Single variety or multiple blends for cigars

[BarG]

I want to accuire a few seeds of either a single variety or maybe up to three to start for my son in law. I already have havanna 142 and conn.sl. for wrappers and binder-filler but would like some input from any cigar conniseurs out there on what one or two varietys together would make a decent all around cigar. I know everybodys tastes are different but is ther any consensus on what would be the best starter varietys strictly for cigars. Barg

 

[deluxestogie]

...is there any consensus on what would be the best starter varietys strictly for cigars...

Short answer: No.
Long answer: My most successful wrapper, in terms of growing, productivity and yield of wrapper-grade leaf has been FL Sumatra. Most cigars made of a single variety of filler have a fairly flat flavor profile. To the Havana 142 that you already have, I would suggest adding a "red" filler, such as PA Red, Long Red, etc., and a strongly flavored variety, for a minor blending element, such as Colon, Rabo de Gallo Negro, Perique (air-cured). Alternatively, separate out the tip leaves (top of the plant) from the Havana 142 and, say, PA Red, and save them for adding in small amounts for "ligero" flavoring.

Bob

 

[BarG]

Thats why us greenhorns ask the experts Bob. I'm qurious to see how many varietys members prefer, all of which I'm sure I've never tried. I'll be quite surprised myself to see any consenses. I rolled a cigar last night with,guatemalen,lattaque tips,and a small strip of dark fire cured I believe kat 52, binded and wrapped with my new shade leaf, It tasted great and was real smooth as I have a tendency to inhale my cigars if there not to strong. I'll give this post a couple of weeks then forward to Asamoska who is a member but does not participate. He'll have to choose for his ownself.

 

[Thunderhorse]

So If you were going to make a single viariety Cigar what would be a good variety to use? I know it would be kind of a boring taste but probably still better than some of the ones I have bought and tried. I tend to like a spicy cigar with somewhat a full body

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Hey, Thunderhorse.

When you write that you "tend to like a spicy cigar with somewhat of a full body" are you saying you want a 'peppery' spice? Or, do you want a 'soft' spice? And, when you say you want a 'full body' try to be more defining, if you get my drift.

What I like is a 'full body' cigar. To me it means a robust tobacco flavor in the smoke but with a slight nicotine kick that starts to get your head spinning a little bit.

Or, do you want a 'full body' taste that has a mild, toasty, tobacco taste?

A 'spicy' smoke can be akin to cinnamon or nutmeg, but you may want a 'peppery' spice, think about black pepper.

Some cigars have a 'Coffe' or 'chocolate' taste.

Start refining your vocabulary, your definition, of what tastes you are looking for in your smoke.

Then consider what you define as a 'boring taste' and try to avoid cigars that taste boring. And, believe me, most cigars produced in a factory taste very boring to me.

 

[Thunderhorse]

hey, I mean peppery taste with a strong toasted tobacco flavour. I dont particularly like the nic hit though

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I haven't smoked a cigar with a nic hit since I first started smoking cigars. As to single leaf, a long time ago I heard from another vendor that you didn't need many varieties, just prepare the leaves differently. Course he only sold 1 cigar type. Heh. I think there might be some truth to that though.

 

[Ashauler]

Short answer: No.
Long answer: My most successful wrapper, in terms of growing, productivity and yield of wrapper-grade leaf has been FL Sumatra. Most cigars made of a single variety of filler have a fairly flat flavor profile. To the Havana 142 that you already have, I would suggest adding a "red" filler, such as PA Red, Long Red, Cherry Red, etc., and a strongly flavored variety, for a minor blending element, such as Colon, Rabo de Gallo Negro, Perique (air-cured). Alternatively, separate out the tip leaves (top of the plant) from the Havana 142 and, say, PA Red, and save them for adding in small amounts for "ligero" flavoring.

Bob

I have had success with those bolded above, and agree with Bob's assessment of them.

The FL Sumatra I grew in mostly shade and the resultant leaf was very "pretty" with minimal veining.....the only drawback to it for me was the delicate nature of the leaf. They were very susceptible to damage during curing/fermentation. They are darn nice looking and rather mild and pleasant in flavor to my palate.

The Long Red produced much larger and thicker leaves with stronger flavor, especially in the higher primings. The durability of the leaf during processing was also very good. Altering the fermentation times and temperatures also produced a wide variety of flavors within this one variety.

The Havana 142 was also very versatile and a fine producer.

 

[BarG]

Glad to see you back Ashualer, I took Bobs post to heart and am trying to learn the fermentation process. I have the bolded varietys seeded.except,pa red instead of long red.

 

[Ashauler]

Thanks, it's good to be back. Trying to ramp up for this season now....lots going on, but I think I can squeeze in a nice crop this year. Well, as long as we don't have repeat of the draught we had last year that is.

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Would love to get a good steady supply of legal cigars with a nic kick for less than $2. So, will just have to grow the cohiba myself.

