cheaper cuban cigar brands

[james]

Anyone tried Jose L. Piedra cigars? if so any good? also any other cheaper cubans worth trying? i had a box of Quintero and they were really good for the money.

[Drewmidorn]

I agree the Quintero are pretty good for the money.

I really like the Jose L Piedra as well, they're not strong cigars, they're not really complex cigars and they can flake a little at the cut end but for the money they are a good smoke.

D

[Robusto]

Where did you buy those cigars, Drew?

[tomalley]

While I was dabbling occasionally I used to love the Piedras, but having been around the block I find I can't go back to them... they lack any sort of surprises. They start as they finish, and both ends taste like the middle: warm, a little woody, exceptionally unexciting. Everyone talks about consistency in Cubans, but it's complexity I'm after, that unexpected something that appears somewhere down the line, that you can't quite put your finger on. That's my cigar moment. Quinteros are grubbier and more exciting, but I'd rather explore the non-Cubans than go back to smoking Jose.

[james]

bought a 5 pack of Jose L. Piedra to give them a go, ran out of quintero need a cheaper brand for those drunken moments when i over do it. Brian you can buy the Jose anywhere in england most dealers have them. The Quintero you can only buy aboard except for a tubed version which is overpriced 6.50 a go.

[Drewmidorn]

Bryan, I usually pick up a bundle or two of the Jose L Piedra in Spain (Barcelona airport has a great humidor) they end up costing about ?30 for 25. Tomalley is right, they are surprise free but at such a great price they are a really good "grab a cigar" moment.

They don't compare to the greats at all... but if you're in the habit of smoking a Villiger or King Edwards (which I really can't stand) as a quick alternative to a decent cigar you really should look at these, or the Quintero which is a better cigar.

They're not something I would sit in the evening and smoke, but when I'm in the garden chopping wood for the fire they make a good companion. Also because they are short filler they seem to burn really well which makes them an easy smoke to put down and pick up when you're using a bench saw. lol

Don't expect a cheap D4 or RASS though.

D

[Robusto]

Drew

They don't compare to the greats at all... but if you're in the habit of smoking a Villiger or King Edwards (which I really can't stand) as a quick alternative to a decent cigar you really should look at these, or the Quintero which is a better cigar.

I've bought a couple of 5 packs of Villigers again after the puro festive season I've just spent. I cannot abide King Edwards, but can tolerate Villigers as a drive-home smoke when I know I'm not going to have time in the evening for a decent-sized Havana.

So I am very interested in cheaper Havana alternatives. I have to say Villigers are acceptable beasts to me because, to my taste buds, they don't have the taste of shitty additives that King Edwards do.

I'll have to keep my eye open for some of these Piedra cigars.

I have to say I'm less keen on NC cigars after smoking a number of them so wouldn't look to them for an alternative. However, I have loved the two Padrons that LarryJoe posted over from the States, and another that Dale posted a while back.

I haven't smoked everything going by any means, but I have settled on some favourite Havanas and will stay with them.

A cheap, AVAILABLE Cuban is well worth investigating. The fatter the ring gauge, the better.

[james]

i will tell you what i think of the JOSE P, all i can say say is try and get hold of Quintero they are really worth the money 45 euro for a box of 25 in portugal , cheaper in spain i am sure

[Robusto]

I don't go to Spain or Portugal but someone posted that they are readily available over here in the UK so I might look out and splash out some time.

I don't dislike Spain or Portugal. I've just never headed that way.

[Drewmidorn]

Bryan, you should (and I hate that phrase "you should"... like I have any idea what you should do... lol) but you should go to Barcelona if for nothing else than to see the Gaudi Cathedral and Park.... truly awesome and if you're anything like me... which being a muso I imagine you are.... really appealed to the chaotic nature of my brain!

The Quintero is a better smoke than the Jose. James is right.

D

[Robusto]

My missus goes away with three of her closest friends on regular jaunts with EasyJet and shit. Dirt cheap. These jaunts leave me long weekends to smoke profusely, amongst other sins, so I have no complaints about being abandoned.

Over the last couple of years, she and her mates have done Berlin, Venice and Barcelona. They fly to Las Vegas in 2010.

My missus got a second degree in Fine Art a couple of years ago, so we are into abstraction in a big way here in our perfumed clouds. She adored that cathedral, and the various Gaudi (sp?) buildings around.

I understand that Spain is the Number One country for cigars, so I imagine cheap Cubans and NCs and all sorts being on every corner, and the general populace lighting up and being laid back.

Drew - I fully intend to go. I've noted you've liked hanging out in the South of France. I love Cannes, Nice, Bordeaux and loads of other French towns.

We tend to take holidays in France or Germany because I speak French like a native, and I am fluent in German. I find it odd to arrive in other countries and not to be able to communicate easily. Greece, for example, felt quite bizarre, and I don't like being a thick Brit abroad.

I'll just have to give up the banjo and learn Spanish.

Pant suggested a trip to Cuba. That might be too dicky to arrange, but I'd be up for a dirt cheap weekend flight away to, say, Barcelona if we could get our dates together on the understanding that the aim was to smoke great stogies wherever we went.

I always act as the good boy on these trips because I don't drink profusely and have had a lifetime of cleaning up projectile mess. So I'll be matron if you want.

[cohibaIV]

I have to say I'm less keen on NC cigars after smoking a number of them so wouldn't look to them for an alternative. However, I have loved the two Padrons that LarryJoe posted over from the States, and another that Dale posted a while back.

Bryan...

I see a challange, as although I love my Cubans, but there are some really good Robusto size NC cigars to have,,,,

Watch the post mate, and I want a review on what may land on you door step.

O, my thoughts on the two cheap cigar brands!
They are no good, not even for a cheap quick smoke.....NOT CUBANs as Cubans should be. IMHO

[Drewmidorn]

I'm not sure how much I "hang out" in the south of france. I haven't been on holiday for 17 years! lol. I just seem to end up playing in the Palais des Festivals et des Congr?s for random IT firms like Cisco a couple of times a year. I do love it down there... you can sit on the front and watch the immaculate old guys stepping out of bright red ferraris accompanied by young, pneumatic blondes and can't help thinking of Mrs Merton interviewing Debbie MeGee and asking "What first attracted you to the multi millionaire Paul Daniels?"

D

[Robusto]

Dale - Whatever you send salivates me, mate! I do find the NC cigars I've smoked are 'drier' than Cubans, and not such an intense 'hit'.

I am writing this as a chap on a voyage of discovery - of course - and not as a man who has tasted the lot.

It's just that the great Havana hits I've had have been kinda sexual, and that's what I'm after in a great smoke.

Drew:

I just seem to end up playing in the Palais des Festivals et des Congr?s for random IT firms like Cisco a couple of times a year.

How cool is that?! Honestly! Compared to Mustang Sally at the Old Bull And Bush!

Mind you, we're doing a few corporate moments - and they certainly are random - quite soon. One is for Fuji-Sericol, and two others are in a Casino.

Don't think Cannes. Think Thanet!

I'm not complaining. We have work. We only have three weeks with no booking at all. If you like playing, it's awful to wait around for gigs. I shall fill the gaps with work with other people.

[Drewmidorn]

LOL. Mustang Sally is at the top of my bands list of songs we refuse to play! Not because its bad...its a great song! Its the commitments that ruined it for me!

D