Uh oh, Sink -- this makes twice in one week I've agreed with you. I've been a JR customer and Rothman fan for about 15 years, when I switched from Thompson. I've always gotten great prices for boxes of my longtime favorite, the Arturo Fuente 8-5-8. Other than a box of smuggled Cuban Punch double coronas, the rest of my hoard is a variety of JR Ultimates. They're every bit as good as the big names they mimic.
By the way, if you're ever on I-77, stop by JR's Statesville, NC outlet. The humidor is the size of a warehouse -- this Marine's idea of the 72 virgins of Paradise. Semper Fidelis...
I've never stopped at the Statesville outlet, we generally go to the Selma store and occasionally to Burlington, which has a somewhat larger walk-in.
My biggest complaint about Burlington is that the manager does not permit CCW holders to enter with handguns. It's not that I expect to get mugged in there, I just hate to leave a weapon in my truck in a huge parking lot with lots of traffic from I-40/85.
The Selma outlet doesn't mind at all.