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The trend towards larger cigars

J

jabba

New Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Messages
1,491
Does anyone else get peeved when new cigars, or new lines/brands of cigars come out and only larger sizes are offered?

I've seen so many new brands come out lately with nothing under a 50 ring... Have cigar smokers just shifted away from the smaller ring gauge stuff (32-42) or is this a push by manufacturers?

I really enjoy smoking a nice Ninfa, or a RyJ sport lagos, or a nice Perla. Not long ago the petit corona was such a popular size.

I'd would appreciate hearing your comments. Cheers! :)
 
It certainly seems as though the trend these days is toward producing massive ring gage cigars. It's a shame really as I've always enjoyed moderately sized ring gages better then the really big stuff. I find them to be more flavorful. Not sure why the push for the fatter stuff. I suppose it has to do with the bigger must be better mentality. In any case, there have been a number of new lines introduced in recent months that I would love to try but will no doubt end up staying away from because they don't offer anything in under a 54 ring gage.
 
This topic has been touched upon in this thread. A lot of wonderful cigars in tasty formats have been discontinued, expecially the Boli Corona to name one. I guess marketing projections have figured that since so many non Cuban cigars are being produced in such large formats, Habanos might as well jump the band wagon and start producing John Holmes sized smokes to satisfy the need for bigger things inherent in U.S. culture.

I love the principe size, petite coronas, lonsdales, lanceros, and the like, thinner ring guages are such a different dimension from the larger 50+ ring guages, and to me is the a great test of a blender's ability to produce such a flavorful cigar with so little raw materials. Most cigars fatter than a corona/mareva turn me off, unless it is some form of figurado shaped, namely perfectos, torpedos, culebras, belicosos, and the like.
 
I have found myself lately moving to smaller ring guages, though it seems many manufacturers are going large recently.
 
I've been an avid smoker of corona sized smokes for about a year ago now. Anything smaller begins to have an unpleasant taste for me that I just don't appreciate. I love churchills as well. It's just a personal preference as I started out with petite coronas and real small cigars and worked my tastes upward.
 
I also prefer a thinner ring gauge and it is a shame that the newer sticks seem to have large ring gauges. Would be nice to have at least 1 or 2 PC or corona size cigar in a lineup. I guess the majority are smoking the fatter gauges.
 
IMO, its the American culture effect on n00bs, and with the fast growth of cigar smoking, it's a n00bs market right now. They're gonna assume bigger is better, and to succeed manufacturers have to meet that demand. As the current crop refines their tastes, and tries different vitolas, I expect to see smaller RG's gain in popularity again.
 
Well, we all know how it is in the States, bigger is better.

With a newborn and a 3 year old running around, I rarely have time for big cigars anymore. I'm on a mission to pin down all the smaller vitolas that I enjoy, and I'm finding that they suit me just as well. Give me a Party Short, a Short Story, an Angeles, or the good ole Padron 2000 maddie anytime.
 
I don't prefer fatties (50rg+) for the following reasons:

1. I have small hands. humongous cigars, especially heavily pressed specimens are a bitch to grip
2. A burning cigar spends 95%+ of its life gripped by my teeth. see above
3. Fat cigars tend to be more dilute in flavor.
4. Fat cigars with loose draws become flavorless wind tunnels.

That said, I don't favor cigars thinner than 36rg for everyday smoking. 42-44rg in the various lengths provide a perfect range of:

1. Flavor density.
2. Tolerance of imperfect smoking technique.

The petit coronas (marevas vitola) through the cazadores vitola supply the bulk of my smoking satisfaction.

Wilkey
 
I like a wide variety of ring sizes - and narrow ones, too. ;)

There are a few large cigars that are enjoyable to me. But I love PCs and perlas and lonsdales, too! Fortunately, lanceros are making a comeback but some of these are really long lonsdales(42 - 44 ring).

