To Cuban or Not to Cuban... why even ask?
Lasabar
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,457
So I'm just sitting at home and looking at my humidor and wondering... what am I missing out on with cubans? 'Cause I'll tell you, with some of the guys I've smoked so far, there is allot out there to make my mouth water right NOW!
So what's the big deal with cubans?
Personally I've been on this forum allot, and I've even tooled around other forums too and the consensus is... It doesn't really matter... Some swear by Cubans and that's all they do is get the forbidden fruit and make us envy, others know what they like and can buy the same thing from the Dominican or Nicaragua or wherever else...
Am I the expert on cubans? Absolutely not. Am I the expert on all other cigars? NO! But I do know that they hype has burned me, and made me feel a little bit embarassed.
My Co-worker was going home up north for a graduation party, Some of the people up there were from Canada too. Well my Eyes lit up and all I could think about was trying a Cuban! They can buy them legally up there, and then bring them to my friend and then give them to me!
Well come to find out that after all my planning, and money given to my friend, and all they hype I finally got one! Mind you it was small as the dickens and in a plastic tube and a name I've never heard of... BUT A FORBIDDEN CIGAR!
Well since then I've looked up the brand online... yeah, it's about a $2 cigar that you can buy in bundles of 45 for $100 in cuba...
So after all that drooling and work I got a everyday dog-rocket in a plastic tube
Since then I've realized that I get so excited about EVERY cigar I smoke, I don't need to go illegal on it, just make sure the money is well spent on a good cigar rolled by someone who has a passion for the Leaf....
Nate
So what's the big deal with cubans?
Personally I've been on this forum allot, and I've even tooled around other forums too and the consensus is... It doesn't really matter... Some swear by Cubans and that's all they do is get the forbidden fruit and make us envy, others know what they like and can buy the same thing from the Dominican or Nicaragua or wherever else...
Am I the expert on cubans? Absolutely not. Am I the expert on all other cigars? NO! But I do know that they hype has burned me, and made me feel a little bit embarassed.
My Co-worker was going home up north for a graduation party, Some of the people up there were from Canada too. Well my Eyes lit up and all I could think about was trying a Cuban! They can buy them legally up there, and then bring them to my friend and then give them to me!
Well come to find out that after all my planning, and money given to my friend, and all they hype I finally got one! Mind you it was small as the dickens and in a plastic tube and a name I've never heard of... BUT A FORBIDDEN CIGAR!
Well since then I've looked up the brand online... yeah, it's about a $2 cigar that you can buy in bundles of 45 for $100 in cuba...
So after all that drooling and work I got a everyday dog-rocket in a plastic tube
Since then I've realized that I get so excited about EVERY cigar I smoke, I don't need to go illegal on it, just make sure the money is well spent on a good cigar rolled by someone who has a passion for the Leaf....
Nate
Comments
the way i look at it, is in the light of wine. wine is made in many countries around the world, and for a long time and to many people French wine was and is considered to be the best wine on the planet. one could make an argument that French wine is THE wine in the world. There are great french wines and there are crappy french wines, but all in all, france puts out some damn good wine. If we started an embargo with france today and from here on out french wine was "forbiden" the price would go through the roof and wine collecters around the US would praise french wine every chance they had. we would create hype around it. Many of us would swith over to Italian, Chilian, Austrailian, Canadian, and even US made wines and not even skip a beat because those countried produce outstanding wines. these countries would come into the forefront because we are forced to drink them now. would french wine demand a premium? yes. would it be worth it? that all depends on what flavors you like in wine and how much you personally enjoy french wine.
its the same with cigars.
honduras, equador, nicaragua, the DR, and countless other countries made cigars before the cuban embargo. Once the embargo set in they got more focus. since they got more focus and money they produced better cigars. Now there are many countries that make cigars on par with cuba.
are cuban cigars good? heck yeah. are they the end all with cigars? No. it comes down to taste.
if the cuban embargo ended tomorrow what would happen?
i think that there would be a run on cuban cigars. People would buy up all they could. Good high end cubans, and crappy low end bundles. the price would skyrocket and there would be another cigar boom. we would pay more for cigars that arent from cuba as well... at least untill the shock of the market evened out. People would realize that cuba makes some damn fine cigars, but they arent the only bottle of wine on the rack.
And I know that the best rollers and the best tobaccos are claimed to come from cuba, and if I ever move outside the US I'm afraid that my wallet will bow down to Cubans immediately just to see what is out there and what flavors I can get.
The whole point that I was miffed about is that I bought into the hype and I bought into the "Forbiddend Fruit" Image... I'm sure there are cubans that will blow my socks off... I guess I'm just trying to talk myself out of the Cuban-Hunt for the legality of it and the fact they are hard to come by.
There are a couple that I have had that were exceptional in regards to my own preferences; the HDM Petit Robusto and the Monte Christo (2 or 3). The flavor is unique, but there are even more NC's that I have found to be just as good.
when i first started drinking wine i couldnt tell the difference between a $3 bottle and a $30 bottle. with time i got more and more into wine and i could tell the difference between a $3 and a $10, but beyond 10... i couldnt tell the difference between $10 and $30. ive now been into wine for about 6 years and CAN tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $30 bottle. at this point once i get beyond $30 a bottle i dont see what makes it so much better. If my rate of improvement continues then its reasonable to believe that i will be able to appreciate a $50 bottle for what it is not just its price.
I can only assume that cigars have the same learning curve. when i started smoking cigars i couldnt tell you the difference between a Garcia y Vega and an OpusX. now i am beginning to taste the differences between different growing regions in a blind taste test.
High end Cuban cigars are supposedly some of the best in the world. few of us have the experiance or access to them to be very familiar with them. Could it be reasonable that we just dont have the palate development to fully appreciate the nuances within a cuban cigar? I think that its a possability. at this point I dont know what i dont know. My cuban expieriance is very limited and maybe over time ill understand more.
also, how many of us have AGED cubans? many of the most respected people within the cigar world smoke only aged cuban cigars because fresh ones are not as good. Maybe all of the cubans we have all smoked are all too "fresh." Our excitement to smoke a cuban has lead us to smoke an inferior cuban cigar, therefore we have an undeserved deflated attitude about them. we are let down --maybe unwarentedly.
However, when i didnt know anything about wine i could give you a very general "its good" or "its bad"
Second I have smoked a number of cubans, including as I have stated before a well aged H.Upmann habana. Cubans definetly have a different flavor profile than almost any domestic and if you like that profile then cubans will be the best in your opinion. Now, while I enjoy cubans thoroughly and some of my all time favorite smokes have been ISOMs there are two fundamental problems IMHO. First is all cuban brands have quality control issues, Cohiba and Montecristo in my experience and research have about a 1 in 3 chance of being a dud. Second is that ALL cubans are Puros, meaning they are made of tobacco exclusively grown in Cuba. There is something to be said about that but it also limits the possibilities, I like new flavors and complexity. Across all cuban cigars you will notice a lot of similarities and to me this can get boring. Just my opinion ...
Also I think before anyone forms an opinion on Cubans they need to smoke at the very least a few Montecristo #2's and Cohiba Robustos. Those are the most recognizable Cuban cigars in the world.
i still think that Cuban cigars are just like any other cigar: either you like the flavor profile or you dont.
and i also think that people are told its good then they smoke a crappy cuban or a fake one and they are dissapointed (or they dont like the flavor profile of a real one). they then prosceed to be overtaken by the hype and say it was "great" or "how a cuban should taste". we need less hype about them. they may be good but dont say it so many times that everyone thinks so stick unsmoked. make people decide on their own.