Recommendations and Favorites

[Valman61]

Hey Guys,

 

Was hoping for some advice. I typically smoke 2 cigars a day. A shorter smoke in the morning and a longer one at night. Currently spend around $500 a month on cigars. Want to switch to Cubans but am having trouble finding a good combo at that price range. 
 

I typically only like medium to full bodied cigars. Any good combos to fit my budget would be greatly appreciated. 
 

I would also love to hear your favorite smokes. Kind of compiling a beginners guide to must try Cubans. 
 

thanks everyone and if this topic isn’t appropriate here I apologize. 

[99call]

I'd recommend reading through this put together by @CaptainQuintero

Bolivar Malt, barley, coffee bean, sugar cane. Usually medium/full bodied and come out swinging with big flavours.

Cuaba Ok so this comes with a big disclaimer; THEY SUCK. At least this is what that majority of people will say instantly when you bring up the C word. Generally it has a grain of truth (Possibly more) in it. I think it's mostly down to the blend being a very dry smoke, it stands out abruptly to most Cubans. You need to get hands on or hand picked to get the most out of them. The Distinguidos however seem to be the stud of the bunch, by a long shot. They are big, rich sweet and creamy. Lot's of raisin, cream, peanuts and touches of leather and fresh bread. a real superstar in a generally lacklustre line. They can go toe to toe with almost anything else.

Cohiba When I first started I was told to not touch these as I wouldn't be able to appreciate them....Ignore this and jump in. Sweet honeyed tobacco, hay and milk. Sometimes cola bean, herbal notes and lemon grass. You want hand picked when you're spending big coin on a box. The Lanceros are a classic, but to be honest there is class everywhere, pick whatever size you like. The Siglo series tend to be a bit lighter and more mellow than the rest of the brand.

Diplomaticos Not much left of this brand sadly, grab boxes of discontinued when you see them. Otherwise you're stuck with the #2. It's still a great cigar, creme fresh and cashews, milk chocolate and well creamed coffee. The only downside is if you don't like the size. Jasmine tea is been sighted on occasion.

El Rey Del Mundo Again the brand has been decimated, it specialised in long and skinny. You're left with arguably the weakest of what the brand produced but there is still a lot of enjoyment to be had. The Demi Tasse is more concentrated in flavour, the Choix Supreme is a very light and mild smoke. Expect floral syrup, tangy peach/apricot/tangerines, fromage frais/cream

Fonseca Soft mellow, a definite sugar sweetness aroma and an undertone of fresh flowers. Sometimes a bit of mushroom. Generally just velvety laid back quality tobacco.The No.1 come out as top contender, generally just good quality tobacco to go (Not unsurprisingly) with port.

Guantanamera A machine rolled travesty. Bite your fingernails or pick your nose as a viable alternative.

Hoyo de Monterrey Essentially woods and cream. If you don't like that cedar/pencil shaving style wood these may not be up your street although the Petit Robusto has the least; a real cream bomb. The Des Dieux has a solid following of those who love rich creamy cigars.

H. Upmann Rich leather, shortbread, coffee creme, sometimes chocolate digestive biscuit. You can't go wrong with any of them in all honesty

Juan Lopez If you like Port then these are going to rock your world. Heavy blackcurrent, hints of dark wood and peat. The selection #2 is probably the most consistent Cuban out there and has been for years. 

Jose L Piedra A budget brand, this doesn't mean bad. Expect rustic typical Cuban tobacco. The Petit Cazadores will surprise you with it's down to earth and honest quality

La Flor De Cano Essentially a high end budget brand now, a shadow of it's former premium self. Generally a sweet grape core, hints of floral, sometimes bread and butter pudding. Better off looking into RE releases to get a premium offering.

La Gloria Cubana Class, pure class.Sweet and rich like syrup and honey folded into porridge and cream. The #4 is a stunner, grab whatever number comes available to you.

