Longevity starts with the quality of the CD itself and the quality of the burn.
Almost all CDS sold retail are trash made in basements in Taiwan. Brand means nothing as the actual CD vendor changes from batch to batch depending which basement is cheapest that day.
The only really good CDs are made by Taiyo Yuden, but be sure the ones you buy are not counterfit TYs.
Unfortunately, Taiyo Yuden is old news. They were bought out and have been producing so-so discs since then. I have been having very good luck with Falcon media, but I am not sure I would hold them up as a standard.
You are quite correct about brands and disc sourcing. If you buy discs from a media vendor, they are generally going to know what is going on in the industry and what discs they have which are quality - both in the disc manufacturing and the dye being used. If you buy discs at Walmart, I would say they are fine for a year or so and fine to transport files but not good for archival at all.