FOH: "Straight Cut” Questions

[El Presidente]

 

FOH: "Straight Cut” is a new series of short video (2 mins) where I answer member questions as they come up. You can ask me anything relating to the cigar world be it Habanos/NC/Bond Roberts/Industry/Hobby/Myths/Numbnuts...anything. 

I will start filming them this week. Post your questions here. Think about it. One Question per member.  Once that question has been covered in a shoot, you can post another. 

[DeeBeezy]

What Cuban cigar should I be stacking up on now? And why?

(Smoking purposes only.)

[Chas.Alpha]

Is “Sweetness” a good thing or a bad thing when judging a cigar?

Yours Truly,

CAH

[HailState]

What highly praised Habanos cigar do you keep trying to “get” but never do no matter what year/box code you smoke from?

[zacca]

Lengthy one but bear with me…I think you’ll get what I’m putting down here.

I’m trying to understand how Cuban cigars maintain a consistent “marca DNA” over time, given how variable tobacco is as an agricultural product.

You’ve got a ton of moving parts:

- Weather and growing conditions varying year to year

- Different farms/regions supplying leaf

- Fermentation differences

- Tobacco age (some components older than others)

Yet cigars like Cohiba, Montecristo, Trinidad, H. Upmann, etc. still aim to deliver a recognizable profile.

A few things I’m curious about:

1) Blending responsibility

- Do Cuban marcas have dedicated master blenders tied to each marca, or is it centralized?

- How much continuity is there in who is actually responsible for maintaining that profile?

2) Leaf sourcing & inputs

- Do blenders know (or care) exactly which farms/regions their leaf is coming from each year?

- Or is the goal simply to hit a target flavor profile regardless of source?

3) How blending decisions are made

- When new tobacco comes in, is the blend adjusted continuously?

- Or are blends more “set” and only tweaked periodically (e.g., annually or by crop)?

4) Consistency vs variation

- Are they actively trying to match prior years as closely as possible?

- Or is some year-to-year variation expected/accepted as part of the product?

5) Good runs vs bad runs

When we talk about certain years or box codes being “better” or “worse,” how would you weight the drivers?

- Blend decisions

- Tobacco quality (crop/curing/fermentation)

- Factory/roller execution

Is one of these typically the biggest factor, or does it depend on the situation?

 

Net-net, I’m trying to understand how much of what we experience as smokers is intentional blending control vs natural variability of the inputs.

Would love your perspective on how Habanos actually manages this behind the scenes.

[Marco_011t556]

19 hours ago, zacca said:

Lengthy one but bear with me…I think you’ll get what I’m putting down here.

I’m trying to understand how Cuban cigars maintain a consistent “marca DNA” over time, given how variable tobacco is as an agricultural product.

You’ve got a ton of moving parts:

- Weather and growing conditions varying year to year

- Different farms/regions supplying leaf

- Fermentation differences

- Tobacco age (some components older than others)

Yet cigars like Cohiba, Montecristo, Trinidad, H. Upmann, etc. still aim to deliver a recognizable profile.

A few things I’m curious about:

1) Blending responsibility

- Do Cuban marcas have dedicated master blenders tied to each marca, or is it centralized?

- How much continuity is there in who is actually responsible for maintaining that profile?

2) Leaf sourcing & inputs

- Do blenders know (or care) exactly which farms/regions their leaf is coming from each year?

- Or is the goal simply to hit a target flavor profile regardless of source?

3) How blending decisions are made

- When new tobacco comes in, is the blend adjusted continuously?

- Or are blends more “set” and only tweaked periodically (e.g., annually or by crop)?

4) Consistency vs variation

- Are they actively trying to match prior years as closely as possible?

- Or is some year-to-year variation expected/accepted as part of the product?

5) Good runs vs bad runs

When we talk about certain years or box codes being “better” or “worse,” how would you weight the drivers?

- Blend decisions

- Tobacco quality (crop/curing/fermentation)

- Factory/roller execution

Is one of these typically the biggest factor, or does it depend on the situation?

 

Net-net, I’m trying to understand how much of what we experience as smokers is intentional blending control vs natural variability of the inputs.

Would love your perspective on how Habanos actually manages this behind the scenes.

Wow, I love the questions. And some more from my side:

1) Why would Cuba stop launching some discontinued cigar which were really good? I don't think those tobacco leaves/farms disappeared forever?

 

[Li Bai]

According to you, what's going to happen to the Cigar World when/whether the US embargo on Cuba is lifted?

[SonGoku]

Any plans on shipping Fabrica 5 cigars out of Europe? If no, would you consider it?

[Joeyjojo]

Has creating your own blends changed the way you view and taste cigars?

[feernot]

My question is why does it seem like Fabrica5 is the only brand/blender that's overtly trying to replicate/mimic Cuban cigars? I've smoked a lot of "Cubanesque" New World cigars trying to find exactly what Fabrica5 does for me. It just kind of shocked me that I haven't experienced it before smoking Fabrica5 and makes me wonder why that is? Unless you're going to tell me that you and Hamlet are just special and nobody else can do it. 😉

[Ruggerpgh99]

Will we ever get more of the blend details on the Fabrica5 Nudie/Mofo Lineup? Any other information on the blends would be really cool to understand. 

[JDoughty]

Will there be more cigar blends/vitolas out of Fabrica 005, Bond Roberts or anything else by you and Hamlet any time soon? They're like Pokemon, gotta catch 'em all. Tasty, tasty Pokemon. 😄

[Chibearsv]

@zacca 

[Dlowil]

What’s the best vitola one should smoke to understand what a specific marca is trying to accomplish from a flavor perspective?

[Çnote]

9 minutes ago, Dlowil said:

What’s the best vitola one should smoke to understand what a specific marca is trying to accomplish from a flavor perspective?

Corona 

[zacca]

7 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

@zacca 

Better to ask forgiveness than permission! 

[El Presidente]

Love the questions lads. 

This should be a great series. 

[Li Bai]

Another one for you, me not being much of an NC guy (at least until I discovered Fab5), I've heard lots of things about seeds from NC manufacturers.

I thought that differences came from terroir for years but what about the types of seeds according to you?

[Garand]

How do you age cigars long term? 
 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

1.  What will Habanos and/or the whole cigar industry be like in 2050?  

2.  Will cigar smoking become so restrictive that it's no longer a viable industry?

3.  Do you think Habanos would ever lower wholesale prices in order to gain back lost shelf space and market share?

[AshMe Nothing]

If you had to smoke 1 NC regular production cigar for the rest of your days, what would it be???

[Chas.Alpha]

I want this to be my real question: Grey Market. Where do these cigars come from? Rejects from the PSP days? Oops! Habana accidentally made too many Cohiba Esplendidos?

Enquiring minds want to know…🤔

[Puros Y Vino]

Rob. You strike me as someone who has his "affairs in order".  My question to you is: which one cigar is going to accompany you to the afterlife? Whether it resides in a casket or urn. Feel free to indicate if a specific wine or spirit will accompany it.

[joeypots]

Do Cuban fresh cigars age differently than those made ten or more years ago? 

[Malt]

Rob, 2 part question...

When you started in 1996 did you see what you have today being your destination?

Today's world being so much different than 1996 is it feasible for anyone to start a cigar lounge like you did then?

Tim