Hi Folks,
Interesting thread - nice to see so much participation.
Buckwheat wrote:... Cigars are made from seasonal crop(s) that change from year to year. I believe that this is the primary reason that a cigar will taste different from year to year. The cigar companies try to keep the taste as close as possible from year to year but I believe that sometimes they have no option but to release a slightly different tasting cigars if the tobaccos in the blend just aren't available or they taste different from previous years...
Start with the manufacture and forget about the brand(s) for a moment.
To get two cigars that taste the same is a near miracle - you need;
Same tobacco types
- from the same field (and taste can vary even in the same field).
- that taste the same (and look the same for wrappers).
Same fermentation
- identical methods that ensure each pylon will be the same as the one before it when finished.
Even if the tobacco is the same the blend, bunch and roll must be nearly identical.
Even you, the smoker is a wild card (I could add the weather too). Smoked faster than before? Less retrohale?
Wines? Every vintage has some taste variance even though their processes are more general than those that produce a cigar (a handmade one off). Of course I personally love
Chateau Petrus 1946, because
Solange le Magnifique (ah - those eyes!), personally stomped the grapes with her divine and delicate toes!
Entrenched brands have the wherewithal to purchase leaf supply into the future and to ensure consistency in the manufacturing processes (above). This is their strength. Their weakness is that they are bound to a specific taste (see Macanudo, Punch, etc.) and most have now expanded their marques. It's not a coincidence that the taste of these entrenched marques are less adventurous.
No cigar manufacturer throws out a finished cigar (unless it's
really bad). Finished cigars are their currency. Most manufacturers are now hired guns, available to make cigars according to need and purse, and many of their customers are offered those finished cigars that haven't found a home (orphans). This is one of the reasons that bands are put on just before packaging. Most of these cigars (contracted or orphans) end up with a label, fancy or otherwise, intended to seduce smokers. Not all of these cigars are bad, many are good or better, but don't expect them to be paragons of consistency from year to year - let alone batch to batch and even box to box.
When you depend on a brand for consistency, other than those most established (as above), you have hope against the truth of the difficulty in repeating that performance. Even though the music is the same the instruments change. If a cigar received a 92 from
Cigar Aficionado, it's probably a one off tasting, hard to repeat over time. I have other reasons for putting little faith in these ratings - but that can wait for another time.
A greater amount of consistency may (may) be found by smoking cigars made by the same manufacturer. If you like A.J. Fernandez (for example) it's likely that you like his leaf availability and processes and thus you may find a consistency in satisfaction purchasing cigars that he has made.
Sorry to be so long but there's a wealth of possibilities in this thread.
Regards,
Pete
