Cuaba: Is there a future? If so, how would you fix it?

[shlomo]

Not questioning your knowledge bro or the fact that we are seeing things differently. Has nothing to do with who makes the statement

I am curious as to what you would recommend as a solution to revive the marca....

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I would recreate the band. I think the name "Cuaba" is pretty lousy and will suffer from the negativity forever.

Make the band simple. No gold, no shine, no green! Make it brown, red, white, black.

Wood boxes, not the colorful ones Cuaba has now. Simple wood, with the logo and name burned into it.

Boxes of 10 or even 15. For now. Until more people have enjoyed some o fthe Cuaba offerings, let them sell in smaller quantities so that people are not afraid to commit to 25. They can commit to only 10 instead.

Make it limited production run, and make the "limited" part of it, known to everybody. Number all the cabs or boxes. No need for fancy gold plates, but a serial number. Say 100 000 total cigars, count the numbers and break it down to serial numbers on the box.

Just a few suggestions. Some others I have liked as well. I was not trying to be rude at all before Art, but the fact that Cuaba is an all-figurado marca is what makes it special. It has no history behind it, it has no allure or collectability. Making another robusto will not differentiate the marca from anything else and eventually it will simply die off.

The half corona and the Perlas work because they are fairly unique. The problem with Cuaba is not that it lacks uniqueness, but that it lacks the history of other marcas and that "je ne sais quoi" that other, more famous marcas have.

[shlomo]

Off topic a bit, but what's happened to ERDM is almost a crime, when you look at its back catalogue and now at what is left of thisonce pround marca its a tragedy.

Same with Punch.

[CaptainQuintero]

I almost forgot, add a britanicas vitola!

Every marca should have a britanicas/celestiales finos

[polarbear]

I almost forgot, add a britanicas vitola!

Every marca should have a britanicas/celestiales finos

YES!

[MontrealRon]

Generoso '04

mmm mmm good!!!

[MontrealRon]

I almost forgot, add a britanicas vitola!

Every marca should have a britanicas/celestiales finos

In for two boxes, for starters.

[Onsto]

I like the small / medium / large idea. Find some rollers who know how to roll them, use some great wrapper that's smooth, dark and oily. Word will get out that they are 'on' and presto, there's an opportunity to attract some new fans to the marca.

To this day, in 15+ years of cigars, a Cuaba Diadema is the most boring, flat, unchanging, nothing cigar I've ever smoked. Put it down considerably short of halfway, and never felt compelled to pick it up again...

[CaptainQuintero]

I need to give the marca a sample again, it's just every time I nearly pull the trigger my mind goes back to the last attempts:

[oliverdst]

Well, at least the Cuaba THREAD is a success.

[kwsaw63]

I need to give the marca a sample again, it's just every time I nearly pull the trigger my mind goes back to the last attempts:

My Cuaba experience was the opposite of yours Greg. The first Cuaba I ever has was a Generosos with 7 years of age on it which tasted delicious.

[johnhenry]

I have never had a bad one,but I have never had a great one. I had a box of the smallest size that was so floral it was almost perfumish. That being said I would take a Hemingway every time . How do you save the brand? Let Fuentes take over the brand as stated above.

[tippexx]

Think Skoda.

Sort out the construction and good reviews will follow. With good reviews the Marque will fly. Adding a Celestiales is a good idea, but IMO the concentration on Figurado is what gives the brand it's uniquenees and needs exploitation.

At the moment, I doubt the folk running the brand give much of a **** ... so people who cared would be good.

[CdnLimitada]

I have had one of each of the Salomones and the 08 LE. Both really good. The LE especially. Quite a unique flavor but would happily buy more.

[CaptainQuintero]

My Cuaba experience was the opposite of yours Greg. The first Cuaba I ever has was a Generosos with 7 years of age on it which tasted delicious.

I'm quite jealous! I think mine were dried out old EMS selection that had been sitting around for a long time being used as doorstops lol, the low moving stock in the UK is pretty bad quality from my experience

[Wil]

Interesting discussion. Has got me wanting to try some cuabas. Pres, any chance of a sampler with some young and aged examples?

