Is this the worst thing you could say about a cigar?

[El Presidente]

I had this experience recently with a cigar. It was a Non Cuban but that really doesn't matter as it can happen with Cubans although in my experience not to the same level.

The cigar looks great...burns great..it is a biggish cigar....

Opening

" so what do you think" I am asked

...It's OK ...I say. "flavour is pretty thin".

nothing changes to the half way point.

" so what do you think" I am asked

...it's OK...I say. "flavour is still very thin".

Last third

" so what do you think" I am asked

....it's OK I say. ...it's just OK

One of my favourite sayings is "only the mediocre are always at their best" I use it generally to excuse a mistake that I have made...or a drunken session...or a nap on the deck

Still it pertains to cigars.

Nothing irks me more than a cigar without a soul...without a definitive statement...a cigar that just goes through the bloody motions like a fashion model with the IQ of a tree branch.

I would prefer something to yell about ...a tight draw, a bitter edge, a piece of pubic hair running down the filler. ANYTHING but 90 minutes of OK!!

OK cigars are meant for the world of mass produced dry cigars, surely not premium cigars? For the love of God it must take some talent to get everything right in a cigar but leave out FLAVOUR of any type.

I have made a commitment to never smoke an OK cigar again. I am just going to pitch them. Maybe it could be said that a cigar without vice has no virtue? probably not...but a cigar with a little vice is certainly better than a cigar without a soul.

End of rant

[Bartolomeo]

You stole my analogy I use all of the time ......for the most part Non Cubans are pretty girls w no personalities in my experience, and there are some exceptions of course but not many.....but this also can be said about Cubans sometimes.....sometimes Cubans can be OK but show you a hint of leg or cleavage and you know they possibly could get better down the road given some time

Hope that makes sense

Bart

[polarbear]

Maybe it could be said that a cigar without vice has no virtue?

I like the way that sounds...

I had a few mates over for a cigar a while back

I gave one of them a Tatuaje somthing or other (Non-Cuban) and after a the first third I asked how he was finding it

He replied "adequate"

I took it from him and tossed it.

I handed him a Monte #3 and ask him how it was

His reply was "Better"

Mediocre is not a word that should be used when describing a cigar

[polarbear]

You stole my analogy I use all of the time ......for the most part Non Cubans are pretty girls w no personalities in my experience, and there are some exceptions of course but not many.....but this also can be said about Cubans sometimes.....sometimes Cubans can be OK but show you a hint of leg or cleavage and you know they possibly could get better down the road given some time

Hope that makes sense

Bart™

In my experence that is not always true

There are a couple of very good NC's currently around. But with tens of thousands of sizes, brands and lines it really is like finding a needle in a haystack

[Stanislaw]

last NC i've had was My Father toro, cost me $17 from Barclay Rex in the financial district.... same thing, it was "ok"....

I've learned to keep my mouth shut about Non-cuban cigars and I steer clear as I'm almost always disappointed. the hardest is keeping a straight face when I'm offered an NC and/or am told that they are better than cubans....

"ummm, okay..... (smiling).... "

but I did have an "ok" Romeo y Julieta Romeo No. 2 tubo... but i already KNEW that would be just "OK"....

[zappaFREAK]

Brovo!! Well put!

[mk05]

I don't say anything, they just end up in the ashtray.

[Bolismoker]

last NC i've had was My Father toro, cost me $17 from Barclay Rex in the financial district.... same thing, it was "ok"....

I've learned to keep my mouth shut about Non-cuban cigars and I steer clear as I'm almost always disappointed. the hardest is keeping a straight face when I'm offered an NC and/or am told that they are better than cubans....

"ummm, okay..... (smiling).... "

but I did have an "ok" Romeo y Julieta Romeo No. 2 tubo... but i already KNEW that would be just "OK"....

Over the years I've had many cigars were "ok" both NC and CC alike. A few that have been downright awful, again both CC and NC. What I've never even once experienced is a NC that has been a transcendent expirence, where i nearly forgot that I was smoking and where I was. On the other hand I have this expirence at least a couple times a year with my beloved Habanos. That to me at least is the fundamental difference between NC and CC.

