In the last 5 years or so Cuban cigar production has made leaps and bounds worth of progress back towards quality. My limited experience with them proves to me that there is a reason they are so highly regarded even among seasoned smokers. There is the obvious mystique and what not or casual smokers, and non-smokers, but for regular enthusiasts and aficionados alike, a good Cuban cigar is every bit as good as the best cigars from other origin countries. I recently smoked a Bolivar Royal Corona that had a little over a year of age since the box date, and I would easily put it in my top three cigars I have ever smoked. I think a lot of non-Cuban manufacturers do a fair amount of trash talking about Habanos simply because they can, and no one is supposed to argue with it, because they aren't supposed to be smoking Habanos anyway. I personally think that just like ANY cigar producing country, there are shining stars, and there are duds in any bunch. A Guantanamera is not going to compare to a Padron Anniversary. But a PSDn4 is also not going to compare fairly to a 5 Vegas gold. One is a classic, highly regarded, award winning cigar. The other is a run of the mill 3$ every day cigar. It is all relative...
As for the draw issues... The first My Father cigar I ever smoked was so badly plugged, and full of ammonia that I couldn't smoke more than an inch and a half of it before I felt sick and was blue in the face. Does that mean that My Father cigars suck? Hardly! They are fantastic! Same can be said for Cuban cigars with draw issues. You also have to take the political and economic situation into consideration. Alejandro Robaina was the only tobacco producer at the time of his death that ran his farm autonomously. If suddenly Chateau de la Fuente was taken under control of a Communist government run cigar conglomerate, I can guarantee that numbers would go up, and quality control would go down. In Cuba that has changed in recent years. Aged tobacco has finally been incorporated into blends, and Habanos have started to live up to their reputation, through the understanding that producing a higher quality product, possibly less quickly will ultimately be more fiscally rewarding.
Sorry for the dissertation, but the general attitude that Cuban cigars are all hype and no truth is more than a little inflated amongst many non-Cuban smokers in my experience.
In the last 5 years or so Cuban cigar production has made leaps and bounds worth of progress back towards quality....
[ABRIDGED]
...Sorry for the dissertation, but the general attitude that Cuban cigars are all hype and no truth is more than a little inflated amongst many non-Cuban smokers in my experience.
For sake of space, I abridged your statement, but I wanted to add that I agree with it in entirety. I think one of the things that most cigar smokers learn over the course of their experience with cigars - because if you stay in the hobby, you'll eventually smoke a Cuban cigar at one time or another - is that it's a rather subjective topic, just like most aspects of the cigar world. If you put the time into developing your palate, expanding your knowledge, and generally increasing your experience, you learn to recognize and appreciate the elements that distinguish cigars from each other. In this regard, and after smoking cigars from numerous countries - including Cuba - we can come to the general conclusions that:
A) Cuban cigars are different from cigars available in America, just as Nicaraguan cigars are different than Honduran.
These differences appeal to different people, just as one person may enjoy Costa Rican tobacco, while another enjoys DR tobacco.
C) The "best cigar you'll ever smoke" is the best cigar YOU will ever smoke - be that a 5 Vegas Gold, or a 1st release Cohiba Behike. If you love that cigar more than any other, who has the right to tell you that you are a lesser man, or less of an 'aficionado'? Am I any less of an enthusiast because I enjoyed a Montecristo White more than an ISOM Montecristo No. 2? Or because I'd rather smoke a J. Fuego Natural than a Cohiba Siglo VI? Of course not - these are simply my preferences, and where I put my value.
The end result is, we as cigar smokers know these things, or are learning them (or could be developing entirely different opinions)...but how do you convey that to someone with little to no experience with cigars? So you abridge the statement, make it simple, and it generally comes off as the American cigar market bashing the Cuban cigar market. When people ask me this question ["Are Cubans really the best..."], this is my response: "Cigars are highly subjective - there really is no "Best". The best cigar I've ever smoked, you might hate. There are amazing cigars available from numerous countries, including Cuba, but my experience has led me to prefer Nicaraguan and Dominican Republic tobacco."
¨The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea¨ - Isak Dinesen
¨Only two people walk around in this world beardless - boys and women - and I am neither one.¨
I haven't had a lot of cubans, but I have had several of which I thought were hit or miss. I wouldn't spend the outlandish prices for them that is for sure. There are many other cigars which I can get easily that I really enjoy. I do think that the cuban is better is just because it's illegal for us in the US. I have a family member (who is a DB and even my wife's dad talks smack about him) who, while I was at a get together started heckling me about how bad non - cubans were and went on a rant on how superior he was that he use to smoke them. I asked him which ones? He said cohiba. I again said, which one? All he could say was cohiba. I told him he was full of sh$t and should stop lying. All of this was in front of most everyone. Now everyone in my family and my wifes family knows I smoke cigars and know a few things. I dunno I thought it was funny however I really pissed him off. hehe.
Comments
As for the draw issues... The first My Father cigar I ever smoked was so badly plugged, and full of ammonia that I couldn't smoke more than an inch and a half of it before I felt sick and was blue in the face. Does that mean that My Father cigars suck? Hardly! They are fantastic! Same can be said for Cuban cigars with draw issues. You also have to take the political and economic situation into consideration. Alejandro Robaina was the only tobacco producer at the time of his death that ran his farm autonomously. If suddenly Chateau de la Fuente was taken under control of a Communist government run cigar conglomerate, I can guarantee that numbers would go up, and quality control would go down. In Cuba that has changed in recent years. Aged tobacco has finally been incorporated into blends, and Habanos have started to live up to their reputation, through the understanding that producing a higher quality product, possibly less quickly will ultimately be more fiscally rewarding.
Sorry for the dissertation, but the general attitude that Cuban cigars are all hype and no truth is more than a little inflated amongst many non-Cuban smokers in my experience.
A) Cuban cigars are different from cigars available in America, just as Nicaraguan cigars are different than Honduran.
C) The "best cigar you'll ever smoke" is the best cigar YOU will ever smoke - be that a 5 Vegas Gold, or a 1st release Cohiba Behike. If you love that cigar more than any other, who has the right to tell you that you are a lesser man, or less of an 'aficionado'? Am I any less of an enthusiast because I enjoyed a Montecristo White more than an ISOM Montecristo No. 2? Or because I'd rather smoke a J. Fuego Natural than a Cohiba Siglo VI? Of course not - these are simply my preferences, and where I put my value.
The end result is, we as cigar smokers know these things, or are learning them (or could be developing entirely different opinions)...but how do you convey that to someone with little to no experience with cigars? So you abridge the statement, make it simple, and it generally comes off as the American cigar market bashing the Cuban cigar market. When people ask me this question ["Are Cubans really the best..."], this is my response: "Cigars are highly subjective - there really is no "Best". The best cigar I've ever smoked, you might hate. There are amazing cigars available from numerous countries, including Cuba, but my experience has led me to prefer Nicaraguan and Dominican Republic tobacco."
¨Only two people walk around in this world beardless - boys and women - and I am neither one.¨