Cuban cigars

[Zundfolge]

So my next door neighbors just got back from Cuba.

While there he bought a bundle of hand rolled Montecristo #4s (apparently Che's favorite) and gave me a few and I finally got around to smoking one.

Keep in mind that I am no expert, but I've often enjoyed the occasional cigar and all my life I've heard tales of the wonder that is Cuban cigars.


It was much smoother than I expected (I guess I expected it to be very rustic, if not harsh). But it also wasn't tremendously flavorful either. It was impeccably rolled. I cut the end off with an x-acto since I don't have a proper cutter, but it stayed together nicely and burned evenly and I didn't end up with a mouthful of chew.

Overall impression is that it was a good cigar ... not a great cigar, but good. I guess I'm mildly disappointed as I expected it to be more than it was, but maybe that was just several decades of expectation and hype.


Anyway, I'm glad I got the opportunity to smoke a real Cuban cigar (and I'll enjoy sharing the couple I have left with friends) but I wouldn't fly to Cuba to buy them :p

Years ago I worked with an old guy that used to live in Galveston and he'd go down to Havana often (before the revolution) and he said Fidel ruined the Cuban cigar industry so maybe there was a time when this would have lived up to the hype.

[Hoser]

MonteCristo, Romeo and Julieta and Punch are my favorites. Cohiba are good, but on the strong side.

I used to travel to Central and South American often (fighting the drug war) and went through lots of cigars for dirt cheap, before cigars became a yuppie thing in the mid 90s.

I still try to keep my humidor full of goodness for evenings when I can just sit on the deck and chill.

[Gman]

From what I hear, Cuba isn't what it used to be for good cigars.

[Graves]

Nice! The 4's are pretty smooth, I've been sitting on a few Gran Edmundos from 2010 and some Behikes that I REALLY enjoy, I don't know what I'll ever end up breaking them out for, but to me they're like .22lr circa '08/'09...don't wanna burn through 'em lol.

BTW...no pics? lol

[ray1970]

It wasn't that the Cuban cigars were all that good in the first place. It was more the whole "forbidden fruit" thing.

[Erni]

Cohiba Pantellas are my favorite. Just small enough to finish.
That reminds me I may hypothetically have some Cubans in my study from a while back. I wonder if they are any good anymore?

[Graves]

Cohiba Pantellas are my favorite. Just small enough to finish.
That reminds me I may hypothetically have some Cubans in my study from a while back. I wonder if they are any good anymore?

Toss them in a freezer bag with a 69% Boveda pack for a month, they may not have the same flavor they did when they were fresh but depending on how long they dried you might be able to revive them.

[Erni]

Cool, will try that! Thanks.

Than maybe we can have COAR meet, greet, shoot and smoke.

[DireWolf]

Cohiba Pantellas are my favorite. Just small enough to finish.
That reminds me I may hypothetically have some Cubans in my study from a while back. I wonder if they are any good anymore?


Toss them in a freezer bag with a 69% Boveda pack for a month, they may not have the same flavor they did when they were fresh but depending on how long they dried you might be able to revive them.

I know a guy who may have, hypothetically, once upon a time forgotten about a small box of Romeo y Julieta's and another small box of Montecristo's for a couple years with no climate controlled storage....they were not good (so I heard)...

Lots of good Dominican stogies available, and personally I think some of them are at least as good if not better than the Cubans....

[Graves]

I know a guy who may have, hypothetically, once upon a time forgotten about a small box of Romeo y Julieta's and another small box of Montecristo's for a couple years with no climate controlled storage....they were not good (so I heard)...

Lots of good Dominican stogies available, and personally I think some of them are at least as good if not better than the Cubans....

Yeah, the extreme temp swings in a non climate controlled storage for a couple years would probably kill your sticks for good but usually you can bring most dried sticks back with humidipaks so long as they're not cracked. I forgot about a box of Don Tomas' I left in my office for about a year and they came back okay. Tossed them in a baggie with a 69% Boveda pack for 4wks and about 2 more in my humidor.

