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Macion Grey

the Libertine
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
1,374
I went through a period a while back where I actually preferred non-Cuban cigars to their ISOM counterparts. This was a byproduct of the horrible 99 - 01 run of cigars that inevitably sat in a lot of Australian B&M's for a long time before purchase.

Now, after the phenomenal 2005 and 2006 production runs, every Cuban cigar is a brilliant smoke, boasting richer complexity that even the most premium NC. Having smoked a fair few cigars in my time, a complex cigar will win me over every time. Sticks like the Vegas Robania Unicos, Bolivar Gold Medal, Cohiba Siglo 6, RyJ Churchill, Magnum 46 and the D4 are excellent smokes right now, and promise some beautiful aging potential.


Looks like the humidor will be mainly a Havana showcase again, as in my mind they cannot be beaten once again.




Thoughts?
 
For me a cigar is a cigar! Not where it is made but rather, how it tastes.

Brian
 
For me a cigar is a cigar! Not where it is made but rather, how it tastes.

Brian

Yes, and Cubans taste best ;)
No, the cigar tastes best.

What I found in countries where CC's are legal is that the selection of NC is not that good. I think we have the largest selection of NC's in the US and for good reason, we cannot buy
Cubans here. There are many fantastic NC smokes. Sure, there are also many good CC's but to say that Cuban's taste best, all Cubans...mmmm, did you follow the recent blind tasting
thread that Moki put together? The average person, thinks he knows his Cubans ;)

Brian
 
For me a cigar is a cigar! Not where it is made but rather, how it tastes.

Brian

I agree 100%

Taste is also subjective. You may say dark chocolate is the best, he may say milk chocolate is best. Ford is best/Holden is best. Black coffee/Cappuccino. Tawny port is best ....no Vintage is best. Yada Yada Yada :whistling:

For my taste Nicaraguan Puros are pretty damn hard to beat. And for now I will keep smoking them until my tastes change to some other cigar.(Although Ive smoked some pretty damn good Dominicans lately) :D

I am glad you have found a country of origin you really enjoy Mate. But don't tell me what is best. Because we are all different...And that's what makes us all Beautiful.

Dave
 
as in my mind.

Thats sums it up for me, for me, I live by the motto "Smoke what YOU like!"

I like both Cuban and Non-Cuban cigars. It all depends on how I feel on a given day on which cigar I grab out of the humidor.
 
For me a cigar is a cigar! Not where it is made but rather, how it tastes.

Brian

Yes, and Cubans taste best ;)
No, the cigar tastes best.

What I found in countries where CC's are legal is that the selection of NC is not that good. I think we have the largest selection of NC's in the US and for good reason, we cannot buy
Cubans here. There are many fantastic NC smokes. Sure, there are also many good CC's but to say that Cuban's taste best, all Cubans...mmmm, did you follow the recent blind tasting
thread that Moki put together
? The average person, thinks he knows his Cubans ;)

Brian

I learned so much from that thread. When the verdeict came in on the Cabaiguan, I think that was really the beginning of me changing the way I viewed cigars, particularly in regards to the reverence in which I held cc's. Not to say that they don't deserve it, but also not to say that many nc's don't deserve it just as equally. I think that was the biggest realization that I came to. That is, that there are many nc's that are just as good or better than many cc'c. But, as stated, it really all goes back to taste and personal preference.
 
as in my mind.

Thats sums it up for me, for me, I live by the motto "Smoke what YOU like!"

I like both Cuban and Non-Cuban cigars. It all depends on how I feel on a given day on which cigar I grab out of the humidor.


x2 lol, but I couldn't help throwing a bit of a tease.



This post was about my re-appreciation of Cuban offerings, and how glad I am they are back to form. For ME, they cannot be beaten.
 
For me a cigar is a cigar! Not where it is made but rather, how it tastes.

Brian

I agree 100%

Taste is also subjective. You may say dark chocolate is the best, he may say milk chocolate is best. Ford is best/Holden is best. Black coffee/Cappuccino. Tawny port is best ....no Vintage is best. Yada Yada Yada :whistling:

For my taste Nicaraguan Puros are pretty damn hard to beat. And for now I will keep smoking them until my tastes change to some other cigar.(Although Ive smoked some pretty damn good Dominicans lately) :D

I am glad you have found a country of origin you really enjoy Mate. But don't tell me what is best. Because we are all different...And that's what makes us all Beautiful.

