What makes a Cuban so good?

[Tarks]

Originally Posted by Egis

Well to tell real truth about Cuban cigars not old ones but from 2003-too 2008, my friend worked at a Montecristo factory he was a roller! They didn't get paid only lunch I know a little shocking! He works now at ones of my friends local B&M makes local cigars! and My other friend worked in same factory only as a sales person! and after Cuba had few hurricane hits, guess what happend? all the tabaco leaves went bad! guess were they were getting the leaves from? all most all of the factories were buying leaves from Oliva Family! but affcors for the last year, and this year they had their own tabaco! They regrew it! This is kept as a deep secret, but it's up too you if you guys wanna believe it or not! and for cigars quality all most the same thing, NC's have very high quality, plus dominican republic is next too cuba, so what does makes cuban cigar better? words!!! and peoples own thoughts!!!

Florida is as close to Cuba as the DR. Does that mean that Florida should be able to produce the same quality tobacco? NO!

[Egis]

Originally Posted by Tarks

Florida is as close to Cuba as the DR. Does that mean that Florida should be able to produce the same quality tobacco? NO!

Florida has way different climate then CC, and DR! I've been were and climate in DR, and CC is almost the same! Like I said it's everyones own opinion!

[Tarks]

Originally Posted by Egis

Florida has way different climate then CC, and DR! I've been were and climate in DR, and CC is almost the same! Like I said it's everyones own opinion!

I would be an idiot to say that the DR doesn't produce good cigars. Of course they do. But the tobacco profiles in Cuba are different. Whether you like them or not they are different from a Dominican, Honduran, Jamaican, Mexican or Nicaraguan tobacco.

Comparing DR cigars and Cuban cigars is like comparing wines from France and Italy. Yes they are right beside each other but they have different soils and different climates as do DR and Cuba.

[madurolover]

This topic comes up frequently. For anyone interested in what happens when you take a well smoked Cuban cigar aficianado and have him blind taste sticks you can see the results in the link below.

The Great Fredstaer Blind Taste Test Challenge

[Tarks]

Originally Posted by madurolover

This topic comes up frequently. For anyone interested in what happens when you take a well smoked Cuban cigar aficianado and have him blind taste sticks you can see the results in the link below.

The Great Fredstaer Blind Taste Test Challenge

So what happens? I don't see the results in that thread???

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by Tarks

So what happens? I don't see the results in that thread???

He smokes a blind selection of smokes sent to him by Andrew (moki who is the owner of the vitolas.net site with all the rare Fuentes) from different countries. He does a short review and tries to guess the country of origin. I think if you get your linear/hybrid issue cleared up you should be able to see the entire thread.

[ToJo]

There are over 48 pages in that thread. Can someone summarize it?

Personally, I think I could probably tell cuban from non cuban, but determining individual blends is not something I would claim to be capable of. I don't see what the fuss is about though. Some people like Cubans, some don't. I don't think anybody claims that all CCs are superior to all NCs any more. It's possible that at one time this was a commonly accepted statement. Someone else mentioned the wine comparison where it used to be French, Italian, or garbage. Well, not so anymore. There are excellent wines from all over the world. So when you ask "what makes a Cuban so good" the answer is the same as the answer to "what makes a non cuban so good". The answer is excellent seed, excellent soil, excellent care, and excellent technique. (I may have missed a requirement there!) But in both cases, I'd say they're "so good!" It just depends on personal preference after that.

By the way...the Mythbusters guys had an episode where a vodka expert claimed that he could identify a top shelf vodka from a cheapo vodka no matter what kind of additional distilling or manipulating you did to the cheapo vodka. The guy nailed 14 for 14!! Or was it 8 for 8...anyway....Apparently there was a myth that if you do some of your own additional distilling/filtering to a cheapo vodka it would become indistinguishable from high end triple filtered vodkas. BUSTED!

[madurolover]

Basically Fredster, who smokes about 99% Cuban felt that he could tell the difference between Cuban and non-Cuban tobaccos. Here are the results

Final results (with links to each review):

#1 - Cuban Montecristo Tubos 1970s[/url] -- (6.5/10) guessed non-Cuban - Incorrect
#2 - non-Cuban Cabaiguan WCD 120[/url] -- (9.5/10) guessed Cuban, Davidoff Chateau Margaux - Incorrect
#3 - - (6/10) guessed non-Cuban - Correct!
#4 - -- (5/10) guessed non-Cuban - Incorrect*
#5 - -- (8.5/10) guessed non-Cuban, Opus X or Añejo - Correct!
#6 - -- (6/10) guessed non-Cuban - Correct!
#7 - -- (6/10) guessed non-Cuban, Fuente - Correct!
#8 - -- (6/10) guessed non-Cuban, Pepin - Incorrect
#9 - -- (6/10) guessed non-Cuban, "similar to a Cuban Partagas" -- Correct!
#10 - Cuban Brinones custom rolled 109[/url] -- (9/10) guessed Cuban, Cohiba-ish custom roll -- Correct!

