Is it just me???

[Dave Kuck]

Friends of mine have had me try noncuban cigars indicating they thought they were great. Reviews in a well known cigar magazine appear to back up their claims. HOWEVER-everytime I try one-I feel like I am smoking a one dimensional cigar. It may have power-it may have taste-but it is lacking that special touch-that extra dimension-the complexity that states I am a real cigar.

Am I alone on this? Cubans have that something special that is just there-hard to put it into words-but for me-it is definitely there.

Your thoughts???:-)

dave

[El Presidente]

There are some non Cuban cigars which I do enjoy for a change of pace:

Padron Anny's and 1926

Fuente Don Carlos

For cheapies...ERDM Rectangulares, HDM Petit Robusto Maduro.

Early Cupido were good.

As a rule however, I find that they lack flavour complexity. They start the same way and end the same way. This can be very good...and construction is generally impeccable. It is just that I like a cigar to take me somewhere, challenge the senses, make a statement. Now I may not like where it has taken me in style or flavour...but I appreciate the expression of charachter.

This is the domain of the Habanos.

[cvm4]

Non-Cubans are very 1-D. The same taste throughout the cigar gets pretty old but good for a change of pace. My non-cuban stash is low and my cuban stash is growing :-D . Lets not forget that twang

[PigFish]

I won’t smoke NC’s. Perhaps I am one dimensional! Smoking time is my time. Why waste it with a flimsy imitator? Smoking a cigar is sort of like a blind date; each has its own mystery surrounding it. Lets just say that a Cuban cigar will take you all the way, and NC’s… well you will likely wish you stayed at home with “your” dog rather than the one you are kissing!

[Dave Kuck]

Glad to hear many others have the same thoughts.

[rspdiver]

I agree, non-Cubans do have taste. I'm sure (though I have no personal experience, I assure you) that dung has plenty of taste, also! I think the most objectionable thing for me is the sheer volume of "taste" that non's have. Perhaps if they tasted better it would be a different story... ;-) I just can't get past the horrid metallic flavors and dirty ashtray mouth taste afterwards. Couple that with prices that, in the US, match and exceed most fine Habanos, and the decision is clear. For me, it's *magic tobacco* every time!

[Ben]

The only non Cubans I've ever liked are the Hoyo Excaliburs which are Honduran from memory. Fantastic Cigars.

[Ken Gargett]

why drink sauv blanc if you can get hold of montrachet? (not that i can get hold of said montrachet but if i could...)

[dragon]

<<< Am I alone on this? Cubans have that something special that is just there-hard to put it into words-but for me-it is definitely there.>>>

It's all in your head......tobacco is tobacco :-)

[Ken Gargett]

as an analogy, if pinot noir tastes different when grown in the soils of burgundy as opposed to oregon, tassie, central otago, martinborough, russian river etc, then why shouldn't tobacco taste differently from one region to another?

why is don alejandro robaina considered the very best grower - no doubt part of it is his care and technique but i'm told he also has the prime land. i'm sure others have superb land too and this is where the human factor comes in but if you moved robaina to the other end of cuba or another island/site growing tobacco, his new efforts would probably not match what he produce now.

re the wine analogy, you then move from arguing differences in taste to arguing quality. theoretically, the pinots from these different regions are just different, not necessarily better than each other, just different. in reality, we all prefer one or the other (no reason not to enjoy and appreciate all but i'm talking about the pinnacle). most judges still see burgundy as the everest for pinot (i agree - as much as i love the wines from the other regions, i will argue this until shown otherwise), just as most see cuba the everest for tobacco. theoretically, tobacco grown in the dom rep or nicaragua or wherever is just different, not better or worse, than that from cuba but in reality, we attach our parameters of quality and rightly or wrongly (if indeed there is a right and wrong), we perceive cuban tobacco to be the best. as for the human factor of the construction of the cigar etc etc, that is another matter.

[El Presidente]

[skid11]

Good answer Ken I couldn't agree more.:-) A quote by Jonathen Futrell from his book Cigar Cool says " It's only the ingredients, the person who made it, and the person who is smoking it that really counts and if by some chance one of the three is Cuban so much the better" Discussing this is on this forum is a little like preaching to the converted and for me personally it's like El Presidentes comments that I like a bit of a cigar journey where the aroma and complexicity take you somewhere and I happen to find this in nearly all Cubans.

[Vetteman]

I believe cuban tobacco is generally considered the finest is the world.

Of course individual tastes vary, and some will prefer the taste of tobacco from other regions. The fact that something is the best, doesn't mean all others are bad. I enjoy non-cuban cigars, but more often than not I'm reaching for a habano.

[LastClicked]

There are some great domestics out there; Ok 2 so far that I think IMHO, that rival Cuban's:

JDN Antano, great smoke,

Camacho Diploma,

These are the only NC's that I currently like...I'm sure there's more out there:-P

[genevapics]

No you are not alone. I too, have a tough time trying to enjoy NC's. That said, I know there are some very good - great NC's out there. For me though, I just stay with cubans... everything else just doesn't stack up.

[Fatshotbud]

»

I still have a good inventory of Camacho 11/18 (all bought prior to second release of the Liberty line) and I enjoy these.

