Non-Cubans

[Jimmy_jack]

On 2/26/2017 at 10:03 AM, bman75 said:

 

For non-shade Davidoffs (black label), I really like the Nicaraguan.  I'd smoke more Nicaraguan tobacco if it was blended with this kind of balance.  Fantastic.  I only had one of the new Yamasas, which is a Dominican puro.  Fullest Davidoff I have ever had but enjoyed it much.  Highly recommended for Opus fans.  I found the maduro Escurio line to be boring.

The Yamasa was one of the best smokes I had last year. Smoked it slow, fuller bodied no doubt. Just can't do the cost though. 

[rhcolbert]

Have two illusione epernay lancers in the singles drawer I didn't know about. Score!

[nsills]

6 hours ago, PadronFan said:

A lot of people have brought up blasts of pepper from NCs, something that I've noticed over the years as well and something that really drew me to CCs - often a much more balanced flavor profile.

I almost pulled the trigger on some crowned heads and warped but when reading a lot of the reviews on halfwheel and blindmanspuff I saw a lot of mentions of strong spice and pepper.

Any recommendations from those two brands (I've never tried either) that are more balanced and offer less pepper/spice and more cream/coffee/chocolate?

 

The Imperiosa Magicos from Crowned Heads is a treat. A chocolate bar to me. Very concentrated in flavor and creaminess. The Jericho Hill is great if you like the San Andreas wrapper, but is known to have spice/pepper. The Headley Grange is probably the most complex and balanced of the lot. It veers more towards caramel, hay and cream. There are crowned heads samplers with these out there if you want to get your feet wet.

[irratebass]

Cigars to me are like beer, in that I will try anything once. With that being said I am all over the board when it comes to cigars, I like em strong, mild, medium ( my fav), but the biggest thing is that the cigar has to have lots of flavor, I can't smoke a Macanudo, it tastes like cardboard to me.

Since my collection of CCs is still growing I tend not to smoke too many of them. I like to start my day out or my first smoke of the day with a CC then move onto NCs.

Some Favs like a lot of you:

Tatuaje
Illusione
Room 101 (R.I.P.)
Crowned Heads
Aj Fernandez
HVC
Warped
Padron (just can't afford them)
Erik Espinosa
Eddie Ortega
Cornelius And Anthony
RoMa Craft
EPC

[beparrish]

Probably 60-70% of what I smoke are non-Cubans. My go-to cigars are from Aurtro Fuente. The consistency and quality is hard to beat. From the green band 858s, Chateau Fuentes, Hemingways, Anejos, Opus X, Don Carlos, Magnum R, various vitolas of the aforementioned lines with Sungrown Wrapper - there is such a variety that I have cigars for every occasion.

I am fortunate in that I am able to attend the Fuente Mania event each year at Holt's Cigar in Philadelphia, PA. This allows me to pick up cigars that have a somewhat limited availability at MSRP.

Make no mistake - I love my CCs as well. But I do love the cigars from A. Fuente.

[HoyoFan]

Thanks to you all, I've just ordered the following:

Illusione Epernay Le Matin

Crowned Heads Las Calaveras

Crowned Heads La Imperiosa

Warped Futuro Seleccion Suprema

Will report back on my findings

[HoyoFan]

Was lucky enough to have a care package arrive today from the wonderfully generous@Realmikemeadows

These look and smell amazing. Can't wait to tear into them.

Thanks again Mike!

[rxavier1979]

23 hours ago, PadronFan said:

A lot of people have brought up blasts of pepper from NCs, something that I've noticed over the years as well and something that really drew me to CCs - often a much more balanced flavor profile.

I almost pulled the trigger on some crowned heads and warped but when reading a lot of the reviews on halfwheel and blindmanspuff I saw a lot of mentions of strong spice and pepper.

Any recommendations from those two brands (I've never tried either) that are more balanced and offer less pepper/spice and more cream/coffee/chocolate?

Looks like I'm late to the punch but...

I would go Warped El Oso Vitola:Papa(Corona Gorda or Toro).  My favorite warped is the Maestro Del Tiempo Lonsdale, and the La Colmena No. 44 Corona Extra. Although I prefer the MDT, I would opt for the La Colmena for a more Cubanesque feel, in terms of less pepper, balanced flavors and medium body. The MDT is perfect to me, but does requires a bit of a slow puff to not overfill your mouth with smoke in a draw. If you draw less than you think is enough, the flavors are out of this world!

I personally didn't care too much for the Futuro.  It wasn't a bad cigar at all, but for me, just wasn't memorable enough for me to go out of my way for them again.  Only had 1 though so who knows...

 

[Sean3]

On 2/25/2017 at 9:48 PM, Jimmy_jack said:

I've smoke many NC lately trying to find something comparable that I would enjoy. I know that Cubans are not the end all be all of the cigar world...but so many NC are just plain terrible. My NC selection is this, Warped Cigars, Tatuaje and Illusione. Those cigars focus on flavor profile. Get you some of those and you'll be happy. 

The problem with most NC is they are stuffed with ligero. There is that sentiment I think, that if your mouth is on fire its a good smoke. To hell with that...I want to enjoy my cigar not suffer through it. Illusione Epernay uses no ligero. Warped and Tatuaje use ligero but they have a balance that is enjoyable. 

