Cubans over rated!

[Diesel Grinch]

Neal it's only a dream of mine to be able to fill those pant's. Your smart and quick wit makes what I post look like babble. Just ridding your coat tails. No offense meant. If any off my comments are out of line I apologize.


DG

 

[moki]

Look at me I'm wearing Neal's pants!! :sign:

At least you're not sniffing his panties!

 

[SamClemmons]

No, no, no. You misunderstand. What you said was fine but not everyone appreciates my candor.

As far as "half of all Cubans being plugged", can you say: Look at me Look at me!

NA

 

[nubman]

You come into the Cuban forum to say Cuban's are overrated? ???



Look at me I'm wearing Neal's pants!! :sign:




DG

Where else should I express my opinion about Cuban cigars? In the food forum? Im sorry if my opinion doesn't coincide with yours. I don't believe I said that half of all Cubans are plugged, I said half of the ones I have smoked are. With some brands like the Montecristos, Partagas, and RyJ's my experience has been more than half are either plugged or too tight to enjoy. I'm new to this forum and I didn't realize that only positive opinions are acceptable. I guess it's like someone's mother once said, "if you have nothing nice to say..." I guess I will stick to other threads where I will talk about the cigars that I love and pretend that life is always nice and rosy. Sorry if I offended everyone here.

 

[moki]

No, no, no. You misunderstand. What you said was fine but not everyone appreciates my candor.

As far as "half of all Cubans being plugged", can you say: Look at me Look at me!

NA

Yeah the only time I've even approached having half of a box of cigars plugged were some Cohiba Lanceros from 2001... probably about half were dowels. I'd certainly say that's an unfortunate exception.

 

[effinwill]

Had a cab of SLRs that were plugged at about 80% rate. '00 or '01, I forget. 'Twas a crying shame.

 

[SamClemmons]

Where else should I express my opinion about Cuban cigars? In the food forum? Im sorry if my opinion doesn't coincide with yours. I don't believe I said that half of all Cubans are plugged, I said half of the ones I have smoked are. With some brands like the Montecristos, Partagas, and RyJ's my experience has been more than half are either plugged or too tight to enjoy. I'm new to this forum and I didn't realize that only positive opinions are acceptable. I guess it's like someone's mother once said, "if you have nothing nice to say..." I guess I will stick to other threads where I will talk about the cigars that I love and pretend that life is always nice and rosy. Sorry if I offended everyone here.

There are other ways to state your opinion without painting a target on yourself. You stated: Being in Canada I have the opportunity to smoke a lot of Cuban cigars... and then, I don't believe I said that half of all Cubans are plugged, I said half of the ones I have smoked are.

So, you've smoked half of a lot of Cubans and the other half were plugged.

At the very best the truth of your statements is questionable. Once that is established one can only wonder what the motivation would be for making such a post. It is my opinion that you made these statements for their "Look at me" value. Your position of, "Why me, why here, why now, what'd I do?" is untenable.

NA

 

[Hugomarink]

Being in Canada I have the opportunity to smoke a lot of Cuban cigars. I have friends that bring me cigars back from there all the time. I actually plan on going myself next year on vacation. Although there are some Cubans that I really enjoy, (Montecristo petit edmundo, Partagas series D #4, Cohiba Esplendidos), I find "Cuban cigars" in general to be over hyped and over rated. To me there is not a lot of variance in flavor profiles between the different brands. Many seem to have a common base flavor of salty leather with different amounts of pepper mixed in there. Basic tobacco and wood flavors seem to be a common thread as well in my opinion. Another huge problem I have with Cubans is the fact that at least half the ones I get are rolled far too tight to get a reasonable draw. I have heard that this used to be a big problem but it has since been corrected. I beg to differ. I'm tired of clipping a $30 cigar only to blow an ear drum trying to draw on it. Fortunately I don't pay Canadian prices for them too often but the few times I have I was very upset. In my opinion there are far better non Cubans out there (Padrons, DPGs, La Auroras, Fuentes...to name a few) to even care if I ever see another Cuban cigar. There are many more interesting blends, sizes, wrappers,shapes...etc. to be found with the non Cuban offerings to keep me happy. Don't get me wrong I will still enjoy the odd Cuban when I get one that draws but I wouldn't lose sleep if I couldn't get them any more.

To each his own, I guess, but your experiences do not echo my own. Oh, I've had my share of plugged Cubans but that was in the 1999 - 2001 period. The current production has been really good across the board IMO, or maybe I've just been really lucky with my purchases.

