Top 10 Disappointments of 2016

[Williamos]

+1 Edmundos. Thanks for the heads up Prez. Your analysis is always entertaining to read. The Raymond Chandler of cigar writing.


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[Williamos]

+1 Edmundos. Thanks for the heads up Prez. Your analysis is always entertaining to read. The Raymond Chandler of cigar writing.


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[PigFish]

  On 11/30/2016 at 4:29 AM, El Presidente said:

An yet they do. Magnum 56 and Bolivar Corona Gigante are cases in point.  In 2016, they neared if not quit matched the highest levels of  NC construction and blend consistency (Padron/) (except they had flavour complexity). 

Such an immense gulf between their best and their worst (talkng consistency) comes down to the passion, inspiration, leadership abilities of the Factory management team.   Some just don't give a rats and it shows. Others do and it shows. 

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I think you have made my point. Consistent cigars do not come with such variations. It is the cigars that are considered excellent that buck this trend, and it is a trend.

I have no doubt that great cigars are still made and can be made in the future. I am just not seeing them 'consistently' great across a swath different cigars. You see more cigars than I do, and you see some that you believe exhibit real quality... Hurray!

But quality of one or two brand types found by a guy that sorts tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of cigars is quite pitiful! The fact that you have to, and notably write about culling cigars for your clients is a testament to the poor overall quality control at Tabacuba.

Natural product and an acceptable variance notwithstanding, the crap that makes it into a box simply amazes me. It has the earmark of a failing company.

Trends ebb and flow. I hope this is yet another transient one! -Piggy

[cigaraholic]

I wish HSA would take those draw machines and throw them into the ocean!

The percentage of under filled cigars coming out of Cuba lately is worst than embarrassing.

A luxury product made at below third world standards ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[El Presidente]

  On 11/30/2016 at 4:19 PM, PigFish said:

I think you have made my point. Consistent cigars do not come with such variations. It is the cigars that are considered excellent that buck this trend, and it is a trend.

I have no doubt that great cigars are still made and can be made in the future. I am just not seeing them 'consistently' great across a swath different cigars. You see more cigars than I do, and you see some that you believe exhibit real quality... Hurray!

But quality of one or two brand types found by a guy that sorts tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of cigars is quite pitiful! The fact that you have to, and notably write about culling cigars for your clients is a testament to the poor overall quality control at Tabacuba.

Natural product and an acceptable variance notwithstanding, the crap that makes it into a box simply amazes me. It has the earmark of a failing company.

Trends ebb and flow. I hope this is yet another transient one! -Piggy

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I indeed see a ton of boxes across all marca/vitola. 

If you can imagine a bell curve with crap on the left and brilliance (quality/construction) on the right then in my 20 years in the game, the intersecting line (average) has moved 25% toward the right which is the direction it needs to go in. 

You won't see a 90% consistent product until you introduce a living wage. 

Still i see a lot of brands from elsewhere around the world that are near 100% consistent in terms of quality, cigar to cigar, box to box.  Unfortunately most of them taste like crap...so they are consistent there as well. 

I will take inconsistency with a decent chance of brilliance anyday over 100% consistent rubbish aspiring to mediocrity. 

 

 

[kuma]

Hey Rob thanks again for shinning more light on an industry that ebbs and flows with the times.  I thought

the issue about weather was the main culprit in not seeing the same quality as we have seen in the previous years.

Yes I would also take the quality over quanity and just be content that I have SOME PSP's boxes w/ PE and Hq

thrown in for good measure.  I did think Habanos might be holding back SOME master cases for the new US market

but I guess that is not the case.  And if anyone has any idea about this industry I know it is you who has the ear

to the ground and knows more than the average Joe.  Rob, keep up the great work and looks like

we are all at the mercy of "mother nature".

Cao

 

[rootsrock]

Thanks for sharing this info, will definately keep it in mind

[LGC]

It is simply impossible to produce a consistently quality product when EVERYONE along the process is not motivated and rewarded for taking pride in their work.

[clutch5150]

  On 11/30/2016 at 8:14 PM, El Presidente said:

I indeed see a ton of boxes across all marca/vitola. 

