Expert: James Yee - 3/11/2011

Question
Hi James,

I haven't tried anything but Cuban cigars in my short time since starting (January 2011), but from everything I've researched and read, Cubans seem to be the cream of the crop.

Whoever I came across posts with an interesting comment made by one of the other experts on cigars, "I have smoked the best from the Island nation brought back by customers that travel all over the world. Fun to try them but I have smoked NONE that are consistent. Tight cigars and long runs are pretty much the standard for lesser quality Cuban cigars. They have an interesting taste though and they do seem to smoke better after they have been aged for a decade or 2."

As I haven't had a chance to try any other, I'm curious on your take as a Cuban Cigar Expert how do the Cuban cigars rate compared to other nations and is the extra price justified by the "supposed" better quality?

Answer
Hi Craig,

Having smoked many Cuban cigars AND many non-Cuban cigars, I like to think that Cuban cigars are indeed better than most non-Cubans.  HOWEVER, there are also many non-Cuban cigars that are just as great.  What makes Cuban cigars so rich and flavourful is the fact that Cuban cigars are "puro".  This means that the cigar's filler, binder and wrapper leaves are all Cuban. This creates a richer, more uniform flavour from start to finish.  Many non-Cuban cigars however, use tobacco from different regions or countries.  For example, a non-Cuban cigar could have a Nicaraguan filler, Honduran binder and Cameroon wrapper.  While combining tobaccos from different countries is not always a bad thing, it can sometimes create muddled or less-impressive flavours.  There are however, "puro" non-Cuban cigars and I think these cigars are just as fantastic as most premium Cuban cigars.  (Fuente Opus X comes to mind.)

I disagree with critics that claim a lot or all of Cuban cigars are of poor quality and not consistent.  Yes, Cuban cigars can occasionally have a bad burn or tight draw but the frequency of inconsistency is no different than what you would find with most non-Cuban cigars.  Tightly rolled or plugged cigars is common with hand-rolled cigars; regardless of the country they come from.  Most critics also mention these defects occurring with lesser-quality Cubans and this is somewhat true.  In the Cuban cigar industry - much like the non-Cuban market - there are low-tier, middle-tier and high-tier brands.  Quality in the middle and high-tiers cigar lines are positive while the lower-end brands - inexpensive and machine-made - will usually have poor burn and construction.  But then again, I've sampled many lesser quality non-Cubans that were just as bad so this is proof that construction flaws and defects are not limited to just Cuban cigars.

Another cause for poor quality Cuban cigars could be the fact that people are inadvertently smoking counterfeit cigars.  Counterfeit cigars are produced with lower standards and have been known to have young, poorly grown, unfit, discarded or improperly cured tobacco.  Counterfeiters will use whatever cheap tobacco they can find to put in their cigars.  These cigars may also have been rolled by inexperienced cigar rollers which explains the inconsistent and poor construction.  Although I can't confirm that these critics are smoking counterfeit cigars, I will say that over the years, I've met many people that were soured by Cuban cigars because they were smoking counterfeits (unbeknownst to them) and they thought that all Cuban cigars were this terrible.  This is why it is important that cigar smokers buy Cuban cigars from reputable retailers.

I hope this answers your question.  As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask.

Regards,
James