Well said, I don't care for the thermonuclear pepper bombs.

[Realmikemeadows]

Was lucky enough to have a care package arrive today from the wonderfully generous@Realmikemeadows

These look and smell amazing. Can't wait to tear into them.

Thanks again Mike!

Hope you enjoy bro. Those are all very accessible and easy on the wallet. Looking forward to your thoughts

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Capt. Brett]

There's only one place around me that sell anything decent and they want almost the same price for a good smoke as I can get a CC for. So no once I smoked up what I already had it's only been CC's.

[Jimmy_jack]

Just finished an Illusione 888 Churchill. Great smoke. Grassy, sweet, light smoke. Little ligero...probably the Epernay with a touch of ligero.

[HoyoFan]

Check out what arrived on this freezing ny morning. Can't wait to try these. Thanks for everyone's recommendations

[eswary]

Opus(ton smoked & aging)
Padron '64 maduro
La Palina Goldies

That's about it. I don't smoke any of them as much as CC's, but it's a nice change of pace.

Eric


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mattygukas]

I still enjoy a fair amount of NC sticks.

My top 10 picks would be the Liga Ratzilla, Liga L40, Padron 26 in natural, Oliva V Milano, Epernay, Tatuaje reserve (and some monsters), My Father in Lancero, Joya de Nic Antano, Sobremesa, and Davidoff Nicaraguan...good stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Philc2001]

Burned another Griffins Robusto while working in the yard yesterday. Damn good cigar, it kept grabbing my attention.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mattb82]

After finding cc I gravitated away from NC entirely. I just can't stand the pepper and in many cases the strength you have to deal with to get full flavor. 

[mygar]

The heavy hitting pepper bombs and heavy nicotine hits is really what led me to cc.  Not all are that way of course... but certainly it is the trend... and it seemed that trend was started by pepin. 

[Inthestix]

I have had only one Cuban. It was a Cohiba. I knew it was a top cigar from brand recognition, but sadly I didn't appreciate what I was smoking. I do remember it being incredibly smooth. From those who have been doing this for a while, what should I expect as I transition into the world of Cuban cigars?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rxavier1979]

On 3/12/2017 at 11:30 AM, Inthestix said:

I have had only one Cuban. It was a Cohiba. I knew it was a top cigar from brand recognition, but sadly I didn't appreciate what I was smoking. I do remember it being incredibly smooth. From those who have been doing this for a while, what should I expect as I transition into the world of Cuban cigars?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dramatically less pepper/spice, more medium-body cigars, smaller ring gauge on average (although this is trending to larger RG recently), and I find them to have very unique flavors that are not found in other non-Cuban tobaccos. 

Generally I find that  you have to be more mindful on the cigars youth in Cubans than in NCs as they may spend less time in aging rooms and on the shelf before finding their way into your humidor. 

 Always try to buy at least two of each if you can to sample  as consistency sometimes is off and may affect your experience. 

 Have fun! If you are not new to Cigar's then this will open up a new experience and increase your interest in the world of cigars by opening up a new world to explore. 

[rxavier1979]

I smoked a Warped MDT lonsdale today after being disappointed by a Boli CG today.  Maybe I'm crazy but I could swear that in the second third  The flavors were very reminiscent of a RA Club Allones.  It was only the second third but wow, that was awesome. 

 I definitely need to add to my stock of RA CA  before they disappear forever.

Smoke this one yesterday and OMG...

 

[dominattorney]

I have skimmed this topic, so may have missed it. But there's a boutique brand that is killing it at my local spot lately and I'm not sure how widely available they are. Leaf by Oscar at first struck me as gimmicky, the cigars are wrapped in a tobacco leaf instead of cellophane. However, they are awesome. I'm smoking a maduro lancers now, and it is very well balanced, well constructed, and just lovely. One doesn't get to smoke many Cuban Maduro lancero cigars, so this is a treat. Mellow coffee, burnt sugar, and dark chocolate. No spice to speak of. The price was right too. A bol gifted me for sharing my beers with him. 

[SteveH]

36 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

Leaf by Oscar at first struck me as gimmicky, the cigars are wrapped in a tobacco leaf instead of cellophane. However, they are awesome.

Agree completely.  Picked one up at the local B&M, let it sit for a month.  Put it to the flame on a whim Thursday; and instantly ordered a pack.  Have you tried any of the other wrappers?

[dominattorney]

17 minutes ago, SteveH said:

Agree completely.  Picked one up at the local B&M, let it sit for a month.  Put it to the flame on a whim Thursday; and instantly ordered a pack.  Have you tried any of the other wrappers?

Not in the lancero vitola, but the corojo and sumatra yes, I have enjoyed in the larger sizes. 

[bman75]

20 minutes ago, SteveH said:

Agree completely.  Picked one up at the local B&M, let it sit for a month.  Put it to the flame on a whim Thursday; and instantly ordered a pack.  Have you tried any of the other wrappers?

Leaf by Oscar are the house favorite at my B&M too.  I have had the maduro and sumatra and both were enjoyable. Better than most NCs.  The packaging is gimmicky but it gets people to give them a try.