First of all, people like Chili's because it's cheap haha. I mean, I would never go there, but I suspect that that's the reason.
Never had AJ's SD, but I know what you mean. There was a dispensary I used to go to that was the BEST (sadly, it got shut down years ago). That's actually the place that turned me on to Sour Diesel. And Headband, too, actually. I dunno if it was the cut they had or the grower's abilities, but they had the most unbelievable SD and Headband that I actually havent ever gotten Headband from anywhere else (although I have smoked other people's) just because it was so perfect in every regard. Never seen HB that came anywhere close to that particular dispensaries version of it. Their SD, too, was the best I've ever seen, although I will still grab that from time to time (which reminds me, I've got a little bit of SD in the cupboard right now, totally forgot about that haha).
Strains that live up to the hype? I'm partial to Goji, but I think that's more for the medical benefits (for me), rather than the high. It totally takes away my desire to drink (which I also like to do sometimes haha). That's a good thing. Although I do like the high, too. In fact, a lot of Bodhi's strains have lived up to the hype. The only one of his I haven't enjoyed was the White Lotus. But I got some Stevie Wonder of his a while back, dunno if that's a "hyped" strain or not (although it seems like pretty much all of his strains are hyped haha), but it's definitely my current "favorite strain." Liked it so much I went back and stocked up.
NL5/Haze lives up to the hype, I think. Even the shittiest-grown version of that strain always makes me super-happy. And it's pretty easy to find shittily-grown NL5/Haze haha.
I see your point, though. And everybody else's, too. Had I never tried that one version of Sour Diesel that I used to get from MEDCO, I'd probably think that Sour Diesel sucked, too, as it's just very hard to find well-grown SD anymore. At least, not in dispensaries.
I have to say, though, that I do have a discerning eye. It's not like I'm just grabbing any ol' batch of GSC and then wondering what's so amazing about it. It always LOOKS really good, it just falls flat for me, every time. I also have a tendency to question things, especially things that receive a ton of hype, which is one of the reasons I started this thread.