Battle of the countries...

OK I have an idea. With all the different discussions about countries and what not I propose this. Its a variation of what Kuzi and I had previously discussed and just wanted further the discussion. I'm thinking lets talk to one of the Ccom boys and have them pick a good puro from each major tobacco countries(Nicargua, Honduras, DR).

I figure we should start this now so the sticks can meet resting requirements for spring time smoking.

As many people as want can join up for this but we need one person to handle the purchase, removal of bands and distribution. THis is going to be a blind tasting. THe exact rules will follow after everyone signs up but basically you will receive a few cigars with no bands but have some number or something to distinguish them for the "judge" the person who distributes. You will be asked to try to determine the country of origin and give a review as best you can. You will be expected to pay for your cigars unless someone wants to step up and buy them all for everyone, lol. I imagine Ccom will cut us a deal for this order so we'll just divide it up evenly.

I may even function as the "judge" on this. Not sure yet. I'm just trying to gauge interest right now.

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Comments

brsmith21

PuroFreak:
Yea, I was thinking about getting in on this after all since my budget isn't as tight as it was, but I was expecting it to be done with Puros that were already being sold as well. I think it would be a better smoke you are getting and would be a lot faster. With the time frame we were all shooting for, ready for smoking by early spring, that would be the way to go about this. With a 90 time frame just for manufacturing them it would be sometime between the hot dog days of summer, or fall before we ever got them to start resting in our humidors.

While I agree that this was my original impression, I think Alex's idea sounds like even more fun. I wouldn't mind getting a couple of sets - one for the "battle," one to age and see how they do over time. Just my humble opinion.

j0z3r

Terrific idea Alex, this is way more than I thought it would be and it sounds like fun. The big problem I see with using cigars that are currently on the market is that they may not necessarily be foreign to us, like say I've had a Punch Gran Puro, so if we use that as a Honduran puro then I might be able to identify it simply from experience.

kuzi16

j0z3r:
I've had a Punch Gran Puro, so if we use that as a Honduran puro then I might be able to identify it simply from experience.

as would I. but there are other puros out there.

Luko

j0z3r:
Terrific idea Alex, this is way more than I thought it would be and it sounds like fun. The big problem I see with using cigars that are currently on the market is that they may not necessarily be foreign to us, like say I've had a Punch Gran Puro, so if we use that as a Honduran puro then I might be able to identify it simply from experience.

I agree...and I dig Alex's idea. Blend em up.

j0z3r

kuzi16:
j0z3r:
I've had a Punch Gran Puro, so if we use that as a Honduran puro then I might be able to identify it simply from experience.
as would I. but there are other puros out there.

Ok, say I've had all of them and a perfect memory of what they taste like. I'm not saying that's realistic, but I do see it as a flaw to the plan.

kuzi16

j0z3r:
kuzi16:
j0z3r:
I've had a Punch Gran Puro, so if we use that as a Honduran puro then I might be able to identify it simply from experience.
as would I. but there are other puros out there.
Ok, say I've had all of them and a perfect memory of what they taste like. I'm not saying that's realistic, but I do see it as a flaw to the plan.

its no flaw at all. the original plan was to tell if people of different experience can tell the difference between countries by taste alone.

not to determine what country is the best.

as in, I get a stick from the package sent to me. i smoke it, review it, and make a guess that its from one of the countries that we are getting puros from.

we then compare results. is it possible? if so, what flavors are more likely to be in a cigar with that countries tobacco in it?

unless im way off here... i mean, i did miss a good portion of this thread when i was gone for a bit.

j0z3r

I didn't mean anything about determining which country is best... I don't think there is an answer to that, as not everyone's tastes are the same..and actually I'm not even sure how you got that from my post. No, what I meant was that if it is possible to have already smoked the cigar, then you are not really guessing the country of origin, you are merely recognizing a cigar you've had before, that is the flaw I see.

So if Alex gets say three cigars blended: Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan (to pick the main ones), there will be no way I can smoke the Dominican and say "I've had this cigar before, it's a such and such, and by knowing the cigar I also know it is Dominican". In that example I haven't really tried to pick out what is different between the three countries and what makes this cigar in particular unique and identifies it.

Alex Svenson

Ultimately it is up to you guys. If you want to go the route of puros in existence, there will be one central problem, the only real puros on the market are from either Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, or Cuba. There are small factories that make puros from columbia, brazil, peru and panama however, there is a reason I dont carry them. They are not very good. So if you guys want to go with the name brand stuff, i can put something together, but again, you are looking at some Domincan puros, Nicaragaun and Honduran. Ill tell you what, now that I start thingking about it, I have a cool idea I will test out. I am going to start a new thread. Check it out.

