Cohiba Medio Siglo....the Cohiba for Cohiba Haters


Recommended Posts

15 hours ago, JohnS said:

@99call, don't beat yourself up if you don't connect with Cohiba as a marca.

 

Props to John here and I'll add; don't beat yourself if you don't connect with a vitola. I find (this is me and I have no opinion if you are different) the  Petit Robustos and other similar short fat vitolas not to my liking. Maybe I'm a cigar curmudgeon but I mostly like cigars that have corona in their name and the sizes that  Upman and Monte Cristo used to differentiate by #. The lack of  consistency  to which Cuban cigars are prone is outrageous and that may be responsible for some of the hatred people express about certain cigars vs others. I have had few if any Trinidad that ever did a thing for me, bad construction and flavor put me off of the marca years ago. That said, I'm sure people have had the exact opposite experience. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, crking3 said:

I think cohiba is undeniably good ....I think ppl just like to purposefully scoff at it and buck it because it’s so expensive and the brand is snobbish ....the medio siglo is absolutely fantastic
 

I don't think it's a "snobbish" thing.  Based on prior threads (and personal experience), a large portion of us fell in love with CCs from their first experience with Cohiba.  But much like other "first experiences" (entendre intended), over time it becomes apparent that it maybe wasn't "that good."  I find that the more prolific the smoker, the more Cohiba disappoints -- and the cost makes them more of a let-down.  The memory doesn't match the reality.  Turns out your old girlfriend was pretty unreliable and bland.          

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, joeypots said:

don't beat yourself if you don't connect with a vitola

Again, my thoughts on the Medio Siglo, were largely massively complimentary. especially for one that was so underfilled.  My general point was, I kind of already know that I don't like Cohiba, and I don't like these sized cigars,  but my intrigue always continues, I like to give all CC's a go and not just bin a whole marca on the basis of one bad petit corona, for instance. 

In the case of the Medio Siglo, I hit lucky, as the one before it was a delight, and the one in this review, could of been just the same (bar it's construction). 

The overall message was for people like me who are not fond of Cohiba, to say "give this one a go, you might like it!"

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, crking3 said:

I think cohiba is undeniably good
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No. 

You may like that flavor profile, but that doesn't mean everybody does. Different? Fine. Undeniably good. No.

How is that different from saying any Marca is undeniably good? Or any beer, whiskey, or Rum? People have different tastes that's why there are different styles of Beer, Whisky, Rum, Cigars. 

Cohiba and ER/LEs are no better (or worse) than standard production Cigars. Some are Great, Some are Garbage and the Majority are somewhere in between. They cost more because of the backstory(which is often BS with RE's), packaging and in the case of Cohiba/Trinidad the "mystique." 

Every leaf of Tobacco gets the exact same treatment from seed to finished cigar. A Cohiba becomes a Cohiba when the band is applied. There is no "Cohiba Farm" no "EL/RE sorting/ageing warehouse" the blenders don't even get to pick the raw material they get to work with. The Factory manager does, then the blender takes that raw material and does his best to match an expectation. A box of Cohiba can have tobacco from 5 different farms in it, and the box next to could have tobacco from 3 other, completely different farms. Its impossible for all 50 of those cigars to taste exactly the same. 

How many Blind tasting competitions do we have to go through? Weather organized here, in Cuba, or somewhere else. The results are always the same. Without a band, people RARELY identify one marca from another. Not just cohiba from all else, but any and all marcas. When the rubber hits the road 90% can't tell the difference(myself included), because once the band is off there is no difference. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No. 
You may like that flavor profile, but that doesn't mean everybody does. Different? Fine. Undeniably good. No.
How is that different from saying any Marca is undeniably good? Or any beer, whiskey, or Rum? People have different tastes that's why there are different styles of Beer, Whisky, Rum, Cigars. 
Cohiba and ER/LEs are no better (or worse) than standard production Cigars. Some are Great, Some are Garbage and the Majority are somewhere in between. They cost more because of the backstory(which is often BS with RE's), packaging and in the case of Cohiba/Trinidad the "mystique." 
Every leaf of Tobacco gets the exact same treatment from seed to finished cigar. A Cohiba becomes a Cohiba when the band is applied. There is no "Cohiba Farm" no "EL/RE sorting/ageing warehouse" the blenders don't even get to pick the raw material they get to work with. The Factory manager does, then the blender takes that raw material and does his best to match an expectation. A box of Cohiba can have tobacco from 5 different farms in it, and the box next to could have tobacco from 3 other, completely different farms. Its impossible for all 50 of those cigars to taste exactly the same. 
How many Blind tasting competitions do we have to go through? Weather organized here, in Cuba, or somewhere else. The results are always the same. Without a band, people RARELY identify one marca from another. Not just cohiba from all else, but any and all marcas. When the rubber hits the road 90% can't tell the difference(myself included), because once the band is off there is no difference. 