Montecristo Coffee creme. You're going to get it in spade with these. Milk chocolate raisins and vanilla come into play more often than not. The #3 is a stunner that doesn't get much talk. The Especials are more concentrated and darker; delicious. The Open series are a marmite selection. I don't know anyone who likes them but who knows you might be one! They aren't Montecristo, it's like an introduction to mild tobacco and that's about it. I don't see the point of them beyond an experiment to see what a cigar shouldn't be.

Partagas Big flavours! Sweet spiced cream, some say paprika, I lean more towards nutmeg. Leather abounds although this tends to fade with age. Perfume and floral notes can come and play

Por Larranaga Sweet toasted tobacco, berry fruits and caramel. The Petit Corona is a stunning cigar, big and brash when young, with age they settle down into caramel sticks. Occasional roast chestnut, blueberries, rosemary. They come in a 50 cab and you will find yourself wondering if you will smoke them all. Hint- you will, and you will start picking up a fresh box when you're only half-way through the current cab.

Punch Sweet dark fruits, oak smoke and forest floor, sometimes nuts. You need a good box or they can get a little exhaust-pipe like.

Quai d'Orsay Pure subtle class. Rich custardy and nutmeg. People say they need age to develop this and while it certainly intensifies with age, I find it there from the get go. The Corona is what Cuba is all about, it gives Cohiba a run for the money. If you see the Panetela jump, don't hesitate! The new bigger releases are fine but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't try the Corona which started it all.

Quintero A budget offering like the Piedra but a lot more sweet. The Panetela is all rich hay and sweetness, it will surprise you, grab some. The Brevas are brash and in your face.

Rafael Gonzalez These hit you from left field, my experiences start off fruity coffee bean which moves to well roasted beef and then smoked cheese. Yes smoked cheese.

Ramon Allones Stewed plums and cream. Age bring these out to the fore but young you are still in for a treat. Christmas pudding in a cigar

Romeo y Julieta One of the classics. Normally the spectrum ranges from herbal and vegetal right over towards turkish delight and sickly sweet nectar-like berry/cherry jams. The best give you the full range.

San Luis Rey Sweet dark honey, stone fruits (Peach/Nectarine) and leather. If you are a fan of fruit salads then here you go ladies and gents.

San Cristobal de la Habana Buttery, rich and fragrant/floral perfume. Flies under the radar but given the chance all of the marca will give you a massive smile when you light up and see how different they are to most Cubans

Sancho Panza Talking about different to most Cubans...these are probably one of the most unusual cigars you'll ever try. Bitter high percentage dark chocolate, cream and sea salt. Yep the salty nature is probably not as surprising nowadays as salted caramels etc are all the rage but you'll love the change of pace. Pick up the Molinos if you ever see them.

Trinidad Coffee creme, cashews, creme brule, jasmine tea, walnuts. The Fundadores, Coloniales and Reyes show stunning character and intensity of flavour

Troya A machine rolled cheapie, nice and sweet, a step up from Guantanamera.

Vegas Robaina Rich tobacco, earthy cocao powder and mocha goodness.

Vegeros A relaunched economy range, decent little smokes but don't expect them to blow you away, bit of a mix between Piedra and Quintero while not particularly exceeding the best of either. Essentially basic Cuban tobacco in a range of fashionable sizes.

 

  Weeding out those flavours.

  Sometimes you just won't taste much, people all have different tasting abilities, anti histamines etc can effect it, as well as what you have recently drunk or eaten. A few helpful suggestions:

  Smoke slow, draw and as slow as possible and try to not get the cigar hot by taking fast and frequent drags. Hot = grubby and tasteless

  Grab a note pad. If you pick out a flavour write it down and next drag see if you can delve further into that flavour and see what you can identify. You might get sweet to start with, the second or third go you might pull out cotton candy or honey etc.