Alex Svenson

Great question. Germany and much of the tobacco grown in Europe is used for cigarettes or machine made cigars. However, there are small pockets of premium tobacco grown in Italy and Germany (others too but these are the most popular). A company called Lancaster Leaf based in Lancaster PA (one of the largest tobacco brokers in the world) purchases almost all of it from brokers and sells it from their facility in the Dominican Republic. They ferment and age the tobacco in the same facility. Most of of the time, tobacco grown in these areas is very exotic, potent and distinct.

kuzi16

j0z3r:
I didn't mean anything about determining which country is best... I don't think there is an answer to that, as not everyone's tastes are the same..and actually I'm not even sure how you got that from my post...

i didnt get it from your post. i was just making sure there was no future confusion from what i was saying or about to say. your post was clear.

mine was clear as mud.

kuzi16

Alex Svenson:
Ultimately it is up to you guys. If you want to go the route of puros in existence, there will be one central problem, the only real puros on the market are from either Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, or Cuba. There are small factories that make puros from columbia, brazil, peru and panama however, there is a reason I dont carry them. They are not very good. So if you guys want to go with the name brand stuff, i can put something together, but again, you are looking at some Domincan puros, Nicaragaun and Honduran. Ill tell you what, now that I start thingking about it, I have a cool idea I will test out. I am going to start a new thread. Check it out.

im willing to go either rout. i was just under one impression. in the long run im just along for the ride.

and im looking forward to that thread.... i love cool ideas.

j0z3r

kuzi16:
i didnt get it from your post. i was just making sure there was no future confusion from what i was saying or about to say. your post was clear.

mine was clear as mud.

haha, gotcha.

urbino

I'm down with it. One thing I like about it is that with all the cigars being made in the same factory, that takes a variable out of the equation. All the cigars will be made to pretty much the same level of quality. That leaves just the tobaccos.

rdnstn

urbino:
I'm down with it. One thing I like about it is that with all the cigars being made in the same factory, that takes a variable out of the equation. All the cigars will be made to pretty much the same level of quality. That leaves just the tobaccos.

I hadn't thought of that, but it's a good point urbs and would be a good reason for going the way that Alex described.

urbino

I've a keen eye for equations that can be simplified by eliminating variables. My math teachers never really appreciated it as a skill, though.

"Mr. Brown, why is my answer marked wrong?"

"Because this is a test on quadratic equations, and you just lopped one of the variables completely off."

"Yeah, but look how much simpler it is that way."

kuzi16

the thing is, the factory doesnt decide the flavor... the tobacco/blend does.

rdnstn

True Kuzi, but what I think that urbs was saying is that by using the same rollers, you may possibly take out the variables of construction/burn issues which ultimately could affect the smoking experience and quite possibly the flavor.

urbino

Bingo.

kuzi16

urbino:
Bingo.

again, maybe im assuming too much, but i thought this was about taste alone and nothing else. in that case it wouldnt matter if there were burn issues (to some degree of course)

j0z3r

So if we have a choice between a cigar that has a taste representative of the tobacco origin and burns well, or that same cigar that doesn't burn well, what choice is there? It seems you're taking a bit of a hardliner view to this. And you said it yourself, the factory doesn't determine the taste, so if one factory makes all the cigars to the same quality level, and if that level of quality just happens to be pretty damn good, then what's wrong with that?

kuzi16

its all just food for thought. im not trying to push this anywhere... im just along for the ride. I just want people to think of these things.

i see my plan is working.

madurofan

Actually, the only reason we originally talked about using cigars in existence was because well they were in existence. We didn't have the resources to make our own puros. But Alex does and I personally like the idea. Hmmm. Alex how much do you think it would run to do it both ways? Puros in existence and the Ccom limited run puros? Make another of you special top secret pages with 2 samplers? What are we talking price wise?

rdnstn

Any updates on the battle of the countries, or did this take a back seat to the forum blend? Just haven't heard anything in about 2 weeks so I was wondering what was going on.

urbino

I think it became the forum blend, Ron.

kuzi16

that would miss the point of this thread....

wouldnt it?

correct me if i am wrong but i kinda thought that the point of this thread was to determine if we could determine what country cigars are from by taste alone.
...all stemming from maddy and myself discussing my preference to Honduran over Nicaraguan tobacco.

...or did I miss the point?

rdnstn

No I think you have the point exactly right Kuzi. That's why I was checking to see what the status on this was.

urbino

In that case, this one just needs somebody to pick up the ball and run with it, since doody isn't around.

gmill880

Where is Duty anyway?

Alex Svenson

Yes, we can pull this off but it has been backburnered a bit. I am still a little confused on what you guys are trying to accomplish. Perhaps you guys can tell me what you are trying to learn and I can plan something around that.

j0z3r

Alex, I think the idea was to attempt to get a feel for the signature tastes of the different tobacco producing countries, or at least the key players. Obviously the main flaw, as you'd be quick to point out, is that many countries have different tobacco growing regions that give off their own signature taste, but I think mainly we would be trying to get a feel for what country we are tasting so as to be better informed when we smoke our regular, blended cigars. Call it an experiment in taste identification.