What's new

Cuban quality

sofc

I hate E and Chef
Rating - 100%
276   0   0
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
8,280
I've seen a buch of smokers start out smoking NC and switch to CC. I have yet to see someone start out smoking CC and switch to NC. There must be a reason for this.
I know a couple of people who just smoke ccs or perdomo or RP.

I think it's because cc smokers don't like to taste "bolder" flavors in their smokes. It's also the "fancy, elitist" aspect of just smoking ccs. What do I know, I just smoke the cigars?
 
Rating - 100%
62   0   0
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
2,957
Location
The City of Angels
I know a couple of people who just smoke ccs or perdomo or RP.

I think it's because cc smokers don't like to taste "bolder" flavors in their smokes. It's also the "fancy, elitist" aspect of just smoking ccs. What do I know, I just smoke the cigars?
There's a nice way to say that!

JK.

It's all relative -- right down to the individual stick.

You can be smoking a powerhouse NC and still get hit by some other flavor aspect -- green pepper, for instance. You might call that a "bold" flavor.

Then again, you could be smoking a "less bold" aged CC and you start tasting a big hit of burnt molasses. You might call that a "bold" flavor.

Which is more bold? I think the answer is, they are both cigars that have been blended and constructed so as to showcase the tobaccos on hand, and to maximize their potential enjoyment for the smoker. They are *different* from one another, and perhaps you could say that the NC is just overall a more full bodied cigar, but you can also say that being milder and well made, the CC offers an array of subtle flavors that the NC simply overpowers with pepper and spice?

A fascinating aspect of this hobby is that we all know a lot of guys who smoke a lot of cigars, and probably don't ever taste much more than "burnt tobacco." It may be that they have limited palates, and are the cigar equivalent of "meat and potatoes" guys. Fine, ok. But maybe they, even years into it, have never learned to properly taste a cigar? Or maybe they smoke 6 a day every day and their palate needs a rest before they can taste ANYTHING! How many people know what retrohaling is? How many do it properly? Without that, forget about tasting much more than salty, sweet, bitter and sour.

As to the notion that CC smokers are elitist... some probably are. I thought they were too. Again, once I started appreciating aged CCs, I changed my tune on that. Maybe you will too?
 

sofc

I hate E and Chef
Rating - 100%
276   0   0
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
8,280
There's a nice way to say that!

JK.

It's all relative -- right down to the individual stick.

You can be smoking a powerhouse NC and still get hit by some other flavor aspect -- green pepper, for instance. You might call that a "bold" flavor.

Then again, you could be smoking a "less bold" aged CC and you start tasting a big hit of burnt molasses. You might call that a "bold" flavor.

Which is more bold? I think the answer is, they are both cigars that have been blended and constructed so as to showcase the tobaccos on hand, and to maximize their potential enjoyment for the smoker. They are *different* from one another, and perhaps you could say that the NC is just overall a more full bodied cigar, but you can also say that being milder and well made, the CC offers an array of subtle flavors that the NC simply overpowers with pepper and spice?

As to the notion that CC smokers are elitist... some probably are. I thought they were too. Again, once I started appreciating aged CCs, I changed my tune on that. Maybe you will too?
Didn't say they were elitist, I said it was perceived to be elitist. I've been smoking ccs for decades and honestly, I could smoke ccs all the time and not miss too many ncs nowadays. I could probably smoke all ncs but would miss some ccs. Good thing I don't have to choose.
 
Rating - 100%
62   0   0
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
2,957
Location
The City of Angels
Didn't say they were elitist, I said it was perceived to be elitist. I've been smoking ccs for decades and honestly, I could smoke ccs all the time and not miss too many ncs nowadays. I could probably smoke all ncs but would miss some ccs. Good thing I don't have to choose.
I could probably do pretty well on either all NCs or all CCs. But if I had to choose, and my CCs were aged at least a few years... easy choice.
 

Jfire

BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Rating - 100%
391   0   0
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
7,508
Location
Yorkville, IL
Elitist smokers....
Icehog
Jfire
Chef
Aloha
MVP
TommyZ
Fairly certain these guys lost the NC love as well....
Wintosh
JP8
Kingkill Doug
DQ
(And that's just off memory....
Hmmmm what do all these long term BOTL FoG know some with 10 years or more here???
Well.
A)
CCs age better and certainly much longer. This is coming from a former PJ fanboy. (I mean I do still own a 1 of a kind Frank 4 ft oil on canvas painting....)
Ncs good luck past 3-4 years of aging, at most. Enjoy that fresh hot air.
B) Ashtray mouth the next morning (or later that same night.)
It sucks, I can't stand it. And It's only with NCs.
Edited:
C) THE INVESTMENT FACTOR. Every single box of CUBAN CIGARS I've decided to sell a few years later has returned more than I paid.
I sold a Full RASS cab after 5 years for 550 in Nov 16. I paid 279 for it. I did not intend on selling it but 550 bought a lot of new CCs.....
Elitist. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

sofc

I hate E and Chef
Rating - 100%
276   0   0
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
8,280
Elitist smokers....
Icehog
Jfire
Chef
Aloha
MVP
TommyZ
Fairly certain these guys lost the NC love as well....
Wintosh
JP8
Kingkill Doug
DQ
(And that's just off memory....
Hmmmm what do all these long term BOTL FoG know some with 10 years or more here???
Well.
A)
CCs age better and certainly much longer. This is coming from a former PJ fanboy. (I mean I do still own a 1 of a kind Frank 4 ft oil on canvas painting....)
Ncs good luck past 3-4 years of aging, at most. Enjoy that fresh hot air.
B) Ashtray mouth the next morning (or later that same night.)
It sucks, I can't stand it. And It's only with NCs.
Elitist. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Just to clarify, I did not mean anyone specific, certainly not the list you put up.