As for variances on flavor profiles, I challenge you to smoke the Rafael Gonzales Petit Corona and the Ramon Allones Specially Selected I smoked last week and tell me these aren't drastically different tasting cigars. And how much do Dominican, Nicaraguan cigars vary in flavor profiles anyway? Many of the highly-rated Nicaraguan smokes (Padron, Tatuaje, Illusione, etc.) have similarities in their strength and flavor profiles. Same with most Dominican-made smokes. Yes, there are exceptions that are quite unique in flavor from their brethren but the majority of Dominican-made cigars do fall within a generally similar flavor profile. Also, a lot of the cigars made in the DR, Nic, and Hon use blends of tobacco from various countries whereas Cubans are puros. I think the Cubans do a pretty darn good job of making distinctive blends given their tobacco is all coming from their island. Hell, Dominican puros remain a pretty rare thing even today so they still have a lot of work to do in making high-production volume premium puros.

Are you absolutely sure you're haven't been smoking some fakes? That's the best way for anybody to find the "genuine" Havana they're smoking to be a genuine disappointment.

 

[nubman]

Where else should I express my opinion about Cuban cigars? In the food forum? Im sorry if my opinion doesn't coincide with yours. I don't believe I said that half of all Cubans are plugged, I said half of the ones I have smoked are. With some brands like the Montecristos, Partagas, and RyJ's my experience has been more than half are either plugged or too tight to enjoy. I'm new to this forum and I didn't realize that only positive opinions are acceptable. I guess it's like someone's mother once said, "if you have nothing nice to say..." I guess I will stick to other threads where I will talk about the cigars that I love and pretend that life is always nice and rosy. Sorry if I offended everyone here.

There are other ways to state your opinion without painting a target on yourself. You stated: Being in Canada I have the opportunity to smoke a lot of Cuban cigars... and then, I don't believe I said that half of all Cubans are plugged, I said half of the ones I have smoked are.

So, you've smoked half of a lot of Cubans and the other half were plugged.

At the very best the truth of your statements are questionable. Once that is established one can only wonder what the motivation would be for making such a post. It is my opinion that you made these statements for their "Look at me" value. Your position of, "Why me, why here, why now, what'd I do?" is untenable.

NA

Well Sam I have absolutely no reason to want you to "look at me". I'm simply stating my opinion based on my experiences with Cuban cigars. I guess my motivation is that I'm tired of hearing about how great Cuban cigars are. Yes there are some fine ones I agree but I stick to my opinion that in general they are over rated. I think many people (no offense to you personally), smoke Cuban cigars to put on airs and to basically show off to their peers. I think too many people get hung up on the "forbiddin fruit" mystique of Cubans and convince themselves that what they are smoking are great cigars. Even today I believe there are a disproportionate amount of plugged or tightly rolled Cubans compared to non Cubans. Someone else made a comparison between a Raphael Gonzalez and a RASS in retort to my opinion on flavor profile. Raphael Gonzalez? Cmon, you might as well compare the RASS to the flavor profile of a campfire. That's like comparing an Opus X to a White Owl. Again I'm sorry if I really upset you, it wasn't my intention to upset anyone. It just makes me laugh when someone asks if what I'm smoking is a Cuban, as if they are the be all and end all of cigars. If you really believe Cuba is doing a great job in regards to cigar production then I respect that, even though I disagree. If you want to compare reality to perception, I believe that the mediocrity that they continue to pump out falls way short of the perceived greatness that many people espouse.

 

[CigarStone]

Neal it's only a dream of mine to be able to fill those pant's. Your smart and quick wit makes what I post look like babble. Just ridding your coat tails. No offense meant. If any off my comments are out of line I apologize.


DG

Do tell....and exactly what would you like to fill Neal's pants with ???

 

[grateful1]

Cuban cigars are GREAT!


:thumbs:

 

[insight]

The only Cubans that really fascinated me where two sisters, but that is another story in the naked city.

Cigars that come from that country are good as other countries out there. Do smoke what you like.

There is nothing like a grape WO for breakfast!

How did you already guess what I am going to hand you in Vegas?

 

[handyman dave]

I am amazed at the bad experiences you have had with Cuban cigars as they in no way mirror my own. I keep mine at 65% and frankly have not had one unsmokeably plugged Cuban cigar out of several boxes acquired over the past few years. Occasionally one is tight but a little opening with a drill bit I use has always saved the day for me. I was not smoking ISOMs regularly during the 2000-2001 time period but even then, the ones I did smoke were not plugged. Maybe I've just lived a charmed life but if so, this would be the only area of my life that has been "charmed!"
As for flavor, I love Party Shorts and RASCCs but I would never say they taste the same at all. The same with Series D #4s and Petit Edmundos, both wonderful sticks but very different flavor profiles IMO.
So I guess we will agree to disagree about Cuban Cigars.
An up side in my mind: as long as you are not increasing world demand maybe prices will be tolerable for those of us who choose to savor the forbidden fruit!