If you can imagine a bell curve with crap on the left and brilliance (quality/construction) on the right then in my 20 years in the game, the intersecting line (average) has moved 25% toward the right which is the direction it needs to go in. 

You won't see a 90% consistent product until you introduce a living wage. 

Still i see a lot of brands from elsewhere around the world that are near 100% consistent in terms of quality, cigar to cigar, box to box.  Unfortunately most of them taste like crap...so they are consistent there as well. 

I will take inconsistency with a decent chance of brilliance anyday over 100% consistent rubbish aspiring to mediocrity. 

 

 

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LoL on this. I really laughed out loud how true this is.  Out my way at my local cigar lounge, the owner made a new rule that I cannot bring my CC's in there any longer even though I pay a monthly locker fee...He is adamant "how bad ALL CC's are" against all his Dom's and Nic's.

[Preacher man]

Thanks for this...loved this information.  I've got some partagas shorts from 2016 and 2014....the 2014 are hands down better than the 2016's.

[CigSid]

  On 11/30/2016 at 8:14 PM, El Presidente said:

I indeed see a ton of boxes across all marca/vitola. 

If you can imagine a bell curve with crap on the left and brilliance (quality/construction) on the right then in my 20 years in the game, the intersecting line (average) has moved 25% toward the right which is the direction it needs to go in. 

You won't see a 90% consistent product until you introduce a living wage. 

Still i see a lot of brands from elsewhere around the world that are near 100% consistent in terms of quality, cigar to cigar, box to box.  Unfortunately most of them taste like crap...so they are consistent there as well. 

I will take inconsistency with a decent chance of brilliance anyday over 100% consistent rubbish aspiring to mediocrity. 

 

 

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Thank you for stating exactly what I was thinking

 

[Bohn007]

  On 12/1/2016 at 12:59 AM, clutch5150 said:

LoL on this. I really laughed out loud how true this is.  Out my way at my local cigar lounge, the owner made a new rule that I cannot bring my CC's in there any longer even though I pay a monthly locker fee...He is adamant "how bad ALL CC's are" against all his Dom's and Nic's.

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Your CC were banned? I think he is just embarrassed 

[clutch5150]

  On 12/1/2016 at 3:34 AM, Bohn007 said:

Your CC were banned? I think he is just embarrassed 

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Yes, he said he could lose his license if "they" found CC's in my locker or even be smoking them in is shop...Not sure who "they" may be, but so be it I will not be giving him my valued business any longer.  To make it even more obvious what is happening, no one can bring ANY outside cigars in unless of course one has a locker with HIS purchased smokes in there.

[Bohn007]

  On 12/1/2016 at 3:52 AM, clutch5150 said:

Yes, he said he could lose his license if "they" found CC's in my locker or even be smoking them in is shop...Not sure who "they" may be, but so be it I will not be giving him my valued business any longer.  To make it even more obvious what is happening, no one can bring ANY outside cigars in unless of course one has a locker with HIS purchased smokes in there.

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I know the feeling. I get some funny looks out of the owner of my local B&M too. I always make it a point to buy something when I am there but still, I get the impression that he does not approve so I try to keep my choice of the day out of sight. 

[clutch5150]

  On 12/1/2016 at 4:44 AM, Bohn007 said:

I know the feeling. I get some funny looks out of the owner of my local B&M too. I always make it a point to buy something when I am there but still, I get the impression that he does not approve so I try to keep my choice of the day out of sight. 

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I do (or did) the same thing, but looks as if that strategy ran its course...

[ErikB]

Biggest disappointment - the box of Regios I bought at a LCdH . Virtually all of them were badly constructed.


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[Mycroft]

  On 11/30/2016 at 8:14 PM, El Presidente said:

I indeed see a ton of boxes across all marca/vitola. 

If you can imagine a bell curve with crap on the left and brilliance (quality/construction) on the right then in my 20 years in the game, the intersecting line (average) has moved 25% toward the right which is the direction it needs to go in. 

You won't see a 90% consistent product until you introduce a living wage. 

Still i see a lot of brands from elsewhere around the world that are near 100% consistent in terms of quality, cigar to cigar, box to box.  Unfortunately most of them taste like crap...so they are consistent there as well. 

