Stay with Sikkens or apply another brand?

I live in Central PA, House built in 2008, and has lap cedar siding. Front of house gets full afternoon sun. We applied Sikkens Cetol Log and Siding, translucent satin finish. It now needs re-applied. Has been about 6 years since initial application. First 1.2 years, no stain at all. House has some fading all over, and a dark mildew around the dormer area. Contractor/painter advises to strip all of it off and go with a different oil based stain. What products do you reccomend? Or do you recommend we just re-apply the Sikkens. We will be the ones purchasing the stain, so the contractor does not benefit from selling us a different product. We want something that lasts the longest, as we do not want to re-apply every 3 years. Also, if we go with a different brand of stain, how do you recommend we strip the old stain? Thanks for your opinion.