The Anti-Review: Why I am tiring of Cuban cigars.

[BrightonCorgi]

11 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

and if you are ferreting them away, certainly not the worst idea, wouldn't it be better to know that you had no worries with taint building and ruining some of the rest? 

I would rather find out in the future rather than open a 4th bottle just to know.  I'll find out then...  The wine has many years left in it.

[99call]

5 minutes ago, Ritch said:

So many things that could be done...

I completely agree. Sadly politicians are the dreggs of society, anybody worth a damn, is making a bigger splash elsewhere

[PigFish]

2 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Privatisation is no panacea. Privatisation  without regulation means the market is eventually  dominated by big players who have vertically integrated and take few risks.

How different are those General, Altadis, RP cigars. How many great smaller brands have been swallowed up only to become a shadow of their former selves. 

Who is behind the FDA  drive grandfathering clauses in the USA? Big tobacco. They want to crush the smaller operators. 

 

Closer to home. 

How many 54+ gauge cigars are the havana Rollers doing?   50% 60% 70% of what they are doing. 

I saw 60+ gauges at Riviera, Alex, Reinaldo, Melia (C&H) ...everywhere. 

They roll them because they sell. That is what people are asking for. 

Once upon a time a Salomon was "huge".  Today it would look like a Lancero on a custom rollers selection table. 

 

 

I

You are simply denying facts with speculation Rob.

60 RG cigars are selling... I get it. Yet you want to offer a SdC #3! That is called diversification and privatization. 

The free marked finds people like me and sells me stuff. If you make custom SdC #3's I will buy some. It is as simple as that. Mainstream and monopoly are two different things.

(just don't roll them too loose, okay!!!)

-Ray

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, ponfed said:

I feel we're getting down an unproductive and unpleasant road.

 

......best not pave that road then 

[El Presidente]

Just now, PigFish said:

You are simply denying facts with speculation Rob.

60 RG cigars are selling... I get it. Yet you want to offer a SdC #3! That is called diversification and privatization. 

The free marked finds people like me and sells me stuff. If you make custom SdC #3's I will buy some. It is as simple as that. Mainstream and monopoly are two different things.

(just don't roll them too loose, okay!!!)

-Ray

Ray. 

I am making SdC#3 (or close)....because I like them!

Do I think there is a deep and financially sustainable market?......no fricken way 

If I wanted to develop a brand and sell 1.5m to 5 million cigars a year (considered a small to medium brand) then skinnies isn't the pond I would be playing in. 

However if I am a boutique passionista happy to forgo commercial success......perfect. 

Ray I look forward to smoking them together! 

 

 

[MD Puffer]

1 hour ago, ponfed said:

Monopolies have their place...

No.  They do not.

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Ritch said:

A government with a basic grasp of economics I including supply and demand would be a start. A government prepared to do the right thing despite how unpopular would be even better.

 

Damn democracy........the tough decisions get voted down......those putting them up get voted out.  Those with the easy message get voted in. Others cotton on very quickly. 

Tell the people what they want to hear. Snout in the trough for as long as you can get away with it. 

In a democratic  society we truly  get the politicians we deserve. 

[El Presidente]

3 minutes ago, MD Puffer said:

No.  They do not.

I would have thought in areas that private enterprise does not want to competitively play. Actually, I will include areas where a social conscience is more important that a bottom line (Judiciary/ safety net national health etal). 

 

[ponfed]

41 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

......best not pave that road then 

I feel like it was a team effort, but I think I'll go offroad for a bit anyway ??

[PigFish]

58 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Ray. 

I am making SdC#3 (or close)....because I like them!

Do I think there is a deep and financially sustainable market?......no fricken way 

If I wanted to develop a brand and sell 1.5m to 5 million cigars a year (considered a small to medium brand) then skinnies isn't the pond I would be playing in. 

However if I am a boutique passionista happy to forgo commercial success......perfect. 

Ray I look forward to smoking them together! 