 

[SamClemmons]

Well Sam I have absolutely no reason to want you to "look at me". I'm simply stating my opinion based on my experiences with Cuban cigars. I guess my motivation is that I'm tired of hearing about how great Cuban cigars are. Yes there are some fine ones I agree but I stick to my opinion that in general they are over rated. I think many people (no offense to you personally), smoke Cuban cigars to put on airs and to basically show off to their peers. I think too many people get hung up on the "forbiddin fruit" mystique of Cubans and convince themselves that what they are smoking are great cigars. Even today I believe there are a disproportionate amount of plugged or tightly rolled Cubans compared to non Cubans. Someone else made a comparison between a Raphael Gonzalez and a RASS in retort to my opinion on flavor profile. Raphael Gonzalez? Cmon, you might as well compare the RASS to the flavor profile of a campfire. That's like comparing an Opus X to a White Owl. Again I'm sorry if I really upset you, it wasn't my intention to upset anyone. It just makes me laugh when someone asks if what I'm smoking is a Cuban, as if they are the be all and end all of cigars. If you really believe Cuba is doing a great job in regards to cigar production then I respect that, even though I disagree. If you want to compare reality to perception, I believe that the mediocrity that they continue to pump out falls way short of the perceived greatness that many people espouse.

I'm not upset in the least. I smoke a lot of great cigars, some of them are Cuban. The last one I had that was plugged was last summer... about 8 months ago. So let's say that's a ratio of 100 to 1. Now, suppose you tell everyone what you did to piss off God.

NA

 

[sinnyc]

Now, suppose you tell everyone what you did to piss off God.

ROFLMAO

That's gonna end up as somebody's signature line for sure.

 

[Hugomarink]

Someone else made a comparison between a Raphael Gonzalez and a RASS in retort to my opinion on flavor profile. Raphael Gonzalez? Cmon, you might as well compare the RASS to the flavor profile of a campfire. That's like comparing an Opus X to a White Owl.

Aw, c'mon. You know that's not right.

 

[Rod]

Not sure what your humidity is set to, but you may want to drop it to around 62% for Cubans. You may see a big difference in the draw if you do that.

The only cigars I've ever had consistent problems with a tight draw are Cohiba's.

 

[moki]

I think the Cubans do a pretty darn good job of making distinctive blends given their tobacco is all coming from their island. Hell, Dominican puros remain a pretty rare thing even today so they still have a lot of work to do in making high-production volume premium puros.

Only because of the wrapper -- there are plenty of all Dominican filler cigars.

Are you absolutely sure you're haven't been smoking some fakes? That's the best way for anybody to find the "genuine" Havana they're smoking to be a genuine disappointment.

It's a bit presumptuous to assume that simply because someone doesn't like something, they must be smoking fakes.

 

[Macion Grey]

Cuabas have been known to have a very tight draw, as well as Saint Luis Rey and some Monte 2s.

Still, they are not common, and certainly not near the 'half of my cubans were plugged' range. You must be either really unlucky, or have offended your cigar supplier in such a way that he magically selects plugged cigars to send your way.


The world is catching up to Havanas, but only with premium brands like Padron etc. The divine profile of a Siglo 6, the rich earth of a H. Upmann Magnum 46, the bold roasted hazelnut of the D4, the complex bean flavours of Bolivar, the intriguing honey and caramel Por Larranaga... these cigars differ from each other as much as any Non Cuban counterpart. That says a lot in itself, that Cuban Puros can offer such variety without blending filler, binder and wrapper from different parts of the world.

Of course, you get your crappy ones as well, but to say they are all 'salty leather' and half are plugged tells me you are either getting fakes, or your cat really has got your tongue... and eaten it too.

 

[nubman]

Well Sam I have absolutely no reason to want you to "look at me". I'm simply stating my opinion based on my experiences with Cuban cigars. I guess my motivation is that I'm tired of hearing about how great Cuban cigars are. Yes there are some fine ones I agree but I stick to my opinion that in general they are over rated. I think many people (no offense to you personally), smoke Cuban cigars to put on airs and to basically show off to their peers. I think too many people get hung up on the "forbiddin fruit" mystique of Cubans and convince themselves that what they are smoking are great cigars. Even today I believe there are a disproportionate amount of plugged or tightly rolled Cubans compared to non Cubans. Someone else made a comparison between a Raphael Gonzalez and a RASS in retort to my opinion on flavor profile. Raphael Gonzalez? Cmon, you might as well compare the RASS to the flavor profile of a campfire. That's like comparing an Opus X to a White Owl. Again I'm sorry if I really upset you, it wasn't my intention to upset anyone. It just makes me laugh when someone asks if what I'm smoking is a Cuban, as if they are the be all and end all of cigars. If you really believe Cuba is doing a great job in regards to cigar production then I respect that, even though I disagree. If you want to compare reality to perception, I believe that the mediocrity that they continue to pump out falls way short of the perceived greatness that many people espouse.

I'm not upset in the least. I smoke a lot of great cigars, some of them are Cuban. The last one I had that was plugged was last summer... about 8 months ago. So let's say that's a ratio of 100 to 1. Now, suppose you tell everyone what you did to piss off God.

NA

Hey Sam, is this you trying to put into practice what you learned in your psych101 class 30 years ago? I don't know if I pissed off God, but it sounds as though I pissed you off pretty good.