How many still smoke NCs

[demer]

I still smoke a lot of NC but only from about 4 brands. Illusione,tatuaje,opus and drew estate. I know that's like the who's who of small batch boutique cigars(minus opus) but I still enjoy them. I don't buy a lot of them anymore and mostly smoke out my remaining stock unless a new product launches.

[earthson]

After years of trying most of what's out there, I still come back to Fuente.  90% of what I burn are CC, but there is something with good Dominican terroir that still has me hooked.

I rarely favor Nicaraguans, save for the random Illusione or Oliva (Padron's blends have gone downhill).

[ethosan]

Oh man!

 I wish i had the cigars to send to many of you. I'm certain i could rock some worlds

Age and give the same attention to good NC's as one would to his/her CC's and one will be pleasantly suprised.

Here are a few that deserve the aficionados consideration 

-Tatuaje Sir Winston

-La palina Mr. Sam

-La palina Goldie

-Regius Orchant

-Regius Ex. USA Red

-Padron 64 corona nat.

- La Aurora 100 aniversary

My shop is in a state park, i get to meet great people from all over the world who ,for the most part, only smoke cubans. 

I get to blow minds and challenge this topic all day 

Either way you feel about it though, at the end of the day all that matters is you do what you want, and get a experience equitable to the price it cost

-cheers my BOTL's

[oside]

4 minutes ago, ethosan said:

Oh man!

 I wish i had the cigars to send to many of you. I'm certain i could rock some worlds

Age and give the same attention to good NC's as one would to his/her CC's and one will be pleasantly suprised.

Here are a few that deserve the aficionados consideration 

-Tatuaje Sir Winston

-La palina Mr. Sam

-La palina Goldie

-Regius Orchant

-Regius Ex. USA Red

-Padron 64 corona nat.

- La Aurora 100 aniversary

My shop is in a state park, i get to meet great people from all over the world who ,for the most part, only smoke cubans. 

I get to blow minds and challenge this topic all day 

Either way you feel about it though, at the end of the day all that matters is you do what you want, and get a experience equitable to the price it cost

-cheers my BOTL's

Old Town?

[ethosan]

1 minute ago, oside said:

Old Town?

Yessir 

[Warren]

22 hours ago, Ethernut said:

I have one tray of NC's singles. I never reach for them. I do believe there are some good to great cigars, however I find my price per stick vs quality is significantly less buying from Rob. So, that's what I do!

What, the price or the quality

[Ethernut]

14 minutes ago, Warren said:

What, the price or the quality

Ha yes I should have phrased that differently! CCs's are less expensive for me and imho quality is higher, especially when you have a cigar expert picking them for us each day. No brainier for me.

[Cynon]

I buy the odd NC trying to convince myself that there might be one that has the depth or complexity of a Cuban.

To date I have failed.

So far every one has been bland and/or one dimensional bar an Oliva Serie V, I'm on the verge of giving up completely on any more NC, too much effort!

 

[earthson]

3 hours ago, ethosan said:

 

Either way you feel about it though, at the end of the day all that matters is you do what you want, and get a experience equitable to the price it cost

-cheers my BOTL's

I guess that's my main beef with NC - they charge too much for quality. A PLPC, HUPC, RASS or Punch Punch are all sub $10 sticks and kick the hell out of pretty much any NC I can think of.

[...]

Still enjoy Oliva and a few others, quite practical when humidity goes above 90% and ccs wouldn't perform as well

[RWhiz]

Living near Reno, with Fumare right there, I'll always have a stock of Illusiones, well that and I really enjoy them too!  Plus I like Tatuaje, Oliva, and others like La Aurora and Hatuey.  These are good smokes in my book.  Within a year, I'll be about 80% CC to 20% NC which to me is the right balance.  

