Golden age of cigars: what do you think?

[Ryan]

It depends what "Golden age" of cigars means.Production? Crops? Growing Conditions? Retail? Online retail (as Prez mentioned)? Availabilty? Quality? Places where they can be smoked?

For me, some of the best and consistent cigars I've ever seen and smoked have been from the late 60s to late 70s. The wrappers are extraordinary, smooth, thin, oily and beautiful.

A particular box of Por Larranaga Magnums was like stroking a pony's nose. But there are lots of examples.

[nKostyan]

After the revolution and until our time made a series of steps:

- Reducing the insane number of brands

- Regulated the distribution of tobacco between factories and banned the export of tobacco leaves

- Put formats in orderly and systematized the range of Vitola de Galera

- Selection of disease-resistant tobacco varieties

- Replacement of the machine made on full hand rolled

I think we're in the Golden age of Cuban cigars. If not for the revolution, we would now have the same insane amount of CCs with terrible taste, as we have now NCs

 

 

 

 

[canadianbeaver]

Great point of view to love what you are smoking. Collecting at the time on a board is wonderful don’t you think? Since the beginning here for me, a few members showed their love of decades past Cuban cigars. Even smoked some at events together.

Golden Age? I am thrilled with 2010+ since it means I obtained them myself and saved them. But admit we smoked them and did not know if we would save so much stuff like now. So 2013+ rocks.

CB

 

[cigaraholic]

Pre Revolution for me....great tobacco, great rollers, unbelievable choice of sizes.....and you could smoke anywhere anytime ❤️

[Philc2001]

9 hours ago, nKostyan said:

After the revolution and until our time made a series of steps:

- Reducing the insane number of brands

- Regulated the distribution of tobacco between factories and banned the export of tobacco leaves

- Put formats in orderly and systematized the range of Vitola de Galera

- Selection of disease-resistant tobacco varieties

- Replacement of the machine made on full hand rolled

I think we're in the Golden age of Cuban cigars. If not for the revolution, we would now have the same insane amount of CCs with terrible taste, as we have now NCs

I don't think it is clear what is meant by Golden Age. 

Google search defines it like this:

gold·en age

/ˈɡōldən āj/

noun

 

1. an idyllic, often imaginary past time of peace, prosperity, and happiness.

   • the period when a specified art, skill, or activity is at its peak.

     "the golden age of cinema"

Would you say our hobby is an art or skill? Was there a peak period in the art or skill of cigar making?

I think it is challenging to delineate artful skill from product quality when it comes to CCs. When you enter quality into the discussion you may get into an endless debate over quality of the tobacco leaf, quality of the harvest, quality of the maturation, quality of the cigar rolling, quality of packaging, and so on. I personally believe there have been marginal improvements in production overall over the past 20 years, including the harvesting, preparation/maturation and the rolling. But IMPO I feel the tobacco quality has declined over the years, or maybe it is just the blends that have become less flavorful. If I had to assess the quality of the leaf I would prefer the mid nineties tobacco pre H2000. 

Flavor or taste is a very subjective criteria. If you ask 100 people you will get 100 different answers. Having smoked few CCs in the early to mid nineties, I didn't have the pallet to give a subjective evaluation at that time. However, the cigars I smoked from that era a few years later in the late nineties and early 2000s, I would agree with several others, the tobacco flavor from that era was superior. 

Then there is variety and consumer demand. Some may argue that the Cigar boom in the mid to late nineties, although short-lived, did peak in the number of cigar brands (worldwide) and cigar varieties available to consumers (not just CC, but all cigars). 

If your gauge is revenue and profitability, then I suspect CCs are generating handsome profits these days, so that would likely change the outcome.

I don't really know much about the cigar industry before the late 90s because I wasn't an avid cigar smoker then, but seeing some of the news and advertising from that era and prior to the embargo, then it's hard to dismiss that time as a golden age in terms of the liberty to smoke anywhere and any time. 

It's hard to make a call.

[Derboesekoenig]

5 hours ago, Philc2001 said:

But IMPO I feel the tobacco quality has declined over the years, or maybe it is just the blends that have become less flavorful. If I had to assess the quality of the leaf I would prefer the mid nineties tobacco pre H2000. 

This is more or less what I was personally looking for. Taste is very subjective but the tobacco itself has changed, and as the earth changes over time, so does everything else. It'd be interesting to see how this industry and cigars in general evolve over the next 50 years (I'd be 77 if I'm still alive by then). Thank you for your opinion! It's nice to hear from people that have experience from the 80s and 90s.

[MD Puffer]

Personally, I think the “golden age” of cigars was when Cuban cigars cost 5-10 cents per stick.