Final Score: Cigars 4, Fredster 6

* Fredster questions the authenticity of this cigar

(re-posting my personal summary, just for completeness, so everything is in one place)

The Great Fredster Blind Taste Test Thoughts and Personal Conclusions

Well, The Great Fredster Blind Taste Test has concluded... and I'd like to thank Fredster for participating in the test. Hopefully he found it interesting, and possibly educational (I think all blind taste tests are educational, no matter your experience level).

Despite some of the claims to the contrary, this was a pretty closely contested taste testing, with Fredster falling just short of the 7/10 needed to win the bet. Given that cigar #4 (the Taboada) had its authenticity disputed , I'm willing to let the wager be a wash, and not have Fredster pony up the $100. I probably should have never made the $$ wager to begin with, it might have been less contentious.

Despite the unfortunate (and IMHO, unnecessary) I think this was an interesting and useful blind taste test. Although the 6/10 score is only one above a 50/50 "coin flip" scenario, Fredster did display some really nice tasting skill and knowledge throughout the test.

Most interesting to me was the Cuban Montecristo Tubos (1970s) that was deemed to be non-Cuban, and of course the Cabaiguan WCD 120 (2007) that was deemed to be a 15 year + old Cuban Davidoff. But there were other cigars in the blind taste test that I think showed that the line between Cuban and non is not as defined as some might think.

The Cohiba Reserva was thought to be Cuban, but Fredster ended up guessing that it was non-Cuban. Similarly, Fredster also thought that the Tatuaje Maravilla tasted Cuban, but this time ended up veering the right way and guessed that it was non-Cuban. I think pretty clearly, those that were predicting a 10/10 victory were a little ambitious (but admirably supportive).

Taste is a complicated thing...

Another interesting thing is that at least based on this sampling of cigars, Fredster actually preferred non-Cuban cigars to the Cuban cigars that were in the test. The Don Carlos Lancero received 8.5/10, despite him thinking it was non-Cuban. The non-Cuban Cabaiguan WCD 120 that he thought was a Cuban Davidoff received the highest score of the test, a 9.5/10! The Brinones custom roll was second, with a score of 9/10... but all of the other cigars (Cuban or not) were rated a very average 6/10.

So to address the specific assertions[/url] and claims that were made:

1) Can Fredster tell a Cuban cigar anywhere? I think the answer here is "no"; he both guessed that some Cuban cigars were non-Cuban, and that some non-Cuban cigars were Cuban. But there's no shame in that, it is far more difficult than people imagine.

2) Can Fredster tell what marca a Cuban cigar is? No conclusion can be reached, because only 2 of the cigars were regular production Cubans (the Cohiba Reserva and the Montecristo Tubos), but he did get both of those wrong.

3) Has Fredster never had a non-Cuban cigar that impressed him? The answer here is a definite "no"; he found the non-Cuban Cabaiguan to be sublime (9.5/10), and also rated the non-Cuban Don Carlos Lancero very highly (8.5/10)

So what can we conclude here? Nothing, really, this test wasn't large-scale enough to definitively say anything... but I will say that some of the preconceptions that many people had were certainly challenged, and in some cases rebuked in this blind taste test.

And that, my friends, is what I call a success. When your preconceptions are challenged.

These are my conclusions, anyway, you're of course free to come to your own... Hope you all enjoyed the ride!

[Tarks]

For the record. I only see 2 of the 48 pages with this problem I am having.

[madurolover]

Jeff, I will bring it up to Jon tommorow when he comes on.

[jaq6plus]

My first cigar was in Cuba a few years ago; I fell in love with them. For the most part they do have a special flavour but some are not so good. I live in Canada and have access to Cuban cigars. The hype, even here has driven up the price such that they are almost a luxury so I smoke Non-Cubans too. As many have said in this thread no matter where your cigar comes from you will get good and bad. It is a living plant and so cigars from the same place in different years can have a variation.

[Herf N Turf]

Originally Posted by ToJo

There are over 48 pages in that thread. Can someone summarize it?

Yeah, it started out as a friendly challenge to a claim made by Fred. After the test, it deteriorated into petty insults and a mudslinging battle of egos. The conclusion was lost friendship.