The Cuban "Mono-Blend"?

[The Master]

Back in October of 2000 I visited Cuba and went to the Partagas factory ( open to the public) and the Cohiba factory( not open to the public). A friend was able to pull some strings which allowed us to visit the Cohiba factory. What I saw at the Cohiba factory really pissed me off. It was filthy, unorganized and the quality control station was a complete joke. I now understood why I had gotten so many piss poor cigars from the Cohiba factory over the years.

The people at the quality control station barely looked at the cigars, they were more interested in gabbing away with each other.

In my experience all of my best cigars came from the Upmann factory. I have never had poorly constructed cigars from that factory. In contrast, I have had boxes of cigars that have had more than half of the box be plugged all from the Cohiba factory. If I were able to choose which factory my cigars came from, none would ever come from Cohiba.

 

[Matt R]

El Laguito has changed immensely since 2000, Harris. While I personally have not been there, I have seen very recent pictures and not only has the quality control been severely improved, the place looks like a hospital, as far as cleanliness. I know Wilkey has seen these pics as well and can back it up. We've got a couple mutual friends who are at the major factories at least two to three times a year.

As for moki's original post, there's no doubt this has been done in provincial factories in the past and I'm sure it's been done recently too. But, to say it is widespread is untrue. There really is no reason not to do it, when neccesary, in a business sense. The majority of cigars, Cuban or otherwise, are not purchased by "aficionados", especially the most popular sizes and brands. So, for the cigars to be 100% consistent, across the board, is unneccesary. This is why where you buy your cigars, the region, is as important as the vendor itself.

 

[Ginseng]

El Laguito has changed immensely since 2000, Harris. While I personally have not been there, I have seen very recent pictures and not only has the quality control been severely improved, the place looks like a hospital, as far as cleanliness. I know Wilkey has seen these pics as well and can back it up. We've got a couple mutual friends who are at the major factories at least two to three times a year.

Agreed. I have another associate who frequents the factories regularly but who does not post his pictures but he has shared his images with me and the word that comes to mind is "world class." The only operation that I've seen images of that are cleaner, brighter, and filled with more happy folks would be the Padron facility in Florida(?).

Wilkey

 

[NullSmurf]

I think that to properly and fairly assess this accusation, first we must define the unit of analysis. Is it the factory? Is it the region inclusive of several factories? Is it the marca or specific vitolas in a marca? Or perhaps a vitola across marcas? Unless and until the unit of analysis is properly defined, progress against this claim, if any, will be slow to non-existent.

I'm not saying that there is or is not something to it, just that until we know what the key parameters are involved in cigar production and how they relate to the factors I identified above, all we have are apocryphal accounts. Granted, over time as more accounts arise from verifiable sources, cumulatively they may begin to carry weight, but are we there yet?

Wilkey

None of the above. As a cold warrior I can tell you, ya just can't trust the Commie sons a bitches.

Doc.

Arowlf! (Translation: I agree! Think of the scrufty Johnson guy in Blazing Saddles.)

 

[The Master]

Nice to hear that the Cohiba factory has cleaned up their act, it really was a disgrace.

The cleanest factories I have ever seen has been the Fuente factories. You can literally eat off the floors in them.