Can someone describe "Cubanesque"?

[polarbear]

Having read the post about the new and improved Dominican Uppman that Prez posted, it got me thinking about the term "Cubanesque"

NC manufacturers have been throwing the term around for decades in an effort to entice the masses into picking up their latest offering (while at the very same time telling people that the cigars Cuba produces are nothing to aspire too, go figure ).

Now I wont claim to have the most advanced pallet around, but I struggle to describe what "Cubanesque" is.

I mean, I can tell you what Uppman-esque or Boliva-esque would be, but "Cubanesque", I think I'd struggle.

I've been smoking Cuban Cigars for almost 10 years now and have smoked most of what HSA has to offer in its regular production portfolio and yet I'm still at a loss.

Can anyone enlighten me, or is it just a marketing ploy created by NC manufacturers to justify charging $15us a stick?

[Jeremy Festa]

A little twang, a little saltiness.

[Habana Mike]

When I find a non-Cuban cigar Cubanesque it typically possesses more finesse, subtler aromas and nuances, flavors closer to the profile of a Habanos (more wood, sweetness, fruit, nuts... less pepper, in your face earthy or leather notes and on the lower end of strength).

Typically a Claro or Colorado Claro wrapper, smaller ring gauge, questionable construction , and just in general more enjoyable than a majority of Nic/Dom/Hon blends or puros.

I've done a fair share of blind tastings the past few months of primarily NC cigars and out of the small few I deemed Cubanesque, 2 actually were Cuban and the other couple (Warped La Colmena and Maria Selva Flor de Selva) certainly could have been reasonably pegged as such.

At least that's how I think about it.

[Smallclub]

Maria Selva Flor de Selva)

The name of the lady is Maya Selva, but to my knowledge her first name doesn't show anywhere on the packaging of her marca.

She also runs Cumpay cigars and the successful Villa Zamorano cigars. She's quite famous in France.

[laficion]

Now I wont claim to have the most advanced pallet around, but I struggle to describe what "Cubanesque" is.?

Hi there polarbear,

It"s really very simple,there Is no such word. It's a Cuban cigar or not. My,"Opel" car has a little something of a Ferrari.

Guy

[Guest rob]

Hi there polarbear,

It"s really very simple,there Is no such word. It's a Cuban cigar or not. My,"Opel" car has a little something of a Ferrari.

Guy

If it was painted red and had a prancing donkey badge on it, it may be 'ferrariesque'

[teamrandr]

I have smoked a few NC that reminded me of Cuban profiles. However I really think its just a marketing ploy.

[Ginseng]

The term "Cubanesque" has two senses as I reckon it.

• A marketing term employed almost exclusively in the U.S. that is meant to evoke the general sense of the exotic when thinking about Cuban cigars. That this usage does not usually go into detail about the sensory characteristics that define it is, in my estimation, reflective of the fact that there is no such coherent concept. In fact, the more nebulous the statement, the more powerful as more is left to the mind to construct the romance, the magic.
• A descriptive used by smokers, primarily U.S. and biased toward the less experienced, that is broad and ill-defined, protean in nature. While a fair share of new Habanos smokers may start out with this in their vocabulary, thoughtful experience will eventually lead to its abandonment for more specific connection-making. For example, "the Cabaiguan Guapos 46 does indeed occasionally remind me of the Upmann Magnum 46."

Wilkey

[rmill3r]

When I find a non-Cuban cigar Cubanesque it typically possesses more finesse, subtler aromas and nuances, flavors closer to the profile of a Habanos (more wood, sweetness, fruit, nuts... less pepper, in your face earthy or leather notes and on the lower end of strength).

Typically a Claro or Colorado Claro wrapper, smaller ring gauge, questionable construction , and just in general more enjoyable than a majority of Nic/Dom/Hon blends or puros.

I've done a fair share of blind tastings the past few months of primarily NC cigars and out of the small few I deemed Cubanesque, 2 actually were Cuban and the other couple (Warped La Colmena and Maria Selva Flor de Selva) certainly could have been reasonably pegged as such.

At least that's how I think about it.