[Zundfolge]

One of my favorite things about cigars is after you've smoked them. For the rest of the evening you have that pleasant musk of cigar hanging around on your clothes and hair and its a nice reminder of the cigar you enjoyed earlier (it also reminds me of my grandfather who all but chain smoked Romeo y Julieta's and it kind of takes me back to my childhood).

Not so with these. I've changed my shirt and am considering taking a shower because that "pleasant musk" is now making me feel a little ill.

[funkymonkey1111]

It wasn't that the Cuban cigars were all that good in the first place. It was more the whole "forbidden fruit" thing.

This. Now I haven't had the opportunity to sample all, but have had a handful, and wasn't blown away. I wouldn't trade any of them for my favorite, the La Flor Dominicana DL700

[TEAMRICO]

Sergeant, you get that contraband stogie out of my face before I shove it so far up your ass you'll have to set fire to your nose to light it.
Gunny Highway

[glenncal1]

I too have noticed a drop in the quality of Cuban cigars. I was in the Bahamas about 10 years ago and had some MonteCristo #2s that were incredible. Went on a cruise this year and had some that weren't any better than a Dominican MonteCristo (and maybe not as good).

[rondog]

From what I've read, all the big name cigar companies/families started operations in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and other Caribbean locations years ago, using their best Cuban seed. So their cigars from those places have rivalled the legendary old Havanas for years.

I've also read that the biggest source for cheap, shitty knockoffs of big-name Cuban Havanas is Havana itself. Just because a cigar is made in Havana, Cuba, and wears a famous name, doesn't mean it really came from that maker in Havana. Sure, the big names still make them there, but there's a lot of Back Alley Julios making them too.

So I've read and been told.

Just go to Edwards Tobacco in Englewood on Broadway, they'll hook you up.

[Delfuego]

Just go to Edwards Tobacco in Englewood on Broadway, they'll hook you up.This guy knows what he's talking about [Beer] We even met for a deal there because we both knew exactly where it was.

I actually asked the boss at Edwards if I could bring him back some Cubans as a gift for him from a recent trip to SA, he said don't bother.

[Hoser]

Just because a cigar is made in Havana, Cuba, and wears a famous name, doesn't mean it really came from that maker in Havana.

Yeah bootleg cigars were everywhere. If you knew what you were looking for and got them for a stand up dealer you could find good smokes in places like Bogota, LaPaz and even the Falkland Islands.

I have had some really good Macanudo Black Toros. I think they are Dominican or Jamaican and didn't break the bank.

[Graves]

For sure, all I saw was counterfeits in the Caribbean tourist areas. I knew many weren't genuine but my curiosity got the best of me so I tried a few and to my surprise, they weren't bad...Not as good as the real deal but better than some of the more premium sticks I tried in the past. Do your research before buying a bundle to bring home. If you know what you're looking for, you can usually spot fakes before you crack the box open. A good fake will take some closer looking at but they all usually cut corners somewhere.

ETA: These Cuban counterfeits are IMO VERY tasty for the money.

http://rs1289.pbsrc.com/albums/b501/emikevj/20170124_180513_zpsaakw8ftm.jpg?w=960&h=960&fit=clip

[Delfuego]

I have had some really good Macanudo Black Toros.Make mental note of what kind of cigars Hoser likes. May be useful sometime in future....

[Graves]

Or you can just offer him a flipper rub.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Not a smoker -- cigars, pipes, cigarettes, or anything -- but I have heard from multiple sources that Cuban cigars went to hell after Castro took over. The really good cigar makers supposedly fled to the Dominican Republic?

[Ah Pook]

From what I've read, all the big name cigar companies/families started operations in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and other Caribbean locations years ago, using their best Cuban seed. So their cigars from those places have rivalled the legendary old Havanas for years.
Heard the same thing.

Tell me I can't have something, guess what I want?