[mk05]

Very interesting conversations taking place with multiple levels of analysis and interpretations...I only have experience with those rolled at the old RyJ factory. I can see that some of you really know your Cuabas. So I have some questions...

Reopen romeo factory. No other solution.

...

Nothing from the old Romeo factory has had any success. ERDM...dead (down to 2 vitolas). Cuaba....dead. SLR....dead (down to three vitolas all available with age). Sancho Panza...dead (down to 2 vitolas). QDO...dead (down to 2 vitolas) and would be one if SEITA wasn't owned by the same company that is partners with Cuba in Habanos.

Romeo 22 -25 different vitolas that are all crap and have nothing to do with old fashioned Romeo flavor. See a pattern?

...

Lowering the price will only signal that the cigar is non premium, like the perception for flor de cano, and will cheapen the marca further. Did i mention rafael gonzalez, another killed romeo factory brand.

Plus one on the above statement - when the cigars were rolled at Romeo it was fantastic.

Trivia: one of the reasons the brand started at that factory was the presence of over two hundred figurado molds from the old times. And to this day is the only brand that is represented by figurados exclusively - makes no sense to start rolling parejos, IMHO.

Exactly.

Even the EL piramide was sort of out of place.

Cuaba = Perfecto.

This is its "raison d'etre" - its reason for existance.

There is otherwise no point to the marca whatsoever.

Adding in Parejos (straight cigars) would be like mixing water into wine.

I can only assume that new Cuabas do not taste anything like the old Briones Montoto rolled Cuabas. So when did Cuaba start losing traction, was it recent? '08? '03? Never had any traction? I ask because I personally love old BM rolled cigars. To me, it is the only other factory than Partagas to have a unique DNA - you could tell that a cigar came from the Montoto factory - the DNA was all apparent in the list of vitolas and marcas that Eddie pointed out. The old Cuaba Exclusivos were like RyJ light in a throwback uniform.

If Cuaba did not have any traction back in the '02 time, then I would have no explanation, other than comparing with VR/Trinidad and arriving at a conclusion that it must be a trend of parejos gaining more market share, and figurados becoming more of a novelty, as the brands were still too new. If the marca lost traction post-'04, I could argue that it is due to the loss of BM. In fact, you can name many from the list that went down when BM closed, with the rollers all disappearing into the wind. Perhaps it was that Cubatabaco knew it couldn't maintain the RyJ DNA at other factories, and decided to slash all the vitolas? Or perhaps it was that RyJ DNA was becoming too stretched between the numerous marcas and it was time for serious consolidation. Perhaps both? Definitely could explain the QDO move.

Still lies the true question: is it the blend, or is it the shape. I believe that given enough time, a good product will always find a market. Couple examples, I never thought I'd buy Half Coronas, being so tiny, but I fell in love with it after trying it; I thought I'd love Cohibe PE since I love piramides, but hated it upon trying it (in this case the marca prowess and marketing will let the facade continue for a while). This leads me to believe that it must be the post-BM blend that has failed Cuaba. It appears a QDO-esque relaunch may be in need to resuscitate the marca. Perhaps, the previous concern could be true, that parejo shape is just more prevalent with people these days. This is definitely a possibility, as clearly demonstrated by the market - where parejos outnumber figurados. Another concern is that the couple marcas that came about in the turn of the century earned a rather black mark due to QC during the cigar boom era. I don't know how many times I remember hearing about how plugged Cuabas were that they gave up on it. Lastly, I'd say it's time to change the band (I'm looking at you VR) - what are we in 3rd grade? - let's get it a classic and pleasing band, hell, shiny. It's the first thing customers see.

That said, I would end by saying that when there is a winner, there is also a loser. Not all marcas will get the same market share, nor should they. They all have a time and place. Perhaps Cuaba is meant to be that change in pace for the Cuban smoker, and Cubatabaco is happy knowing that fact.

[kwsaw63]

I'm quite jealous! I think mine were dried out old EMS selection that had been sitting around for a long time being used as doorstops lol, the low moving stock in the UK is pretty bad quality from my experience

I've been meaning to get a box of Generosos for a while. Will send you some to try once I do.

[CaptainQuintero]

I've been meaning to get a box of Generosos for a while. Will send you some to try once I do.