I meant that other smokers consider ccs to be fancy, that's all. If I meant something else, I would have said it. I'm not shy nor am I subtle. :)
 
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
771
Location
Almonte, Ontario
CA is, by and large, a shill for their advertisers. I'm talking about articles and scoring, not the obvious layout ads.

Have you BEEN to Cuba? For all intents and purposes, it is 1950 there. I was in a tobacco field in Pinar del Rio 10 days ago, and a farmer was plowing with oxen. It's 20 goddamn 17! Oxen!

Again, I am not saying that Oxen produces a better or worse cigar -- it certainly produces cigars less efficiently -- but don't go touting the high-tech, 21st century Cuban tobacco machine as a reason for quality :)

CCs are not better. They're different. Until you put 4-5 years of age on them. Then, they're kind of just better...
 
Rating - 100%
73   0   0
Joined
May 31, 2015
Messages
1,440
Location
Cincinnati, OH
I made the switch to cc after a dental surgery made it to where I couldn't enjoy my nc stuff any longer. Since then my tastes have returned and there will always be a spot in my collection for NC but it will no longer be a majority of my collection or anywhere near it.
 

ChuckMejia

The General
Rating - 100%
122   0   0
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
9,367
Location
Jacksonville, NC
Elitist smokers....
Icehog
Jfire
Chef
Aloha
MVP
TommyZ
Fairly certain these guys lost the NC love as well....
Wintosh
JP8
Kingkill Doug
DQ
(And that's just off memory....
Hmmmm what do all these long term BOTL FoG know some with 10 years or more here???
Well.
A)
CCs age better and certainly much longer. This is coming from a former PJ fanboy. (I mean I do still own a 1 of a kind Frank 4 ft oil on canvas painting....)
Ncs good luck past 3-4 years of aging, at most. Enjoy that fresh hot air.
B) Ashtray mouth the next morning (or later that same night.)
It sucks, I can't stand it. And It's only with NCs.
Edited:
C) THE INVESTMENT FACTOR. Every single box of CUBAN CIGARS I've decided to sell a few years later has returned more than I paid.
I sold a Full RASS cab after 5 years for 550 in Nov 16. I paid 279 for it. I did not intend on selling it but 550 bought a lot of new CCs.....
Elitist. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TommyZ? I wasn't aware that he actually smoked/kept them.


:)
 
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
771
Location
Almonte, Ontario
Have you BEEN to Cuba? For all intents and purposes, it is 1950 there. I was in a tobacco field in Pinar del Rio 10 days ago, and a farmer was plowing with oxen. It's 20 goddamn 17! Oxen!.
I've been to Cuba several times. I love the Cuban people. The people are not backwards or stuck in time.....they're POOR. That's why they use oxen. That's why they work in run down buildings. But being poor does not make them stupid. They are a highly educated people. They have an almost 100% literacy rate. They have high quality universities and twice as many physicians per capita than the U.S. According to an article in the Harvard Review, the current principal source of revenue in Cuba is not sugar cane or rum or even tourism. It is the export of healthcare services by means of sending physicians, nurses, and healthcare technicians to other countries. They describe Cuba as "an ideal location for healthcare organizations, but also for those in applied sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals." These are the high level skills that they apply to their cigar industry. They may use oxen to plow their fields but they have Phd's doing their tobacco plant genetics.
 

ChuckMejia

The General
Rating - 100%
122   0   0
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
9,367
Location
Jacksonville, NC
I've been to Cuba several times. I love the Cuban people. The people are not backwards or stuck in time.....they're POOR. That's why they use oxen. That's why they work in run down buildings. But being poor does not make them stupid. They are a highly educated people. They have an almost 100% literacy rate. They have high quality universities and twice as many physicians per capita than the U.S. According to an article in the Harvard Review, the current principal source of revenue in Cuba is not sugar cane or rum or even tourism. It is the export of healthcare services by means of sending physicians, nurses, and healthcare technicians to other countries. They describe Cuba as "an ideal location for healthcare organizations, but also for those in applied sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals." These are the high level skills that they apply to their cigar industry. They may use oxen to plow their fields but they have Phd's doing their tobacco plant genetics.
Well said bro
 
Rating - 100%
179   0   0
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
2,726
Location
Chicagoland
You gonna be at leaf on 27th?
Yes. :)

I guess I should add 2 cents to the ideas of the thread. The op post report is interesting to me from the journalists perspective. Id love to hear cigar industry captains from cuba and non cuban companies opine. Ive seen how proud the nc guys in Esteli are, as well as the Cuban ex pats selling their Nicaraguan products response to the common question of would you like to use Cuban leaf(yes, from the last couple of guys Ive talked with).
 
Last edited:
Top