A US cigar manufacturer's view on the 're-entry of Cuba into the market

[jerryr]

There are some very Good NC's that I personally like ie Fuente Short Stories and some of the Oliva series, but on the whole I think the Cubans have a more complex and in-depth flavour, which i believe is a commonly held opinion. However We (Europeans in general) tend to whinge and whine a little about the "build quality" and consistency of CC's but accept that a percentage of every box may have issues. I don't think the US market will accept this. If this leads to better quality control great! But I fear it will lead to Habanos concentrating of brands and Vitolas they feel will do well in the US, while the the rest of the stable is left to slip.

I'm also curious to see what happens when Habanos goes head to head with US tobacco over brand infringement. Who owns what? Cuba nationalized the industry legally (i believe) but was it legal for the families who fled Cuba to use their names and brands outside of Cuba? and what effect will this have on Habanos entering the US market. Interesting times me thinks and i hope it will only benefit the cigar smoking consumer.

[Niela]

Ha I quite liked him and his points re blends etc are on the money. However why has he his jacket on inside..thats the more important question

He's filming in his garage...

I find him rather annoying but I do like what he has to say and I appreciate this knowledge. He surely comes across as someone who know what he's talking about.

[Niela]

I think a number of people would disagree (including me), while its wrong to say all CCs are better than NCs, I think most people's experience is that the best cigars are CCs.

When I first started smoking I smoked roughly the same number of CCs and NCs, and after the first year I looked over my notes and my top 10 cigars were all CCs and I think 19 of the top 20 were CCs, I know that is just one person's experience, but I think it is quite a common one.

That is very interesting. I have to say that I did smoke some great cubans that haven't been matched by NC yet. Then again, I did smoke some NCs that did not lack anything and I wouldn't know how they could be improved. Why I wouldn't want to compare the two is that I do spend a lot more money for a CC than for a NC. And the CC I smoke have a few years on them while the NCs are usually fairly young. So I find it hard to compare.

[Niela]

Tbh I only only really smoked cc. I have not ventured into nc ...so I don't really have basis to compare yet

Oh, you are in for a treat then. My personal favourites are:

Perdomo 20th Anniversary Maduro (nice cherry sweetness with depth)
Rocky Patel Decade (need a year or two to mellow out, then a nice cream flavour)
Padron (need some time int he humi as well)
Brick House (best value for money in any cigar I had so far. Great flavors, very rich and at the same time mild)

[pootana]

Cheers niela I will take note of these and give them a go in future

[Seegarnub]

Oh, you are in for a treat then. My personal favourites are:

Perdomo 20th Anniversary Maduro (nice cherry sweetness with depth)
Rocky Patel Decade (need a year or two to mellow out, then a nice cream flavour)
Padron (need some time int he humi as well)
Brick House (best value for money in any cigar I had so far. Great flavors, very rich and at the same time mild)

I'm the same as there are still so many Cubans I've yet to try, so up until now I've continued to smoke them, although reading your descriptions here I'm having second thoughts[emoji57]


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[Horsebox]

Oh, you are in for a treat then. My personal favourites are:

Perdomo 20th Anniversary Maduro (nice cherry sweetness with depth)
Rocky Patel Decade (need a year or two to mellow out, then a nice cream flavour)
Padron (need some time int he humi as well)
Brick House (best value for money in any cigar I had so far. Great flavors, very rich and at the same time mild)

Recommendations noted! I'm putting together my first order on C Gars to start filling my first humidor and trying to get a good mix of CC's and NC's, so this is really useful.

[ValeTudoGuy]

NC's fairly quickly went off my radar, I find going back to NC's I loved is often like going back to my favourite childhood games..... The memory is often better than the reality. It's not to say that all NC's are bad, but I do find recuring downfalls in a large proportion of NC's.

For me they tend to be more one dimensional in flavour and often finish on a disproportionally strong note. I find overall that CC'a are more balanced in their delivery and somehow (to me) the flavours seem more "Organic" and less forced, the journey of flavours the very best CC's have taken me on have yet to be replicated by an NC.

The stark visual uniformity of some NC's also worries me.

I am yet to smoke a top end Padron or a couple of the other real premium NC's so perhaps I'm missing a couple gems, but over all the NC world became too much like navigating a minefield for me.

[Seegarnub]

NC's fairly quickly went off my radar, I find going back to NC's I loved is often like going back to my favourite childhood games..... The memory is often better than the reality. It's not to say that all NC's are bad, but I do find recuring downfalls in a large proportion of NC's.

