Interesting. I agree and disagree, I suppose.
On the one hand I agree completely that there is a big difference between flavor profile when you move from marca to marca ... once you're familiar with a marca, you wouldn't mistake a Bolivar for an HdM, or an Upmann for a Trinidad--it's almost laughable.
But I find that to be prettty much true with NCs as well, as long as you replace "marca" with "manufacturer." If you don't do that, then yes, I'd say there is a lot less difference between a Tobacco Baez and a My Father than there is between a Partagas and a Bolivar. But if you look at
manufacturers instead of cigar lines, I think it's comparable to the Cuban world.
For example, it might be tougher to tell the difference between 2 different Don Pepin maduros (say, a Murcielago and a LAdC Mi Amor), but you won't mistake either for an LFD. Know what I mean? There are just SO many NCs in comparison to CCs, but different NC manufacturers tend to blend with certian comonalities, so you'll find some continuity within most manufacturer's lines (there are exceptions, such as when a manufactuer comes out with a truley different "company within a company" ... i.e. Liga Privada, Ashton).
But on the vitola issue, I have found the opposite to be true (if I understand your post correctly). With CCs, I find there is often a lot of variation within a marca (not as much as marca to marca, though).
For example, I love Bolivar. If a Boli PC (or CG) is taken as the standard Boli profile (which I would argue it should be), then you might say "the CE is a spicier Boli," but the CE is still a classic Bolivar, even if it's spicer and fuller in body. The Royal Corona, however, diverges moreso (imvho) in that it's creamier and has a floral component to it as well. The Gold Medal is also said to diverge more from the classic Bolivar profile (I've not had one yet). So that is noticable diversity within the marca ... and what's funny is that I think Bolivar is one of the LEAST diverse marcas! Look at H. Upmann or HdM ... some real extremes in there.
NCs, however, are not as diverse from vitola to vitola. By-and-large when looking at sizes for most NCs the main decision is simply one of smoking time ... robusto or churchill? There is more diversity when you look at extreme ring guage differnces, of course.
The exceptions to this rule are cigars like Illusione and Tatuaje. A Tat Noella is a completely different cigar than the Especiales ... even though those are both thin-ring sticks within the Brown label line. Yet, if smoked blind you would find a comonality to the two, even though they are very different. For this reason I look at cigar lines like the Tat Brown and the Illusione "Original Document" to be examples of NC lines that mimic CC marcas.
Okay, that was really long, lol. Hopefully some of that made sense
