The cigarmakers dilemma

[amigodecigars]

I read StogieDad’s review of Crowned Heads La Imperiosa Magicos and it got me thinking so I searched and found this.  Your thoughts about the cigarmakers dilemma?

 

“I remember a conversation I had many years ago with Michael Herklots about the concept of cigars, liquor and wine in the context of vintages. He explained that every cigarmaker faces a dilemma with blends that are produced on a continual basis: eventually you will run out of a specific tobacco component. There is only so much of a single seed-type in a single priming grown on specific farm in a specific harvest. Eventually you run out and are left with a dilemma: how do you keep making the cigar? One option is to not make the cigar any longer, but that’s obviously not the choice in just about every instance with regular production cigars. Instead you can simply buy that farmer’s next crop of that specific tobacco, you could buy the same seed varietal and priming from a different farm, you could go up or down a priming, you could try to find the tobacco that is closest to that individual component or you could do what many do—particularly when they run out of multiple components—you can modify multiple parts of the blend for continued production.  To me, La Imperiosa is the answer to that dilemma in regards to Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2014. It’s not the exact same cigar, size excluded. It’s unlikely they were rolled at the same time and made with the exact same components. So I see this as the path Crowned Heads would have taken—albeit in different vitolas—if they had to keep making last year’s Las Calaveras. In regards to how I find the comparison, it’s not the Las Calaveras 2014 LCC550, but then again, neither were the other two sizes released last year or Hecho Con Corazon. I find La Imperiosa better than those, but from what I’ve had of the new line, it falls short of matching what was the second best new cigar I smoked last year.  La Imperiosa is a great lesson or reminder of the cigarmaker’s dilemma, it’s also a great lesson about how different vitolas perform differently in a singular blend; one thing it’s not is a lesson in outrage.”   Charlie Minato, editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com

[StogieDad]

I thought it was a bold move to even compare it to the LC 2014, they could have sold just as many without ever saying it was the attempt to recreate the cigar.  It certainly is a slightly different smoke, and the vitolas make a difference.  But it is close, and certainly a fantastic smoke.  Interesting read, as so many just throw something that looks the same out there that isn't even close just to capitalize on the name.

[johncw]

great read thanks

[nwb]

IMHO, there are only a handful of companies that can actually make a blend consistent, year in and year out.  The one thing they have in common is extremely large quantities of aged tobacco.  The ones that come to mind are General, Altadis, Padron, and Arturo Fuente.

That's not to say that I prefer those cigars (there are very few General and Altadis blends I enjoy with any frequency).  Part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable for me is the variety, something that plays into this dilemma.  Is it frustrating when a cigar is limited in production and I run out?  Yes.  But I know there will be something new and great that can take its place.

[ntanner]

I'm with Nathan on this. I am not really looking for that one specific cigar to smoke forever and always, but more the hunt for those special one's that stand out. Granted , if I find something special and can get my hands on a bunch, I will and I will do it before telling any of you to make sure they don't disappear to fast:biggrin: , but I realize that the materials used to make these works of art that we burn with reckless abandon are subject to changes from year to year and the construction can depend on a lot of variables, from who rolled it to what inspector checked it and many more, but that's what make's this such an enjoyable obsession for me is hunting for those masterpieces and on occasion finding one. You smoke a lot of nice one's, great ones even, but once in a great while, you get that one that makes the universe sensible for an hour or so. That's the one I am always on the hunt for.

[amigodecigars]

".....you get that one that makes the universe sensible for an hour or so.  That's the one I am always on the hunt for."    Once again, proof of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.

[nirab]

never, can we enjoy everything that life has to offer...but, we can enjoy that which life offers us in the present moment...  

[ninfiction]

There was a lot of pushback when CH announced the La Imperiosa, people getting pissed off about a cigar being limited edition then it becomming a regular production line. I can't argue that the industrie's take on limited editions is out of control but if a company attempts to turn something into regular production why is this an issue? Oh no your limited edition cigar is no longer worth double what you paid for it, they were made to burn not invest it.

[Jay'D]

ntanner - 11/25/2015  12:43 PM

I'm with Nathan on this. I am not really looking for that one specific cigar to smoke forever and always, but more the hunt for those special one's that stand out. Granted , if I find something special and can get my hands on a bunch, I will and I will do it before telling any of you to make sure they don't disappear to fast:biggrin: , but I realize that the materials used to make these works of art that we burn with reckless abandon are subject to changes from year to year and the construction can depend on a lot of variables, from who rolled it to what inspector checked it and many more, but that's what make's this such an enjoyable obsession for me is hunting for those masterpieces and on occasion finding one. You smoke a lot of nice one's, great ones even, but once in a great while, you get that one that makes the universe sensible for an hour or so. That's the one I am always on the hunt for.

What ^^^ said    

[MacMac]

I would think making cigars is like wine-making. The grape determine taste so there is typacally variation in taste on wine from year to year. I would think the same would be true for cigars.

[Vroomp]

MacMac - 11/26/2015  10:01 AM  I would think making cigars is like wine-making. The grape determine taste so there is typacally variation in taste on wine from year to year. I would think the same would be true for cigars.

Quite true as different conditions produce differences in the tobacco from year to year even in the same exact fields. A slight variance in certain fertilizers can affect the flavor profiles of a certain leaf just as drying time and fermentation temperature do....... Some tobacco I tried in Jalapa is even recorded as being on the south or north side of a particular farm to differentiate it for sorting and packaging due to the varying qualities.