[Munts]

I would prefer something to yell about.... a piece of pubic hair running down the filler. ANYTHING

Really???

You would prefer to puke rather than smoke an OK cigar?? I understand what you are saying... but that is an exaggeration.

That is like saying "I would rather find a maggot in my burger than eat a bland mcdonalds burger".

[srbbones]

This is an interesting discussion! I tend to prefer Cubans, but find many NCs very good. There are days where I would grab a Tatuaje Black Petit Lancero over a Cuban. I think it has a lot to do with developing your palate with what you can get at that time: You usually always like that, even as your horizons expand. For example, would El Prez prefer a peanut butter sandwich or a vegamite sandwich (or is that a crappy analogy?)

Of course, I think I have no reason (due to FOH) to have bias. I notice some bloggers in the states get emotional about this - and that makes me a bit suspicious.

[canadianbeaver]

Even worse than "ok" for a review on a cigar from Matthew... The soul crushing, "not bad".

[El Presidente]

would El Prez prefer a peanut butter sandwich or a vegamite sandwich (or is that a crappy analogy?)

I like them both...very different obviously...but they both have a distinct flavour

I have also had plenty of very good/excellent NC over the years. There are others however that are just doughnuts when it comes to flavour.

[Stanislaw]

Even worse than "ok" for a review on a cigar from Matthew... The soul crushing, "not bad".

HAHA! To avoid turning this into a non cuban vs cuban discussion, I this the above quote nails what rob is taking about.... You will always remember great, you will always remember very bad, it's the OK that is easily forgotten....

[aes8]

for the most part Non Cubans are pretty girls w no personalities in my experience, and there are some exceptions of course but

Which means Cubans are usually like a drunk chubby girl at a wedding. sometimes a toothy wrapper but just ready to put out and take care of you as long as you don't rush it and get her too hot.

Just my way of seeing it

[CaptainQuintero]

I think a run of 'ok' cigars which can lead to the disillusionment that we all get with cigars sometimes. When you get half way with a smoke, it's just going through the motions, and you groan knowing you have to go through all that again for the second half. It's what has lead me to invest in a stock of arrogant loud cigars (RyJ Cazzies) and smaller vitolas (Boli DT, RyJ tres petit corona, Partagas tres petit corona) that are reliable enough to produce an in your face smoke that you can stop a run of 'ok' cigars before it affects you.

A problem I've had with a lot of the bigger recent releases is that while complexity of flavours are there, the evolution just doesn't happen fast enough for me to not get bored. When a 520/DC sized cigar can take me up to 3 hours too many times I've just lost interest half way and gone and done something else or wish that I had picked up a that corona/robusto/PC

Does vitola play into this? Is it harder to blend a long AND fat cigar to evolve? Maybe it's why a good churchill (For me) always outperforms cigars which has a lot more girth eg the canonazos/super robustos/laguito #6/double robustos etc etc?

A Cohiba lancero certainly seems to evolve quicker than a Siglo 6 and the esplendido seems inbetween.

It would be interesting if some churchill EL/REs came out to see how they stack up (evolution of flavour wise) against the usual double robusto et al releases

[El Presidente]

As if all Cubans are perfect. Please.

Not by a looooong shot!!!!

[Stanislaw]

I actually think its a very good thing to have a product that isn't being manipulated to be perfect every time and satisfy like every other.... Could you imagine the "enhanced" flavors, GMO leaves colored "pleasing" pastels you could be selling us???

[sbmcduffee]

This weekend I had two cigars that fit this debate perfectly. The first was an Alec Bradley Maxx. The cigar is pure, but very clean and sweet, toasted tobacco throughout. The second was a Partagas Super Partagas. That cigar is at its best is unrefined. Still, it is pure Partagas all the way: spicy, earthy, and a bit of mushroom. Granted, the mushrooms are canned and the earth is mostly nutmeg flavored mud. Still, I take the Partagas more often, because it's more fun.

