FOH Parallel Burns - Episode 1 - H.Upmann Magnum 46 & MOFOH Spada Gorda

[MoeFOH]

 

 

[ElLoboLoco]

Nice, I will watch this weekend and smoke along.👍🏼

[JDoughty]

That was awesome. The sheer audacity of putting up a ROTT 8 week old cigar against a Cuban classic with years of age and rest, and it absolutely held its ground. That is impressive AF and speaks highly of their confidence level in this cigar. I haven't tried my Spada Gorda yet but this definitely puts it on the priority list.

I would love to see the Bond Roberts 109 #1 go up against a Monte #2. I smoked them on successive days (fully rested 2022 M2, ROTT BR1) and the first half of the BR completely blew the Monte away in terms of rich, juicy smoke volume, complex and delicious evolving flavors. The second half did a pretty good imitation of the Monte with similar flavor notes but still more complexity. Basically all the chocolate and coffee and cedar and leather plus more cream and hints of stone fruit. The Monte #2 did have much more of that classic Cuban 'twang', but the BR1 equaled or exceeded it on all other counts for elegance, balance and complexity. Having some BR1 and Fab5 stashed very much eases the pain of not being able to get any more of my Cuban faves for the foreseeable future. And when I want to buy more I can without worrying that they're going to be plugged, confiscated, tariffed to high heaven or rolled by prison labor. At least I think they aren't, unless there are big secrets @El Presidente isn't telling us. 😆

[Chibearsv]

Bravo gents!  I appreciate the time it took to put this together. Spada Gorda is one of my favorites. I burned through my first bundle months ago and I’m sitting on a couple knowing they will age wonderfully. Cheers

[qs210]

I guess I need to add the Spadas to the shopping list.

[Hoosh]

Great video! I absolutely love the fact that six people essentially said what most NC smokers know to be true – that you can go to the store and make a purchase, go wherever to smoke your cigar and enjoy it’s flavors, potential, complexities, combustion, etc. without having to hide it away in a humidor and hope five years later you remember the details about it. Of course, not all NC are like that and some NC do get better with age, but as a couple of the guys found out, not all CC are great after that waiting period of hoping they will get better with age. 

I would have loved a little touch on the strength subject of each cigar, as my own personal preference leans toward stronger, bolder, cigars, and I’ve smoked neither, but have read quite a few things on such.

Again, great job! Hopefully, this becomes a multi part video series. It’s one that I would definitely watch!

[joeypots]

I smoked a Spada Gorda this afternoon while driving. Just like the cigar I smoked in the video without the smoking two cigars at the same time flavor cross over. It's a good cigar, no doubt, and box worthy all day long.

[TomsRibs210]

This was really terrific.

[qs210]

On 10/11/2025 at 4:35 AM, qs210 said:

I guess I need to add the Spadas to the shopping list.

Arrived today. Now to let them rest...

[Gubbins]

Next up. Hoyo DC vs Bond Roberts 109 #1.

RyJ Churchill vs Fab5 Churchill?

HUHC vs Sovereign Suns?

What’s potentially in the mix?

[El Presidente]

8 hours ago, Gubbins said:

Next up. Hoyo DC vs Bond Roberts 109 #1.

RyJ Churchill vs Fab5 Churchill?

HUHC vs Sovereign Suns?

What’s potentially in the mix?

Coming up (once I get my arse into gear). 

 

Robusto Trinity V D4 or Epi 2. 

BR 109 V HDM DC

Nudies Piramide V Monte 2

Nudies Ninfa V Nudies Ninfa 

 

Hammy gets back from Honduras next week. We will work out the invites and mailouts then 

[FOHgetaboutit]

Battle of the Nudies! I’m here for the Monte N2 showdown parallel. 

[ElLoboLoco]

Fabrica5 /BR has pretty much everything I need covered and I love it. Maybe a Canonazo LE with a Maduro wrapper with a touch more oomph. 😅

 

[NYGuido]

17 hours ago, ElLoboLoco said:

Fabrica5 /BR has pretty much everything I need covered and I love it. Maybe a Canonazo LE with a Maduro wrapper with a touch more oomph. 😅

 

I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Cubans for us Americans are going to start having to be only a sometimes thing. Prices. Tariffs. Shipping. QC issues. It’s hard to be a CC lover in the US right now, and I’m not like some folks here with hundreds or thousands of boxes I can pull from. Add in the morality issues like prison labor, overall island conditions, and it’s quite a conundrum. 

The Fab5 line so far gives me a lot of similar flavor cues without those issues, and I’m excited to try my BR sticks and see if they do the same. Other fantastic NW brands out there doing interesting things, too. So, while it’s a hard time to be a lover of Cubans, it feels like there’s never been a better moment to love cigars overall. 

[ElLoboLoco]

14 hours ago, NYGuido said:

I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Cubans for us Americans are going to start having to be only a sometimes thing. Prices. Tariffs. Shipping. QC issues. It’s hard to be a CC lover in the US right now, and I’m not like some folks here with hundreds or thousands of boxes I can pull from. Add in the morality issues like prison labor, overall island conditions, and it’s quite a conundrum. 

The Fab5 line so far gives me a lot of similar flavor cues without those issues, and I’m excited to try my BR sticks and see if they do the same. Other fantastic NW brands out there doing interesting things, too. So, while it’s a hard time to be a lover of Cubans, it feels like there’s never been a better moment to love cigars overall. 

Fabrica5 has completely eliminated the “missing/yearning” of the habanos for me personally. Habanos S.A. is not gonna change.

[joeypots]

21 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Robusto Trinity V D4 or Epi 2.

Works for me. 

[FOHgetaboutit]

On 10/29/2025 at 10:03 AM, NYGuido said:

I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Cubans for us Americans are going to start having to be only a sometimes thing. Prices. Tariffs. Shipping. QC issues. It’s hard to be a CC lover in the US right now, and I’m not like some folks here with hundreds or thousands of boxes I can pull from. Add in the morality issues like prison labor, overall island conditions, and it’s quite a conundrum. 

The Fab5 line so far gives me a lot of similar flavor cues without those issues, and I’m excited to try my BR sticks and see if they do the same. Other fantastic NW brands out there doing interesting things, too. So, while it’s a hard time to be a lover of Cubans, it feels like there’s never been a better moment to love cigars overall. 

There is much truth in these words. 

[targa88]

On 10/29/2025 at 12:43 PM, El Presidente said:

Coming up (once I get my arse into gear). 

 

Robusto Trinity V D4 or Epi 2. 

BR109 V HDM DC

Nudies Piramide V Monte 2

Nudies Ninfa V Nudies Ninfa 

 

Hammy gets back from Honduras next week. We will work out the invites and mailouts then 

Definitely looking forward to BR109 vs HDM DC.

[NYGuido]

This was freaking amazing!

[rascalmonkey]

I got gifted a 5-pack of the Spadas from @qs210 and I was blown away!!! Way better than them raggedy Mag 46's + better than the other two MOFOH's I've had: the Trinity Robusto + the PC. I've gotta say I gave up on NC's more than 20 yrs ago, but these Spadas changed my mind!!!!