Dave

I could not have said this any better Dave............Very well put brother. :thumbs:

When I first came here, my train of thought was of, if I wanted to smoke the best, then it had to be Cuban. There was so much out there that I was missing out on that I was unaware of. Fuente, Padron, Oliva, Tatuaje, ect.. I love being able to go to my humidors and say "Hmmmm, what am I in the mood for tonight". Not... "Do I want Cuban, or non-Cuban.
 
I have found personally, most cigars lack a certain complexity that something like the Vegas Robania or Bolivar Gold Medal can offer. Granted, a lot of CCs are not finely tuned masterpieces but harsh tasting weed-sticks. I wont argue that. You gotta know what is good, like with all cigar producing countries.

Again, I say personally, the only NC I have found that matches the best of CC is Padron. They are excellent offerings that will always have a place in my humi. Also, sometimes I just want a simple, good tasting stick that I don't need to explore to enjoy. Nicaraguan Puros are excellent for this.
 
There was a time like in the mid 90s and prior that Cuban cigars were far superior in general to the NCs IMO. There flavor and strength could not be matched by NCs. There were still a few top quality cigars such as the Opus X which at the time was an outstanding cigar and certainly surprised most Cuban cigar smokers with its strength and flavor.

At the time cubans entered there bad period 99-01 some high quality NCs were well on there way to meet or exeed what was being produced in Cuba. Currently both Cuban and Non have great attributes. If you broaden your purchases to (as been mentioned) Nicaraguans,Dominicans, Hondurians and other premium cigars you will be quite surpised at their flavor and construction. In the end it's " TO Each His Own".

Bob
 
......every Cuban cigar is a brilliant smoke, boasting richer complexity that even the most premium NC.......

Thoughts?
I'll respectfully disagree.

The cigars produced in the 99-01 period were perhaps not the best the island south of Miami has ever produced, but there were some wonderful cabs in there. I have a couple of examples in my cabinet.

I will agree that some of the new vitolas and blends from the Cuban standard bearers are interesting, but I can't go with the blanket statement that every Cuban is better than the most premium NC. I still have never had a plugged Padron, from the 2000 up through the Millenium and the 80th. Sure can't say that about any of the Cuban brands; I've had "tent pegs" from just about every vendor there is. Even from recent production. Maybe it's my bad luck, but I can't recall a box of ISOM's that didn't have at least one stick that wouldn't draw worth a darn.

Taste is very much subjective. What I like is probably not what you like, and verse visa. But, I can say without a doubt that it would be a shame to limit ones self to the flavors that come from Cuba and ignore the remarkable tastes of the cigars produced in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. They are different to be sure, but IMHO equals in complexity and taste, and perhaps superior in construction.

Edited to add - I forgot to mention consistency. No question, when a fine ISOM is on, it's ON. But, I am still surprised by the variability in the marcas. Without naming names, there are at least three in the smokes you list that I've had that I was both blown away by, and horribly disappointed. Sometimes, out of the same box. I do not see that variability in the premium smokes from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

One man's opinion - B.B.S.
 
I like Brian am enamored with cigars. That is why there a a wide variety of cigars available to me. I have periods that I will smoke certain cigars for a few weeks in a row. I am currently on a Greycliff/Davidoff swing and am enjoying them greatly. Too many great cigars to ignore by just smoking cigars from one island!

YMMV
 
......every Cuban cigar is a brilliant smoke, boasting richer complexity that even the most premium NC.......

Thoughts?
I'll respectfully disagree.

The cigars produced in the 99-01 period were perhaps not the best the island south of Miami has ever produced, but there were some wonderful cabs in there. I have a couple of examples in my cabinet.

I will agree that some of the new vitolas and blends from the Cuban standard bearers are interesting, but I can't go with the blanket statement that every Cuban is better than the most premium NC. I still have never had a plugged Padron, from the 2000 up through the Millenium and the 80th. Sure can't say that about any of the Cuban brands; I've had "tent pegs" from just about every vendor there is. Even from recent production. Maybe it's my bad luck, but I can't recall a box of ISOM's that didn't have at least one stick that wouldn't draw worth a darn.

