What did you smoke today? HABANOS ONLY.
I enjoy reading about what people are smoking but I'm only interested in Habanos. So, here's a thread for us to talk about what Habanos we're smoking, and of course in the Habanos section of Puff.
Please keep this to Habanos only
I'll start it off.
Saturday started with an '08 H.Upmann Coronas Major. I bought this box about 6 months ago and they weren't that good at the time, looks like 6 months in my humidor has helped as this one was much better than the last. After that I moved on to an '08 Juan Lopez Seleccion No.2. These are quickly becoming one of my favorite smokes, put an order in for two boxes today in fact. Cigar number three was supposed to be an '08 Juan Lopez Seleccion No.1, this cigar was so badly plugged that after fighting with it for 10 minutes I did an autopsy (it was so tightly wrapped it was like a brick inside, not to mention the several pieces of stem - by far the worst stick construction wise that I've ever had). So after suffering through that my real cigar number three became an '08 PLPC.
Sunday was an '07 Epi #2 and another '08 Juan Lopez #2. Mmm mmm good.
Please keep this to Habanos only
I'll start it off.
Saturday started with an '08 H.Upmann Coronas Major. I bought this box about 6 months ago and they weren't that good at the time, looks like 6 months in my humidor has helped as this one was much better than the last. After that I moved on to an '08 Juan Lopez Seleccion No.2. These are quickly becoming one of my favorite smokes, put an order in for two boxes today in fact. Cigar number three was supposed to be an '08 Juan Lopez Seleccion No.1, this cigar was so badly plugged that after fighting with it for 10 minutes I did an autopsy (it was so tightly wrapped it was like a brick inside, not to mention the several pieces of stem - by far the worst stick construction wise that I've ever had). So after suffering through that my real cigar number three became an '08 PLPC.
Sunday was an '07 Epi #2 and another '08 Juan Lopez #2. Mmm mmm good.
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It occurred to me to go look at the difference in ERDM bands for future reference. Cubans have "Habana" under the shield on the front with "Cuba" and "Habana" printed on the sides. The Honduran ERDM's just have "Imported" under the shield (not sure what the sides say). Bad enough that we have to contend with two unrelated brands of the same name, but worse that the copycats stole the band design too, with such a small change for us to try to differentiate between them (besides, no doubt, the flavor). And, as you noted, it's easy to be fooled if you're not on your toes or even aware of the NC existing!
Virtually every CC brand name has been co-opted, and I avoid most of the NC's that do. About the only ones I've been comfortable with were some NC "Quinteros" I got on close-out some years back as they were being discontinued that were better (long filler) cigars than the short filler CC's of the same name. And at least they used a distinctly different band.
I typically avoid the NC versions too; however, I do enjoy NC Punch and MontecristosIt occurred to me to go look at the difference in ERDM bands for future reference. Cubans have "Habana" under the shield on the front with "Cuba" and "Habana" printed on the sides. The Honduran ERDM's just have "Imported" under the shield (not sure what the sides say). Bad enough that we have to contend with two unrelated brands of the same name, but worse that the copycats stole the band design too, with such a small change for us to try to differentiate between them (besides, no doubt, the flavor). And, as you noted, it's easy to be fooled if you're not on your toes or even aware of the NC existing!
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Virtually every CC brand name has been co-opted, and I avoid most of the NC's that do. About the only ones I've been comfortable with were some NC "Quinteros" I got on close-out some years back as they were being discontinued that were better (long filler) cigars than the short filler CC's of the same name. And at least they used a distinctly different band.
Another PMF. Same boring posts again and again, I know. But I'm an everyday smoker and they've been go-to budget-stretchers for a long time.
Fortunately, over the course of a few years I stocked up pretty heavily on these and PCE's, my two favorite "cheap & cheerfuls", when the "cheap" part still applied. Bought a few hundred before CC's started skyrocketing. Still have a bunch, but - and call me crazy - lately I find myself smoking rather expensive Cubans more often than normal so I won't run through all my affordable CC's so fast. Because once I run out of cheap cigars I'll have to smoke more expensive cigars. 🤪
Seriously, though, I have been trying to make 'em last by smoking more NC's too. But I'd still rather smoke one of these (what were once) $3 run-of-the-mill Cubans than a $30 Opus X.
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Fortunately, over the course of a few years I stocked up pretty heavily on these and PCE's, my two favorite "cheap & cheerfuls", when the "cheap" part still applied. Bought a few hundred before CC's started skyrocketing. Still have a bunch, but - and call me crazy - lately I find myself smoking rather expensive Cubans more often than normal so I won't run through all my affordable CC's so fast. Because once I run out of cheap cigars I'll have to smoke more expensive cigars. 🤪
Seriously, though, I have been trying to make 'em last by smoking more NC's too. But I'd still rather smoke one of these (what were once) $3 run-of-the-mill Cubans than a $30 Opus X.
33641 - 33660 of 33690 Posts
