6+3+1=10

[peanutpete]

After giving them a good trying out and working my way through a fair few in the last few months I reckon Non-Cubans come in at

6 naff/mediocre at best
3 alright ones
1 good one
For every 10

Don't really think its worth working through them when Cubans are more like 1 naff one and 9 good ones per 10.

What does everyone else think?

I congratulate you on finding one

[Wigan]

A fairer way of wording it may be to say 1 excellent one.

[DogManDude]

The advantage of being a relative newbie is all cigars are pretty good

[ValeTudoGuy]

Wigan, your findings are fairly reflective of mine. I would go as far to say NC's 80% shite, 10% ok, 10% good-excellent.

[butternutsquashpie]

I would go as far to say NC's 80% shite, 10% ok, 10% good-excellent.

Of the ones you smoke. Or are you just talking in general?

I would go as far as to say 95-99% of them are utter rubbish. Have you seen the offerings of the NC world in Nicaragua, mass produced Dominican, Philipines, Brazil, etc? Man some of them don't just taste bad, they FEEL bad!

[oskihen]

I have to say the more I smoke you just can't beat a good Cuban cigar , they are without a doubt a cut above the rest

[tommy]

What were they? Just curious on my end and for those keeping track at home

I've found my little niche when it comes to NCs. I have the list somewhere here...


In fact, I had a La Aurora Ruby yesterday from kind sire [MENTION=213]TJCoro[/MENTION] that smoked wonderfully! It's nice to have a break from Cuban cigars occasionally. I have a Liga Privada No. 9 in my pocket right now.

Those ruby Tubos are a splendid smoke butters.

[butternutsquashpie]

Those ruby Tubos are a splendid smoke butters.

Indeed they are! The entire preferidos line really impresses me.

[Sean]

Have you not tried a american puro yet
Mate or flor de la antillas, or la aroma de cuba mi amor, properly my fav 3 NC

[PeeJay]

Have you not tried a american puro yet
Mate or flor de la antillas, or la aroma de cuba mi amor, properly my fav 3 NC

Obviously I haven't bombed him with the good stuff Sean

[Undercover]

Someone on here (so sorry, I forget) once said they first had to smoke a NC to tune their taste buds into the NC flavour profile and then they would enjoy them. I think that's how I am too. It's a bit like eating an apple after cleaning your teeth. You like apples, but your mouth doesn't quite get it at first. (Ok, maybe that's not quite right, but hopefully you get what I mean.) Of course, it's still a personal taste thing, and some people just don't enjoy NCs, or have no inclination to try, and I respect that. (I can't abide plain snobbery though.)

I enjoy both NCs and CCs, but I have to admit that there have been proportionately more 'misses' with NCs. Very generally, I find NCs are more bitter and CCs are 'sweeter' (not sugary sweet, but can't think of a better word). I like bitter tastes which helps, but there have been NCs which even I have thought you'd have to be pretty determined to enjoy. Conversely, while there are CCs which I wouldn't go out of my way to smoke again, that's not because they've been bloody awful, they were just bland or not my taste. I can't think of a CC which has been so bad I wouldn't ever have another, but there are some NCs I think are dreadful. Rocky Patel springs to mind. Some people love them - I thought the two I tried were noxious little chemical factories.

NCs try to appeal to all of a very large and diverse market with a vast array of tastes and budgets. There are amazing ones (at a price too) and awful ones. CCs are a premium product. Whatever we think, even the 'rubbish' CC marcas are still premium products in the eyes of many 'casual' buyers. There is no need, desire or effort to market CCs as anything else. The market has tuned into CCs for what they are. NCs must go find their market, so like any other product, they chase after different tastes, price points, etc. That leaves the aficionado (and me) having to rummage through scores of Dominican, Honduran, Nicaraguan, etc., cigars to find the one(s) they like.

I sometimes wonder why I bother when I could easily find dozens of CCs worth smoking and keeping, but one of the things I love about cigars is the amazing variety. I wouldn't be happy knowing there is a whole other world of cigars I'm missing out on, even if I have to smoke a few duds for every good cigar.

Finally, for me, developing a taste for a selection of NCs is an insurance policy. If (when?) the embargo ends and if (when?) China's middle classes really discover Cuban cigars, and demand rockets, I don't want to stop smoking cigars because I can't afford them nor do I want to bankrupt myself trying to. Even without that, I'd like a portfolio of smokes for all occasions - and where the tobacco is grown is only part of my selection process.

[PeeJay]

Gentlemen, I refer you back to what I said about Paul's posts last night

[Undercover]

Gentlemen, I refer you back to what I said about Paul's posts last night

Lol ... Thank you [emoji4]

[Wigan]

Gentlemen, I refer you back to what I said about Paul's posts last night

Who is paul?

[Budgie Smuggler]

Who is paul?

Undercover


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk