Good House Brands

[ninersfan]

Wish they were a little less expensive, but the blends Pepin does for Cigar King/Phatash are amazing. The Nacionales W really stand out to me but the Cuban Diplomat, Habana Leon, Havana Soul, and Sancti Spiritus are all incredible. Unfortunately, as noted above, some of these are pricier than a lot of the regular DPG brands. You can occasionally find these on sale and I'd recommend jumping on them when you do.

[laststandchili]

My Holts Factory Special Sun Growns arrived yesterday.

Fired one up this morning and was pretty happy. This is a well made stick with a slightly mottled wrapper. A little bit soft, but the burn was dead on even.

Flavor profile is more medium than full, but has nice woodsy/cedary notes throughout.

It's not a refined and nuanced smoke, but a very decent one for the price.

I can definitely see a box of these ($167 for 100 toros) in my near future.

[Shaz]

Being in Canada, my selection is limited to the retailers that are willing to ship up here. That said, cigar.com & Taboo has pretty much all of the house brands I've tried. Man O War is really good. I've tried cigar.com Brazillian and was quite impressed with it. Looking at getting more of these and trying some others.
I agree that Taboo value blend is pretty good for the dollar.
I've liked the few Famous Nics I've tried, but alas, I can't order these from the retailer. I only get them in WTS samplers from my US BOTL's.

[Frodo]

Hvae a couple of boxes of sticks from the Puerta Vallarta Cigar Factory and I do like them a lot. They are all milds, but the Greenish wrappers have an interesting grassy taste, the Maduros an earthy flavour, and the Boleros (Barber Pole wrapper) remind me of coffee.

[Phantom57]

The only house brands I have actually liked are from New Havana Cigars. They are particular what they sell. Not dirt cheap though.

[JerseyDevil65]

My favorite house blends:

Old Henry and Holts Connoisseur from Holts & Dea from MDCigars

Ashton VSG started out as a Holts house blend, so it gets my vote for best ever.

[Cigar Man Andy]

The Cigar Palace Sun Grown and Aniversario are some of the best @ $6-$8 each. And one to look for is the Signature House blends.

[MrMayorga]

Lately I've been enjoying the JR Alternative to the JR Ultimate. Both the Natural and the Maduros. The JR Ultimates aren't too bad also.

[PinkFloydFan]

My local cigar shop has a stock of "J.F.R." ( Just for retail ) ..
These are premium handmades, Not available through the mail at all.
But a very nice smoke in a variety of shapes, bodies and wraps.

If a local shop by you has these, I'd give them a try.
( Between $4-$6 a stick around here.)

[Chico57]

[QUOTE=6clicks;2705099]My vote goes to the Old Henrys also. Great DPG cigar with ( I think) a nice Cuban flavor.

I second that.

[AspiringGent]

Taboo makes several great house blends. Some of Famous' are good too. For Canadians, try Thomas Hinds, which I've had great success with.

[Shaz]

Originally Posted by AspiringGent

Taboo makes several great house blends. Some of Famous' are good too. For Canadians, try Thomas Hinds, which I've had great success with.

I've had some of the Thomas Hinds and thought they were pretty decent.