EAR: Big gauged NC that taste like Upmann?

[El Presidente]

EAR = Email Assistance Required  ......as I have no idea  

 

"........availability is making it  difficult here to indulge in my passion of large gauge Cuban cigars. I know you are not a fan but I am 6"6 and 140 kilos. Thin cigars don't work for me.  Here is my dilemma. There is near zero >50  gauge Cuban cigars in the local store. The NC section is now close to 80% of all offerings and the owner can bring in most things from the USA in 5-7 days. 

Can you recommend me a handfull of bigger gauge NC cigars that have a Cuban Upmann profile?"

[gustavehenne]

I find the Illusione Epernay series close to the Cuban profile or maybe the Davidoff Grand Cru line.

Neither have that stone fruit character I get oodles of with Upmann but they are kind of close…

[Kaptain Karl]

11 minutes ago, stevenhaugen said:

I find the Illusione Epernay series close to the Cuban profile or maybe the Davidoff Grand Cru line.

Neither have that stone fruit character I get oodles of with Upmann but they are kind of close…

100% agree here. I dont think you'll find it on many other lines. 

[bishop532]

Good call on the epernay especially. HVC Edicion Especial 2018, and Crowned Heads Luminosa are a couple others that might get close. 

As an aside, what do his height and weight have to do with his dislike of skinny ring gauge cigars? 

[El Presidente]

3 minutes ago, bishop532 said:

As an aside, what do his height and weight have to do with his dislike of skinny ring gauge cigars? 

He is one of those big guys that doesn't find thinner gauge profiles comfortable.  I have no idea why...... but I am not here to judge 

[NSXCIGAR]

16 minutes ago, bishop532 said:

As an aside, what do his height and weight have to do with his dislike of skinny ring gauge cigars?

Yeah, that seems like a mouth size issue. Maybe he's this guy:

[Ford2112]

I will second those Epernay cigars.

[cgoodrich]

9 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Yeah, that seems like a mouth size issue. Maybe he's this guy:

Look mom, no cavities! 😂

[Steve F]

54 minutes ago, stevenhaugen said:

I find the Illusione Epernay series close to the Cuban profile or maybe the Davidoff Grand Cru line.

Neither have that stone fruit character I get oodles of with Upmann but they are kind of close…

I had a Upmann 46 yesterday and an Illusione 888 the day before. Illusione is good but not even close to be in the same league, haven't tried Illusione Epernay but will definitely give it a try. The Upmann 46 is my first cigar and its still one of my favourite go to, that orange peel twang, just delicious.

[bishop532]

45 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

He is one of those big guys that doesn't find thinner gauge profiles comfortable.  I have no idea why...... but I am not here to judge 

I guess I can understand it. I have a friend who is roughly the same size, and he will only drive trucks or SUVs, because he feels silly driving a car. He thinks he makes the car look small. I don’t see it myself but I have plenty of weird quirks too. 

[Ford2112]

10 minutes ago, Steve F said:

I had a Upmann 46 yesterday and an Illusione 888 the day before. Illusione is good but not even close to be in the same league, haven't tried Illusione Epernay but will definitely give it a try. The Upmann 46 is my first cigar and its still one of my favourite go to, that orange peel twang, just delicious.

They won't be in the same league. Cuban tobacco is vastly different from anything else. I really do like the Illusiones though.

[Fuzz AI]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

He is one of those big guys that doesn't find thinner gauge profiles comfortable.  I have no idea why...... but I am not here to judge 

Take a box of Cuban skinnies to his local B&M with an in-house roller, ask them to re-roll them into larger RG cigars. Problem solved.

[NSXCIGAR]

Hey, what NC has the profile of a Sir Winston?

[NSXCIGAR]

4 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Take a box of Cuban skinnies to his local B&M with an in-house roller, ask them to re-roll them into larger RG cigars. Problem solved.

I like that idea. I've actually been wanting to do that. I think MdO4 would be a fantastic cigar to do that with. Turn it into a Gorditos. Or PLMC into the old Magnums.

It's not that easy. Each leaf would have to be unraveled and combined properly in the correct position. I don't know if the binder could be reused. I could probably get Carlos Fernandez to do it for me.

[garbandz]

Can you recommend a few merlots that have the taste and character of Petrus ?

Please ,nothing over 20.00.........

[Corylax18]

5 minutes ago, Lord Verulam said:

None ….this type of question is constantly asked but I feel like it’s pointless …nothing compares as much as ppl try to stretch their imaginations


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right?

I feel like if this existed, everybody would know about it already. I know there are roughly 15,000 "new" NC cigars released every year, but it seems like this would be a tough secret to keep. 

[Bill Hayes]

Maybe Oliva serie V but without the fruit and cuban twang. So no, not Oliva serie V. That is all. Ha ha!

[Steve F]

31 minutes ago, Bill Hayes said:

Maybe Oliva serie V but without the fruit and cuban twang. So no, not Oliva serie V. That is all. Ha ha!

I echo that, amount the very limited NC I tried, I found I have the feeling of smoking Cuban when I smoke Oliva V, but in the end still not as satisfy as smoking a Cuban. But I still like smoking a Oliva V very much, great flavor, construction and consistency.  

[Ford2112]

1 minute ago, Steve F said:

I echo that, amount the very limited NC I tried, I found I have the feeling of smoking Cuban when I smoke Oliva V, but in the end still not as satisfy as smoking a Cuban. But I still like smoking a Oliva V very much, great flavor, construction and consistency.  

 

Good Cigars. Better when they have rested a bit. I am actually going to try and smoke through a box over a period of a couple years to see what kind of evolution they go through.

[Ej456]

Well prez you have a dilemma on your hands not just one that tastes like a 46  or 50 maybe a 54 but a handful of all those. 

[Enduin]

I don't remember even tasting a NC with a shortbread profile, let alone stone fruit... Coffee, sure. Chocolate, no problem. But shortbread? Nope.

Regarding the gentleman's size, here is something that doesn't make sense to me: has any of you ever heard big dudes complaining that cigarettes are too small for their hands/mouths? I haven't. And cigarettes are what in the 20s RG? How is that big guys don't seem to have an issue with smoking something super small and skinny like a cigarette, but then a cigar, which even as a "skinny" is quite a bit bigger than a cigarette, that's not good...

 

 

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, Enduin said:

has any of you ever heard big dudes complaining that cigarettes are too small for their hands/mouths?

Million dollar idea: Big & Tall Man cigarettes! 

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/weight-cigarette-body-16968650.jpg

[Huckleberry]

Have him try an Upmann Hispaniola.  It’s not Cuban but it does say Upmann and it’s unique to my tastes anyway in the nc world.  Maybe the name will be a strong enough placebo to make it work for him.  It does have little to no nicotine effect so that’s a start.

[djrey]

10 hours ago, Lord Verulam said:

None ….this type of question is constantly asked but I feel like it’s pointless …nothing compares as much as ppl try to stretch their imaginations


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This. As someone who tried for years to find "Cuban like" NC smokes I firmly agree that none exist. I initially bought the hype of warped and other Aganorsa leaf products being "Cubanesque" but after smoking nearly only CC for a few years now I can see there are very few similarities. I have noticed anytime a blender makes a cigar with less pepper it is suddenly Cuban like. 

In fact I was just in a lounge the other day and a regular asked what I generally smoked. I explained I am currently most familiar with Cuban brands such as x. He got a huge chuckle and said Cuban tobacco is garbage now and hasn't been good since the early 90's. I wanted to ask him if he had ever had a 90's CC or was he spouting the same BS story I have heard regurgitated 100 times plus. I realized he is a product of marketing. "The flavors of old world habanos without the construction issues and inconsistency." 

They hate CC so much that they cant stop trying to be them and copy them. All the major tobacco producing countries have potential to produce good cigars but they are different and always will be. Not worse, different. 

[Ford2112]

Also look at how many non Cuban cigar manufacturers use names like Montecristo,Punch,Fonseca,La Aroma de Cuba.They market Cuba an awful lot in their  brands. As much as I like variety and smoke Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars on occasion,nothing compares to Cuban tobacco. People call it twang. Whatever you can  it,it's simply my favorite.