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Top 5 Cuban Non Cubans

wrussell46

wrussell46

Humble Arrogance
Joined
Dec 24, 2022
Messages
829
For many, myself included, CC are still the standard. When you smoke a quality Cuban it’s an experience that is truly hard to beat.

I’m curious what cigars other members have smoked that top the charts as their most Cuban-esq Non Cuban?

From my Journal:
- Caldwell Anastasia Caspia Green Label (Corona Gorda)
- Highclere Castle Victoria Robusto
- Alec Bradley Fine and Rare 2019 Toro
- Room 101 Trick or Treat aka The Naked Booth PCC October 2021 Exclusive
- Illusione Haut 10 Toro
 
wrussell46 said:
For many, myself included, CC are still the standard. When you smoke a quality Cuban it’s an experience that is truly hard to beat.

I’m curious what cigars other members have smoked that top the charts as their most Cuban-esq Non Cuban?

From my Journal:
- Caldwell Anastasia Caspia Green Label (Corona Gorda)
- Highclere Castle Victoria Robusto
- Alec Bradley Fine and Rare 2019 Toro
- Room 101 Trick or Treat aka The Naked Booth PCC October 2021 Exclusive
- Illusione Haut 10 Toro
Click to expand...
I am with you on the Caldwell Anastasia Caspia Green band 💯
 
Great thread. I’d love to see more comments from vets. I love the typical Cuban profile but haven’t found it much outside that isle. Maybe some Illusiones. The old Camacho Havana yellow box was close, but more peppery than most Cubans. Still nice for the price. The new Camacho Criollo is nothing close.

Favorite cigars ever were Trinidad Lancero, PSD4, RyJ, and Montecristo.

That being said, it seems like strength, pepper, and spice have dominated the NC industry for a long time. Bigger rg too. Which is all the opposite of what I like — medium body, subtle notes, complexity, smaller rg like coronas.
 
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One of my favorite cigar quotes is, "Cubanesque only means that it's not Cuban." 🤣However, I do enjoy the thought experiment...

-Almost anything done by Curivari, but especially the Gloria de Leon and El Gran Rey
-Regius Black Label, probably because it was originally blended for the European market
-Illusiones that lean into the floral notes, specifically the Fume d'Amour, Epernay, and ECCJ

As always, taste is in the palate of the taster. An aspect I appreciate about Cuban tobacco is that my palate isn't wrecked afterward, so I often attribute that as a Cubanesque characteristic.
 
Have to add a new mention to the Padron Soberano '64th Anniversary. Not sure if I've been asleep for years but I just had one and it is seriously good. I'm sure someone here will tell me I've overslept for the past ??? years, but it is so different for the normal ( is there sure a thing ) "64 I thought I found Tut's tomb.
 
I could take the band off a LADC Double E and hand it to the biggest Habanophile I know and he wouldn't doubt for a second he was smoking a Cuban cigar.

ETA: Just went to see how much they're running these days box-wise and came across some disappointing news.. apparently there was a brand change and the cigar changed in 2020.. and from what I'm seeing, not a change for the good.

Anyway, I'm referring to the pre-2020 Double E... GD it.. I hate when they mess up a perfectly good fucking cigar! I bet that's when they changed up the Mi Amor Reserva too. I noticed the newer version at my B&M looks like this now:

6BE-PM-1003.png

Those are now shit too. If you can find one, or more, these are the ones to buy.. and buy them all:

20230620_211534.jpg

The ones that have both the "Mi Amor" AND "Reserva" on the same band, are the ones you want. They're not making them anymore. They started as a stand-alone brand harkening back to the 1800s. I had my first Double E in 2013.. and it actually had "Ashton" on the band too.

When I went back to that B&M hankering for another one, I couldn't find it and bought something else. While paying, was shooting the breeze with owner about the cigar I chose (as a regular I pay for everything after smoking/drinking) and then groused about them being out of the Double E (any extra boxes are kept on floor underneath, so lack of box had me thinking that). That's when he was like, oh, it's not in the Ashton section anymore and the band is different.

Anyway, apparently Ashton bought the rights to the name and resurrected them. If you ever watched Boardwalk Empire, in one of the earlier episodes, Nucky is at a store on the Boardwalk, and they show him with a LADC cigar from the original boxes. I always thought that was cool.

Since Ashton, it's been apparently bought and sold from the Garcia Family as well (Pepin & Jaime). So I don't know what's up with it now with the recent changes in 2020. But idk why they keep fucking with the cigars as they have been hits already as is. It's reminiscent of the "New Coke" fiasco. Simple rule... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I'll wrap with this, if you find a pre-2020 Double E, buy it/them. If you see the original Mi Amor Reserva's like I have above, buy it/them. And last, if you don't have the bread or don't care for the brand.. at least message me with the link to it/them and I'll buy them! And I'll send you a nice little thank you reward for your effort! 🙌👍
 
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@xyz123 you got me curious about the EE because I’d had the newer Edicion Especiale and didn’t find it that cubanesque. Too peppery, like a lighter version of standard Garcia stuff.