 

 

... all I can say is I love'ya man! If I said anymore I would have to deal with Ken from now on!!! -LOL

 

You must admit... when I start a thread it creates interest...! -R

[Baccy]

On 11/18/2018 at 12:44 PM, juri said:

i saw a thing on the news how they can replicate any growing conditions in a lab, the analogy they used was something like tomatoes grown in tuscany during a certain time of the year ect and they can do it all year round no bad years do to weather nothing.... some day you will see cuban tobacco with NC level of QC just might take a awhile heh

They've come a long ways from the qc issues that plagued Habanos back around 99-00, but there are still issues. The only way their qc will be at the level of the domestic cigar market is if the communist government is ousted and the people get their stuff back! Can you imagine... Fuente Cuban cigars??? 

[prodigy]

... all I can say is I love'ya man! If I said anymore I would have to deal with Ken from now on!!! -LOL

 

You must admit... when I start a thread it creates interest...! -R

I see a fohnie in your future!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[smokum]

Well Imust say this is i teresting. I dont smoke anything newer than 08. My ex wife saw to that. Me and my best bud are the only ones who smoke my stash. In fact we just smoked some SDC 3 last week. They were excellent. But we do run across an improperly built cigarevery so often. We know within minutes of lighting it. But the real reason we enjoy these is because when we do, we solve world problems, fix politics and religion etc. etc. I would rather smoke a poorly built CC than anything else from another country. Even the shittiest cigar we have clipped and smoked was better than the alternative. Sure we could toss a bad one and pull another one out but then we would have nothing to bitch about. Imagine that, bitching about the construction of a 25 dollar cigar ! First world problems.

[PigFish]

1 hour ago, prodigy said:

I see a fohnie in your future!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

 

 

You know how much bull....x he lets me skate on? Well, sometimes you gotta' pay it back!!! -LOL

-tP

 

22 hours ago, Puffington said:

Ray, 

c'mon over next time.  I'll give you a lancero to kick your wounds.  

'01 Lanceros was what I started with at Rob's. Damn good cigar. Great to see you and Rod again. Cheers! -R

[LordAnubis]

Mate. Maybe you just need to get a wooden glass top and a boveda.


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[Ken Gargett]

9 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

I would rather find out in the future rather than open a 4th bottle just to know.  I'll find out then...  The wine has many years left in it.

think we might be slightly at cross purposes. i meant that with screwcap, you can be infinitely more confident that if you do not open one for decades, if well stored of course, that when you do, it will be in great condition. with cork, a lottery. 

[Colt45]

13 hours ago, El Presidente said:

I am making SdC#3 (or close)....because I like them!

Do I think there is a deep and financially sustainable market?......no fricken way 

If I wanted to develop a brand and sell 1.5m to 5 million cigars a year (considered a small to medium brand) then skinnies isn't the pond I would be playing in.

I don't know....

First, I think a new, independent producer(s) of Cuban cigars might be the most interesting / exciting thing to happen in the cigar world in quite some time. I'm not advocating HSA being dissolved, just giving others a shot.

More to the point, I think that if your Corazón de Cuba company produced a consistently high quality product, and you were in it to make a living and not a killing, that you could have more traditional sizes and you'd most likely sell them all. They wouldn't all have to be long and skinny, but you could probably stay away from the +50s.

[BrightonCorgi]

7 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

think we might be slightly at cross purposes. i meant that with screwcap, you can be infinitely more confident that if you do not open one for decades, if well stored of course, that when you do, it will be in great condition. with cork, a lottery. 

We agree, I just don't want to sacrifice a bottle now for assurance.  Would rather be let down a decade from now instead.

[PigFish]

2 hours ago, Colt45 said:

I don't know....

First, I think a new, independent producer(s) of Cuban cigars might be the most interesting / exciting thing to happen in the cigar world in quite some time. I'm not advocating HSA being dissolved, just giving others a shot.

More to the point, I think that if your Corazón de Cuba company produced a consistently high quality product, and you were in it to make a living and not a killing, that you could have more traditional sizes and you'd most likely sell them all. They wouldn't all have to be long and skinny, but you could probably stay away from the +50s.

