried and what he has not tried and, based off of that conversation, maybe include something on the next order to change his mind. (and id probably end up running the site out of business. good thing im not Alex.)
in business you win some and you lose some.
and
you cant keep 100% of the people happy all of the time.