Cigar aficionados can often be heard talking about their
passion in much the same way wine lovers discuss vintages and varietals. The
association stands up to closer inspection. After all, cigars, like wine, are
agricultural products. Like all such products, the taste, aroma and overall
quality of any tobacco, directly reflects the soil in which it grew, the air
and humidity where it matured, the sunlight where it was nurtured. Given these
factors, the discriminating palate can definitely discern the differences from
one harvest to the next; and so can the market.
The Dom Perignon's of the Future
While Cuba has always been considered the home of the
world's best cigars, there have definitely been some ups and downs over the
last 30 years that generally reflect the various conditions present on the
island in any given season. Cuban cigar production has been affected by
horrible luck with recent hurricanes on the one hand, and difficulties in
procuring gasoline and the proper fertilizers on the other.
As the expert ratings for the various brands of the 2011
crop start to now come in, one thing is clear; this is a vintage that will be
long remembered for its excellence. The Cigar Aficionado magazine, long
a standard of evaluation in the industry, saw their average ranking score reach
90.9 for the first time ever when looking over the 2011 selections. The
previous high of 90.3 was reached in 2010, indicating that we are in the midst
of some truly memorable harvests.
“We are probably seeing some of the finest years of Cuban
cigar production ever,” according to Edward Sahakian, operator of one of
London's best cigar shops. He feels that anyone buying Cuba cigars from any of
the last four years is getting truly great cigars. “They are real collector's
items,” he goes on to say. The noticeably enhanced quality, compared to some
bad years in the late 90s and early 2000s, reflects dramatic improvements being
made at every stage of the production process.
New Quality, New Marketing Strategy
One of the factors contributing to the drop in Cuban cigar
quality during the down years was traced to overproduction, and a glut of
inexperienced rollers in many factories. Combined with some unfortunate weather
conditions, the result was noticeable inconsistencies of production. There were
flaws in construction ranging from the color of wrapping leaves, to draw and
burn characteristics and even the presence of insects. Those days are now over,
according to most of the world's chief evaluators.
Now, every major Cuban cigar factory has installed a draw
test machine, and they are testing a large percentage of every batch of freshly
rolled cigars. Even more importantly, improved production strategies have led
to the development of new regional and limited sub-brands reaching
market. These have been of superior quality and created quite a bit of
excitement amongst the Cubans themselves. And when Cubans take notice, you can
bet everyone else in the cigar smoking world will too.
Living in Good Times
2011 witnessed the highest number, ever, of Cuban cigars
ranking at 93 or above – 15. The top rank went to the Partagás Serie P No. 2.
But it wasn't alone in earning the admiration of the experts. Also scoring high
were the Punch Double Corona, Cohiba Lancero, the Bolivar Corona
Extra and the H. Upmann Sir Winston.This proliferation of top
quality choices indicates that Cuban cigars are again reaching levels of taste
and consistency absent for several previous years.
“These are wonderful years of Cuban cigar production,” says
Mr. Sahakian. So good is the current crop, across the spectrum, that he is
advising his customers to put a box in storage since they are only going to
improve with time. Just like a fine wine.
Rafael Ortega – I have been a lover of Cuban cigars for many
years, and never tire of the joy of lighting one up after a great meal. Nowadays,
I frequently enjoy substituting an e-cigarette or e-cigar when in restaurants.
And you know something? They're pretty good too.
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