I will take inconsistency with a decent chance of brilliance anyday over 100% consistent rubbish aspiring to mediocrity. 

 

 

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Where I live (Austria) cigars aren't too badly priced. And the prices are fixed by the government on a per cigar basis, so there is no price advantage to buying boxes. Also, aged cigars, when you can find them, do not carry a premium. I buy singles to smoke the same day. When I find something particularly good I go back immediately and take the rest of the box, leaving out anything that looks blocked, or too tightly rolled. That is the only way I have found to accumulate a humidor of consistently decent Cuban cigars. Way too many of the singles I buy have construction issues or no flavor intensity. I think I would give up if couldn't I follow this procedure.

[Fugu]

  On 11/30/2016 at 8:14 PM, El Presidente said:

Still i see a lot of brands from elsewhere around the world that are near 100% consistent in terms of quality, cigar to cigar, box to box

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....and even that appears to be a myth... (to me, but admittedly with limited experience due to a minor fraction of NC in the rotation)

 

  On 11/30/2016 at 8:14 PM, El Presidente said:

I will take inconsistency with a decent chance of brilliance anyday over 100% consistent rubbish aspiring to mediocrity. 

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This.

It's easier to build a perfect, straight and plane faced wall from lime cement bricks than building it of hand-moulded clay bricks from the ring kiln.

 

[heminway186]

  On 11/29/2016 at 2:47 PM, bundwallah said:

Haven't smoked too much recent stock in the past year.  This is what disappointed me though.

Montecristo Anejado Churchill. Great vitola to add to the marca, poorly executed.  I've only smoked one. It was a bit acrid and the aroma coming off of it was not pleasant.  Very gun shy about trying another. The price point doesn't help either.

The La Escepcion Don Jose.  Don't get me wrong, IMO it is a great smoke, not as epic as the SF but when originally announced, IIRC, it was supposed to be a Churchill.  I would have preferred that. 

In general, the list of upcoming releases from Habanos.  Too short / too fat.  Not much under 50RG. 

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Would love to see a few lancero or dalia REs released in the coming years. I suspect that will not be the case however. A recent interview in Cigar Aficionado with one of the heads of controlling entity within Habanos SA said the large ring gauge was here to stay. 

[NSXCIGAR]

  On 11/30/2016 at 8:14 PM, El Presidente said:

I indeed see a ton of boxes across all marca/vitola. 

If you can imagine a bell curve with crap on the left and brilliance (quality/construction) on the right then in my 20 years in the game, the intersecting line (average) has moved 25% toward the right which is the direction it needs to go in. 

You won't see a 90% consistent product until you introduce a living wage. 

Still i see a lot of brands from elsewhere around the world that are near 100% consistent in terms of quality, cigar to cigar, box to box.  Unfortunately most of them taste like crap...so they are consistent there as well. 

I will take inconsistency with a decent chance of brilliance anyday over 100% consistent rubbish aspiring to mediocrity. 

Expand  

I agree the quality curve has sloped upward steadily since 2001, notwithstanding a few setbacks. But generally it's been two steps forward, one step back. 

I also agree many NCs have much more construction and taste consistency across the spectrum. But it is a consistently undesirable taste for me.

The reason for this addresses the living wage issue which I see more as a market and competition issue. NCs are a high quality physical product purely because of competition, IMO. And competition raises wages. The one caveat is when you have a natural monopoly of sorts like tobacco, competition is naturally limited more than is typical for other products. NC tobacco is not the world's best so it matters not how good one blends and rolls when one has sub-optimal raw materials. I appreciate the fact that NCs have a high degree of physical quality and consistency, but it's not enough to overcome their shortfalls with respect to the raw materials. As others have said, I'll take inconsistency with the best tobacco over the opposite.

The real issue, of course, is the monopoly that HSA enjoys. Introduce real competition and private capital to Cuban tobacco (and everywhere else in the economy) and you'll see physical quality shoot as high as NCs or higher and consistency improve immensely as well as wages increase substantially as cigar companies bid the skilled workers away from each other. You'd also have much more experimentation with strains and technology would be introduced that could help reduce issues with finicky strains like Corojo. The one size fits all approach that the Cuban state imposes really makes innovation and experimentation impossible.