Taste is very much subjective. What I like is probably not what you like, and verse visa. But, I can say without a doubt that it would be a shame to limit ones self to the flavors that come from Cuba and ignore the remarkable tastes of the cigars produced in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. They are different to be sure, but IMHO equals in complexity and taste, and perhaps superior in construction.

Edited to add - I forgot to mention consistency. No question, when a fine ISOM is on, it's ON. But, I am still surprised by the variability in the marcas. Without naming names, there are at least three in the smokes you list that I've had that I was both blown away by, and horribly disappointed. Sometimes, out of the same box. I do not see that variability in the premium smokes from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

One man's opinion - B.B.S.


True, that is certainly a big spanner in the works for the Cuban Cigars. I am just so impressed with the recent quality I have been experiencing compared to previous years. Perhaps I have been lucky?

I will always have Padron, Davidoff and Oliva in my humidor because of their excellent quality, but I feel the gamble is worth it for some of those CC beauties.

Recently I have smoked a plethora of NCs including (and this is in order of my cigar journal, not quality): Cuesta Rey, Partagas Black Label, AF Hemmingway, Padilla Hybrid, Gurkha Titan (which was brilliant), Gurkha Master Select, Opus X (not about to knock those either), Padron, Padron 64 (both series excellent), Oliva (also good), San Cristobal, Don Pepin Blue Label, Angel 100, God of Fire, La Flor Dominica Doble Liegro, Comancho Coyolar, Carlos Torano 1916 and Tatuae West Side le.

Most scored an average of 7 except for the bracketed ones. Of the Cubans I have smoked recently, most have scored an average of 9. I mainly smoke with the same BOTL each wednesday, and we were both blown away by some recent CCs.


All I am saying is I am about to go Havana-Crazy because of what my taste buds are telling me. Of course I will not smoke exclusively Cuban cigars, but I will be purchasing less NCs than before because of my tasting experience with them.

wow.. I shouldn't have written that 'every cigar' is a brilliant smoke from Cuba, because we all know about the duds that make it into too many boxes (esp Montes), I should have written:

Every smoke from Cuba I have had recently has been a brilliant one. I must be lucky.
 
Smoke what you like. Like what you smoke.

I would say that, in my experience NC construction is probably superior to that of CCs. Regarding flavor, the premium NCs and premium CCs are equal in their overall quality, but each marca, to varying degrees, offers a different type of flavor. We can all agree that an Opus has a different taste than an Anejo, but it would be hard to argue that one is of inherently higher quality. We can prefer one over the other, yet no one can doubt the quality of either.

It looks like Macion tends to enjoy the CCs that he has smoked lately over the NCs that he has had in the same time period. Based on moki's blind tasting, he would probably be fooled just like most of the rest of us. However, he is enjoying what he smokes, and maybe he does have a greater capability to distinguish terrior in a cigar.
 
I like Brian am enamored with cigars. That is why there a a wide variety of cigars available to me. I have periods that I will smoke certain cigars for a few weeks in a row. I am currently on a Greycliff/Davidoff swing and am enjoying them greatly. Too many great cigars to ignore by just smoking cigars from one island!

YMMV
God I love this place. :laugh:

I was taught by very old cigar smokers..."smoke what you like and never preach what is best" and that seems to be the motto here too.

As tone-ny just said...there really is way too much out there to enjoy and state that one cigar is better than an other...funny, I'm in a Davidoff groove as well these days and never really smoked them in quantity ever before.


The longer you smoke cigars the more you will realize that your tastes change ....year to year...month to month....and sometimes day to day......you will learn to embrace this wonderful phenomenon. I'm returning to my CC after a 6-7 year hiatus.

But always keep in mind concerning what you like at this moment in time, it probably has more to do with YOU and less to do with the market.
 
But always keep in mind concerning what you like at this moment in time, it probably has more to do with YOU and less to do with the market.


Absolutely! I sort of worded my post a little wrong. I was stating that they are back on top for me, after a long period of disappointment, and that I am looking forward to getting all my old favourites and seeing how they smoke now.
 
If it happens in our lifetime, I think that things will get seriously interesting in terms of taste when we can start tasting blends of tobacco from HON, DR, NIC, and Cuba. Puros are good but some of the best cigars I have smoked have been blends. I would love to see what Don Pepin or Fuente would do if they also had access to Cuban tobacco to blend with.
 
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