Cigars (1 Viewer)

[Dennis]

Nice thread, for a little while.

As soon as I read what Josh said about the Cuban gov't Pre-Castro, I figured someone would jump in. I have to agree with Mike, although he was a little rough on Josh which seemed to have provoked him. The Batista years weren't all wine and roses but the people were at least free, but at the rate it was going, it might've ended up bad anyway. You both made good points but that situation is a double-edged sword which would spark endless debate.

On to the cigars..............

 

[Charles J P]

Please, please dont close this thread. I was just learning so much. It has been about 2 years since I've had a cigar. I have asthma, but I dont inhale, and if I smoke outside, its not really and issue. I just dont make a habit of it. Maybe the people above would be kind enough to self censor their posts and just continue on :frowning:

 

[Francois Caron]

One word of warning about buying Cuban cigars in Canada -- or at least in the Montreal area. The "quality control" problem mentioned earlier may actually the result of an increase in the sale of Cuban counterfeits.

When the cigar fad was in full bloom a few short years ago, there was a TV news report about the bogus stogies. They would appear to have the manufacturer's original label on them, but a closer inspection by a specialist revealed the cigars were filled with loads of crap including discarded banana peels! Not only were the cigars phonies, they could also be harmful to your health!

Unless you're buying your cigars from a well known and highly reputable establishment, don't trust a store that happens to have a humidor beside the front counter!

 

[Claude M]

Here is what is in my current rotation (I smoke everyday):
Bolivar Fuerte maduro size B 5.62 X 50 $3 Estelo Padron from Villazon has a masterpiece here (they are new)
Bolivar Fuerte Cuban Corona under $3
Partagas Black (any size) full flavor, average $3.5
El Ray Del Mondo, Flor de Llaneza (top shelf Villazon product, too pricey for me to buy a box, so I buy loose and pay even more! $7/stick, once in a while on special days I'll smoke one, maduro or natties, GREAT GAR)
ERDM Rothchild 5 X 50, great cigar comes wrapped in cedar $3
can't go wrong with ERDM, pick a size and try it.
Punch, Rothchild double maduro, Rothchild Rare Corojo (hard to find but in the 3 dollar range), From Punch (another great Villazon product, I like every size/wrapper I've tried) The above smokes are Honduran, from Nicaragua I smoke (on regualr basis): Mayorgas high octaine parejo trios, great corona, the maddies and naturals are mild, but full of flavor $3. CAO Brazilia, love them but can't smoke them too often as they are about $6 each.
I guess I'd better stop! BTW, AVO, Griffen, Davidoff, Ashton, great smokes but at around $15+ a stick, I'll pass.

 

[Tony_Faville]

You have to try the LaLuna Maduro Fuerte. I can only smoke the coladas because any bigger and these strong little suckers will turn me green. Link Removed
I am also a big fan of any of the Romeo y Julietta line, Cuban or Dominican.

 

[Claude M]

La Luna African Fuerte look real good, will look for them.
The parejos look real nice, I love a Cameroon wrapper (toothy medium brown).

 

[Steven Simon]

BTW, AVO, Griffen, Davidoff, Ashton, great smokes but at around $15+ a stick, I'll pass.

Only cigar in there that's over 10-12 bucks would be a Davidoff White Label. Ashtons and Avo all retail from 6-10 bucks on there regular lines....

 

[Claude M]

Steve, you're right. I need to find a new place to buy singles of the AVOs and Ashtons. The guy I use (he's in Ridgewood Bergen county NJ) gets away with it around here because he carries the cigars JR (in Paramus) doesn't have.
The other day I payed $20 for an Ashton VSG (the smaller Robusto was $10). One of my favorite sticks. When I ask why are you selling above MSRP, they say it's the NJ tax. Now that it's been lowered, "the old stock has to go first" before the price comes down (it's like the boom never ended here!).

 

[Steven Simon]

Claude,
I own 2 smoke shops. If your looking for VSG's, drop me an email.... I get them often.....

