Well everyone is focusing on Altadis or General as the big names...... but what about Padron, Fuente, Torano, etc...? Also... at what point do these "boutique" brands just start being recognized as main stream? Are Tatuaje and Drew Estate still boutique? What defines boutique then?
Shrug. I think there are a lot of great cigars across a very broad spectrum of manufacturers...
I think the reason everyone focuses on General and Altadis is because most of the other "big" companies were all boutiques at one time, whereas those two never were. Only 5 years ago you could see DPG rolling cigars in his small store on Calle Ocho and My Father Cigars was not even a concept. I still remember having Indian Tabac in my store before RP grew that brand. PeteJ and JDrew grew their brands to what they are in a short space of time compared to the industry as a whole. Fuente and Padron are an exception, imo they are the Godfathers of this industry - Respect.
It's great that even the bigger companies have sub-brands that I would classify as boutique, Davidoff Room 101, Litto Gomez LG, Padron Anniversary, etc. But on the whole it's awesome that we have all this choice, boutique or not, there are some great smokes out there. I find it refreshing that guys like Ernesto Carillo, Christian Eiroa, Don Pepin Garcia teamed up with people like Jon Huber, Matt Booth, Pete Johnson to bring us some great smokes. And even some of the ultra-boutiques have produced some great sticks, Table 36, PDR, Roma Craft, etc. IMO these guys have to work harder to get a good stick to market and compete with the big boys. Some boutiques do and some don't but you can generally tell which ones are just getting on the boutique bandwagon and those who really believe in their brand.
I'm about 80% boutique at my B&M and I educate customers on these brands. It's a choice to differentiate from all the other stores here in SOFL and the Internet market. But I am fortunate, my customers are happy to try something different. I choose not to carry General & Altadis but they do make some great smokes. Let's face it they have a huge tobacco store to select from and some very good blenders.