Cubans & Non Cubans

[Ellery]

90% cuban - 10% NC. I use to be 100% cubans, but working in NYC you can no longer smoke outdoors, and the few places that are open during lunch don't allow you to bring in your own cigars...

[Rehman]

My sig sums up my feelings on this. But this huge proliferation of NC marcas, vitolas and blends in recent times - what's going on? Are attention spans so short among NC fans as to demand constant novelty? It's too much, dah-lings, too much!

[ReedJames]

I smoke both NCs and CCs. I have to admit that these days I'm smoking more CCs than NCs as that is where my palate has been taking me. I too do not abscribe to the belief that CCs are the end all be all of cigars. There is lots of variety out there and NCs do bring a lot to the table. I have friends also who rarely smoke CCs prefering the taste and strength of NCs. To each there own. I buy both, age both, smoke both, and I know that I always will. The balance may shift from time to time, but quite frankly I like experinceing different cigars and enjoy experimetning to see what is out there.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Wil]

NCs are pretty expensive here in Aus. Can't see the point.

[maverickdrinker]

mostly cubans. I smoke NCs for a change of pace. Would rather stock up on cubans as the recent production has been outstanding, since 2006.

Also stocking up in anticipation that the embargo will be ending in the near future (at least that is what I tell my wife.

[jedipastor]

Different animals, both can be wonderful or total crap. I try to find the former in both.

[Murri]

Different animals, both can be wonderful or total crap. I try to find the former in both.

Totally agree with this.

Just look at the recent comments from the Prez on one of the last shipments.

I smoke both looking for what I like.

Personally I have had far more plugged Cubans than non Cubans.

[Plato]

I think there is a time and place for both.

I am quite partial to the Padron 1964 Anv. I smoke a lot of NC Lanceros, mostly because I really enjoy skinnies and there are a lot more options with that vitola in the NC catagory.

MY favorite NC lancero at this time is the La Flor Dominicana LG Diez Vintage 2010 Lancero. When you dry box this bad boy for a few days it justs bursts with flavor. Construction is always top notch too.

2nd favorite would have to be the Illusione HL "Holy Lance" with the green candela wrapper. If youve never tried a candela wrapper I highly recommend trying this stick. With a lancero the wrapper must be top notch since there isnt as much filler to cover up a bad tasting wrapper. Great smoke, always perfect construction and draw, and i love the pig tail cap.

happy smoking brothers,

[cigarros]

My voice for CC. I smoke only CC. NC not my choice

[aavkk]

I've smoked a few NC's a year since I found FOH in 07 and have been disappointed EVERY time. They dont have the depth, the complexity, the layers of flavor. They dont provoke thought or discussion but rather are just something to smoke. Cuban cigars however are often the focus of the conversation, they have the ability to capture your attention and provide real entertainment. Thats why I choose them and will continue to do so.

[77stoneblues]

I smoke and enjoy both, but I always gravitate to the CC's. I find I get tired of the flavors of the NC's I smoke. That said, I could smoke the Fuente Anejo everyday forever.

[TM-US]

I generally don't like NCs- I have found very very few that have the complexity of flavors that a lot of the CCs have.

There are some NCs that I find to be pleasant, but they don't develop in flavor- almost all are a strictly one-note cigar.

I think the general consensus is correct that the weather and soil have a lot to do with the flavor, which explains why NCs don't have the flavor that CCs have.

[brassie00]

Smoke both ,probably 90% CC ,10% NC.Can honestly say I have numerous favorite CC,but I have yet to find a NC I would call a favourite.

[frenchkiwi]

I tried NCs a few years ago, got a wide sample of all of the ones that were "hot" and highly rated on U.S. cigar blogs, aficionado etc

Some were OK but most did not agree with my tastebuds, did not personally enjoy the basic flavour profile (particularly of nicaraguan tobacco - even Padron Aniversarios et al.). And the complexity generally wasn't there.

So when it comes down to it, I probably wouldn't be smoking cigars nowadays if it weren't for Cuba.

if i were collecting fancy boxes and bands however... ;-)

[Pilgrims]

smoke both but would always chose CC

[Stalebread]

I enjoy both.