Also have a number of other misc - these mostly are for gifting new smokers and windy days.

Today the wind is out of the North @ 15knots.

Feel free to toss stones - :cool:

[raney]

A friend of mine recently sent an interesting taste comparison to about 40 people (He bores easily ) on another board I frequent:

Padron 1926 #35 vs. a Fonseca KDT Cadete

His point was to compare the least expensive 'totalamente a mano' cuban cigar with what is objectively one of the finest in NCs. The results are nowhere near complete, but the Cadete was leading something like 2:1 last time I checked.

I smoked both yesterday, and while neither really blew me away, the truth is that even if cost is not an object I would reach for the Fonseca 90% of the time. The Padron was, to me, like the best of the NC's: an exercise in spice and strength, but very lacking in any character or multi-dimensionality.

A very neat experiment, I think.

Short answer: no. It's not just you.

[The Privateer]

It's an accepted fact that while NCs can be very pleasant, they tend to lack the depth of Cubans. To me, what's missing is that mouth-coating sweetness and fullness of flavour that even the mildest Cubans provide.

That said, some of the best NCs are fantastic in their own right. Matured VSGs, Davidoffs etc.

[Taino]

I'm not going to enter in the "CC are best" discussion. I only smoke Cubans and I’ve tried every once in a while many NC. I have to say non of them I’ve liked and almost 90% of them I haven’t been able to finish or rather say, had a very short end.

I think might have something to do with quality of tobacco, soil weather stuff but also with Ph. I have come to think NC and my Ph don’t do well.

[strayvector]

Obviously, from all the above posts, it's not just you. Same case with me.

About 2 years ago, I was lucky enough to get a job posting in Stockholm, Sweden. For 18 months, I made 2-3 trips to the local cigar shop and picked up 2-3 different Cuban sticks to try. Doing this I was able to sample practically most of the vitolas of the more popular brands (sadly no SCdH, Fonseca, RG, and SLR). Needless to say, I became addicted to the taste profile of Cubans.

When I got back to the US, I decided do the same with the NCs and try a couple of different brands and vitolas each week and see if I can rotate some NCs into my smoking habit. I've tried a few, some I've liked and some not, but so far the only stick that I thought highly enough of to buy a box is the Padron 1926 #35 Maduro. I like the flavors, the size and the construction of this particular cigar, but when it comes down to it, of the same size, I would choose the Bolivar PC and Trinidad Reyes before the 35. The 35 however, is flawlessly constructed as are most Padron (1926, 1964) and Fuente (Anejo, Opus, VSG, Hemingway) cigars I sampled.

From all the different cigars I've tried, I definitely prefer Cubans in general. The only thing I wish, is that Habanos S.A. and Altadis would take some pointers from Padron and Fuente and provide the same flawless construction from their cigars.

[billyburg]

n/c are very 1d. I agree there are some N/C that are very good and have already been mentioned here. B ut when you try a VSG or a Padron Anny. they are of a large ring gauge and the flavor isn't aswell rounded as Cuban's of much smaller size. The leaf dosen't have the finnese of Cuban. If it's touted as being full and strong N/c are full and strong in your face, if it's ceder then it's like a ceder closet. The flavor profile dosen't change/evolve during the cigar.

The price point is also a tremedous drawback. I was recently in Philly and had forgotten my travel humidor. I went to Holt's to grab a couple for the weekend. A very nice store but$65 later I had 5 cigars that were good (VSG, padron, La Gloria Cubano Serie R, Don Carlos) but for the same price I could have got more bang for the buck w/ Cubans. They were O.K. but taught me never forget the travel humidor again!

[guilow]

I agree with the comments regarding complexity in habanos. But for me, the non cubans just don't have the great Cuban taste (some call it the 'twang'), regardless of the complexity. They all taste like metallic smoke.

[ICEMAN]

» Friends of mine have had me try noncuban cigars indicating they thought

» they were great. Reviews in a well known cigar magazine appear to back

» up their claims. HOWEVER-everytime I try one-I feel like I am smoking a

» one dimensional cigar. It may have power-it may have taste-but it is

» lacking that special touch-that extra dimension-the complexity that states

» I am a real cigar.

»

» Am I alone on this? Cubans have that something special that is just

» there-hard to put it into words-but for me-it is definitely there.

»

» Your thoughts???:-)

»

» dave STICK WITH THE CUBAN'S BRO!!!!

[smk819]

I could spend about $250 for a box of Padron Monarchas or about the same for a box of Monte #2's. the Padron is a fine cigar but no comparison with the Monte.

[Wiley]

I understand the attraction of the wine comparison, but for reasons I can't explain, I don't think it works out well.

The very best pinots may be from France, but in blind tastings some Oregon pinots have beaten high-end French pinots, and the French think enough of Oregon wines to have bought a number of the Oregon wineries. (As well as in South American.)

That's like saying Cubans might choose some Nicauraguan cigars over their own, and be buying tobacco farms there, which seems hard to imagine.

I live in the Oregon wine country, so I admit to being biased.

As far as cigars go, an occassional Honduran ERDM, with their sweet chocolateyness, is nice.

And non-Cubans are typically beautiful to look at.