Who said NCs were shit?

[MontrealRon]

Very nice Alan! That cigar was on my short list and did not make the cut for this recent spree. Now I want some of these!

You won't go wrong, my friend - go for it!

I'm halfway through my first of two boxes bought a couple of years ago,

and every cigar has been brilliant.

The 2002's are still currently available, as are the#3's and #4's.

[Cambridge1]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post on this forum, but I have been a video review fan for some time now. I noticed this forum thread late last Friday night, and it was particularly interesting to me because I had just had a similar discussion with a smoking buddy earlier that night.

I started getting serious about cigars 2 years ago, and my cigar story is probably pretty common for an American. I started off with mild Dominicans then progressed into stronger NC’s and super premium NC’s, and finally Cubans. I too love an occasional NC like a Padron, Tatuaje, Illusione or Litto Gomez. But, the incredible complexity, balance, and richness of flavor you get from a Cuban, in my opinion, can’t be denied. The only other way I can describe it is to say that Cuban cigars have a certain multi-level favor density that NC’s don’t have.

The other major differences for me are about the smoothness of the Cuban cigar and the long finish. Most NC’s tend to have this harshness that sometimes degrades the experience for me, and the finish is usually a lot shorter.

I have yet to encounter a construction issue with the Cubans I’ve purchased, but all of my cigars are from 08 and 09.

Regarding the American cigar market and the NC rhetoric about Cuban cigars. One of the largest online cigar retailers in the US has a help section, which contains a cigar 101 tutorial. In that tutorial the following information about the Cuban cigar industry exists. Here are a few gems.

“Cuban brands, of course, are often heralded as the world's best. Sadly, while the Cuban “mystique” and hype still exists among the general public, the reality is that the “forbidden fruit” Cuban cigars cannot hold a candle to most of the top-tier brands coming out of countries such as Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. “

“Today, the Cuban cigar industry is merely a shadow of what it once was.”

“Consistently, the quality of cigars from such countries outside of Cuba has improved to the point where they are truly superior, on average, to Cuban cigars (even despite the ideal climate that exists in Cuba).”

I used to think that NC’s and CC’s were very similar and watched videos of people correctly identifying the Cuban and wondering how they could do that amazing task. But, after buying boxes of Cuban cigars and touching, smelling and smoking them, I realized that they are completely different and very easy to identify.

Thanks for the great thread.