For me they tend to be more one dimensional in flavour and often finish on a disproportionally strong note. I find overall that CC'a are more balanced in their delivery and somehow (to me) the flavours seem more "Organic" and less forced, the journey of flavours the very best CC's have taken me on have yet to be replicated by an NC.

The stark visual uniformity of some NC's also worries me.

I am yet to smoke a top end Padron or a couple of the other real premium NC's so perhaps I'm missing a couple gems, but over all the NC world became too much like navigating a minefield for me.

These comments and similar from others are exactly what's kept me spending my hard earned on Cubans. Whenever I've spoken to an expert about buying NC's the comment back is always that, they're not bad cigars, but if I'm used to the flavour(s) of Cubans (which I am) then I would more than likely be disappointed with NC's. Still, at the end of the day the only way to truly know is to try them personally, which I'm sure I will do one day, but more than likely not until I've tried all of the Cubans there are to sample....and then there's all of the aged versions of those sticks as well....the list goes on....and on....[emoji12]


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[Niela]

NC's fairly quickly went off my radar, I find going back to NC's I loved is often like going back to my favourite childhood games..... The memory is often better than the reality. It's not to say that all NC's are bad, but I do find recuring downfalls in a large proportion of NC's.

For me they tend to be more one dimensional in flavour and often finish on a disproportionally strong note. I find overall that CC'a are more balanced in their delivery and somehow (to me) the flavours seem more "Organic" and less forced, the journey of flavours the very best CC's have taken me on have yet to be replicated by an NC.

The stark visual uniformity of some NC's also worries me.

I am yet to smoke a top end Padron or a couple of the other real premium NC's so perhaps I'm missing a couple gems, but over all the NC world became too much like navigating a minefield for me.

The problem is that you have yet to smoke a top end NC. On the other hand I am sure you have had a good selection of top end Cubans.

Also, NC are known to be smokeable straight away, which in my experience is not always true and many of them need some time to rest. When you store a cigar for 5 years any cigar will mellow out.

For uniform quality, go have a look at a box of Behikes. They are as uniform as it gets. If Cuba wants to it can well produce the quality you are used to from NC.

Yeah, CCs CAN have a unique flavour profile and if it's a good one, it's hard to match. But there are so many other flavours out there. I would feel very limited if I had only CC to smoke.

[ValeTudoGuy]

The problem is that you have yet to smoke a top end NC. On the other hand I am sure you have had a good selection of top end Cubans.

Also, NC are known to be smokeable straight away, which in my experience is not always true and many of them need some time to rest. When you store a cigar for 5 years any cigar will mellow out.

For uniform quality, go have a look at a box of Behikes. They are as uniform as it gets. If Cuba wants to it can well produce the quality you are used to from NC.

Yeah, CCs CAN have a unique flavour profile and if it's a good one, it's hard to match. But there are so many other flavours out there. I would feel very limited if I had only CC to smoke.

It's not to say I am yet to smoke any top end ones, I have smoked Opus X and quite a few Fuente, Oliva, Ave Maria and some others.

In fact some of better NC's I have smoked have been cheaper brands...... But thats the same for CC with me too.

[Niela]

In the end we all smoke what we like. I just wanted to make a case for trying NCs as CC seem to have a mystique around them that is not necessarily justified.

I will post some more tastings of NC as I find time for them. Maybe I can get some of you to give them a try. I've been saving a Perdomo 20th anniversary Churchill for that purpose for quite a while now... :-)

[cj121]

Picking up on a reference earlier, the average U.S. consumer of cigars is used to the immediacy of NCs and may find the waiting game with many Cubans frustrating. When I say 'average' I mean those that aren't yet dipping into the Cuban puro pool.

[ValeTudoGuy]

In the end we all smoke what we like. I just wanted to make a case for trying NCs as CC seem to have a mystique around them that is not necessarily justified.

I will post some more tastings of NC as I find time for them. Maybe I can get some of you to give them a try. I've been saving a Perdomo 20th anniversary Churchill for that purpose for quite a while now... :-)

Absolutely, it would be remiss for someone to stear away from NC's without trying. They could be missing out on something that suits them.

[Seegarnub]

Absolutely, it would be remiss for someone to stear away from NC's without trying. They could be missing out on something that suits them.

I totally agree and at some point I'm sure that when the time is right I will sample some.


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