Profiles holding up to the test of time

[mncz]

Hello all,

As the title of the thread suggests, I'm curious to gain some community insight as to how the flavor profiles of various vitolas and marcas maintain consistency in their distinction.

I admit that I don't know much about Cuban tobacco farming, however, I must imagine that various conditions will lead to drastically different yields. I would also imagine that this would be especially so between various factories and over periods of, let's say, five year intervals.

Some factors that I would consider variable (apart from negligible variations in production technique) would be inevitable changes in rainfall, soil composition and (perhaps most responsible for these and others – dare I say it?) climate change!

What got me thinking about this in particular was finding myself, as usual, poring over old FOH video reviews and forum threads. Usually, this tendency simply stems out of sheer interest and will to absorb information. However, I found myself at times considering such information in order to inform myself about purchases of recent productions. The question I was faced with, ultimately, was: how does a Cohiba Robusto of the mid-2000s compare to its current characteristics? What are the controls? How does a box of 2007 HU Sir Winstons live up to the Sir Winstons of 2014? Blimey, how should the distinctive flavor profile of the H. Upmann marca today be reckoned with after the passing of seven years?

I look forward to this discussion with great interest.

Cheers,

Matthew

[CaptainQuintero]

There are some very noticeable changes for some cigars, Partagas Bolívar Romeo y Julieta all come up frequently in these discussions.

Montecristo however I don't see mentioned, the blends from my experiences seem pretty faithfully constant too.

[mk05]

There are some very noticeable changes...Montecristo however I don't see mentioned, the blends from my experiences seem pretty faithfully constant too.

Do you think Montecristo #2 blend has stayed pretty faithfully constant over the years?

[CaptainQuintero]

Do you think Montecristo #2 blend has stayed pretty faithfully constant over the years?

That's a fair point, the #2 is a cigar that I've never got on with so never smoked a great number of. I'm guessing from the talk of 90's and before versions, that they were a lot more vanilla and mocha milkshake than burnt socks in the 2001+ years?

[TypicalSituation]

I think you nailed it when you talk about all the variants from rainfall, soil, etc. I believe every blend evolves with the crop of that year. Just as wines have subtle changes year to year, I think cigars do as well. The truth is, there is really no way to compare, as we cannot have cigars from crop to crop and taste them at the same point in time. Until we find a way to completely stop the aging process and smoke a vertical of say, 3 or 5 years side by side, we can only judge based on notes we've taken.

Even with the best of notes, our palates change, what we've eaten or drank may change the flavors, etc. There are some NC I smoked regularly for a few years. I revisited them after a year off and though, hmm, why was I so enamored with this.

Even with the best precautions, I think each years crop is slightly different and thus produces a slight variation of flavor.

[cigaraholic]

For me the brands that hit their flavor profile most consistently are Cohiba, Monte, Hoyo, PL and QdO.

The rest are like a box of chocolates.....

[TheGipper]

Generalizing by marca, Por Larranaga and Ramon Allones are the only ones that taste very nearly the same to me today as they did 15 years ago.

Cohiba hasn't changed much, but it's still different. Partagas and El Rey del Mundo are radically different from what they once were.

But all of this may be due to aging taste buds on my part.

[ajgagnon]

Haven't they changed the seed pretty dramatically over the last 15-20 years? I thought the transition from criollo (sp?) to '99 to other hybrids might have had something to do with it too.

[ogus]

I think Puros have little variation from recipe but others (NC that are not puro) could vary as leaf type may change over time

[El Presidente]

I love Moss Wood Cabernet. One of the first cases of wines I purchased in the early 90's. I find it is a pale imitation today. Apparently not much has changed bar the normal seasonal fluctuations.

It is me. The wine and winery continue to be multi award winners with much better palates than mine espousing their greatness.

I noticed in another thread where a member posted that cigars prior to 2010 took longer to reach approachability when smoking. In my mind it was 2005 and prior. Whose right? Is there a right?

I think blokes in particular see themselves (mentally) at a static point in life. Yet physiologically our abilities to taste and smell (interconnected) go on a downward spiral as we get older.

In a perfect world you would take a 1994 D4 and a a 2014 D4 and go "Ha ha!"....you can tell the difference. Alas as we all know you can't do that as the aging process has taken hold of the 1994 cigar.

"But I smoked the 1994 D4 fresh then and it was very different to todays D4!"

True no doubt...different strains of tobacco, different rollers, different climatic conditions, different period of time.

Yet we shouldn't forget, our ability to taste 20 years ago bares little resemblance to to our ability to taste today.

just a Friday morning ramble.