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I remember but that doesn't make the point any more valid. Is it wrong to think that N/C's are closing the gap on their cuban counterparts?

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This would make a very interesting article for CA....they could have some of their "foreign correspondents" do some taste/quality/construction comparisons of current NC & CC offerings (and maybe a comparison on current CC vs Past CC's as well).
I have heard a number of people state that there are problems with many of the current CCs, and I definitely think that the current NCs are far better in the last few years than they have ever been. I'd love to see an article doing an honest comparison of a sampling of what's available today.

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Originally posted by pmpimbura:
I remember but that doesn't make the point any more valid. Is it wrong to think that N/C's are closing the gap on their cuban counterparts?

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There was a time, long ago, when I sorta thought like you do. I still clung to the belief that NC's were not THAT much worse than CC's. That opinion changed rather quickly the more I smoked CC's.

All I can say is...if indeed you have a real source, there is no way in hell you would compare a camacho to a RASS. If you posted such a thing in a CC forum, you would get laughed out of town.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to clown you or anything or tell you what you should smoke...I'm just saying that maybe you should rethink your vendor. Because this kind of thing happens all the time where some guy posting for a while in a CC forum will say some NC's are almost just as good...then a real Cuban if gifted to him and he has to eat all his words.

Lets try it and see how it plays. I'll get back to you.

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Originally posted by sobek:
Because this kind of thing happens all the time where some guy posting for a while in a CC forum will say some NC's are almost just as good...then a real Cuban if gifted to him and he has to eat all his words.

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LOL... most of the cubans in my box are trades/gifts from upstanding members of another CC forum or from sources that are beyone reproach. I just don't get all gaga over something just because people say its good. Everything gets an unbiased review. You may also find this odd but I have smoked half a dozen MC2's and Mag 46s from differing sources and, while I can see the attraction, I wasn't really blown away by a single one. The only CC's that have done that to me are BBf, pSD4, and a Cohiba robusto and there is no mistaking those for fakes. I guess everything I didn't like must be fake huh? Nice position to argue.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pmpimbura,

I can understand why you would be defensive. I wasn't trying to be a jerk about it. It's happened regularly where some guy discovers he has been smoking fakes all along...been gifted smokes, bought some himself , blah blah blah...wouldn't be the first time, if this is the case.

Like I said, I used to smoke NC and CC's...and even defended NC's. I got flamed plenty of times by people for saying there were some high quality NC's out there. The more I smoked CC's, the more I realized that all those guys who I thought were just CC snobs...they were right.

One day you will see as well. Everyone does. There is no denying that. Practically no one goes back to NC's, and that much I'm sure you know. Sometimes it's a fast progression, sometimes it's a slow progression. But the more you smoke CC's, the worse NC's taste. A whole army of extremely knowledgeable people who used to post at this site will say the same thing.

Whether your stash is real...there is a world of difference between a Camacho monarca, 11/18, or diploma from a genuine RASS. Like I said, those who know would laugh at you for saying such a thing. So since you seem like a fairly experienced smoker, I assumed that since you can't tell the difference...maybe you had some fake sticks and was giving you a warning...so you don't go spending more money at this illreputable source. No need to get all defensive if this is not the case.

But I will say that something is just wrong with your taste buds if you would compare the two at a equal level. I'll leave it at that.

Whatdoes "NC" and "CC" mean? I see these abbreviations written everywhere in a lot of the posts. What do they stand for?

Thanks

NC = Non Cuban
CC (or ISOM - Island South of Miami) = Cuban Cigar

Of course, the folks talking about CCs must all be from outside the United States... nobody from the US buys Cuban Cigars (cough cough)....

I agree with pmpimbura. Construction-wise, we all know there's been talk about quality problems in CCs, but it is a rare topic among the premium NC brands. So to talk about the gap narrowing in many quality respects is not an unheard of thing. I'd like to hear more about it.

In a CA interview, Jose Padron talks about how if the embargo ended he would go to Cuba to help the growers with fertilizer. This implies that he knows there are places where Cuban production isn't keeping pace and could use improvement. It's well known that Cuba struggles with supply shortages, lack of resources, etc.

The issue of climate differences between grower countries is well known, of course. Nobody can replace the Cuban tobacco taste, because it's simply impossible to do so unless you're growing in Cuba. That will never change.

I don't think it's an issue of NC's being "THAT MUCH WORSE" than CC's, but rather they just taste different.

Sobek, I put my question (on another board) to some of the guys who used to post here out of sheer curiosity. They can't really say I'm smoking fakes because some of them were the ones who turned me on to my sources or gifted me the smokes. But I think we may all be in agreement that my tastes are just strange.