It's been less than a week since we announced the Surrogates line and there has been a lot of response already. Both the Bone Crusher and Skull Breaker vitolas are hitting your mailboxes and being reviewed and talked about online.
From all of the speculation that has shown up in the forums, it is apparent that I need to set straight some conclusions that are being drawn. In fact, I feel so strongly about it that this is in the form of an apology.
Although Surrogates is meant to be "for those who can't get enough" of a good thing - namely a great cigar - it is my hope that the name will stand on it's own and represent our intent to make available the kind of sticks that I love and that hopefully you will love as well.
When people saw the names of these first two vitolas, there was much speculation that they were either made by one of our trusted vendors, or were meant to be a duplicate of one of their offerings. Neither is true nor implied. The names were based on the novelty fonts that I chose for these full bodied beasts. In retrospect, I should not be surprised that some people jumped to conclusions about them being made by Viaje, because of the themes used in the names. This was never my intent. Bone Crusher is a play on the strength of the stick 'hitting you to the bones' and Skull Breaker is a play on 'feeling it in your head' when you are done. Had I projected the myriad of conclusions being drawn I might have chosen 'Punisher' for the Skull theme and simply 'Krusher' for the other vitola. But Surrogates was the branding I wanted to bring forth and create a following for.
So, for the record - Any resemblance to Viaje's SnB is surely not on purpose and I want to apologize to Andre for any confusion this has caused to his and our loyal Viaje customers. Andre was not aware of this project until everyone else was, and I wished I would have projected the conclusions being drawn ahead of time and stated my position with him before it went public. I am very proud of the relationships we have established with our manufacturers and what we do for each other in this business. I wouldn't risk harming those relationships by purposefully trying to mimic one of their brands, especially without talking to them first.
I hope you are enjoying being a part of the Experiment of Surrogates. I think it's human nature to try to solve a mystery, but let the tobacco speak for itself and trust your palate. We don't want your skull hurting from an overworked brain, let these first vitolas do that for you!
Enjoy,
Dan
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3 comments:
These are both great smokes Dan, hopefully you are not beating yourself up over this.
These smokes can and will stand on their own.
You're right, its only natural for people to speculate, but that is part of the fun and should have been 100% expected.
People always wanna see the wizard behind the curtain, myself included. I can only compare it to things I have tried and are in taste memory.
Dan,
I don't know you that well aside from a referral from a fellow BOTL who also happens to be a buckeye. I just know you as the guy who communicates promptly, has a selection of sticks that are right in my wheelhouse, and maybe uses the best packaging in the business.
I love S&Bs and have smoked many from every batch. Not only did I never assume a connection, either by contrived implication or free-association, I hardly see how someone could, especially Andre or your customers.
While Viaje is known for small batches, especially LEs, so are a ton of other brands. There has been more heartache, frustration, clinical anxiety, and even resentment pertaining to this issue on the boards than any other topic, aside from pricing, than any non-information related topics put together.
I, for one, appreciate that you, Pete, and Liga Privada have at least made an effort to speak to that side of the business.
Thanks for always being a stand up guy and honoring your passion for cigars by the way you do business.
Best,
Jack L.
Well said Dan. I haven't tried the Viaje's mentioned, so couldn't even start a comparison - however, from smoking the new Surrogates, I fail to see how *anything* might compare. They are most impressive. The names are quite fitting, given your description.
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