[lafabrica]

 

my journey of cigars is limited to only two years, but i have bought in to the flavors and aroma of CCs.  for now, i'm tasting different labels to narrow down what i want to purchase more of - which is really why i'm here.  the majority of my collection is NCs, but over time, i think this will level to a more equal split.

for me, i will continue with NCs.  out of the total CC marcas/vitolas in my preferred sizes, i can see 10 labels in my rotation of 20.  the choices are limited, where NCs are not.

i won't limit my choices to just cubans - i agree with some posters above - there are occasions and times to enjoy the variety.
and,
1) there are no cuban offerings for both connecticut shade or broadleaf wrapped cigars.  i enjoy these wrappers and boxes will continue in my rotation  
2) aganorsa - a small number of blenders of this tobacco know how to craft excellent cigars in both flavors and construction.  those of you who know this, know this

[planetary]

As of this writing, my humidor contents, by country of origin:

Cuban: 93.5%
Dominican: 4.1%
Nicaraguan: 1.6%
Mixed/Other: 0.8%

My smoking, in the last year or so, is 100% Cuban.

[Preacher man]

Mostly CC's....I've had 2 NC in 2016.  One was an Opus X and the other was a "shark" both great smokes but both were given to me by a friend.  A friend introduced me to CC two years ago and it's been a complete free fall ever since.

[Pinareno]

I still enjoy NC's regularly but the selection has shrank dramatically. I still enjoy Aging Room F55's, E.P Carrillo Oscuro Torp, Fuentes Hemingway WOAM's and La Flor Dom Chisel Maduros. 

[Aardwolf]

17 hours ago, Ethernut said:

Ha yes I should have phrased that differently! CCs's are less expensive for me and imho quality is higher, especially when you have a cigar expert picking them for us each day. No brainier for me.

This is why I'm now buying at least 90% CC's.  

14 hours ago, Jeanff said:

Still enjoy Oliva and a few others, quite practical when humidity goes above 90% and ccs wouldn't perform as well

This is why I will keep a number of Fuente's, Padron's, Liga's and a few other random NC's... and for those friends that wouldn't know the difference.  But as Ethernut says, I'm getting sticks I enjoy more, at a lower price, and thus in time, I think even my least-liked guests will get a decent CC.

[5thStarChicago]

19 hours ago, ethosan said:

Here are a few that deserve the aficionados consideration 

-Tatuaje Sir Winston

-La palina Mr. Sam

-La palina Goldie

-Regius Orchant

-Regius Ex. USA Red

-Padron 64 corona nat.

- La Aurora 100 aniversary

 

Very good recommendations.  I'd add some La Flor Dominicana, L'Atelier (Tatuaje's "brother" company),  and some Davidoff product to that list as well. There are some brilliant Connecticut shade (if you like mild and smooth and haven't smoked a Nat Sherman Sterling Dalia or Jamie Garcia Connecticut, you really should) and broadleaf cigars (Fuente Anejo, Tatuaje TAA, Ashton Aged Maduro) out there that CC's can't touch IMHO for what they are.  However, Cuban tobacco is unique and exceptional when it's right.  Luckily, we have access to the best though El Pres & co.

As a retail store owner in Chicago, I smoke a ton of non-cc cigars as well as my fair share of cc's purchased here and in Havana.  To claim that they aren't as "complex" as Cuban cigars is completely ridiculous to me because there is such a huge variety of options with tobacco from all over the globe.  They may not be to everyone's taste preference, especially on this forum, but to question non-cc's ability to possess complexity, consistency or quality is total crap.  I adore cigars from all over the world equally and will continue to do so. 
My home stash is probably between 50/50 and 60/40, exactly where I want it.

[Smallclub]

1 hour ago, 5thStarChicago said:

As a retail store owner in Chicago,  

To claim that they aren't as "complex" as Cuban cigars is completely ridiculous to me because there is such a huge variety of options with tobacco from all over the globe.  

but to question non-cc's ability to possess complexity, consistency or quality is total crap. 
 

"Variety of options" have never created any sort of complexity. Complexity comes from the richness of the leaves. There is more complexity in a 28rg ERDM or LGC slim panatela  (discontinued) than in 52rg NC made with 5 different leaves from 3 countries.

