have your "tastes" or "preferences" changed over the years

[El Presidente]

I had a great e-mail from a member not long ago expressing how his " tastes" have moved from "Dark" wrappers to Mid shade Colorado wrappers. Furthermore he is finding new release Habanos (07/08/09) to be too full in body and he is finding it difficult to locate mild to medium bodied Habanos cigars. He is currently enjoying very much the Juan Lopez Petit Corona and Juan Lopez Seleccion No 2.

My question to members is two fold.

Do you also believe that recent vintages (07/08/09) are becoming fuller in body? I would love to hear your views with some specific examples.

Secondly, how have your tastes and preferences changed over the years? Old favourites no longer looked at or looked at rarely, are you still concerned with a specific wrapper colour grade? Does it only apply to some cigars?

Give it some thought as i believe your answer may help a lot of people old and new to the wonderful world of Cuban cigars.

[asmith]

Yes, I don't smoke many R&Js any more, just gone off the flavour.

[Guest rob]

I smoke about 5% of the number of Montecristos as I used to.

I'm loving smaller, thinner cigars much more.

Fat cigars turn me off.

EL's arent something that I budget for anymore. But I do buy them if they're any good.

I've pretty much ended up 180 degrees away from where I first started.

And I belive that current production are more full flavoured. But not "stronger" or more full bodied.

[Colt45]

I haven't smoked enough very recent vintages to comment, but with regards to changes in personal preferences......

I don't know that they've changed so much as perhaps expanded and become less precise. I'm more inclined to simply enjoy what I consider a good cigar,

and not really seek out specific profiles. As long as it's what I'd personally consider flavorful, I'm pretty happy. I also have gravitated toward sub 50 ring

cigars.

I will admit that all else being equal, I'll take a silky, deep tan / colorado wrapper over one which is dark and leathery, but that's a personal aesthetic - as

long as it's not a matter of affecting flavor.

[habanohal]

I go through it all the time. I go on "punch"kicks for a few months , then goto maybe Bolivars,and so on. For the past few weeks I have beed smokeing Custom Rolled cigars. Next [phase might be an EL phase...lol

I ma sticking too more recent fresh cigars now since aged isnt doing it for me. Too mellow. My new theory is smokeing everything within 5 yrs of age

[aes8]

I smoke about 5% of the number of Montecristos as I used to.

I'm loving smaller, thinner cigars much more.

Fat cigars turn me off.

EL's arent something that I budget for anymore. But I do buy them if they're any good.

I've pretty much ended up 180 degrees away from where I first started.

And I belive that current production are more full flavoured. But not "stronger" or more full bodied.

I completely agree with everything except the Monte part. I'm actually smoking more Montes.

I think that's just a naturally maturation with CC smokers as substance wins out over style

[Stalebread]

I still smoke (and enjoy) a lot of different cigars so I can't say that I prefer one wrapper over another or even that my taste has changed dramatically over the years. Used to be, back in '68, that I was satisfied with smoke. Now I expect a little flavor, too. Maybe a bit of development. Overall high quality. Actually, I think about the only thing that has changed is that I am beginning to be able to appreciate more subtle cigars like QdO.

[Professor Twain]

I started in 2005, and from the beginning I tried to sample every marca I could. I have also sampled various ELs and regionals along the way, as well as aged cigars.

I'm finding that I have a preference for the more recent, more flavorful cigars, since 2006, as opposed to some wonderful aged cigars. For example i sold off my superb 98 Hoyo des Deux because I am enjoying the more full flavored young Hoyos, like the Epi #2. I am enjoying young RASS as well for the same reason. There are some exceptions, I love aged Monte Especials, and want my Cohibas with some age and subtlety.

I have a cigar philosophy now of wanting to identify a basic core of cigars, standbys, and making sure that I have plenty of those in stock. They are all 50 ring gauge or smaller, many quite thin, and almost nothing longer than Petit Corona. In fact I came up with a list of 25 cigars that I consider my core, go to, cigars. I want to master my understanding and enjoyment of those core cigars and make others occasional treats.

So, the change for me is from wanting to constantly seek out the new, to wanting to have a reliable base of favorites to enjoy and appreciate in depth.

[anacostiakat]

I had a great e-mail from a member not long ago expressing how his " tastes" have moved from "Dark" wrappers to Mid shade Colorado wrappers. Furthermore he is finding new release Habanos (07/08/09) to be too full in body and he is finding it difficult to locate mild to medium bodied Habanos cigars. He is currently enjoying very much the Juan Lopez Petit Corona and Juan Lopez Seleccion No 2.

My question to members is two fold.

Do you also believe that recent vintages (07/08/09) are becoming fuller in body? I would love to hear your views with some specific examples.

Secondly, how have your tastes and preferences changed over the years? Old favourites no longer looked at or looked at rarely, are you still concerned with a specific wrapper colour grade? Does it only apply to some cigars?

Give it some thought as i believe your answer may help a lot of people old and new to the wonderful world of Cuban cigars.

Definitely the case. I appreciate a broader range of cigars now. From mild to full in body. I will try to match my cigar to the time of day, etc. now more.

Wrapper shade is not so much of consequence to me as the flavor and complexity of a cigar is.

I am finding that the 08/09 stock I am sampling has more kick. This is evidenced in the JL#2 as an example. I dont smoke many RyJs or Monte these days.

[Laxman]

Very good question!

I started smoking cubans in 1995 and love a full body cigar. Mostly smoked monte #2 (they where so sexy back then) and cohiba robustos.

But the quality going into the late 90's dropped and I was left wanting.

I do believe lately that cuban cigars are more a full body taste.