 

[DanR]

One word of warning about buying Cuban cigars in Canada -- or at least in the Montreal area. The "quality control" problem mentioned earlier may actually the result of an increase in the sale of Cuban counterfeits.

The "quality control" is not actually the result of fake cubans in Canada (though there are a hell of a lot of fake cubans in Canada). In reality, the inconsistency is stemming from the fact that the cigars are being rushed to market. You see, cigars are a huge source of cash flow, if the THE major source of cash flow, for the government of Cuba (i.e. the same government that owns Habanos S.A. AKA the conglomerate the basically stole all of the privately owned houses). So to get cash as quickly as possible, the cigars are rushed through production.
I recommend buying the cigars, and letting them sit in your humidor for at least two years, at the right temperature and humidity...obviously. When buying cigars in Canada, ALWAYS go through a reputable dealer. In Toronto, I've used Thomas Hinds, and also there is a La Casa del Habano in both Toronto and in Montreal. I always laugh when these jackasses come back from Canada, offer me a Cohiba Esplendido, tell me they got it for $8 "over the border". I look at it, and tell them it's fake as all hell. They get pissed. I guess I understand, nobody feels good when they get ripped off. I show them the real thing, and then the light goes off...until they find out how much they really cost in Canada. Then anger sets in again!!!
In addition, in Canada, the exclusive importer is Havana House, so any box you buy should have the "tax paid" AND the Havana House sticker on the front (usually on the right front).
Happy smoking!!! Now, it's time to go smoke a 4 year old Bolivar Belicosos Finos.
Regards,
Dan

 

[joe rizzuto]

just fyi,
the cheapest cohiba around here (western canada) is about $40. waaaay to rich for my poor blood line.

 

[Steven K]

What kind of place was Cuba before Castro? A place run by a corrupt, U.S. puppet government? A place friendly to organized crime? A place with widespread illiteracy, large-scale gambling, enormous political unrest, and huge disparities of wealth?

Las Vegas?
Back to cigars... personally, I prefer Fuente Fuente Opux X No. 2s... If you can find one, pick it up! The best non-Cuban cigar I've ever had. Can you get these, Steve?

 

[Jin E]

I've never much cared for the Fuente stuff... though people seem to rave over the opus. I still have my unreleased Opus X Lanceros and Don Carlos Lanceros though (no... not the released Petit Lanceros). I to have a between the lines I keep on the top shelf of one of my desktops just cause it looks neat. My current rotation is... elll too many cigar to list. But... here are some of my more frequent favorites:
-Flor de Cano Bouquets (cheap camaroon wrapped... mild)
-Bolivar Fuerte Belicoso
-Cuban Bolivar Petit Corona
-Cuban Punch Petite Coronas (cabinets usually)
-Cuban Bolival Belicoso Fino (my personal favorite cigar)
-Consuegras of various shapes and sizes (villazon seconds)
-El Rey Del Mundo Reserva Salado
-Henry Clay Broadleaf
-Anything with the name Padron written on it
-Excaliber Prensado Oscuro
Hmmm.. that's the tip of the iceburg.
There are too many good if not better cubans then the Cohibas to waste your money for the name Cohiba. There are too many good cheap cubans IMHO to waste your money on super expensive premiums... IMHO of course. If you know where to look Cubans are actually quite cheap and affordable to mail order over the net. Um... not that I condone such things. Confiscations have gone up up up since 911 though.
Here is a old pic of my stash. Since then I have upgraded to a 100 quart cooler instead of a 50... I probably have about 800-900 cigars. I think I was at around the 500 mark in the picture. I maybe close to 1k now if I took the time to actually count my aging bundles of COnsuegras.

