Caldwell & Other Newcomers, why?

[shilala]

Same story that's been played out a gazillion times.
Break in with a decent stick at a crazy price point.
Pray that it catches on and people will pay $250 a box.
Continue to pray that LOTS of people continue to pay that price point until the stick becomes a "mainstay".
Sell the line to CI or Swedish Match so they can make a half price, fully crappy version of the old cigar and everybody wins. Except cigar smokers.

I tired of the millworks and just completely stopped buying NC's, except anejo's, PAM's, and maybe a couple others. You could say I stopped buying those because I have plenty and seldom smoke them.
Oliva is still a standout line, I'm super happy they dropped the hype road they were headed down. They can stand on their product like Fuente and Padron. They don't need to make a lot of noise, and certainly don't need to give away motorcycles and canoes to get folks to look at them.

I sometimes wish the whole hype game was missing from our hobby, but for most guys it's a lot of fun. For awhile. I know it was fun for me, for a time.