I am new the site and have seen many threads regarding Rodolfo Taboada. Pros, cons and everything in between. After reading a few of these I felt compelled to put in my two cents.
I have been traveling to the Island for at least five years, almost every 3-4 months. I got to know Taboada on my second trip. In the beginning, I found him to be aloof, quiet and dignified with an air of snubbishness. I liked that about him as most true artists are that way. I also saw many other torcedores there that would even do a back flip to get you to buy something from them. Not him. He was and always has been a take-it-or-leave-it personality. I got to know him and his family better in my subsequent trips. I found him to be a true human being in every sense of the word.
Now for his abilities as a torcedor. He has rolled cigars for about 48 years. This puts him on top of the piramide as far as experience next to Jose Cueto, Reynaldo, Pepito and such. Having said that, bear in mind that years in the business does not guarrantee talent or knowledge. He has won numerous rolling competitions in Cuba against all these "great" rollers. He retired from the La Corona factory about one and a half years ago. But that is retirement from factory and not from cigar rolling. He still has his private clients from all over the world that keeps him busy. So if you hear that his appearance anywhere in the world is his last one due to his retirement, it is not true. The man enjoys rolling and making money. It is interesting that while in Havana you can go to any of the LCDH,s or the factories, or the farms and mention his name and I have yet to find anyone to say anything remotely derogatory about him. And furthermore, they all unanimously revere him as a master and a great human being.
Onto his cigars, his specialties are Robustos, Salomones, Diademas and Lanceros. Although he rolls other shapes with the same perfection. I have collected his cigars ever since 5 years ago and have compared them to the work of other torcedors and the factory works. They simply do not come close. That has become a benchmark for me as I compare anything I smoke to his cigars. There is a certain complexity about his cigars that I have not found in too many cigars. You start with a certain taste and by the end you have lost track of the many pleasures it has brought you.
To the nay-sayers, you cannot judge till you try. Period. And then you will be a changed person. Forever. By the way his cigars and for that matter all Habanos taste different in Cuba than here or anywhere else. Call me crazy but until you go there and experinece it you will not understand what I am talking about.
As for the prices that are charged for his cigars in LCDH Tijuana and other places, they are high. I myself would not pay those prices because I can go right to the source in Havana and get them for a fraction of the cost. But when you factor in the cost of the trip and many obstacles you endure to bring them in, well......maybe they are not so high. Then again I have seen $50-70 for Opus X,s. So go figure!
I would love to answer any questions about him, his abilities and his history. Feel free to come and discuss.
Enjoy.
Jon
I have been traveling to the Island for at least five years, almost every 3-4 months. I got to know Taboada on my second trip. In the beginning, I found him to be aloof, quiet and dignified with an air of snubbishness. I liked that about him as most true artists are that way. I also saw many other torcedores there that would even do a back flip to get you to buy something from them. Not him. He was and always has been a take-it-or-leave-it personality. I got to know him and his family better in my subsequent trips. I found him to be a true human being in every sense of the word.
Now for his abilities as a torcedor. He has rolled cigars for about 48 years. This puts him on top of the piramide as far as experience next to Jose Cueto, Reynaldo, Pepito and such. Having said that, bear in mind that years in the business does not guarrantee talent or knowledge. He has won numerous rolling competitions in Cuba against all these "great" rollers. He retired from the La Corona factory about one and a half years ago. But that is retirement from factory and not from cigar rolling. He still has his private clients from all over the world that keeps him busy. So if you hear that his appearance anywhere in the world is his last one due to his retirement, it is not true. The man enjoys rolling and making money. It is interesting that while in Havana you can go to any of the LCDH,s or the factories, or the farms and mention his name and I have yet to find anyone to say anything remotely derogatory about him. And furthermore, they all unanimously revere him as a master and a great human being.
Onto his cigars, his specialties are Robustos, Salomones, Diademas and Lanceros. Although he rolls other shapes with the same perfection. I have collected his cigars ever since 5 years ago and have compared them to the work of other torcedors and the factory works. They simply do not come close. That has become a benchmark for me as I compare anything I smoke to his cigars. There is a certain complexity about his cigars that I have not found in too many cigars. You start with a certain taste and by the end you have lost track of the many pleasures it has brought you.
To the nay-sayers, you cannot judge till you try. Period. And then you will be a changed person. Forever. By the way his cigars and for that matter all Habanos taste different in Cuba than here or anywhere else. Call me crazy but until you go there and experinece it you will not understand what I am talking about.
As for the prices that are charged for his cigars in LCDH Tijuana and other places, they are high. I myself would not pay those prices because I can go right to the source in Havana and get them for a fraction of the cost. But when you factor in the cost of the trip and many obstacles you endure to bring them in, well......maybe they are not so high. Then again I have seen $50-70 for Opus X,s. So go figure!
I would love to answer any questions about him, his abilities and his history. Feel free to come and discuss.
Enjoy.
Jon