 

[MikeF]

The "quality control" is not actually the result of fake cubans in Canada (though there are a hell of a lot of fake cubans in Canada). In reality, the inconsistency is stemming from the fact that the cigars are being rushed to market. You see, cigars are a huge source of cash flow, if the THE major source of cash flow, for the government of Cuba (i.e. the same government that owns Habanos S.A. AKA the conglomerate the basically stole all of the privately owned houses). So to get cash as quickly as possible, the cigars are rushed through production.

Firstly, the Cuban government doesn't derive an enormous amount of income from cigars. Obviously, it is a revenue source, but certainly not "THE major" one. I assure you, tourism provides several hundred (if not thousand) times more revenue.

Secondly, your argument doesn't make much sense: even if cigars were the Cuban government's ONLY source of revenue, there would be no incentive to rush them to market at the expense of quality. The reason why Cuban cigars are so highly coveted is because of their quality. From what I have seen, the Cuban government (and more specifically, Habanos S.A.) is very unhappy about the problem with counterfeit cigars (those being the origin of the "quality control" concerns mentioned earlier).

Basically, in both Cuba and Canada you cannot go wrong purchasing from La Casa del Habano (and, indeed, that is the only place I will purchase cigars). You will always get top-notch cigars -- never fake. The only way you can land up with counterfeits is by buying from private individuals in Cuba, or purchasing from outfits in Canada that acquire cigars from others purchasing from private individuals in Cuba. Obviously, there are reputable cigar retailers in Canada other than La Casa del Habano -- just make you know where they're getting their cigars from. And forget about looking for stickers/stamps/whever; the packaging for some of the fakes is so good that you'll never know what it is you've purchased until you light up.

 

[Claude M]

Hey Jin E, with that many sticks I think I'd get some fire insurance on them. Just make sure you don't put in a claim for 1000 individual fires which took place at close proximity to each! BTW the connies are real good (9M). Have you tried the silver bundles of the HDM at JR? I like them a little bit more (they cost a few bucks more than the connies).

 

[DanR]

just make you know where they're getting their cigars from. And forget about looking for stickers/stamps/whever; the packaging for some of the fakes is so good that you'll never know what it is you've purchased until you light up

Well, I couldn't disagree with you more. Of course, there are some great fake with great fake packaging. But I merely pointed this out because the absence of such a Havana House sticker GAURANTEES it's a fake. The opposite does not hold true...the presence of a sticker does not gaurantee it's legit (but that's not what I was saying). Remember, Havana House is the sole importer of Habanos SA product in Canada. The absence of such a sticker means it's fake. Sorry, but if people are going to buy in Canada, they should make sure it has the Havana House sticker (among other things) before buying.
Regards,
Dan

 

[JeremySt]

Here's where I chime in :
I love Macanudo's Prince Philip, and Arturo Fuente's Short Story. Both a real treat with a fine New Belgium Beer.

 

[Dave E H]

Hey Jin E, with that many sticks I think I'd get some fire insurance on them.

If there is a fire, call me. I'm there to just catch a whiff.
Seriously - haven't smoked too much in the past year - living in CA will do that to you. My humidor is still stocked and maintained though (a box and and half of Cohiba Robustos and some other stuff.)
Anyone know
* a good internet site for cigar accessories these days? been forever since I actually ordered.
* what the market rate for Opus X's are these days? And the Quality? Haven't had one in 3-4 years.
Thanks!

 

[Josh Lowe]

I had a real Cuban last week at a friend's house. Partagas. I liked it, but it burned funny. Quality control is definitely not the best.

I then followed up with a regular old CAO anniversarie, I love those. Just bought a few of those yesterday - plus one of the local cigar places sells Montecristo and H. Upmann rejects for $1.49 each. I walked out with a handful of those, I'm going to take them to work today and see if anyone will join me after lunch.

 

[Claude M]

Dave E H, what sort of cigar accessories are you looking for? I've got links for Xikar cutter, PALIO cutter, Zino Davidoff cutters, good prices for each. For torches, I've had bad luck with all but a Prometheus lighter (great, I think I just jinx myself!). I'll email the links if you'd like.