Deep Dive: We need to talk about Vegueros.

[La_Tigre]

Get it but would rather invest an hour in something more… ‘refined?’ Time cost plays a huge factor when you’re able to smoke a few times a week instead of a few times a day. 

[LordAnubis]

14 hours ago, Tstew75 said:

I might get flamed for this, but I have a box of 2014 Tapados that tastes much like Cohiba Siglos. Probably a weird one off vintage but yea lol

I think its neat you can order these & receive 3-4 year-aged stock for cheap, but w/o lots of age they seem offensive.

I hundred percent agree. I think vegueros are pretty good, albeit now days not a very good price point. Before it was a middle ground between a Favoritos and D4, now vegueros is closer to D4 money. I wholly agree though that there was an element of grass/hay/sweetness that to me was reminiscent of a poor example of a Siglo 1.

[NSXCIGAR]

On 4/7/2022 at 12:04 PM, rcarlson said:

They suck.  

Yeah, pretty much. And the El Cheapo packaging doesn't help either. Those tins are pretty chincey. 

It is a shame what became of the once promising brand Vegueros. The Especiales 1 & 2 were excellent cigars that I enjoyed very much. They had the old Cohiba "grassiness" in abundance with a touch of the Cohiba vanilla bean. Very high quality. 

I don't know--maybe the leaf became extinct since most of the grassiness if Cohiba is gone also. I guess they had no choice but to transition the brand to what is essentially Quintero/LFDC territory. 

Nothing else to do with that leaf--I guess roll it up in Vegueros.

 

15 hours ago, Juliano88 said:

I've heard that pre 2012 Vagueros were really good.

See above. Yes they were but to my recollection the original lineup was gone well before 2012. I hadn't seen any in many years by then. In fact I'm not sure they were even around after 2002.

[Edicion]

I have done a few Entretiempos blind tasting and they all liked them.

Enjoyable flavor mostly, but I have also experienced them being extreme ammonia bombs like no other cigar before.

I would put one in the rotation after 60-70 of other cigars.

[amberleaf]

Have only bought a 16er of the Centrofinos a couple of years ago and agree with most of the sentiments here. A well rolled cigar with a grassy/woody profile. Pretty one-dimensional with not much ageing potential.

I would pick them up again but only if the price was very favourable, so probably not any time soon.

[jonahs_whale]

The worst part is that the branding looks like a knockoff CAO. I only gave them a second look because they were cuban

[Ford2112]

The brand just looks cheap.

[Sir Diggamus]

I am not a fan of these cigars, and not really for the flavor. I have tried the Tapados and Mananitas and both had a light cream and wood notes, with a hint of grass/herbs. My problem with them is that every time I had one I seemed to get nicotine sick or buzzy off of one small cigar. It just makes me never want to grab one when I plan for a smoke. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I can agree with what some others are saying about the branding/design, not the greatest and that's even with green being my favorite color!

As far as the actual cigars go, I'm in the fan side of the split. In my experience, they seem to need at least a few years of age before they really show any potential. I have a tin of 2017s that are grassy cream and minerals in the first 2/3s (I like mineral notes) and they seem to develop a sharp buttery character in the last 1/3 that I love.

The Centrofinos are my favorite out of the bunch but that's essentially because I don't like formats smaller than that.

I get that they aren't everyone's favorite (and that seems to be a large portion of people) but I don't think that makes them a bad cigar. Just an affordable option that needs age for those that *do* love them to enjoy properly. 

[Li Bai]

Those "cheap" brands should be blind tasted beforehand to avoid the confirmation bias...

Of course as a human being I'm not immune to it either but I enjoy the centrofinos, they're somewhere between a Por Larranaga and a Partagas taste-wise and kinda strong (especially when young), quite enjoyable I must say... 

Having smoked lots of JLP I can't stand those anymore, nor the Fonseca Delicias but I come back regularly to those Vegueros 👍

[Partyshrts]

I'm surprised that so many don't like these. I have been smoking Manaitas from 2019 and find them a enjoyable quick smoke. Construction has always been good as well. Worth it for $7 a stick when petite coronas are selling for $11 and above.