Still love a full body cigar but find myself smoking larger cigars, in the past I mainly smoked robustos. Hard to find a good box of monte #2's and over the years have not

been satisfied with the CORu's, though 08 seems to be a good year. I love Sir Winnes and Bolivar gigantes, just discovered these over the last year and am loving them. Also I used to be

a Punch fanatic and rarely seem to smoke them anymore.

Wrapper color is still a big part of my selection, that is why I am loving your HQ and PSP programs.

[bunburyist]

In terms of wrapper, I started off actually liking the lighter colorado shades, as I used to smoke a fair few Davidoffs back then.

I gradually moved towards more maduro wrappers, but I can't honestly say I see any tangible link between colour depth and strength. Bit of a myth for me.

Right now, I'm into cigars which simply look flawless. There was a box of Monte 'A's up in maybe the PSP section a few months back. As someone commented, they looked more like sticks of milk chocolate. Fantastic. But I certainly wouldn't discount any particluar colour. I like a bit of variation these days.

As for the question about cigars becoming fuller.....maybe, maybe. I probably smoke more BRCs than anything else and perhaps they've become a bit stronger, but pretty marginal. I tend to find Romeo y Julietas have become a little fuller, but then many people jused to find them a bit heavy but I never did. I'm pretty happy with the balance of cigars coming out of Cuba right now, I tend to prefer med-full anyhow.

[jacksfull]

I've always gravitated toward Med-Full and Full. Smoking more CC's lately (and as some others have said), I do find that I'm more willing to give some milder CC's a chance along with the fuller ones.

Maybe it was just the flavor of the milder NC's I tried that turned me off.

Then again, the talk about CC's that were once considered mild becoming fuller lately may have something to do with it. Not sure.

[bassman]

06 & later much fuller flavored than 04 & 05. Those years were disappointingly bland to me. I like the recent stuff. Not as tasty as the pre 95 blends, but from 06 onward, better than 97-05 with the exception of 02.

As for changing tastes, on a couple other forums I used to be called Mr SLR for my love of those cigars. About 4-5 years ago, I lost my taste for most of them. Loving Bolivars these days & now that I can get top quality Montecristos from El Prez, that brand is back in regular rotation.

[cigaraholic]

I see the 07/08/09 years as very consistent high quality tobacco but not fuller in body than other years, with the exception of 04 wrapper shortage and some 99-01 overproduction. Barring natural disasters I don't think you can assess cigar vintages like you can with wine. Every year your going to get light, medium and full bodied cigars from almost every brand.

With wrappers I equate color with flavor profile not quality. Dark wrapper cigars give me the most chocolate and espresso flavors so I smoke them more after dinner. What I really want is an iridescent oily shine on the wrapper, then I know there's flavor in that stick.

My preferences really haven't changed in 40 years, I just love Cuban cigars. I'm smoking more than ever because I have more time and $$. Robustos are still my least favorite shape because they are the easiest to overheat. My favorite cigars are the ones with lots of fruit and spice flavors but the esplendido I smoked the other night was like smoking sugarcane, love from first puff to the last.

[Lotus400]

I am still trying to get my bearings on what flavor profiles I enjoy as I am relatively new to Habanos, but I do find myself leaning towards cigars that have complexity, balance, and flavors that linger on the palate vs. powerful/full bodied profile cigars. In the wine world it would be similar to saying a person enjoys Red Burgundy vs. Monster Cabernet.

I have just started on this journey, but it has been a lot of fun so far.

[cellinisart]

Rob and I had some great email exchanges on this topic,

I am a daily smoker 2-5 sticks a day and when you smoke that much your pallet is pretty developed (sometimes jaded) and more sensitive to things. You see allot of inconsistency and cigars that taste "off" and nasty.

For instance since November I have gone through boxes of;

coro HQ

siglo 4 PE

2boxes siglo 2

boli beli fino

boli crna extr HQ

boli PC HQ

mag 46 PE

mag 50 HQ

epi 2

2boxes monti 2 (2008 & 2006)

2boxes petit ed HQ

2boxes edmundo PE

2boxes d4 (still smoking the psp's)

P2

2boxes royal selc 12 HQ

royal selc 11

2boxes RASS

regios HQ

unicos

About 50 assorted singles

I have seen many inconsistencies (especially within a box) some due to getting the humidity right (I let them sit 30-60 days) and some that were just plain bad. I have had some crackers though.

All of the aged monti 2's were beautiful, some of the d4's were 94 pointers, 30% of my coro's had the fruit and the rest sucked, 100% of the petit edmundo's were absolute garbage and harsh (needs 3 years to come around) one cab of the roy selc 12 was sweet and nutty rich while the other has been disappointing. The most consistent boxes stick to stick that I can report in the last 5 months are the 2006 monti 2's and the box of 08 unicos but currently finding good consistency with JLPC and JLS2.

I am seeing that the med body or under med sticks are far less offensive when they are not seasoned or taste off. I can actually finish them as were a med-full to full that is not good tastes so bad I cant get very far with it and leaves the worst taste in my mouth sending me back to the humi for something else. Particularly the heavier bodied cigars that are blended to have a real rich sweet note are the ones that I notice can taste the worst. The dark oily wrappers I see also play a role as to how long they take to come around and they often are flavorless. I have smoked enough lighter wrappers now to conclude that I find them more consistent in taste.

Also I am finding that the med and mild body cigars come around quicker and are far less sensitive to needing the perfect conditions and they taste MUCH more consistent stick to stick. I'm not sure as to why other than maybe the blends are less complicated and the lack of need for the perfect rich seco leaves that the heavier sweet complex cigars have to have to complete the flavor profile.

For those of you that don't smoke as much and let their boxes sit for many months and years wont have these problems to this degree. As for me I am moving to cheaper and or just lighter cigars for the plain fact that for someone like myself I don't find enough "good" cigars from these boxes to continue to buy them at this pace.