A brief Truth in Cigars
- Thread starter tatuaje
- Start date
On the Cuban cigars I will agree with Pete....I also know why. Back around 2000 some of the old guys who worked the docks sorting the tobacco that came in retired. They were the ones who really had a hand in making the blends. In 2003 during the Habanos festival, we were talking about the fact that the Punch Punch and St. Luis Rey Serie A's tasted exactly the same. Bert Stagnetto thought the same thing. So he asked several people he knew there. The result, when the old timers retired, Habanos LOST the blends. They had sorted the tobacco based upon the fields etc, and the newer guys didn't know that. They are trying to get the blends back...but I think it is with varying success.
As for the domestics, I cannot really speak to some of that. The Sancho Panza fuerte is certainly different from the HdM and the Bolivar is totally different from the Bolivar Cofrida.
However with that said, I do think there are many similarities between the cigars. After all just how many blends can you come up with?
As for the domestics, I cannot really speak to some of that. The Sancho Panza fuerte is certainly different from the HdM and the Bolivar is totally different from the Bolivar Cofrida.
However with that said, I do think there are many similarities between the cigars. After all just how many blends can you come up with?
Sorry guys, I should have said that I have seen it on my last trip down there. In the middle of the island where Cohibas are not made, the factory was grading Marevas and placing them into different boxes. Siglo II, Monte, etc.
Kevin, sorry I wanted to point out that you lumped the BBF with three cigars of different size. I would try smoking a Sancho Panza(Cuban) Belicoso or RJ Beli next to a BBF.
Wrapper color has a ton to do with flavor, mostly because of the priming of the wrapper.
Wrapper color has a ton to do with flavor, mostly because of the priming of the wrapper.
Dave, try buying cigars from Cuba that they don't make many size copies of. The problem is that they have discontinued all the one of a kinds down there.
Indy, are they still making Cazi's????
I guess some new stuff would be RJ petit belicoso, Monte Petit Edmundo, Hoyo Petit Robusto, etc. There's more but I am typing on my phone.
Ask Indy, I know he has a big list for you.
Indy, are they still making Cazi's????
I guess some new stuff would be RJ petit belicoso, Monte Petit Edmundo, Hoyo Petit Robusto, etc. There's more but I am typing on my phone.
Ask Indy, I know he has a big list for you.
njstone
BoM January 2010
I've always wondered if I was just crazy for liking box-pressed vitolas better than roundies of the same blend. I guess I always figured that the box-pressed shape just "magically" made them taste better, lol. But what you said makes total sense. I love cedar, so I'm sure that's what it is.
Oh well, so much for my box-pressing Leprechauns theory
:dunno:
Noella reserves are yummy!
We haven't even talked about the quality control or consistency of the CC's yet! hehe.
Last edited:
...sooooo yummmy...
Well then, let's address quality control and consistency. Angry Bill what are your thoughts on the topics?
My stance, albeit uninformed and brief would be that quality control and consistency both departed with the beginning of the "boom". From what I understand, there has been some recovery as of late, although the practice of selling the same cigar as two different brands would lead one to believe that there is no quality control.
tubaman
3 Time BoM
Yes, you are correct and I am aware of the size difference. I probably should not have included that since you are talking about cigars of the exact same size being sorted into different boxes. I certainly can't argue with you if you have seen this with your own eyes. Yours is the first time someone has stated this having seen it with their own eyes that I have heard, so thank you for the information.
indyrob
BoM Feb '06 & Sept. '08
One thing that I find interesting is how much latitude we give cuban cigars. We can buy a box of Partagas Lusi's and (God forbid this...) it might be lackluster, but you'll buy another box eventually. If the same was said about a non-cuban cigar I think the general consensus is it will not be bought again.
It's got to be hell trying to have a subsidized industry and try to maintain consistancy as well. The taxing body says "we need more output" but the craft can only extend itself so far before it becomes comprimised. I think that might be the gist of what Pete was saying; IF the blue collar vitolas were made as generic as possible that would leave the higher quality yeild to go towards the flagship vitolas and no one would be the wiser.
njstone
BoM January 2010
It seems to (an even more uninformed noob) that non-Cuban makers have had to spend more time on quality control to convince people that they have quality products. As a result, it could very well be the case at this point that the top-notch non-Cuban cigars are often better quality than the Cubans.
There are people who buy Cubans for status and not for the true appreciation of cigars. They like to hand clients a Cuban to look important, etc. This keeps demand up--and therefore prices as well--artificially. Many people are simply buying the label.
Then again, I've never smoked a real Cuban so what do I know, lol.
indyrob
BoM Feb '06 & Sept. '08
Here's a link to Vitolas.net
Moki has done done a lot of homework for a lot of unusual cigars. It's a really good resource.
Noella Reserva
The quality control and consistency on NC is there. ROb nailed the point spot on. The government, which owns the cigar industry, tells the producers to produce more. When that happens, Quality control and consistency will be dropped to increase production.
It all comes down to this. At one point in time, CC's were the bomb! Not anymore. There are many NC that are as good or even better. Yeah I know, this is just my opinion. But, I and many others believe this. Manufacturers like Pete, Lito, Dion, DPG, The Funetes, etc, make cigars in the old ways trying to create flavors/blends that are incredible. It is working.
We all can't wait for the embargo to end. Will it make the CC's more or less expensive, since they will be readily available. I say more at first, but then they will take a hit in price.
Just more of my 2 cents.
It all comes down to this. At one point in time, CC's were the bomb! Not anymore. There are many NC that are as good or even better. Yeah I know, this is just my opinion. But, I and many others believe this. Manufacturers like Pete, Lito, Dion, DPG, The Funetes, etc, make cigars in the old ways trying to create flavors/blends that are incredible. It is working.
We all can't wait for the embargo to end. Will it make the CC's more or less expensive, since they will be readily available. I say more at first, but then they will take a hit in price.
Just more of my 2 cents.
Rob,
I am actually at that site a good bit, somehow this just never clicked for me. I guess i was so blinded by pictures of the back/aging room at the Fuente factory.
As for my inexperience with the Cuban market, much of it is due to the point you addressed about latitude. With no quality control standard, and a market that is willing to buy an "inferior" product, I don't trust that I am truly getting what i pay for. I have not seen anything in this discussion to convince me otherwise, if anything, it has decreased my desire to buy CC's. It appears to me that the only way i will be able to truly experience the Cuban cigar in any form, i will have to get one that is pre-boom. That equals a lot more money than i am likely going to spend, especially if I compare it to what I could buy outside of the Cuban market. I think I have just determined that the purchase pf CC's, right now at least, is fiscally irresponsible......I don't take myself that seriously.
I am actually at that site a good bit, somehow this just never clicked for me. I guess i was so blinded by pictures of the back/aging room at the Fuente factory.
As for my inexperience with the Cuban market, much of it is due to the point you addressed about latitude. With no quality control standard, and a market that is willing to buy an "inferior" product, I don't trust that I am truly getting what i pay for. I have not seen anything in this discussion to convince me otherwise, if anything, it has decreased my desire to buy CC's. It appears to me that the only way i will be able to truly experience the Cuban cigar in any form, i will have to get one that is pre-boom. That equals a lot more money than i am likely going to spend, especially if I compare it to what I could buy outside of the Cuban market. I think I have just determined that the purchase pf CC's, right now at least, is fiscally irresponsible......I don't take myself that seriously.