Thunderhorse, go to jr.cigars.com, click the Cigar link and JR CUBAN ALTERNATIVE.

These are hand made cigars that mimic the more costly brands but for a lot less money. These are full-bodied and you can buy single cigars. The Bolivar Belicoso are rated medium-full strength. There are several others to choose from that are medium-full strength.

Lew Rothman sold his company back in 2005 or 2006 and he sold about 70% of all the cigars imported into America. Lew used to have a saying that the only way to make a $7 cigar was to roll a cigar and then wrap a $5 bill around it. So, he got together with some of the cigar factories to produce knock-offs of the popular but more expensive hand rolled cigars. Those guys know a lot about tobacco blends and were pretty successful in producing good quality cigars for half the price, or less.

Also, they sell the Consuegra's that are actually the name brand cigars but are the so-called 2nds that for various reasons did not meet the high standards to be sold for $6 to $10 a cigar. Used to smoke thousands of those puppies and loved 'em. Never could figure out why they were not considered good enough to sell retail at the higher dollar amounts.

Anyway, some of the JR Alternatives and Consuegra cigars sit around in JR's warehouse (actually a giant humidor) in Burlington, NC waiting to be sold and shipped out. The advantage is they can easily sit in there for months, and sometimes years before being sold. So, put your thinking cap on and reflect on that idea for a little bit.

Hmmmmm...cigars just sitting around in someone's humidor for many months, and sometimes years before being smoked.

I used to smoke about 25 or so “Connie Sue” 9M's per week (code CGR3). These are the Punch Rothchild's in a maduro wrapper. They were very popular and did not sit around like some of the others. I bought on a regular basis in order to let them sit around in my humidor for a year. Mmm-mmm good!!!

Those were the days when JR had his cigar forum up and running. A bunch of us posted there and when a fresh shipment of Consuegra 9M's were put up for sale on the website we would start buying 'em and keep a countdown of how many were left. I do not exaggerate when I tell you they would sellout within 30 minutes or less, about 25,000 cigars.

So my friend, go have some fun.

 

[BarG]

Well I can tell you of 2 single variety cigars that I consider to be good smoked by themselves. The first is BigBonners 2010 red burley. It was very smooth and very much the type of flavor I like.[thanks for the sample chicken, have placed my order with BB for more]. The second is Guatemalen grown by Jitterbugdude which I'm smoking right now. It's right up there with BigBonners burley.[thanks for the sample and seeds for this yrs. grow JitterBugDude, I hope I can do as good a job]. Unfortunately I will be out of the Guatemalen till I can manage to baby these seedlings and bring to fruition which gives me a real good incentive to do my best this yr. on my favorite varietys. I'm looking forward to try several more new varietys by yrs. end if all goes well.

 

[Steve2md]

I just got a catalog in from Native Seeds Search. lots fo different seeds that grow naturally here in az. mostly rusticas but also one tobaccum....experiments for next year? "Sonoran Cigars"?

 

[deluxestogie]

Steve,
In the NS/S catalog, the Papante and the Mt. Pima are probably N. tabacum. I'm doing some work with those two varieties this season to verify that opinion. (They both have large sessile leaves (no bare leaf stem at the leaf base), and pink blossoms. If they cross easily with a known N. tabacum, which is what I will be attempting, then they are surely the same species, since N. rustica crosses only poorly, if at all, with N. tabacum. The seed curator at NS/S is also not certain about their species assignment.

At least one member who has smoked them felt that they were fairly potent.

As to whether or not they would be better suited to growing in Gilbert, both were obtained in the mountains of north-western Mexico. So, who knows. There's still time to start them for this year.

Bob

 

[Tom_in_TN]

I think someone who has smoked Mt. Pima felt it was fairly potent, yet mild. Skychaser said he really liked the nic kick and mild taste from the Mt. Pima.
So far as growing it, seems to be suitable for a hot, dry desert in AZ or NW Mexico.

Would love to try the Mt Pima leaf because it seems very tradeable with some other leaf.

 

[Steve2md]

There would be plenty of time this year, but I am moving at the end of May, so planting anything right now would be sacrificial, unless I use Home Depot buckets..... I am not moving far though, so all of my climate info will be the same. By the first of june, I think it might be getting too hot to start anything

 

[BarG]

If you started seedlings now you may try transplanting in a partial shade location. I've still got seeds sprouting right now.

 

[Steve2md]

I'll give it a try

 

[BarG]

I'll give it a try

It's definitely worth a try . A few seed trays are a lot easier to move than 5 gallon buckets. If you have any wrapper leaf your growing I bet there is a big difference in the leaf compared to full sun. I grew a couple like that last yr. and you could practicly see through the leaf. They took a long time to mature.

 

[Steve2md]

Cool, I'll let you all know how it goes. I'll start a grow log.