[ethosan]

36 minutes ago, Smallclub said:

"Variety of options" have never created any sort of complexity. Complexity comes from the richness of the leaves. There is more complexity in a 28rg ERDM or LGC slim panatela  (discontinued) than in 52rg NC made with 5 different leaves from 3 countries.

Perhaps you didn't understand what the gentlemen meant when he said "variety of options" I believe what he was referring to the vast variety in tobacco varietals used in blending NC's. What gives you flavor, or in this context complex flavor is a assortment of volatile aromatics, phenols, aldehydes, ect. that are byproducts of the oils on the tobacco. During maturation or aging of cigars, these oils hook up and sometimes create different ones. When you have a assortment of tobacco varietals, you have a assortment of oils present, in effect, presenting the possibilities of more complexity. Though i imagine the gentleman wasn't inferring that NC's are more complex, rather refuting broad statements that NC's lack complexity. Some of you guys must smoke 24/7 to have the understanding of all CC's and NC's the way your posts suggest you do. I've been smoking 15+ years, and been in our NC industry for 5+ and with consideration to the thousands of cigars out there to thoroughly go through, i'm not sure i will ever be at that level

With that said, i'm going to light up a LGC oro#4 One of the best young sticks in my collection 

[ethosan]

2 hours ago, 5thStarChicago said:

Tatuaje TAA,

Hell yes brother

The 15's are smoking awesome right now.

Have you got skinny monsters yet? Im still waiting 

[MPfit]

I only store and age Cubans but do smoke Tatuaje and Illusione when I go to my B&Ms. For golfing I usually get some Macanudo sticks. I don't discriminate on any country of origin; however I don't usually purchase non-Cuban cigars by the box so I don't age or store them.

[5thStarChicago]

1 hour ago, Smallclub said:

"Variety of options" have never created any sort of complexity. Complexity comes from the richness of the leaves. There is more complexity in a 28rg ERDM or LGC slim panatela  (discontinued) than in 52rg NC made with 5 different leaves from 3 countries.

I agree mostly with this and the majority of the cigars I smoke, both cc and other, are smaller ring gauges.  The current big ring fad in the US is disgusting to me, and seeing Cuba start to produce 56+ ring gauges makes me cringe.  

My point, as Ethosan speculated, is that there are very rich tobacco leaves grown outside of Cuba and go on to make very tasty and complex non-cc cigars.  Yes, there are plenty of one note pepper bombs out there that I choose not to smoke, at least not more than once.

[gweilgi]

Perhaps we should revisit this thread when the embargo falls completely and master cigar makers like Fuente or Padron can get their hands on Cuban leaf to show what they can achieve blending the best of Cuba with the best of the DR, Nicaragua, Honduras and all the other countries....

That's one experiment I anticipate very keenly.

[stevem]

Non-Cubans for me are great conversation cigars when talking to friends about some characteristics Cubans have, while highlighting some differences they can find in non-cuban market.

One of my favourites right now is from La Aurora factory in Dominica, it's not your traditional blend & has some Andullo tobacco blended in.



This box for me has burned great and as you can see both burns great and holds it's ash well. Picked it up because it seemed to be on the shelves awhile at my local shop, seemed to be marketed to someone looking for something a little different.

Have yet to try the Psyko7 but if they are like this I will be happy to pick up a 5 pack for a weekly smoke.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Professor Twain]

I smoked 98% Habanos until about a year ago. I went on a kick of systematically trying several non Cuban brands. Of course I already knew that there were some great Padrons and Fuentes. Lots of dogs out there but I have found some non Cubans that I really enjoy, even prefer for certain occasions. The CAO Sparkplug is a really interesting blend, Oliva V Melanio is impressive, and a number of other smaller sized maduro cigars, like the CAO Brazilia and Mx2. I think the non Cuban maduros are usually superior to the Cuban maduros I've had (Cohiba).

There are lots of non Cubans that offer strong peppery flavors, some way too strong. But there are no non Cubans that come close to the unique blends of Upmann, Ramon Allones, La Gloria, and Bolivar. They're my mainstays.