real or psychosematic

[TanithT]

Well here's a classic example. Inspired by this thread, I went a lit up a Belinda, a cheap Cuban machine made. Unwrapped, it smelled *delicious*, that classic "Havana horseshit" aroma that (I think) is reminiscent of roasted coffee, toasted hazelnuts and barnyard earth. On lighting, the same aroma/taste came through.

Smoking it down, I could certainly tell that this was not a premium cigar. There was no real subtlety or structure to it at all, and it was pretty one-dimensional. But that one dimension is one I very much enjoy, not because it has any snob value (a machine made cigar is pretty limited on the snob value, to be sure), but because it is a flavor I like a whole lot.

I'd reach for a machine made CC over an NC, if I was in the mood for that particular flavor. Even the ones that aren't complex or well structured are still nice tasty snack cigars with a flavor I happen to enjoy. Assuming I can get them to draw, mutter, grumble. That's one thing about CC's that drives me up the wall.

All things being equal I'd rather smoke a premium CC, but there are NC cigars that are amazingly well made with plenty of depth, complexity, elegance and structure that are a very enjoyable smoke. The CC flavor profile happens to be my favorite, but that doesn't mean I disdain other tasty sticks with different flavor profiles.

I would not claim that a cheap Cuban was a "better cigar" than a good NC. For that matter, even the expensive Cubans are very often worse cigars than the halfway decent NC's. However the Cuban may be more enjoyable to my personal palate because I just plain like that flavor.