There is an ass for every seat!

I have always understood the reason to move with market trends. It is stupid not too. Yet leaving voids in the market, allowing other makes to fill them does not make much sense to me.

Me, I rather like digital photography. However I do appreciate that someone still makes film for cameras. No, I don't buy it or use it. But at our LA herf I met a young man who does and still enjoys film photography. 

The stage play is not abandoned because there is video, bigger screens and special effects. Budweiser sells along side craft beers. I understand Hollywood movie ticket sales are down regardless of the stronger economy. Maybe that has something to do with the garbage that they produce, expecting their monopoly to work forever.

Today, like it or not, what is produced out of Isla Cuba is more akin to Bud than anything else. MHO... The sad part is that Bud fans can identify their brand day in and day out, and that is more than I can say for the fan of the Cuban cigar.

I think there is room for something better than Bud. Or should I say, there is room for something better than, "less than Bud."

-Piggy

[SCgarman]

27 minutes ago, PigFish said:

There is an ass for every seat!

I have always understood the reason to move with market trends. It is stupid not too. Yet leaving voids in the market, allowing other makes to fill them does not make much sense to me.

Me, I rather like digital photography. However I do appreciate that someone still makes film for cameras. No, I don't buy it or use it. But at our LA herf I met a young man who does and still enjoys film photography. 

The stage play is not abandoned because there is video, bigger screens and special effects. Budweiser sells along side craft beers. I understand Hollywood movie ticket sales are down regardless of the stronger economy. Maybe that has something to do with the garbage that they produce, expecting their monopoly to work forever.

Today, like it or not, what is produced out of Isla Cuba is more akin to Bud than anything else. MHO... The sad part is that Bud fans can identify their brand day in and day out, and that is more than I can say for the fan of the Cuban cigar.

I think there is room for something better than Bud. Or should I say, there is room for something better than, "less than Bud."

-Piggy

Ray, I have followed your thread and understand where you are coming from with your frustration with Cuban cigar quality (or lack thereof), but other than venting what do you realistically think will happen? Obviously nothing. You already know that. Either you keep on smoking Cuban cigars, switch to the alternative (NC's), or last but not least find another hobby altogether and just quit the cigar gig. Do you like golf? LOL?

 

[slowsmoke]

There are some exceptional NC out there, so much variety, and they are getting better every day.  Sleep around a little, your CC's won't mind.  Might even be better for the relationship ?

[TBird55]

42 minutes ago, SenorPerfecto said:

"But our business is leaning to the luxury industry, which is why our focus is creating value and creating products. Units are not the right indicator to measure our business.”

Translation: if you want to keep smoking Cuban, get out your wallets!

And buy all the stock that you can, now!

[Ritch]

I hear Pigfish has a load of dodgy cigars that haven't been stored correctly that he no longer wants. Good chance to stock up for someone!

[TBird55]

32 minutes ago, Ritch said:

I hear Pigfish has a load of dodgy cigars that haven't been stored correctly that he no longer wants. Good chance to stock up for someone!

I would be willing to take on the burden of removing all those horrible cigars for him. 

[dowjr1]

On 11/20/2018 at 1:11 PM, Philc2001 said:

I don't know when you were last in Cuba, I was just there a few weeks ago. Certain things may be backwards in Cuba, but in Havana you certainly don't see people starving or homeless on the streets. Believe me, you will see far worse in some of the inner cities in the US. Just about everyone we met in Havana were pretty upbeat, happy, hard working and fun to be with.

I've been to several other countries in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia and I've witnessed far worse poverty and human conditions outside of Cuba. Just my $0.02.

Of course, as a tourist you don't really get to experience government services much, so I can't relate as it pertains to the inner workings of gov't, and that is likely the root cause of the QC issues. 

This from 2017: https://thepioneeronline.com/34421/study-abroad-cuba/essays/insatiable-cubas-food-ration-system-and-the-people-of-cuba/

““It gives us only about 10 days’ worth of food for the whole month,” Gilberto Alfonso said referring to the current rations the government has set in place for its people.”