Poll & Discussion: cigars construction!

Great idea for a poll

I think Cubans may overfill which can cause plugging (the #1 constuction problem). The overfilling may be one of the reasons why Cuban cigars taste better than nons.

I agree with Daize, those Romeo y Julieta, made in Cuba are well made without any doubt.

I do not think a survey can make a conclusion ever since it depends on brand.

Anyway, I prefer to smoke a bad constructed cuban Guantanamera rather to smoke a well constructed Dominican Cohiba. :)

But, let’s see what comes out.

NC win by far.
Great poll

Alright now the poll looks normal (this morning Cubans were winning out hence my comment) Seems I confused a few people due to that.

My strong opinion is that NCs are way better constructed in general, but yes they do under-fill.

In a broader sense, I do agree that non-cubans are more consistent in the construction department. But… what cubans exactly are we talking about, anyway? In my experience, the cheaper, smaller vitolas of cubans from the best brands (say Partagas, RyJ, Hoyo etc) are very often poorly constructed. They DO tunnel, require repeated lighting, yield insufficient smoke, burn irregularly, have flaky ashes, get you dyspneic from the effort and so on. This is very true for petit coronas, mille fleurs, regalias etc. But that would not hold true, IMHO, for bigger vitolas like robustos, belicosos or churchills, e.g. But then, big cigars from good brands made in Nicaragua, DR or Honduras are IMO even better constructed than their cuban counterparts. Ahem… and I would never prefer a cuban Guantanamera over a Dominican Cohiba. Actually, I would never smoke a cigar again in my life if I was the only human left alive and the only cigars available were the Guantanameras! Ugh. :-)

OK, sorry, but never have tunels or repeated lighting, burn irregulary etc. on my cuban cigars…. Hm…, where you bought them?
I belive not from solocigars.com, royalhabanos.com, airports or other sources, who sell fake or broken cigars.
If you are from US, try to buy from reliable sources. This is my opinion.
Yes I like dominican, hondurian, nicaraguan and other cigars, but with certain exceptions, the rest are low quality even if they have a better construction.

I have had my share of Cubans and my conclusion is a fine cigar from both worlds are pretty much the same in construction. We’re talking quality cigars here such as Montecristo #2, Upmann, Bolivar, etc. The best both worlds have to offer.

Eh eh eh… congratulations on our website owner for this great poll. I see that this is a really controversial issue among us cigar aficionados!

I’d like to add that I live in Brazil and that here we have full access to most cuban brands from very reliable sources. The cigars that I have tried are 100% authentic and stored in good conditions. Oddly enough, non-cuban brands are very hard to find here except for the Davidoff’s and a few others worth of mention (Cuesta Rey, Macanudo, Avo…). I wish we had more choices!

About 90%+ of the cigars that I’ve smoked over the years have been non-Cuban, but I would say that on the whole, the best overall smokes that I’ve enjoyed have been Cubans. When I smoke non-Cubans for the greater amount of time, and then smoke a very good Cuban, the difference is more notable than at times when I am smoking alot of Cubans. That being said, I enjoy a Cohiba Puro Dominicana as much as almost any Cuban I have ever had.

I just smoked a couple of Cubano’s that I picked up in Saudi my last tour and was disappointed. the construction was poor and the tobacco was not of the highest quality. I’ll stick with my Hondurans and Dominicans, thanks.
Dusty.

Alexandre, you know in whitch conditions the cigars are stored. But on the other hand, do you know in whitch conditions they are delivered to the tobacco shop? If yes, then maybe it is just bad luck?
My point, is that there are to many variables to know and control, especially when buying not directly from the manufacturer.

Having had only two Cubans in my smoking life, I don’t feel qualified to comment on them in a broad sense (though those two RyJ’s weren’t spectacular).

But I keep the breadth of my experience fairly wide with variety, and I try to keep the cost down, so I’m not just smoking super premiums. And I’ve had some dead perfect smokes and some clunkers across all price ranges and brands. And I think that’s just the nature of handmade product, wherever it’s made.

Perfection is something to strive for, but never really attainable, so you have to revel in the good you get. It really shouldn’t matter where a cigar is made, as long as it’s made fairly well, and rocks your boat.

In general I would say NC’s offer a more reliable construction. That is to say I’m would be more surprised to find a relative faulty NC as would be the case with a faulty CC.

Yet, the romantic in me seems to like the fact a slightly higher percentage of CC’s might be less reliable but most of the time it happens in a way that it adds up to that undeniable charm of ‘hand made’ one has to accept.

Within the parameters of this poll I voted pro NC but have troubles when translating this outcome outside of the parameters. CC taste (in general) covers up for many other ‘issues’…

Well, I’m pondering this question over a Rocky Patel Pyramid or Torpedo (Maduro) which my tobaccoist said is the best constructed cigar he could offer. And this is after I have for the past few weeks enjoyed some wonderful cubans–Upmann magnums, R y J petit coronas, and Montecristos. Let me just say that I find the aroma and flavor of the Cubans to be utterly enchanting, but I got sick and tired or constantly relighting the sticks, and it could be tedious trying to keep parts of the band lit while other parts burned like hell. Having said that the RP has a nice white ash that seems arichtecturally sound, but the flavor is positively bland in comparison to the Habanos. It is a dilemma. Flavor is perhaps paramount, but I have to admit I like the serenity and dependability of a cigar with a nice steady, even burn. I guess I will continue to look for a Cuban that offers that heavenly perfume but competently packaged in a well constructed stick. As many have said, interesting poll.

Oh, to place the tobacco of Cuba in the hands of torcedores from Dominica, Nicaragua, Honduras… or Miami!