Litto Gomez makes great lanceros AND large Corona Gordas, both. The Coronada LFD Corona Gorda has an almost effortless draw that produces copious smoke. It burns perfectly and doesn't require heavy puffing to keep it going. On the other hand, his lancero is nice and narrow and has great draw, burn and body. So some of it is a quality of construction issue. In the hands of a master torceador, a large cigar can be made very enjoyable.

But as Wilkey prefers, a person may not like the aesthetics of the larger cigar. So no amount of good construction can overcome that factor.
 
48-54 is my favorite range. I'm a big guy but once a stick gets past 54 it is very uncomfortable to hold in my mouth if my hands are occupied.
 
mostholycerebus said:
IMO, its the American culture effect on n00bs, and with the fast growth of cigar smoking, it's a n00bs market right now. They're gonna assume bigger is better, and to succeed manufacturers have to meet that demand. As the current crop refines their tastes, and tries different vitolas, I expect to see smaller RG's gain in popularity again.
Click to expand...

Do us newbs have to take the blame for everything? :(
 
CigarStone said:
mostholycerebus said:
IMO, its the American culture effect on n00bs, and with the fast growth of cigar smoking, it's a n00bs market right now. They're gonna assume bigger is better, and to succeed manufacturers have to meet that demand. As the current crop refines their tastes, and tries different vitolas, I expect to see smaller RG's gain in popularity again.
Click to expand...

Do us newbs have to take the blame for everything? :(
Click to expand...

Yes :D


I don't particularly care for the larger ring gauges. When I first started smoking a few years ago, I preferred robustos. They just seemed the perfect size for the amount of time I wanted to spend smoking a cigar.

Now, I tend to lean toward lanceros and PCs. On the other hand, you can't beat a great perfecto.
 
Ginseng said:
I don't prefer fatties (50rg+) for the following reasons:

1. I have small hands. humongous cigars, especially heavily pressed specimens are a bitch to grip
2. A burning cigar spends 95%+ of its life gripped by my teeth. see above
3. Fat cigars tend to be more dilute in flavor.
4. Fat cigars with loose draws become flavorless wind tunnels.
Click to expand...

You left out:

5. Hard to skip with a fat cigar in hand.
 
While I have no disrespect for large cigars, my current favorite is lancero (read tat). I rarely have the time to properly smoke a large cigar and end up tossing what should be the good part. The smaller ones do get lost more easily on the golf course however. :laugh:
 
moki said:
Ginseng said:
I don't prefer fatties (50rg+) for the following reasons:

1. I have small hands. humongous cigars, especially heavily pressed specimens are a bitch to grip
2. A burning cigar spends 95%+ of its life gripped by my teeth. see above
3. Fat cigars tend to be more dilute in flavor.
4. Fat cigars with loose draws become flavorless wind tunnels.
Click to expand...

You left out:

5. Hard to skip with a fat cigar in hand.
Click to expand...

muahahahaha

I actually see a trend to smaller cigars, but then again, I might be missing the larger RG view which might say they're seeing trend to larger, but more NC's are coming out with lancero's which tends toward smaller RG's


anyway, thanks for the visuals
 
I prefer the larger ring cigars, but have been on a lancero kick of lately. Those Don Pepin cigars he made for PuffStuff are an incredible cigar. Coronas and Toros especially have the number one place for the golf course. What is it with the diademas that makes them so desirable? I seem to be smoking more of them lately, taking the place of the belicoso/piramide. I tend to take a strong draw from the cigar and the smaller ring sizes burn a little too hot for my tastes. There are exceptions to this as I still enjoy a AF Short Story and Power Rangers.
 
I don't really have a preference. I don't mind the bigger ring guage cigars as long as it's not TOO big. Anything over 54 and it's a chore to smoke. I do like a nice robusto or Toro because I have big hands and a bigger mouth. :laugh: I can appreciate the smaller sizes though. Jabba let me smoke a Don Pepin Perla with him one day, it was a great experience. Sometimes bigger isn't always better.
 
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