An Interesting NC

[Colt45]

I know, it's Friends of Habanos - please don't cringe. This isn't really to tout a particular cigar,

but a thought on cigars in general.

In the past, I've posted that generally speaking, I feel that most NCs, while perhaps being flavorful,

usually lack depth. That is, they may have a layer of flavor, but have little underneath, and finish

somewhat weakly.

This past week, I smoked a cigar given to me by a coworker that was an eye opener, giving me cause

to think about some of the many cigars available from other countries.

It was deep, dense, rich, full, flavorful. Dense chocolate cake with orange marmalade filling, but

not overly sweet. And while not overly complex in that it maintained the same profile over the

course of the smoke, I was truly and pleasantly surprised by the depth this cigar showed.

It really verged on being decadent, and I would be somewhat concerned that a similar profile in

a larger cigar might be too much.

It does give me a ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll see more of this in the future,

or perhaps there already is more, but I just haven't discovered it yet.

The cigar - Montecristo Platinum Vintage 1999 No.3 (44 x 5.5 inches) It actually did remind me

a bit of a pumped up Havana Montecristo.

Wrapper: Mexico

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, Peruvian

I won't be running out to buy a box, but will certainly try a few more when I am able.

[El Presidente]

Thank's Colt.

I remember an Alec Bradley Figurado (similar to Divino) which I tried years ago at the RTDA. Loved it. Unfortunately when it went into serious production numbers the flavour profile changed.

There are some cracker NC's out there. It is important that this continues and expands so that there is serious competition to the Cubans before the embargo falls. Competiton in terms of price and depth of flavour (complexity).

[Colt45]

Rob, I'm sure that you and most members understand that I am not trying to make a direct comparison

between Cubans and non. And though I was hesitant to post on it, this cigar really stayed with

me. If anything, I now have even more questions. I fully understand "terroir", but what was the

difference with this cigar?

And then to complicate matters even more, a day or two later I smoked the '00 RA 898V I

recently posted about - it was on another plane. I suppose I should simply enjoy the journey.

[El Presidente]

» Rob, I'm sure that you and most members understand that I am not trying to

» make a direct comparison

» between Cubans and non. And though I was hesitant to post on it, this

» cigar really stayed with

» me. If anything, I now have even more questions. I fully understand

» "terroir", but what was the

» difference with this cigar?

»

Colt...nothing would please me more if NC's made a stronger presence in sales around the world if for nothing more than it would provide price competition for Habanos.

If there are NC's with real flavour complexity then sing it from the rooftops