How is DE being viewed today?

[Old Smokey]

I have never been a fan. IMO the UC Corona Viva was the best of the DE line. And they were $5. I know DE had a rabid bunch of fanboys, but didn't understand why. People's tastes are just different.

 

[Triple-T]

9s and t52s still in my regular rotation, but finding that price and quality of the unicos have slipped recently. ffp with burn issues, uf13 inconsistent, and l40s that have been plugged. on the plus side, availability rarely an issue nowadays.

 

[TxChevyZ71]

I really like the Undercrown and the Undercrown sun grown. And they are still reasonably priced.
My local b&m retails the #9 and the T52s starting at $15. Too much in my opinion for them. But there are others out there that are just as good if not better for the price.

Maybe I'm just a poor, cheap bastard.

 

[midcont]

I usually buy a case of T52's on a black Friday sale or some other sale to get the price closer to 10 or 11 bucks per, but as I said before, the last batch, probably a year ago is not the same thing it was 4 or 5 years ago. My last batch of UF-13 is a mediocre cigar.

 

[arjennrudd]

I'm buying less and less DE. And am more readily giving the LPs I have away most often when I have HERFs. Few of the guys I smoke with love them.

 

[kalrith]

Natural is still normally my first smoke of the day and don't see that changing anytime soon. T52 is one of the best smokes I have ever had but out of my normal price range.

 

[bwhite220]

A few years ago, DE was on top of the cigar world. From the average Joe to the forum snob everybody wanted to get their hands on Liga products. But now, that seems like a thousand years ago. Forum guys swore them off overnight but I was wondering how they are doing at your local? Do you still see guys at the lounge buying/smoking them? Do you know if they're still selling well? I ask because I stopped in recently at the largest local in my area and they only had a handful of T52 and an empty box of Ratzilla on the shelves and that was it for high end stuff. They still had some Undercrown and I saw plenty of Acid but I was just wondering why they would stop carrying such a brand? Lack of sales? No demand? Any insight would be appreciated.

Cass, I see your statement above as to why you say you are asking but I feel like there might be more to the question. I know you are a heavy CC guy and most guys that are as deep into the CC world as you seem to bash DE which is somewhat understandable as the DE flavor profile is SO different from a CC profile. Do you still smoke OR DE stuff? I'm truly just asking from an inquisitive standpoint.

 

[Master Shake]

@bwhite220 I no longer smoke DE (or any other NCs for that matter really,) which there are many reasons for, but that's an entirely different topic of discussion. As for why I asked the question, that requires a brief backstory. Basically, I was a fan of Liga products when they were relatively inexpensive and easy to track down. Even though I eventually jumped off the bandwagon a few years later after several downticks in quality that went hand in hand with upticks in pricing, I was still a fan. Then JD sold the brand, and in a 24-72 hour period, many of the same people who were all over JDs dick (some on this very board) were all hating on him and saying that his cigars were shit and it wasn't the same and all other kinds of total crap. Nothing had changed with the cigars themselves in that brief period mind you, just people's perceptions. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just thought the outrage was way overblown and dissing the brand was silly because people were angry that he "sold out." After seeing that my local stopped carrying the products, I wanted to know how the brand was doing nationally, to see if the average Joe was also off of Liga stuff, as one local chain isn't nearly enough of a sample size.

 

[bostoneo]

@bwhite220 I no longer smoke DE (or any other NCs for that matter really,) which there are many reasons for, but that's an entirely different topic of discussion. As for why I asked the question, that requires a brief backstory. Basically, I was a fan of Liga products when they were relatively inexpensive and easy to track down. Even though I eventually jumped off the bandwagon a few years later after several downticks in quality that went hand in hand with upticks in pricing, I was still a fan. Then JD sold the brand, and in a 24-72 hour period, many of the same people who were all over JDs dick (some on this very board) were all hating on him and saying that his cigars were shit and it wasn't the same and all other kinds of total crap. Nothing had changed with the cigars themselves in that brief period mind you, just people's perceptions. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just thought the outrage was way overblown and dissing the brand was silly because people were angry that he "sold out." After seeing that my local stopped carrying the products, I wanted to know how the brand was doing nationally, to see if the average Joe was also off of Liga stuff, as one local chain isn't nearly enough of a sample size.

 

[bwhite220]

@bwhite220 I no longer smoke DE (or any other NCs for that matter really,) which there are many reasons for, but that's an entirely different topic of discussion. As for why I asked the question, that requires a brief backstory. Basically, I was a fan of Liga products when they were relatively inexpensive and easy to track down. Even though I eventually jumped off the bandwagon a few years later after several downticks in quality that went hand in hand with upticks in pricing, I was still a fan. Then JD sold the brand, and in a 24-72 hour period, many of the same people who were all over JDs dick (some on this very board) were all hating on him and saying that his cigars were shit and it wasn't the same and all other kinds of total crap. Nothing had changed with the cigars themselves in that brief period mind you, just people's perceptions. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just thought the outrage was way overblown and dissing the brand was silly because people were angry that he "sold out." After seeing that my local stopped carrying the products, I wanted to know how the brand was doing nationally, to see if the average Joe was also off of Liga stuff, as one local chain isn't nearly enough of a sample size.

Got it. I was a fanboy and jumped off the wagon when their prices skyrocketed. Then, the acquisition happened and there is a noticeable decline in flavor and the high price points remain.

I still have some OR and some pre-acquisition stuff that I still enjoy though.

 

[TraderCigarCo.]

The only DE's I've ever really enjoyed was the Liga #9 Tubo Oscuro and the L40. Overall, they have been very very inconsistent for me.