I came across this:
It still uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers, but the new blend is designed to be a bit stronger.
Click to expand...

I don’t know why makers feel like they have to amp up the strength on everything. I’m glad we have lots of options and I chased the full strength, spicy, peppery dragons for years but finally realized the smokes I enjoy the most are medium, with lots of complexity, changing flavor, and never overpowering.
 
wrussell46 said:
For many, myself included, CC are still the standard. When you smoke a quality Cuban it’s an experience that is truly hard to beat.

I’m curious what cigars other members have smoked that top the charts as their most Cuban-esq Non Cuban?

From my Journal:
- Caldwell Anastasia Caspia Green Label (Corona Gorda)
- Highclere Castle Victoria Robusto
- Alec Bradley Fine and Rare 2019 Toro
- Room 101 Trick or Treat aka The Naked Booth PCC October 2021 Exclusive
- Illusione Haut 10 Toro
Click to expand...
Sobremesa brulee blue, illusione epeny 10th anniversary, anejo af, curivari de leon, le arma de cuba
 
xyz123 said:
I could take the band off a LADC Double E and hand it to the biggest Habanophile I know and he wouldn't doubt for a second he was smoking a Cuban cigar.

ETA: Just went to see how much they're running these days box-wise and came across some disappointing news.. apparently there was a brand change and the cigar changed in 2020.. and from what I'm seeing, not a change for the good.

Anyway, I'm referring to the pre-2020 Double E... GD it.. I hate when they mess up a perfectly good fucking cigar! I bet that's when they changed up the Mi Amor Reserva too. I noticed the newer version at my B&M looks like this now:

View attachment 76520

Those are now shit too. If you can find one, or more, these are the ones to buy.. and buy them all:

View attachment 76521

The ones that have both the "Mi Amor" AND "Reserva" on the same band, are the ones you want. They're not making them anymore. They started as a stand-alone brand harkening back to the 1800s. I had my first Double E in 2013.. and it actually had "Ashton" on the band too.

When I went back to that B&M hankering for another one, I couldn't find it and bought something else. While paying, was shooting the breeze with owner about the cigar I chose (as a regular I pay for everything after smoking/drinking) and then groused about them being out of the Double E (any extra boxes are kept on floor underneath, so lack of box had me thinking that). That's when he was like, oh, it's not in the Ashton section anymore and the band is different.

Anyway, apparently Ashton bought the rights to the name and resurrected them. If you ever watched Boardwalk Empire, in one of the earlier episodes, Nucky is at a store on the Boardwalk, and they show him with a LADC cigar from the original boxes. I always thought that was cool.

Since Ashton, it's been apparently bought and sold from the Garcia Family as well (Pepin & Jaime). So I don't know what's up with it now with the recent changes in 2020. But idk why they keep fucking with the cigars as they have been hits already as is. It's reminiscent of the "New Coke" fiasco. Simple rule... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I'll wrap with this, if you find a pre-2020 Double E, buy it/them. If you see the original Mi Amor Reserva's like I have above, buy it/them. And last, if you don't have the bread or don't care for the brand.. at least message me with the link to it/them and I'll buy them! And I'll send you a nice little thank you reward for your effort! 🙌👍
Click to expand...
Wanna bet?
 
YardGars said:
@xyz123 you got me curious about the EE because I’d had the newer Edicion Especiale and didn’t find it that cubanesque. Too peppery, like a lighter version of standard Garcia stuff.

I came across this:


I don’t know why makers feel like they have to amp up the strength on everything. I’m glad we have lots of options and I chased the full strength, spicy, peppery dragons for years but finally realized the smokes I enjoy the most are medium, with lots of complexity, changing flavor, and never overpowering.
Click to expand...

Idk why they felt they needed to change anything about it. I'm also not sure why it's changed hands so many times since the name rights were purchased. I bought 2 boxes back in 2013 after my story above about the Ashton band change.

Around that time, probably 90% of everything I was smoking was Cuban. Which is why that first Double E stood out to me so much.

There's just been certain cigars that, for whatever reason, get completely changed up when there's no need for it. If they're gonna screw around with a blend that much, just give it a whole new name.
 
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CigarStone said:
Wanna bet?
Click to expand...

Not with whatever version is floating around these days! With the ones I bought in 2013, yeah, I'd bet.. especially with the Churchill!

I haven't had whatever versions that have been floating around lately. I do know I have a couple of the prebundled LADC Fresh Packs I got over the summer tucked away. But I know now that the Double E in them is going to be a totally different version.. which irks me.

I wouldn't have bought them knowing they're different blends and under different ownership... again.
 
xyz123 said:
Not with whatever version is floating around these days! With the ones I bought in 2013, yeah, I'd bet.. especially with the Churchill!

I haven't had whatever versions that have been floating around lately. I do know I have a couple of the prebundled LADC Fresh Packs I got over the summer tucked away. But I know now that the Double E in them is going to be a totally different version.. which irks me.

I wouldn't have bought them knowing they're different blends and under different ownership... again.
Click to expand...
There is not a chance that a Cuban cigar aficionado would not know the difference ...... not a chance!
 
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