Random basic info/opinion on Havana's

[craig]

Folks were asking about basic info on Cuban cigars in the Budget pass ... here's a, um, unique viewpoint. My opinion only, and YMMV. Corrections/comments welcome.

Manufacture:
All production Havana cigars are marketed by Habanos S.A. The cigars are made in government factories. Each cigar is assigned to a "mother factory," which is responsible for the blend. Production of that cigar typically happens at the mother factory, plus other factories, depending on popularity. Examples of factories are H. Upmann (also Montecristo), El Laguito for Cohiba, Partagas (also Bolivar, Ramon Allones), Romeo Y Julieta (many). There's also a (planned?) factory just to do LE's and other specialties, IIRC.

Brands:
First, a note to avoid those duty-free store favourites: "mini" or "club" cigars using any brand name. They aren't worth it, IMHO. Guantanamera is also a brand to avoid like the plague. Cuban Macadoodles.

The top brands are Cohiba and Trinidad. Those two get the best of everything. Cohiba has triple-fermented binder/filler; Trinidad does not. If you can afford the premium pricing, go for it and watch for fakes.

The low-end brand is Jose L. Piedra. They were once marketed as "country" cigars - appearance is not a criteria. Very enjoyable smokes. Just higher up in price are, from strongest to mildest, Los Statos de luxe, Quintero, and some Por Larranga and Rafael Gonzales.

Then come the broadline brands - Romeo Y Julieta, Partagas, H. Upmann. Those three have cigars that cover pretty much every price range.

The rest aren't so easy to distinguish because they all pretty much cost the same. For example, Diplomatico was introduced as a lower-priced alternative to Montecristo. These days Dips are still less expensive than MC's, but in some sizes, the difference is negligible - e.g., $5 on a box of #4's - although $30 on a box of #2's.

Sizes:
Sizing of Cubans is standardized. Use http://www.cigars-review.com to look at a size across brands. For example, the "minuto" size is shared between the Partagas Short, Bolivar Petit Bolivar, RASCC, SCdlH El Principe, etc. http://www.cubancigarwebsite.com is another good reference. (Neither site sells cigars.)

Cubans are generally narrower than current US-market cigars. As a highly-opinionated rule of thumb, 42 is still the ring that really shows the differences between current Havana blends.

Construction:
Construction isn't obvious, anymore. Once upon a time, it was a bit confusing. There was:
- "Mecanizado"(MM) - machine-made. Most mecanizado cigars were short-filler, "Tripa Corta" (TC).
- "Hecho a mano"(HM) - made by hand. Rolled with the help of an anchored rubber sheet (works somewhat like the Temsco or Leiberman machines used elsewhere in making 'hand-made' cigars). Hecho a mano could be either short-filler, or long-filler ("Tripa Larga" (TL)), or a Cuban sandwich (short-filler bound with long-filler).
- "Totalemente a mano"(TM) - totally made by hand. Almost always long-filler.

Today, there are no machine-made "mecanizado" Havanas exported. Hand-rolled replacements have been created, labelled "Totalemente a mano - TC." What was formerly called "Hecho a mano" is now called "Totalemente a mano."

So what? Well, the always-called-totalemente-a-mano cigars typically used, and use, better tobacco than the formerly-called-hecho-a-mano cigars. For example, the RyJ Mille Fleurs (formerly MM or HM) is known as a nice inoffensive cigar; but the smaller RyJ Tres Petit Coronas (always TM) is rated much higher.

Buying:
When buying Cubans, there are:
a) La Casa del Habanos (LCDH) - the Habanos S.A. franchise stores;
b) merchants using the Habanos S.A.-authorized distributor;
c) merchants using a grey-market distributor, typically with third-party fulfilment.
All have the real deal. All will have fakes, sooner or later, their fault or not. Some store their cigars better than others. Some don't store cigars. All will have a few real cigars that smoke like some fakes. Sometimes an entire box will be unsmokeable or "off."

For completeness, there are also cigars from "name" custom rollers. These are often a treat.

When one looks at prices of Havana's across merchants, you will often see the prices split into two groups. This is due to two things:
i) the distributor that the merchant uses. Cigars that came via a Habanos S.A.-authorized distributor for the merchant's country often cost more than cigars from grey-market distributors.
ii) taxation. Outside of the United States, cigars are heavily taxed. Tax comes in the form of Duty, Excise, Excise tax, Value-added Tax (VAT, called GST in Canada), and sales tax (local, regional, or national). If you buy in the country, you get all the taxes. If you buy from outside the country, you generally still get some taxes - usually duty and excise (and excise tax). Even in a 'duty-free' store/zone/country, you may still get one or more of the other taxes.