However, I think it’s unfortunate that we tend to lump together cigars from places other than Cuba and call them “non-Cuban.” I suppose that’s accurate but a Nicaraguan puro tastes very different than, for example, a Dominican puro. The downside is that many “NCs” are not puros but blends of tobaccos from several different countries. That does not automatically make them bad; it’s just that, for me, it makes it more difficult to pin down my likes and dis-likes based solely on where the tobacco is grown.

[rsanz]

I only buy Cubans now for most of the same reasons mentioned.

Last nc purchase must have been over 6 years ago. Which I guess would make the last few I have left some of the most aged sticks I have! Mmm... perhaps I should spark one up for a revisit.

Occasionally (only occasionally) I'll smoke one of the many short filler East German pre cut cigars gifted to me by my (ex) girlfriend's father. These are cheap little things which look like they have a layer of brown paint on the wrapper. Certainly makes a change, and it helps me appreciate my Cuban sticks even more.

[Colt45]

However, I think it’s unfortunate that we tend to lump together cigars from places other than Cuba and call them “non-Cuban.”

The downside is that many “NCs” are not puros but blends of tobaccos from several different countries.

Personally, I think I refer to them as NCs because as opposed to Cubans, which are made completely of Cuban tobacco (at least as we're led

to believe :-), many are made of multi country blends as you've mentioned - which I don't consider a negative in the least.

But then again, as this is Friends of Habanos, I tend not to give them much thought - at least while here.

[Stalebread]

But then again, as this is Friends of Habanos, . . .

So true. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Ginseng]

But then again, as this is Friends of Habanos, I tend not to give them much thought - at least while here.

Well said!

As the special soil of Cuba nourishes the Havana cigar, so to does this special place support lively exchange about the pleasure of smoking the Cuban.

Wilkey

[BobKincaid]

I've still got a ton of NCs in my secondary humi, but I find myself going to them less and less. I spent in excess of two decades smoking NCs before establishing a steady supply of CCs, and the complexity of the CC flavor profiles far outstrips even the best NCs, in which one may find excellent flavors, but seldom the transition AMONG flavors in a single cigar. My lawnmower cigar, for instance, is a 5 Vegas. It's nice and it's been well-reviewed, but the "there" of a CC just isn't there, sorta like what Gertrude Stein once said about Oakland, California.

It's true that there are NCs that are competitive with CCs, but they are rare and, more importantly, often priced even above CCs. THAT, I will not abide. I don't care if Pepin Garcia personally rolls his cigars on the thigh of his virgin granddaughter, it can't be more expensive to produce a cigar in Nicaragua, Honduras or Dominican Republic, free market wonderlands where workers are treated like draft animals, have little or no healthcare and little or no schooling, than it is in La Isla Prohibida.

[BuckknuttsFan1]

I enjoy both NC and CC.

[ramon_cojones]

I started off smoking NCs but there were several things I really disliked,

-the marketing

-new cigars out every month

-they left a bad taste in my mouth (literally)

-the ones I enjoyed were pricey

-too much pepper (don peppers as someone said on here lol)

-taste too much like ash

I switched to smoking habanos exclusively a year and a half ago (though I was smoking them intermittently) and have not had an NC since. CCs just have a wonderfully organic natural flavor to me, complex, lovely aging potential plus the fact that they never lose value (last factor I'm not too concerned with but it's nice to know). I never wake up with a bad taste in my mouth, cigars don't taste like ash and quite often have incredibly interesting flavor profiles that taste delicious.

[bc8436]

These days the majority of NCs are purchased when I visit cigar lounges, out of respect for the proprietors.

Once in a while I'll seek out something that's wildly popular, such as Liga Privada or Tatuaje Black Label.

[Rushman]

I smoke both. My purchases of boxes are mostly CC. When I visit my favorite US shop I purchase a few of my favorite non cubans out of respect. I only "brown bag" on poker nights where most players smoke CCs.