Awesome! You'll have to send me some shortie advice so I can ding you too!

[greenpimp]

Reblend this line with high quality tobacco. They take way too long to get good for today's market.

Perfectos are my favorite shape. I have consistently bought Cuabas, but IME they need at least 5 years to lose a kind of funky bitterness. Once that is gone, they are sublime.

We all have seen how cigars with blends that needed time to mellow have gone in the past 10 years. They're almost all gone.

Reblend to be more approachable and appreciated NOW. I would buy more myself! The line has great possibilities.

[Smallclub]

IME they need at least 5 years to lose a kind of funky bitterness. Once that is gone, they are sublime.

Agreed; that funky bitterness is (along with construction of the small sizes) Cuaba's main issue IMHO.

[ewipper]

Very interesting conversations taking place with multiple levels of analysis and interpretations...I only have experience with those rolled at the old RyJ factory. I can see that some of you really know your Cuabas. So I have some questions...

I can only assume that new Cuabas do not taste anything like the old Briones Montoto rolled Cuabas. So when did Cuaba start losing traction, was it recent? '08? '03? Never had any traction? I ask because I personally love old BM rolled cigars. To me, it is the only other factory than Partagas to have a unique DNA - you could tell that a cigar came from the Montoto factory - the DNA was all apparent in the list of vitolas and marcas that Eddie pointed out. The old Cuaba Exclusivos were like RyJ light in a throwback uniform.

If Cuaba did not have any traction back in the '02 time, then I would have no explanation, other than comparing with VR/Trinidad and arriving at a conclusion that it must be a trend of parejos gaining more market share, and figurados becoming more of a novelty, as the brands were still too new. If the marca lost traction post-'04, I could argue that it is due to the loss of BM. In fact, you can name many from the list that went down when BM closed, with the rollers all disappearing into the wind. Perhaps it was that Cubatabaco knew it couldn't maintain the RyJ DNA at other factories, and decided to slash all the vitolas? Or perhaps it was that RyJ DNA was becoming too stretched between the numerous marcas and it was time for serious consolidation. Perhaps both? Definitely could explain the QDO move.

Still lies the true question: is it the blend, or is it the shape. I believe that given enough time, a good product will always find a market. Couple examples, I never thought I'd buy Half Coronas, being so tiny, but I fell in love with it after trying it; I thought I'd love Cohibe PE since I love piramides, but hated it upon trying it (in this case the marca prowess and marketing will let the facade continue for a while). This leads me to believe that it must be the post-BM blend that has failed Cuaba. It appears a QDO-esque relaunch may be in need to resuscitate the marca. Perhaps, the previous concern could be true, that parejo shape is just more prevalent with people these days. This is definitely a possibility, as clearly demonstrated by the market - where parejos outnumber figurados. Another concern is that the couple marcas that came about in the turn of the century earned a rather black mark due to QC during the cigar boom era. I don't know how many times I remember hearing about how plugged Cuabas were that they gave up on it. Lastly, I'd say it's time to change the band (I'm looking at you VR) - what are we in 3rd grade? - let's get it a classic and pleasing band, hell, shiny. It's the first thing customers see.

That said, I would end by saying that when there is a winner, there is also a loser. Not all marcas will get the same market share, nor should they. They all have a time and place. Perhaps Cuaba is meant to be that change in pace for the Cuban smoker, and Cubatabaco is happy knowing that fact.

In 1999 when they started making them plugged. Then they made the bigger sizes, which are great. But after 03, the tobacco went dead. And after 05 everything moved to La Corona. Not to rock the boat on box codes, but Salomones made at Partagas factory were always better than the Romeo ones.

[CanuckSARTech]

The idea of a tin of 5 Divinosis great. It has to be airtight like the upmann half corona tin though, not the useless 5 count tin RyJ petit julieta thing; that's about as airtight as Paris Hilton

Just.....awesome. LOL.

[PuffDaddie]

This puro will never sell-forget about it

[shlomo]

This puro will never sell-forget about it

Sigh...

[oliverdst]

Habanos no longer produces HU half coronas in tins because metal was getting harder to get. As a matter of fact in my opinion this could be the reason the new Vegueros are só late.