[1LegLance]

The worst I can say about a cigar used to be that it tasted like a "cat shXt in my mouth" or "dog rocket" was the other term to describe the truely foul sticks. Terrible tobacco, sold too young and rolled by fingerless zombies.

Of the years I have learned that if a cigar is starting off that bad I rarely give it much of a chance...life is too short to smoke foul cigars.

These days I would agree that the worst thing I can say is that I don't remember much about a stick...."meh". A recent Choix Supreme was like that....blah

Great topic by the way

[khamy]

What crosses my mind when i think of what makes a great cigar or even an OK one.

you want to experience different flavours and textures, sometimes it won't be up to par, but hitting a stretch of mediocre cigars just means the next excellent one you have will provide an even more enhance experience.

Of course its my own view on this (and possibly life) but you have to endure the crap to really appreciate the good stuff so i guess for me its keep smoking even if mediocre though plugged is a different story, toss it, mash it, make an example of it so its peers know of the injustice..

[bugman78629]

I had this experience recently with a cigar. It was a Non Cuban but that really doesn't matter as it can happen with Cubans although in my experience not to the same level.

The cigar looks great...burns great..it is a biggish cigar....

Opening

" so what do you think" I am asked

...It's OK ...I say. "flavour is pretty thin".

nothing changes to the half way point.

" so what do you think" I am asked

...it's OK...I say. "flavour is still very thin".

Last third

" so what do you think" I am asked

....it's OK I say. ...it's just OK

One of my favourite sayings is "only the mediocre are always at their best" I use it generally to excuse a mistake that I have made...or a drunken session...or a nap on the deck

Still it pertains to cigars.

Nothing irks me more than a cigar without a soul...without a definitive statement...a cigar that just goes through the bloody motions like a fashion model with the IQ of a tree branch.

I would prefer something to yell about ...a tight draw, a bitter edge, a piece of pubic hair running down the filler. ANYTHING but 90 minutes of OK!!

OK cigars are meant for the world of mass produced dry cigars, surely not premium cigars? For the love of God it must take some talent to get everything right in a cigar but leave out FLAVOUR of any type.

I have made a commitment to never smoke an OK cigar again. I am just going to pitch them. Maybe it could be said that a cigar without vice has no virtue? probably not...but a cigar with a little vice is certainly better than a cigar without a soul.

End of rant

WELL SAID.....................

[tmc123]

Which means Cubans are usually like a drunk chubby girl at a wedding. sometimes a toothy wrapper but just ready to put out and take care of you as long as you don't rush it and get her too hot.

Just my way of seeing it

haha that reminds me of a mate who is always there to take one for the team, or slay the dragon as they say these days.

[nonameno]

Hello Fellow FOHers,

I am wondering what simple individual palate has to do with 'meh' or ok cigars. In other words, I have tried a number of cigars which members here find to be strong flavor producers (898v, cazzies, bolivars) and I simply didn't pull much from them at all, while other brands (JLno2, QdO, HdMDD) the flavors really came through for me. So, I am just asking outside of cigar consistency issues, what about personal palate/tastes?

Thank you,

Curtiss

[Marker]

When I have a cigar it is the relaxation of having a cigar I like most. A cigar can be a one trick pony as long as that trick is enjoyable to me.

When I find that special cigar experience of a cigar that makes me think and remember it, I am grateful. CC or NC doesn't matter to me. I have had great cigars from both and terrible ones the same. A portion of the enjoyment from a cigar is the setting and environment. Without that most cigars would be boring to me.

[BRAC]

What crosses my mind when i think of what makes a great cigar or even an OK one.

you want to experience different flavours and textures, sometimes it won't be up to par, but hitting a stretch of mediocre cigars just means the next excellent one you have will provide an even more enhance experience.

Of course its my own view on this (and possibly life) but you have to endure the crap to really appreciate the good stuff so i guess for me its keep smoking even if mediocre though plugged is a different story, toss it, mash it, make an example of it so its peers know of the injustice..

Great post. We have similar thinking here...