RE: Worst Habanos smoked this year...

[genevapics]

Rob brought up a good point about the inconsitency with habanos, something I am afraid we are all to familiar with. I have a couple of addtional questions regarding inconsistency :

If you listed a cigar as being your "Worst Cigar this Year", do you own a box of this particular cigar? If so, have you ever had a good/great cigar from this box? Were the cigars better when you first put them into your humidor or were they bad from the start?

Another question along this line: In your experience, what marca(s)/vitola(s) is consistent from box to box? Not necessarily the best cigar, but the most consistent throughout your smoking life?

[Ken Gargett]

excellent post. mine were cuaba salomones and they have come from various sources - rob, cuba and a store in spain. all crap - so far. i still have a few left and will be interested to see what happens. thinking of burying them in deep storeage for a decade. can't hurt.

but i think it an important point. was talking to rob yesterday about this and pointed out that i am 2/3rds of the way through a box of SLR churchills from '97 that have been extraordinarily inconsistent. some have been bog average, some acceptable and some very good to excellent. probably breaks down into a third each.

i wonder what age does to consistency. with wine, at least under cork, a case of young wine should taste similar (unless any noticably corked and the likelihood is one or two will be - under screwcap all should be consistent). after a few years in the cellar, they can vary wildly. under screwcap, expect them to be consistent again. i, for no apprarent reason, assumed that the opposite might be true with cigars and that age might make a box come closer in taste. obviously not so.

i have just posted on partagas P2's. from what i am seeing across the forum, these just might be the most inconsistent of all. tampa has also identified the problems with cohiba esplendidos.

it is a problem.

[Tampa1257]

Ken, I have read the replies concerning quite a few of the worst cigars smoked, I have not had a bad cigar in such a long time that I honestly can not reply to that thread.

What makes me scratch my head is the thought of IF those people have allowed the cigars to actually stabilize for a period of time in a 63-65% Rh humidor? I have found that the longer I keep my cigars in a cool place at that level of humidity, that they smoke wonderfully. It just must be my impression that people are smoking the cigars way too soon after they get them and the cigars have not had a chance to stabilize, or they are keeping the cigars too wet.

The consistency issue is real, and I mentioned the Espléndidos as an example that I know of, but the Partagás P2 which I have smoked a couple of boxes of 10 now have all been consistently good to stellar.

[El Presidente]

The most consistent cigar currently made without question is the Saint Luis Rey Double Corona. No contest.

I have had bad cigars turn around but only when they had the oil component to do so. Dry cigars will remain dogs for life. I have personally experienced many times something I detested at 2-4 years of age only to think it has been blessed by God at 5-8 years of age. Time & CONSISTENT STORAGE CONDITIONS are the key. I talk here only of Cuban cigars as I have little experience with other Non Cubans.

Ken mentioned having a mixed bag of cigars out of the box. Some exceptional, some ordinary etc etc. We have all experienced it.

Give some thought however to how difficult it is to perfectly regulate our smoking experience.

: Has each cigar had identical moisture / temp setting.

: Ambient environmental condition. Outdoors/indoors/temp/ breeze

: What mood are you in?

: What are you drinking, What have you eaten?

: Beginnings or tail end of influenza? Not feeling quite right? Don't even know you are not feeling quite right?

Not as easy as it appears ;-)

[habanohal]

I am a firm beliver that a cigar is going to tase differant by what you had to eat or drink dureing the day. MOre so on what you recently had before smokeing.

I never had a bad tasteing cigar after a great PRime Rib dinner, or a greasy double bacon cheese burger.

But then, I never had a cigar taste really good after a sub sandwhich, or eating cold cuts

[Ken Gargett]

» The most consistent cigar currently made without question is the Saint

» Luis Rey Double Corona. No contest.

»

» I have had bad cigars turn around but only when they had the oil component

» to do so. Dry cigars will remain dogs for life. I have personally

» experienced many times something I detested at 2-4 years of age only to

» think it has been blessed by God at 5-8 years of age. Time & CONSISTENT

» STORAGE CONDITIONS are the key. I talk here only of Cuban cigars as I

» have little experience with other Non Cubans.

»

» Ken mentioned having a mixed bag of cigars out of the box. Some

» exceptional, some ordinary etc etc. We have all experienced it.

»

» Give some thought however to how difficult it is to perfectly regulate our

» smoking experience.

» : Has each cigar had identical moisture / temp setting.

» : Ambient environmental condition. Outdoors/indoors/temp/ breeze

» : What mood are you in?

» : What are you drinking, What have you eaten?

» : Beginnings or tail end of influenza? Not feeling quite right? Don't even

» know you are not feeling quite right?

»

» Not as easy as it appears ;-)

certainly agree re the SLR DC as the only variation there is from very very good to exceptional.

interestingly, the box i was talking about was another SLR, the churchills. most have been smoked at home, relaxing in the same chair, in front of the footy or something like that with a rum. very little variation there which supports those who believe that there is too much consistency.

[SGS714]

El Presidente is absolutly correct. All his points affect the smoking experience with an accent on the taste. It took me years to figure out what he articulated in one paragraph. I would like to add that I read about a guy who changed his antiperserant (spelling?) and it totally changes his perception of cigar taste. Great post!!