Your Current Inconsistent Marca

[JohnS]

Do you have a box lurking somewhere in your humidor that is screaming "inconsistency" right now? (If you are a member of Camp Winnipesaukee, substitute the word humidor for coolidor or cabinet.) You know, you go to this box every month or so secretly hoping the next cigar will be fantastic. Guess what? It is, so you hope the next time will be the same. Guess what? It's not; in fact, it's crap. What is going on you ask yourself, how can I have a box that offers both sensational and pitiful cigar-smoking experiences?

Do you have a box or indeed a marca that is like this right now? If so, let it all out in this thread folks! For me, right now, it's Montecristo. I have experienced  this with my MAE Oct 14 Montecristo No.4 box, and less so with my AUM Jul 14 Montecristo No.5 (thankfully much less so with the Monte 5) and PMS Sep 14 Montecristo Tubos boxes lately.

The Montecristo No.4 below was glorious. I enjoyed it a few days ago in the warm autumn sunshine with a martini and espresso coffee. Lashings of cocoa, coffee, cream all-in-one. The one before this was like smoking wet tobacco as punishment for not taking out the rubbish on garbage night!

I feel particularly perturbed by this as Montecristo is easily one of my very favourite marcas. Do you have an inconsistent marca experience currently? 

[NSXCIGAR]

I don't know about a wildly inconsistent marca but Monte 4 and BCJ for me are the kings of the one gem in a box syndrome. 24 good to very good sticks and one just head and shoulders above the rest. One of the most baffling things about CCs to me. How can they make one cigar so great and all the others just run-of-the-mill? What happened with that one stick? What tobacco? What roller? And am I the only one who is noticing this? If they could stick 25 of those in a box and call it special production they could name their price.

[Luca]

The H Upmann Half Corona was a very inconsistent cigar in my opinion (not marca). I'm sure there are some great boxes out there but the one I had (PMU ABR 15) was pretty up and down. Some smoked great. Others looked horrible and tasted terrible. Some where ok. It was all over the shop.

I haven't had any problems with the MC No.4. It is one of my favorite MCs (after the PE) andit smoked beautifully. Great taste and construction. The box I had was OLM ABR 15. I think I only had 1 with a tight draw. I agree with NSXCIGAR - it baffles me how there can be some great CCs out there and at the same time some really poor ones.

I'd like to know how companies like Davidoff (I would love if they manufactured their cigars in Cuba again) have such a consistent line up. Extra QC measures maybe? I don't know.

[99call]

In terms a of a Marca inconsistency Ramon Allones greatness had eluded me for me for the last 18yrs!. Don't get me wrong I haven't smoked many, but I have bloody smoked over 100, all turned up 'not present'. This included RASS, RACC, Allones Extra, Superiores.   In retrospect I the only reason I kept on flogging myself to death, was the shear adulation from other smoker friends, with regards to it's ability to put out stewed fruit and christmas cake, then...............

BOOM!!!  Hello Mr Ramon Allones Club Allones,   What a bloody brilliant cigar. I would say all those years of utter bemusement and thinking someone was playing a cruel joke on me, were immediately paid off in full. The only problem being is, I really have no confidence about returning back to any other of the RA line. I kind of want to just fill my humidor with the CA then just forget about the rest.

[Duxnutz]

'14 Bolivar Beli Finos

[Luca]

2 hours ago, 99call said:

In terms a of a Marca inconsistency Ramon Allones greatness had eluded me for me for the last 18yrs!. Don't get me wrong I haven't smoked many, but I have bloody smoked over 100, all turned up 'not present'. This included RASS, RACC, Allones Extra, Superiores.   In retrospect I the only reason I kept on flogging myself to death, was the shear adulation from other smoker friends, with regards to it's ability to put out stewed fruit and christmas cake, then...............

BOOM!!!  Hello Mr Ramon Allones Club Allones,   What a bloody brilliant cigar. I would say all those years of utter bemusement and thinking someone was playing a cruel joke on me, were immediately paid off in full. The only problem being is, I really have no confidence about returning back to any other of the RA line. I kind of want to just fill my humidor with the CA then just forget about the rest.

Good to hear. I bought a couple of boxes of the RA CA too. I am looking forward to smoking them!

[Guest Nekhyludov]

My last two boxes if HdM have driven me nuts with inconsistency. The Epi#2 used to be my go-to robusto. Now I'm afraid to waste the money on any box of Hoyos. 

[Corylax18]

Habanos SA.

We can debate Marca specific flavors all day, but production wise, they are all the same. There is no debate left there. Upmanns being rolled at El Laguito, REs and ELs being rolled at Provincial factories, nothing is sacred anymore. I expect to have roughly 3-7 duds a box (construction or flavorwise) and that number is pretty consistent ragardless of Marca. 

Oh wait, you said just one Marca. I'll say Monte, but they've always been that way, only knock on the Marca in my opinion. Far and away the most consistent marca In my experience is Jose L Piedra. It really defines Cuba to me, if you cant meet expectations, just lower the expectations.  

[treberty]

Love Bolivar.  However, the BRCs and me are just not meant for each other... I used to love that cigar, but nowadays I probably enjoy two out of every ten that I smoke.  Could be that my palate has evolved as well...