Fakes:
Cohiba Lancero, Esplendido, and Robusto; Montecristo #2, and #4; any EL, special, etc.; and Partagas SD #4 are the most-faked cigars that I've seen. Cohiba is wayyy in front. You will avoid most fakes just by not buying Cohiba.

There are five main kinds of fakes:
- Cuban. Off-the-beach in Cuba, glass-tops, my cousin works in the factory, etc. Also included are fakes placed in cigar stores in Cuba. There are good fakes, but there are plenty of bad ones, and some that are just awful (like I've-thown-up awful). Typically sourced from Canadian or German tourists who visit Cuba.
- Dominican, etc. Typically sourced via Florida and found under-the-table at a local B&M.
- Europe - Spain/Canary Islands. Typically sourced via the Internet. Often uses some Cuban tobacco - Spain brings in lots of Cuban tobacco for domestic MM cigars.
- Far East. Mostly fakes that come from China. No idea what these are.
- Upbanding, e.g., putting a Cohiba band on a RyJ Mille Fleurs and calling it a Siglo II. Internet asshattery.

LCDH and Habanos S.A.-authorized distributors who put an additional seal on boxes are purported to have a lower incidence of asshattery. The resulting cigars generally cost more than those from the distributors who don't seal.

ETA: There is a new warranty seal on Habanos Click for pics and info. It has a barcode - which may be removed if you're getting grey market cigars. Click for online verification of the new barcode.

Aging/Costs:
The inconvenient truth is that Cuban cigars can be expensive to get 'into,' as the Cubans usually don't age the tobacco; you, or the distributor/merchant, do.

For example, if you want to smoke a cigar once every couple of weeks, then you'll go through about a box a year. However, if you're like me and like cigars with 3+ years on them, then you've got to start with a few boxes, and smoke much less, if at all, for 3+ years - while still buying a box a year every year. Then, and only then, can the cigar be smoked every couple of weeks. (Or that's total BS. YMMV.)

The short-filler cigars typically cost a lot less, and age faster - nine months and most are quite good. All seem better at a year, though, with the stronger/raw cigars better at two years. This saves money, as, for example, two boxes stock a humidor for PL's, JLP's, Fonseca's; three boxes for RG and Quintero.

Everyone's tastes are different, and different cigars do different things. Aging doesn't seem to be linear, at least in my experience. For example, I'll enjoy a one-year-old Boli, but a two-year-old is just not very good. However, a three year old is starting to get good, and a five-year-old one is MUCH better. In addition, to complicate things, every year (vintage in the wine sense) has different characteristics.

"Old school" Havanas and/or bigger/thicker Havanas seem to need even longer. I've only had a few H. Upmann Sir Winstons, but the only memorable ones have been over a decade old. The younger ones were still good smokes, but not worth the premium to me.

Packaging:
Cigars are literally stuffed/pressed to fit into the boxes to get the square shape. Cigars in cabinets and in tubes are left as rolled - in the round. Some say there are differences; some say the cigars in cabs draw better; some say cigars in cabinets age better, some say cigars in boxes smoke slower. I prefer cabs, and I'll remove the cigars from boxes right away. To me, a box lined with snow-white paper is not how one should store dead leaves for years.

Quality:
Cigars from the late 1990's up until 2005 or so had much more quality issues than cigars from after that date. 1999-2002 are infamous for boxes of plugged cigars.

Random recommendations:
The Montecristo #2 is the gold standard, IMHO. Almost everyone can appreciate a Monte #2 - on a full stomach, and comfortably settled. Not saying it should be your first or your favourite Havana, but in the dictionary under "Havanas," you're going to see a Monte #2, not a Cohiba. The Montecristo blend is also one that can be enjoyed from a fairly young age.

Partagas Shorts are one of the least-expensive (and smallest) always-been-hand-rolled cigars. These little firecrackers are one of the classic Cuban cigars, are very consistent, and can be enjoyed at 18 months or so, and seem to just get better after that.

People coming over from US-market cigars seem to prefer the "new style" Havanas to start - RyJ Short Churchills, Montecristo Petit Edmundo, Partagas SD #4 and SP #2, Cohiba Siglo/Maduro series, etc. This could be just coincidence as these cigars also smoke pretty well out of the box.