Making Sense of the Big CC Brands

[Jerryvonkramer]

One of my enduring interests is trying to find some logic or reason to the portfolios of the bigger Cuban brands, which often feel like an opaque and even quasi-mystical mess. Here are the main ones minus Cohiba. All have a long history. Through some archeology using Cuban Cigar Website, I have worked out that most cigars have a legacy in one of three main lines (Classic, C&C and "Duty Free" Tubos), with hit cigars spawning one or two featured lines. I have not included the 1935 Monty series. C&C factory vitola names refer back to pre-2002 "machine made", a few Petit Coronas were resurrected and "bumped up" to Mareva with the tinned Retro series (Regalias, Capitols, Club Kings etc). No discontinued cigars included, but there was once, for an example Upmanns No. 1-5 following the Monty convention. Monty 3s and 5s are the only premium coronas and perlas that have survived from these brands. Almost every C&C vitola you see from Partagas also once had counter-parts in Upmann and the rest, but they've been paired down over time. Much confusion, I think, is caused by the Tubos which seem to be geared for airports, hotel lobbies and the odd wine shop that stocks cigars. These seem to exist parallel to the C&Cs which is why R&J seem like they have so many "duplicates" although they do have two premiumum marevas for some reason now (PCs and Club Kings). 

 

This is not exhaustive, but thought it might be interested for fellow enthusiasts.

[NSXCIGAR]

I wouldn't separate out anything but the tubos excluding Monte Tubos as those are closer in quality to the No. 1 and No. 4. Some of the 42 and unders are higher quality than others. I don't think you can generalize with those. Party Shorts are high quality. RyJ MF aren't bad either. 

The HU Noellas and Monte Joyitas are absolutely not a cheap and cheerful. They're extremely high quality. Epicures and Regalias are definitely cheap & cheerfuls.

Unfortunately, I don't think the quality of the Linea Retros elevates them above C & C quality although they're certainly not cheap. I think they're just putting duty free specials in tins quite frankly.

Of course this is all since the early 2000s when the quality of these "cheap and cheerfuls" could be quite high despite being machine made. I was a huge fan of Party Mille Fleur and Super Partagas in the late 90s but haven't touched them in over a decade. 

[Li Bai]

10 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

The HU Noellas and Monte Joyitas are absolutely not a cheap and cheerful.

Yeah, they aren't cheap at all, especially the joyitas considering its size...

10 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I was a huge fan of Party Mille Fleur and Super Partagas in the late 90s but haven't touched them in over a decade. 

I don't often smoke the Partagas MF as the Shorts fill the mark for me but you might want to try recent Super Partagas, they don't show much complexity but they're packed with Party DNA, I personally grab some every time we cross paths 👍

[Jerryvonkramer]

I should mention that “C&C” designation in 2024 is more legacy than reality. Something that was once a machine-made everyday cigar in the 1970s now reimagined as a premium handmade. Joyitas likely misplaced on spreadsheet though.

I’ve not tried Super Partagas but champion the Aristocrats as well as the Upmann Majestics. Both hit a spot without having much complexity, but sometimes that’s all you want.

[Nocoins]

I agree with the others that the Noellas doesn't belong in C&C, either, and it never did in its modern incarnation.  At its original pricing in 2009 (even outside of Cuba), it was a fantastic corona at a great price. 

[NSXCIGAR]

11 hours ago, Jerryvonkramer said:

I should mention that “C&C” designation in 2024 is more legacy than reality

Well, everything's relative. Under $8 is now cheap and most of the tubos and small partagas are there. Even the Linea Retros at ~$10 aren't too bad right now. Inflation has brought them into consideration and their quality is about as good as the other duty free specials. 

[Jerryvonkramer]

I’ve been wondering why Cremas and Petit Cetros are not more popular as a vitola. The two key examples are Upmann Majestics (Cremas) and Partagas Aristocrats (Petit Cetros). Both are 40 RG and give up some complexity for clean core DNA flavours. I don’t know how much is “gained” or “lost” vis a vis 40 vs 42 RG.

[Li Bai]

1 hour ago, Jerryvonkramer said:

The two key examples are Upmann Majestics (Cremas) and Partagas Aristocrats (Petit Cetros).

You should try the Super Partagas some time, you could be surprised 😉