Do you like those Warped cigars then? I've heard of them but not tried them. I'm still on the lookout for NCs that can satisfy my CC craving...Also, never seen the Maria Selva cigars...

[leftimatic]

I think its marketing. Funny though, on one hand how CC are no better than the NC, but the need is still there to sell them as having a hint of Cuba in them.

I find myself trying not to compare. I used to enjoy a lot of NC's but something happened even before I got into CC's. They were getting worse and worse. Harsher and bitter. Or very boring and muted. I almost dare I say.... gave up the sport.

The only thing I would be able to say is if it is Cubanesque, I would not need to drink 10litres of water while smoking. Not have a burnt out palate for two days after. And be able to enjoy the flavours rather than hoping it smooths out or picks up in the next third.

I found the Nat Sherman Timeless Dominican did that for me. And a few others. But to say they tasted Cubanesque? Why would I bother, I just liked the fact they tasted like a damn decent cigar.

[jacksfull]

Can you really describe "Cuban" flavor? Sure, there are lots of descritives for the finer subtle flavors from one cigar to the next. But, can you really pinpoint in words that generally shared flavor base that makes a CC distinctly a CC?

And there's the rub. If "Cubanesque" is an NC with flavors approaching that certain indefineable (for me anyway) Cuban profile, then how do you put it in words otherwise?

I agree that the term is undeservedly over-used as a marketing tool. But, I have certainly found NC's that actually do live up to it. Most noteably, nearly 20 years ago I bought a close-out deal on some (apparently now defunct) EMS bundle cigars... 20 cents a stick! The flavor was simply unbelievable - truly Cubanesque! So much so that in the back of my mind I wondered if someone had tried to take a shortcut to building their no-name brand by somehow finagling a backdoor deal on some Cuban made marevas to ship to Honduras for banding and packaging. I'm sure this wasn't really the case. More likely just the perfect confluence of an exceptional crop and lucky blend. I still have about 1/2 a bundle (out of several I managed to re-order before they were gone). I tried one again just the other day. Still tasted just like a spot-on Monte 4 to me.

[Colt45]

I guess if we take away the marketing aspect, and look at it from the Cuban cigar perspective, it's a topic which has been discussed in various ways. Perhaps it's as simple as "what do you like about Cuban cigars".

So for me perhaps it would be an inherent vanillan smoothness, sense of richness, complexity, evolution. Probably a bit simplistic on my part.......

[Habana Mike]

The name of the lady is Maya Selva, but to my knowledge her first name doesn't show anywhere on the packaging of her marca.

She also runs Cumpay cigars and the successful Villa Zamorano cigars. She's quite famous in France.

You are correct, Maya Selva. Regardless she produces some good cigars!

[Habana Mike]

Do you like those Warped cigars then? I've heard of them but not tried them. I'm still on the lookout for NCs that can satisfy my CC craving...Also, never seen the Maria Selva cigars...

Warped La Colmena line anyway. I enjoyed the first one I smoked blind so much that I bought a box.

Haven't purchased a box of NC smokes in a long time!

[GasGuy82]

Oddly enough, a cubaesque cigar to me is a NC where my mouth doesn't feel like a war zone the next morning even after brushing twice. My fiancée can now tell if I've had a CC or NC because the smell stays on me and on my palate with the NC more so than the CC.

[cigcars]

Speaking of NC sellers attempting to tempt us into buying more of their product with this "term"...I once saw Thompson's Cigars advertise their plain green band house brand as being above par compared to the Vuelta Abajo productions out of the soil of Habana. Well, speaking of Barney Fife being on par with Jason Statham; a pork, turkey and other processed lunch meat hotdog being above par with a Wagyu Kobe beef steak; and a broken rusted old fashion coaster bicycle on comparative basis with a Ferrari Mondial F-40, I'll consider it...

[GasGuy82]

They should have called the Dino a Ferrari and the Mondial a Fiat...

[Ryan]

The only thing that the term "cubanesque" can mean, ojectively and definitively, is "not Cuban".

[Ginseng]

The only thing that the term "cubanesque" can mean, ojectively and definitively, is "not Cuban".

Well played.

Wilkey