[topdiesel]

This has already been mentioned on the forum, but under filled large ring cigars make for real hit or miss boxes.  boxes I have encountered include Hoyo San Juan & Bolivar Tesoros, among others I don't recall at the moment.  One smoke from the box is great and the next is under filled garbage.

[PigFish]

My list of constantly good cigars is much smaller. Lets say it is comprised of 2 or 3 cigars (not giving it much thought). Take the rest of the CC catalog and subtract 3 and that is my list of inconsistent Cuban cigars.

I cannot say that I will dwell on one. If that happen coincidentally to smoking a lot of them, I don't worry much about it. The worst of them I simply won't smoke anymore. PLPCs have become notoriously lower in quality (MHO) and I often wonder if I will buy another cab when I exhaust what I have. Popularity seems to ruin cigar production and as the catalogs gets slimmer, the hidden gems that I used to enjoy get more popular, then get overproduced, get sloppy and the quality falls...

I have come to believe that if consistency is your thing, you are better off drinking soft drinks than smoking Cuban cigars!!! My 2 pennies!

[ShortFatHokie]

I have a box of Monte Petite Edmundos...some are excellent, the rest taste like burnt hair.  I'll have to check the box code on it...

[dageshi]

10 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I don't know about a wildly inconsistent marca but Monte 4 and BCJ for me are the kings of the one gem in a box syndrome. 24 good to very good sticks and one just head and shoulders above the rest. One of the most baffling things about CCs to me. How can they make one cigar so great and all the others just run-of-the-mill? What happened with that one stick? What tobacco? What roller? And am I the only one who is noticing this? If they could stick 25 of those in a box and call it special production they could name their price.

I have a friend who has a theory on this. He imported his own leaf and rolled his own (UK), I was discussing this very thing with him and he suggested those stand out cigars might contain leaf stems that are typically removed for most cigars. He thought the stem would be rich in minerals and would give off a very intense flavour.

I liked the theory because I know most cigars when rolled have the stem removed, I presume for burn consistency reasons? But that some manufacturers of very high end cigars do in fact leave the stem in. The guy at cigar obsession dissected a real Padron 1964 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isMA8cGXOWQ and found it contained stems on most of the filler leaf, he contracted Padron and they told him this was normal on some of their lines.

Just a theory I wonder if El Pres or any of the other old hands have any thoughts on it.

 

 

 

 

[Philc2001]

I have experienced this exact thing at different times. Once in a while the stars are perfectly aligned and find yourself elevated to a heavenly place on the wafts of smoke from a divine cigar. Anxious to repeat the experience you go for that cigar again and it's a big letdown, not anywhere near what you experienced on the last visit to that box. What gives?

Montecristo No. 4 is one that has given me that peak to trough experience in past, making me very cautious when I buy Montes. The Monte Petite No 2 is another disappointment, not at all like a full size No 2. But more recently for me it has been Bolivar Petite Coronas, a marca that has gone downhill for me in the past few years. Another one that I've had inconsistencies with is the HUP Mag 46, once a bastion of consistent, rich, medium smoke now a shadow of former glory. 

[gmc4wd]

I also find my 2016 BPC's a complete let down so far. Maybe with some age they get better? Let's hope.

[KFBR392]

14 hours ago, Luca said:

The H Upmann Half Corona was a very inconsistent cigar in my opinion (not marca). I'm sure there are some great boxes out there but the one I had (PMU ABR 15) was pretty up and down. Some smoked great. Others looked horrible and tasted terrible. Some where ok. It was all over the shop.

I haven't had any problems with the MC No.4. It is one of my favorite MCs (after the PE) andit smoked beautifully. Great taste and construction. The box I had was OLM ABR 15. I think I only had 1 with a tight draw. I agree with NSXCIGAR - it baffles me how there can be some great CCs out there and at the same time some really poor ones.

I'd like to know how companies like Davidoff (I would love if they manufactured their cigars in Cuba again) have such a consistent line up. Extra QC measures maybe? I don't know.

+1 for HUHC

[NSXCIGAR]

6 hours ago, dageshi said:

I have a friend who has a theory on this. He imported his own leaf and rolled his own (UK), I was discussing this very thing with him and he suggested those stand out cigars might contain leaf stems that are typically removed for most cigars. He thought the stem would be rich in minerals and would give off a very intense flavour.

I liked the theory because I know most cigars when rolled have the stem removed, I presume for burn consistency reasons? But that some manufacturers of very high end cigars do in fact leave the stem in. The guy at cigar obsession dissected a real Padron 1964 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isMA8cGXOWQ and found it contained stems on most of the filler leaf, he contracted Padron and they told him this was normal on some of their lines.

Just a theory I wonder if El Pres or any of the other old hands have any thoughts on it.

This is an easily testable theory--did he perform any experiments? Results? 

I'll add that the real standout cigars in terms of flavor also tend to have above average construction and I've never noticed any stems. Also, I suppose 1/25 would be a possible ratio for production errors like stems left in, but I'd also add that cigars have been produced for a long time and if it was determined that the addition of stems added to the quality I'd think it would have been identified, isolated and attempted by now in Cuba. And since I find NCs less flavorful and complex than almost all decent CCs I don't see any NC producers techniques as inherently superior as of yet.

[gweilgi]

I have a box of ERDM Choix Supreme that are like that.  Annoys me no end since I love that cigar....