Cuban/domestic blending

[Slow Burn]

I'm not aware of (probably from being American) of any blends with Cuban tobacco. is it that all Cuban tobacco is straight Cuban tobacco? i always wondered what a hybrid good smoke would be like.

if i could choose a few, the Dominican opus/anejo blend with Trinidad's blend!

or tat's Miami blended with some of bolivar's...

 

[SPH]

Honestly--IMHO . Why mess up a good CC with a NC blend.

Sean

 

[Kurtdesign1]

I'm not aware of (probably from being American) of any blends with Cuban tobacco. is it that all Cuban tobacco is straight Cuban tobacco? i always wondered what a hybrid good smoke would be like.

if i could choose a few, the Dominican opus/anejo blend with Trinidad's blend!

or tat's Miami blended with some of bolivar's...

I know of 3 cigars which are/were reported to be blended with Cuban & N/C tobacco. Don't expect this to be much help though...

1) The original One Offs. I don't think anyone ever confirmed this officially but I'm fairly certain when I say that it was widely agreed upon.
2) Johnny Os. I don't smoke many of these but the guys who do say they're partially Cuban. To me, they have a reminescence of the stereotypical citrus flavor but are too floral & youthful to be a great smoke.
3) There was a cigar that a previous member of this board Hawkan(??) raved about. I can't recall the name but it was supposedly only available through Canada. I'm sure you could do a search through some of his posts back in 05 to find it out.

3b) There is a gorilla marketing campaign to try to say that some new Gurkha is partially Cuban. Reps are saying "Its from an undisclosed Caribbean island." I haven't tried it, researched it or cared too much about it but it is out there.

As for the regular stuff that you can buy on a shelf today (as your post was alluding to) no one will admit doing this or talk about it in public if they actually do it. Sorry. I think its doubtful though.

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

Some of the "old timer's" in the industry have sworn for years that Cuba was importing tobacco from Nicarauga and Hondoraus and blending it into there cigars.

 

[AlohaStyle]

Hey Kurt, where did u hear Johhny-O's are partial cuban? He directly told me they come from a cuban farm and didnt say anything about a blend. Just curious as i'd like the truth.

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

Hey Kurt, where did u hear Johhny-O's are partial cuban? He directly told me they come from a cuban farm and didnt say anything about a blend. Just curious as i'd like the truth.

I too was under the same impression as you on them.

 

[Kurtdesign1]

Couple things here:
Regarding Cuba importing tobacco; consider your sources. I have heard it myself, but from owners of N/C cigar brands. Yes its very possible but the sources potential to gain from the info may outweigh the information itself for me. Your opinions may vary, obviously. Keep in mind, I just blind reviewed a Cohiba Genios last week for Dogwatch & swore it was Nicaraguan...

Regarding the Johnny Os - Nothing I have is on the record. I've just been told differing perspectives from the people I trust. Perhaps take them off that list if you'd feel more comfortable or if someone has a vivid imagination & misconstrues my statements to have a slanderous effect. Ha!

 

[Slow Burn]

As for the regular stuff that you can buy on a shelf today (as your post was alluding to) no one will admit doing this or talk about it in public if they actually do it. Sorry. I think its doubtful though.

i didn't mean anything on our shelves... but the rest of the world can enjoy cuban tobac... wanted to know if other country's had blends...

 

[gibbleguts]

There is actually a roller in either Toronto or Monteal that is rolling with Cuban tobacco. Can't remember the name off the top of my head. A couple issues with that though are that Cuba does not export Ligero or wrapper leaves so he only is getting the seco and volado leaves. I am not sure if he mixing with other tobaccos or just rolling substandard blends with it.

 

[cf2112]

I too have heard varing stories regarding Johhny O's. 1) thye are from a cuban farm and all tobbacco was grown on that farm and used in the cigars. 2) They are rolled with tobbaco from a cuban farm and blended and rolled outside of Cuba.

Whatever they are I think them to be average at best. Just my 2 cents and worth what you paid.

 

[indyrob]

goya & Penamil are canary island cigars that use the cuban leaf.

 

[IndyPaintballSmoker]

What Kurt said!

 

[Zen Cigar Man]

Couple things here:
Regarding Cuba importing tobacco; consider your sources. I have heard it myself, but from owners of N/C cigar brands.

Exactly. Pepin himself told me all Cubans were the same except with different bands on them.

I'm sure he has nothing to gain by saying that... :ccowboy:

 

[smokinghole]

One thing I did hear while it was a NC industry sales rep, some companies make their personal house blends with some CC tobacco. I don't know which ones but I suspect some Dom companies like La Aurora, and maybe some someone like Oliva. I bet there's more too. It's just speculation/rumor and usually you cannot get the cigars unless you go to the factory.

 

[Ahmed]

interesting, well i don't really thing NCs blending a Cuban tobacco and for the Cuban cigars the same. but what i believe is that these are rumors the NC cigar owners are making for marketing purpose.

what i did once is that i made a cigar roller from LCDH to wrap a padron 6000 with a cuban wrapper and guess what!! it wasn't that good.

 

[Alwayslit]

Hey Kurt, where did u hear Johhny-O's are partial cuban? He directly told me they come from a cuban farm and didnt say anything about a blend. Just curious as i'd like the truth.

.....partial is a new one for me also.

 

[tom1026]

doesnt camacho make a mixed blend "pre-embargo" smoke?

 

[issues]

I know of only one, Orishas.

You can find a review here:

http://www.casasfumando.com/2010/03/22/orishas-robusto-new-blend-cuban-boutique-cigar/

Seems to have an Ecuadorian wrapper with Cuban filler and binder.

I've never had one but the review seems to be positive.

 

[tmoney2007]

interesting, well i don't really thing NCs blending a Cuban tobacco and for the Cuban cigars the same. but what i believe is that these are rumors the NC cigar owners are making for marketing purpose.

what i did once is that i made a cigar roller from LCDH to wrap a padron 6000 with a cuban wrapper and guess what!! it wasn't that good.

A random one off blended by you wasn't that good? You have got to be kidding!

If the embargo was lifted, I think one of the most interesting things would be seeing what the master blenders that left Cuba could do with cuban tobacco, assuming they started exporting quality leaves.

I think that there are NC cigars with cuban tobacco in them. All but one of the farms are government owned, but who's to say someone isn't selling a few bales on the side here and there.

 

[Slow Burn]

If the embargo was lifted, I think one of the most interesting things would be seeing what the master blenders that left Cuba could do with cuban tobacco, assuming they started exporting quality leaves.

imagine the great things we can expect from peppin when this happens