What would be a good starting point.

[sullen]

I want to place an order for some Habanos, but not sure where to start as I've not had the pleasure of trying any yet...

I mostly prefer full body/full flavor Nicaraguans.
More into rich full smokes rather than the spice/pepper bombs....
Very partial to Maduros, especially the San Andres leafs.

What would be a few good smokes to try??
Cohiba Maduros?
Bolivar (read these to be the strongest?) ?

Something else? Or am I on the right track here??

 

[cubancigarshopper]

You're probably not going to get anything like bold Nicaraguan tobacco from a Cuban, but if you're into full rich smokes then a good place to start would be the Partagas D4. The Bolivar Petit Corona is probably the strongest in Bolivar's lineup (I find the Royal Corona and Belicosos Finos to be smoother and not as strong). The Cohiba Maduro 5 series has both its adherents and detractors and I have read here and there that they are probably the most similar to NC, but I haven't had one myself.

 

[UpInSmoke]

Get a smorgasbord of everything!

 

[Life in smoke]

Get a smorgasbord of everything!

+1 to this , but i will add psd4 or cohiba robos, both awesome fairly good priced smokes

 

[Deadman's Point]

You have a bunch of options, and feel free to PM if you need help.

 

[stin187]

I was wondering the same thing. I'm just finishing up a tour in Europe and will be stopping by the LCDH in Bremen and probably duty free in Heathrow as well. My tastes are pretty much the same ... med full / full smokes. Thanks for offering some help as now I have some sticks to look out for. Anything I should keep an eye out for at the shop in Bremen? Sorry if this is a thread jack, just wanted to jump in as well. Thanks!

 

[javajunkie]

IMMO, you want maduro, you stay non-cuban. unless you consider some of the LEs as maduro, in which case that is a whole nother discussion.

for me, as a whore for full flavor and full power noncubans, i want a rich profile and a nice weight out of my CCs. boli and trini have been kind to me, as have most of the Huppman and ramon allones lines, and the venerable PSD4. but with CC's, you are not going to find the joyous brute force you get out of NCs, but rather a finesse and depth. like comparing boxing and fencing.

 

[JimmyC]

RASS... Bolivar PC... Party Shorts... you can thank me later.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Jfire]

Pick up some Bolivar CJs and Cohiba Magicos.

 

[Jfire]

And if they have a box code of teb feb 08 of the magicos buy em all.....

 

[sullen]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the input.

A smorgasbord would be preferable !!!! but the only source that I know of (aside of the rarity of someone both reliable & selling for reasonable price on OLH) that I know for a fact is legit, only sells boxes. Want to pick up one or two boxes of 10 that A: wont cost a fortune and B: be a good representation of cuban tobacco...

So I was able to order a 5pack of Bolivar PCs, so I'm looking for maybe one or two others.
The PSD4 sounds like it might be a good idea. Maybe I should find somewhere that sells singles.

 

[trout62]

There is a legit source that sells many combo samplers. You can also by a stick at a time and create your own sampler. PM if you like. They tend to be a little expensive, but this is where/how I started.

Trout

 

[stin187]

Well I settled on a box of punch serie d'oro no.2 as my first cc box purchase. I may try to grab something else before I head home but these little guys looked to good to pass up!

 

[StogieNinja]

As has been stated, you're not going to get a "maduro" experience from a CC. The Cohiba Maduros are really expensive for what you get, and are quite mild. If you're looking for bold maduro, these are going to seriously disappoint you. Nothing in the CC world comes remotely close to a Nicaraguan broadleaf. If Nicaraguan broadleaf is a porter, then CCs are more of an IPA, or maybe even more like a Belgian or something. They're just remarkably different in every way.

However...

As already stated, PSD4s are nice and full-bodied for a CC, and in terms of strength are going to be one of the stronger CCs out there. Great flavor, and are quite good early on.

RASS are a wonderful smoke as well, and probably my favorite of the under-$10, regular production smokes. This would be my recommendation, personally.

Bolivar makes some great, full-flavored smokes as well, the Belicosos Finos and Royal Corona are great. If you enjoy smaller smokes, the Petit Corona and the Corona Junior are two of my favorite from the marca (that I've tried).

I'd start there, as most of these sticks are quite affordable, and will tend to be on the fuller-flavor side of the CC world. From there, definitely try the Montecristo (I recommend the No. 2, and No. 4 as a starting point), and Cohiba (Robusto, Siglo I) marcas as well.

 

[UpInSmoke]

Well I settled on a box of punch serie d'oro no.2 as my first cc box purchase

Interesting first choice

 

[AlohaStyle]

I think the only thing that comes close to the rich NC maduros are the Edicion Limitadas every year which are a lot more expensive than regular production. The EL wrappers are always a darker wrapper and give a very rich flavor profile... almost too dark and powerful for my liking. For regular production, I would definitely try the Ramon Allones line, either the RASS or RASCC. The PSD4 is a definite but can be on the spicy side, but not as spicy as a Nicaraguan. Some of the recent H.Upmann have had a pretty good darker/chocolatey flavor, but normally I wouldn't put Upmann in that category. Bolivar are some of the stronger CC's, but they are not like maduros. If you find a good box of Rafael Gonzalez, they can be on the more full bodied side with dark chocolate. If you like a smaller cigar, try the San Cristobal El Principe.

But as you said, just try and get some 5ers and start the journey of finding what you like... have fun!

 

[sofc]

if you want nc flavor, buy ncs.

you're not going to get anything like that from ccs. i like them both the flavors are different, as is the experience.

 

[Trent0341]

Well I settled on a box of punch serie d'oro no.2 as my first cc box purchase. I may try to grab something else before I head home but these little guys looked to good to pass up!

I'm slightly curious why you decided to go with these after the flavor profile you said you wanted.

That being said before I started smoking CCs I would have said almost the same thing you said. The flavor profile I like has definitely changed over the last several years. You may find the same happening to you. Let us know how it works out for you.

For what it's worth Partagas was a large part of my transition from NC to CCs. Still one of my favorite marcas.

 

[stin187]

I'm still planning on picking up some Partagas Serie D no 4 sometime soon. These Punch just looked nicer than the other sticks I was considering at the shop plus they smell great. I'm aware that they will be different from the NCs that I like but figured this was a good grab to see how they change with age. And I fell for the limited release idea a bit as well.

 

[Hot_Sauce]

Congrats on your first purchase

The guys here have recomended some very good cigars for you to try as well.:applause: