Questions from the floor

[El Presidente]

Hamlet has flown back in and will be on FOH Zoom tomorrow for a interective session that will be recorded. 

I look forward to hosting the session and will canvass as many areas as we can within the hour session. 

On this thread, please post any questions that you will like covered. Don't be shy 

[Chas.Alpha]

A suggestion; I’m sure this was discussed during the master class sessions, but starting off with a brief overview on what Hamlet’s nose is looking for when seeking particular flavors. I’ve smelled cured tobacco and mostly it smelled like ammonia and tobacco. 🤔

Maybe I should have shared that with you before you picked me for the ‘23 tasting panel?…😀

[rascalmonkey]

pat that guy on the back for me....I just had an N4 over the weekend that was amaaazing

[westg]

No questions on blends 😎🌴

[El Presidente]

2 hours ago, westg said:

No questions on blends 😎🌴

I am always a little circumspect on this area 

You work so bloody hard to blend from "good" to "great".......I hate giving anyone else a competitive leg up. 

How about we disclose a few things. Just a few 

[Fuzz]

7 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

How about we disclose a few things. Just a few 

I hear you are using tobacco....

[El Presidente]

3 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

I hear you are using tobacco....

....I tell you one thing and you go and spill the beans .....

[Ybor]

Could you discuss the differences in approach/technique between rolling a lancero vs. a canonazo?

Could you discuss ways to visually or physically identify whether a cigar is rolled well vs. a cigar that is plugged?

Could you discuss the approach to blending the nudies? What makes the nudies blend more mellow and with more subtle and complex flavors compared to other NC?

Any fun stories to share of Rob and the FOH crew?

[saltbox]

4 hours ago, Ybor said:

Could you discuss the approach to blending the nudies? What makes the nudies blend more mellow and with more subtle and complex flavors compared to other NC?

This! Without revealing blend details, what allowed you to create something so unlike what else is on the NC market? I’ve tried almost everything, and every new NC cigar tastes like something else I’ve had, so I was shocked by what Nudies had managed to accomplish. I have some weak guesses but I just don’t get the notes I typically find characteristic to different country’s tobaccos (Nicaragua, DR, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Connecticut, Ecuador, etc). 

[Perla]

What is the inspiration about the blend?

What is the architecture behind the Nudies? 
Do you have fun when you all (team) create the nudies? Is it bubbling bubble? A fountain of ideas? Or is it something you always want to do?

[soutso]

I have not posted much over the last few years but I do occasionally log in. The Mareva size is simply the most perfect sized cigar I've had the pleasure to hold. This Nudie range is the best cigar related thing/news/product I've experienced in several years. I just want to say sincerely,  thanks. 

[99call]

What are Hamlets favourite NC's?.......apart from Nudies of course

[Puros Y Vino]

Hamlet has mentioned several times that when he smokes he doesn't really pick up on flavours like some do here.  Cream, dark chocolate, cherry, etc.  If that is the case, what is he tasting exactly?  How is he so successful with blending?  I've tried many of his Cuban customs and they are all vastly different and I can't believe that is just the different vitolas.  Even in the few NC's of his I've had.  Very distinct from each other. 

[Puros Y Vino]

Another one just came to mind.  Before he jumped to the US, I ran into Hamlet at a Cuban restaurant in Toronto; Jan 2015 IIRC.  I had no idea he was going to the US and he hadn't said anything either.  My question is. I heard that he had contemplated moving his family into Canada (Toronto) most likely.  What kind of opportunities was he looking at as part of his decision to go stay in Canada or go to the US?  I suspect a lot of it had to do with Canada's draconian tobacco laws, but nonetheless. I'd like to hear his thoughts. 

[Corylax18]

7 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Hamlet has mentioned several times that when he smokes he doesn't really pick up on flavours like some do here.  Cream, dark chocolate, cherry, etc.  If that is the case, what is he tasting exactly?  How is he so successful with blending?  I've tried many of his Cuban customs and they are all vastly different and I can't believe that is just the different vitolas.  Even in the few NC's of his I've had.  Very distinct from each other. 

Cuban's in general laugh quite hard at the tourista's who ask for a cigar that "tastes like chocolate" or "tastes like peanut butter." They literally laugh out loud, mostly behind our backs, but they're doing it. 

I've spoken to several blenders in Cuba and it breaks down to what our tongues taste. Bitter, Sour, Sweet, Salty. I've heard several discuss "fortaleza" or strength, but others have told me its tough to change the strength of a blend without changing the flavor at the same time. A good blend is more than the sum of its parts, but the math to get there takes years, decades of experience to master. They arent blending Monte to get chocolate, they arent blending Cohiba to get grass. They're looking for a certain balance of Bitter, sour, sweet, and salty, with the right strength. 

[Corylax18]

What are the biggest differences that Hamlet has noticed working in Cuban Cigar industry Vs. Non Cuban Industries?

I think the resources/investment available in the NC world are orders of magnitude more than the CC world, how does that affect your approach towards work each morning?

 

[gormag38]

The first thing that jumped to my mind was asking for some stories about his experience in the tobacco industry. What was his time like learning the trade while in Cuba? Any stories (good, bad, funny) that he could share about his time there and how it contrast to the NC worldi? Lastly, I would love to know if he would ever have any desire to work with Cuban leaf again? Are there some qualities that he just cant seem to find in NC leaf that he could find easily in Cuban leaf?  Or vice-versa?

[gormag38]

Just now, Corylax18 said:

What are the biggest differences that Hamlet has noticed working in Cuban Cigar industry Vs. Non Cuban Industries?

Yes. Basically what my question was getting at. Good timing sir. 

[hawkeye5050]

I have wanted to understand this for many years.

Could a blender make a handful of amazing cigars from top tier tobaccos (ingredients) that would be the best thing you ever smoked but not something that could economically scale?

Let's use hamburgers as an example... 

Quality Levels

1. McDonalds (for example)  - will make a hamburger sourced from ingredients that are available for world wide production.
2. Shake Shack (for example) -  will make a White Truffle Burger that is available in select metro areas for a limited time because that is what the ingredient sourcing allows.
3. Your local gastropub - will make you a great burger with local seasonal ingredients better than the above.
4. A great chef - privately makes the "worlds best" burger with the scraps from dinner service's 45-day dry aged beef, some artisanal foie gras and truffles foraged by a pig he personally knows.

Making the level #4 burger is technically easy for the chef's skills, its just a function of time & ingredients. However it can't go on the menu as it would cost $100 and wont sell enough or slow down the kitchen, so the economics break and #3 will always be the best for the general public.

Is it the same for cigars? Can a blender easily make a level #4 cigar for themselves but it just wont scale bringing it to market? If so are great cigars for us just as much dependent on economics as tobacco?

 

[alephilmac]

6 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Hamlet has mentioned several times that when he smokes he doesn't really pick up on flavours like some do here.  Cream, dark chocolate, cherry, etc.  If that is the case, what is he tasting exactly?  How is he so successful with blending?  I've tried many of his Cuban customs and they are all vastly different and I can't believe that is just the different vitolas.  Even in the few NC's of his I've had.  Very distinct from each other. 

Plus one.