  Thinner ring gauge usually means more concentrated flavours, thicker means more mellow and softer. Simply put the thicker cigars have more filler tobacco used. There's a reason why Lanceros and petit coronas/dalias etc have been around for such a long time and only recently fallen foul of fashion trends. 42rg and under will generally give you a lot more intense flavour than larger cigars. If you're struggling with pulling flavours from a Cohiba Robusto then next time reach for a Lancero/Siglo 2/Corona Especial etc

  Feel free to add your own tastings! These are just from my notes and how I taste things.

[99call]

16 minutes ago, Valman61 said:

I typically only like medium to full bodied cigars

on the cheaper end of your scale, I would recommend looking at the following, they are robust, bracing little smokes with lots of flavour and charachter:

-Ramon Allones Club Coronas

-Bolivar Coronas Junior

-Por Larranaga Petit Coronas

-Upmann Half Coronas

At the expensive end you may enjoy

- Partagas 898

- Montecristo Especial, Especial No 2

- Upmann No 2, Magnum 46

- Bolivar Belicosos Finos

As an NC smoker, the easiest transition point for you maybe the Bolivar Royal Corona.   A robusto size, with sweet earthy flavours, leather and cocoa.   It may remind you of NC, but It's got that thick velvety mouthfeel of CC, with a bit of that distinctive sour twang. 

Whatever you go for enjoy!

 

[Valman61]

Thanks guys that is helpful. Seems like I have a lot to try. 

[Cayman17]

12 minutes ago, Valman61 said:

Thanks guys that is helpful. Seems like I have a lot to try. 

What brands of NC cigars do you like?  If you are looking for Padron/Tatuaje strength you may be disappointed. Cubans are much lighter, to me.  I would recommend Upmann no 2 for stronger and ERDM choix supreme for light 

[Valman61]

I smoke a lot of Arturo Fuentes anejos, opus x when I splerge, 858 maduro. I like maduro Padrons. Oliva melanios are nice. 
 

on the Cuban side my all time favorite was a monte leyenda (maybe spelled wrong). Didn’t like the open eagle. Enjoy the cohiba siglos. Don’t love Romeo y Juliette 1s. I really like a Vegas Robaina I had in Spain. Liked a Partagas serie D a lot also. Monte 2 normal are great, never tried the especiales. I basically went to spain and dropped like $300 on a wide variety of singles and 3 packs so have tried a lot. Trying to find a nice blend that fits my budget to smoke more Cubans and less NCs. 

[TTP21]

Shorter and longer make this all relative, but 60 cigars for around 500 a month?

Partagas Shorts - a 50 cab for about 225

Or

PLPC - a 50 cab for about 250

Then...

BBF - 25 for 250ish

Or if you prefer skinny's - 2 boxes of PLMC for about 200.  

RyJ Churchill can also be had in the 279-300 range if you like that.  

 

Narrow down what you mean by shorter and longer and I'm relatively confident you'll be able to accomplish what you want without issue.  My recommendation would be to grab some 6 packs and take a few months to try a bunch out before you start buying boxes.  

 

Except for PLPC, no need to try, just buy!

[Valman61]

What’s PLPC?

 

by shorter and longer I mean 30-45 min smoke in the morning and a 60-75 min smoke in the evening. Morning is typically either on my way to work or over a nice up of coffee. At night it’s my me time after the kids are asleep I unwind for an hour or so and enjoy my smoke. So I typically smoke the cheaper cigars in the morning and save the better longer ones for the night. 
 

im not overly particular about it being skinny or fat as long as it tastes good. 

[captaincaveman]

PLPC = Por Larranga Petit Corona

[JoeyBones777]

What do you mean by "shorter smoke"? To me a robusto is a shorter smoke. I tend to stay away from perlas and the like. The occasional petite corona is as small as I go.

PLPC are good but need age in my opinion. Given your NC likes I might go with Bolivar petite corona or Partagas serie D no.4 for your shorter smoke.

For the longer smoke Montecristo No.1 are great right now, so are RyJ churchill.