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Oxymoron ????

M

Muley

New Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
437
McPatrickClan made a comment on my review that I agree with 100%, but it's got me wondering again. I've thought about this before but I have not come up with a good conclusion. Y'all being the great thinkers you are, I figured you'd be able to help me find some closure...

McPatrick said, "I think I would rather have a terribly made cigar that tasted great than a well-made cigar that tasted like a cigarette."

Again, I support and agree with that totally, but you know what? I kind of have a problem with the whole "tastes great but not constructed well" theory. Here's my take on that: If a professional reviewer (or anyone for that matter) is able to sit back and enjoy a good cigar's flavor, palette, effect, smell, smoke, etc., how can they then proclaim that it's not well made? Doesn't a cigar being well made imply that you're able to enjoy the aforementioned qualities? Thoughts?
 
I am glad my comments give you something to chew on! :D

I believe that a cigar can have above average tobacco which will easily reveal itself in the smoking process. This same cigar can be poorly made showing those qualities with a grey ash that cannot stay solid for more than a fingernail's width. Or maybe that cigar is rolled too tightly (C.A.O. L'Anniv. anyone?). This would impede your enjoyment of the cigar to be sure, but you would still be aware that the tobacco is good.

To give an analogy, my wife makes arguably the best chocolate-chip cookies I have ever had (it's either her or my Mom). My wife's cookies are a bit lumpy and unsightly at times. They may crumble, etc. but they are made with such care to the taste that they unmistakably make you want more. I would rather have her cookies than Mrs. Field's cookies, even though Mrs. Field's are not going to break up at all.

Using this analogy, we see that good tobacco can be turned into a good smoke despite poor construction.
 
The analogy breaks down a little. With cookies, the fact that they are a bit lumpy might detract a little from the enjoyment, but won't prevent you from enjoying them altogether. However a poorly made cigar can be unsmokable. I've had cigars fall apart, be plugged, etc. to the point where I simply had to toss them. Even though the tobacco might have been good, I was unable to enjoy it because I couldn't smoke the cigar. There are also lesser problems like uneven burn, flaky ash, etc. that detract from the experience and are annoying but don't keep you from smoking if you're persistent enough.

To me, good flavor and good construction are both requirements. It's not enough for me to say that it would have been a good cigar if only I could have smoked it.
 
All great thoughts guys and I'm with you there. I too like a well constructed stick.

Let's take this to the extreme though. I've read reviews "by the pros" that just have me salivating and digging for supply sources only to find at the end of the review that the cigar gets a shoddy rating because it wasn't well contructed. So, here's the point that I sort of circumnavigated with my original question to try to solicit responses:

Everything about a cigar experience is based on either it's construction or your inner/outer environment. A poorly constructed cigar will take away from the experience as you both said. So how is it then that a good, solid, enjoyable smoke can have a lowered rating based solely on poor construction. The same poor construction would result in poorer experience elsewhere, right? Like in the ash, the feel, the burn, the cut, etc. Thoughts? Continuances?
 
I guess good flavor will make up for poor construction up to a point. However, construction flaws still take away from the experience of that cigar. It's aggravating to have to constantly re-light a cigar or adjust the burn; it occupies part of your mind that would have been otherwise enjoying a nice smoke. If a cigar isn't built right, it won't smoke right and it deserves a lower score, imo. Did that answer your question, Muley?
 
I've smoked good tasting cigars that had a tight draw or uneven burn and I couldn't enjoy the smoke. I've smoked just average tasting cigars that had a great draw and slow even burn and were a pleasurable experience. I guess I'm saying that taste (if it's acceptable) is not the most important thing to me in a cigar.
 
I do not believe under any circumstances that a terribly made cigar ever tastes great. ??? IMHO
 
As I was reading this thread I thought of the old Henry CLays from a few years ago. These were the most consistantly ugly looking cigars but were very tasty.
 
What do we mean when we say "well made" or "good construction"? To me these things mean that the bunch is firm, but not twisted, it's wrapped good and tight, etc. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's ugly, has a big vein running down the side, or things of this nature. Well made means that it will burn straight, won't go out, will draw well and so on.

So construction problems are at best annoying (e.g., uneven burn) and at worst prevent one from partaking of the cigar at all (e.g., the cigar is plugged). I agree with Beast that if it's that poorly made, it won't taste great no matter how good the tobacco is.

This is what I've always thought "well made" to mean. I'm curious what everybody else thinks.
 
On a side note...take note on the taste vs RH level. Some smoke better at lower levels, some at higher levels. I have a hard time here in Key West when it is really humid outside.

Emo
 
I can live with an uneven burn or relighting occasionally, but when a cigar starts to fall apart, wrapper splits and unwraps, that's when I toss them!

I try to keep mine at 64-65% RH and I have had very few problems thus far. :D
 
All,
Now this thread is headed where I'd hoped it'd go when first starting. Beast(ie), you're the man. I was beginning to wonder if I was understood or not. See, just like a fine cigar, time also blends and smooths out most threads on Cigar Pass too!

:D
 
I'd have to agree completely with Leebo on this one.

I don't mind relighting a couple of times or puting up with a little uneven burn. But if the damn thing comes apart in my hands or I keep picking little bits of it out of my mouth, I toss it. Finished or not.

I smoked one on the way home last night that was gifted to me. Not a great smoke but not a bad one either. The only reason I tossed it about half way through was becasue every time I took a draw I pulled little tiny bits of it out of my mouth. It got really annoying quick.
 
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