40th Anniversary of cigar smoking,

laficion
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laficion

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That's a tough Question to answer.

From my experience, that would somewhat be subjective and to each, his own personnal appreciation of things.

I would say that it's a bit like wine, some say that wines were better in the begining of the 1900's, when the winegrowers took their time to make the wines and used less industrial tools. Today, with the studies and evolutions of the soils and vine varieties in the last 100 years, are the wines much more superior in quality ?

For me, Yes, I doubt very much that I would be attracted to those wines from the 1900's and even less attracted to the older wines made by the Romains, who used more spices and herbs and honey then grapes LOL

Cigars, at least Havanas where we're concerned, Is somewhere close to the same thing. I'm sure that I would not appreciate many cigars that were made in the 1800's or the 1900's, I'm sure that they would be much more brutal and rough then the cigars we are smoking today.

For many brands at the time, aging the tobacco was not a priority outside the fact that the finished product matured in cedar cabinets for a period of time then shiped out and THEN aged for at least a year or more by the tobacconist before selling.

Blending the tobacco to reach a specific taste that would be used to indentify a said brand came much later as a competition amongest brand owners, after the packeging and special bands fever passed.

It's interesting to know that the major changes came less then 80 years ago.

Today, the tobacco plant variety has changed over the years, making the old recipes and the old tastes almost impossible to recreate.

Today in Cuba , It's one corporation, there is no real competition between the different brand names plus, new lands have been used to grow different tobaccos. So, again to make a long story short, were the cigars of the 70's better then the cigars of the 80's better then the cigars of the 90's better then the cigars of 2010 ??

I'm not so sure, they've changed with the times and the tastes of today , but Cuba's soil is always there, it's "TERROIR" will always be there , that alone will always make the difference and the enjoyment.

A great Burgundy will be different today then a Burgundy from the 40's, is or was it better ? maybe someone who drank it in the 40's will find that it was better, I wouldn't know, I don't have the means nor the money to really find out LOL.

Are the Cigars from the 90's better then today ? All I know is, if they were really THAT much better then today, I would be looking for something else and that's far from being the case.

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Stalebread Campanas

Stalebread

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. . .

2 and a half hour later 15 guys came knocking at my door with

each a plat of foods plus some fine wines, desserts AND some great cigars, too many to mention . . .

Sounds like you are part of a great club, great bunch of guys.

My hat's off to all of you.

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cigarros Campanas

cigarros

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I've smoked my first cuban cigar in 1995. At me this year same a little aniversary - 15 years of my passion in smoking CC. I cannot tell that quality has strongly changed from mid 90.

Always there were masterpieces of a cigar and averages on quality. Who speaks that quality has strongly exchanged - dissembles))

When we were younger, it seemed to us as the sun shines more brightly and girls were more beautiful :D

Every barber knows that :cigar:

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Guest rob

Guest rob

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Great stuff Guy!

You highlight something I wished I had done differently when I started smoking cigars back over a decade ago - I wish I took more notes. Many of my finest experiences are left to my memory... and that is known to fail often.

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dcse Marevas

dcse

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The palate changes with time and experience, which makes it even harder to compare a cigar sampled in 1980 with a cigar sampled today. In addition some of the vitolas so popular these days were unheard of back then. We should also keep in mind that the cigar making theory and craft may have evolved over the years, with changing standards when it comes to assessing what constitutes a "perfect cigar" e.g. when it comes to filling, wrappers and so on. Who favoured maduro cigars in the 1980 and who favours colorado claro cigars today? I wonder whether the cigars on the PSP thread today would have made it to the PSP program in 1980, or if the selection would have been very different.

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