No.
Every leaf of tobacco does not get the same treatment. And no, a Cohiba doesn’t become one when a band is put on...
doesn’t Cohiba get the extra fermentation?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

great review. and great conversation so far. First off,  the fact that it was underfilled at that price point is unacceptable, I know its handmade and this type of fail is a fact of life, but come on, where is the quality control. A reflection of an industry that takes advantage of its enthusiasts. I bet eventually re-releasing blends of yesteryear will be popular again.The desire for new limited edition shiny objects aside, with just how crops vary from year to year, and farms growing for multiple brands, would a re-release of lets say QDO Imperiales actually never be able to be properly recreated, and, in turn, become the shiny new object that sells off pure hype?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MaxwellM said:

great review. and great conversation so far. First off,  the fact that it was underfilled at that price point is unacceptable, I know its handmade and this type of fail is a fact of life, but come on, where is the quality control. A reflection of an industry that takes advantage of its enthusiasts. I bet eventually re-releasing blends of yesteryear will be popular again.The desire for new limited edition shiny objects aside, with just how crops vary from year to year, and farms growing for multiple brands, would a re-release of lets say QDO Imperiales actually never be able to be properly recreated, and, in turn, become the shiny new object that sells off pure hype?

Great points...with regards to underfilling it would be interesting to learn weather cigars fail on a 'draw machine'  if there too for the other way i.e wind tunnels.   More important that the draw, it would take exactly the same time to weigh a cigar.   This would spare the consumer a great deal of dudds

As Rob has pointed out before the plan is 'whatever sells'.   that said they are prepared to stick with cigars like Sir Winstons, and Punch DC,  that only seem available every few years.   Interestingly HDM Escogidos seem to have a huge raft of fans,  although I've not sampled one, I think it's fair to assume any tobacco available to get Des Dieux back on the rolling tables, has gone to make the Escogidos.        Less cigars for more money

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, havanaclub said:


No.
Every leaf of tobacco does not get the same treatment. And no, a Cohiba doesn’t become one when a band is put on...
doesn’t Cohiba get the extra fermentation?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's what they tell us. Does it actually happen? No. Even at El Laguito, there is about 8-10 Small barrels used for this supposed additional fermentation. Maybe enough to roll a few dozen boxes worth of cigars. Maybe. Do they let the filler tobacco sit in these barrels over night to absorb some "oak" aromas, Maybe. Do they pack the barrels tight and let them ferment for the additional weeks that they advertise. No, its not feasible. Now lets extrapolate that to the 5 or more "regular" factories that roll Cohiba. Do you think they are doing more or even the same amount of "additional fermentation"?  

They also told us the Upmann Anejados was rolled then aged "5-8 years" but the boxes have dates from 2007, and 2011 which would put them at 8-10 years old upon release. Yet most of them still taste under fermented, bitter, and fresh. They also tell us that 450,000 Phoenician 40th will be rolled with tobacco from a single farm and all rolled by a certain group of rollers. Which fly's in the face of the entire production process and political/social system. They tell us they draw test and re roll cigars that don't pass. They tell us only about half the harvested leaves pass the grade to be rolled into export cigars. 

They tell us a lot of things. The difference between what they tell us and what can be proven as truth is Massive. Some of it is intentional, most of it lack of means/incompetence. 

5 hours ago, 99call said:

As Rob has pointed out before the plan is 'whatever sells'.   that said they are prepared to stick with cigars like Sir Winstons, and Punch DC,  that only seem available every few years.   Interestingly HDM Escogidos seem to have a huge raft of fans,  although I've not sampled one, I think it's fair to assume any tobacco available to get Des Dieux back on the rolling tables, has gone to make the Escogidos.        Less cigars for more money

Exactly! even if they wanted to, thy have no financial motivation to do so. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does age play a role in the eternal Cohiba debate? Do Cohiba blends tend to need the “right” amount of aging, more so than other blends?

My (limited) impression of the medio siglo is that it seems to be smoking well young, more so than the coro or siglo I’ve tried. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Community Software by Invision Power Services, Inc.