In the mid-late 1990s Opus X were good but not better than the Don Carlos IMHO - I smoked #3 or the Robustos of each. Somehow the DC just was so much better all around flavor wise - (does anything smoke better, have better construction, draw, than an AF?). But even if they were the same price I'd have gone for the Donnie C.
A few years later I stopped smoking domestic smokes as I moved to a "legal to smoke Cubans country" in 2002.
In the recent past few years, 2018 to present, on trips to the US I made my way several times to the J&R Montecristo lounge in Whippany NJ, great place to buy and smoke and eat and drink. Purchased some DC and Opus X (#3 and Rubustos), singles. I smoked about one of each during the summer of 2020.
I noticed a little difference in each, still liked the Don Carlos better but there seemed to be less richness in the flavors compared to what I remember in the 90s. For the Opus X too.
Am I imagining this difference? Maybe the blend or tobacco harvests have changed? Maybe my mouth is more accustomed to Cubans?
Also I recall reading that the peak aging for domestic cigars is only one year and after that they don't get any better, some might even decline flavor wise. I doubt the AFs I am talking about had more than a few months of box age -and- by the time I smoked them they had only 4 months more (Feb to July 2020).
Like Cubans and wines and even single malt scotches the variance in flavor is noticeable between different harvests - but generally speaking cigars such as AF, if changing, would do so slowly over time so that one would not notice too much of a diff if they smoked these regularly and the changes were subtle. But after a 20 hiatus...
Thoughts?
A few years later I stopped smoking domestic smokes as I moved to a "legal to smoke Cubans country" in 2002.
In the recent past few years, 2018 to present, on trips to the US I made my way several times to the J&R Montecristo lounge in Whippany NJ, great place to buy and smoke and eat and drink. Purchased some DC and Opus X (#3 and Rubustos), singles. I smoked about one of each during the summer of 2020.
I noticed a little difference in each, still liked the Don Carlos better but there seemed to be less richness in the flavors compared to what I remember in the 90s. For the Opus X too.
Am I imagining this difference? Maybe the blend or tobacco harvests have changed? Maybe my mouth is more accustomed to Cubans?
Also I recall reading that the peak aging for domestic cigars is only one year and after that they don't get any better, some might even decline flavor wise. I doubt the AFs I am talking about had more than a few months of box age -and- by the time I smoked them they had only 4 months more (Feb to July 2020).
Like Cubans and wines and even single malt scotches the variance in flavor is noticeable between different harvests - but generally speaking cigars such as AF, if changing, would do so slowly over time so that one would not notice too much of a diff if they smoked these regularly and the changes were subtle. But after a 20 hiatus...
Thoughts?