You are welcome, it is a great site. I like to review cigars, and it is good to get the perspective of other smokers.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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I don't go to many sites. Many reviews here include the year and Cigar Aficionado includes month/year on Cuban ratings.
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OK, that is very true. I've never seen month/year on CCs in any magazine, or for that matter, any of the review sites. The data base to do that would be astonishing.
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The problem with the year aspect is not everyone will know the year. While I like the idea in theory, it would be impossible to not only verify but depend on people to know what year the box they bought out of at the store was from.

CA can do this with Cuban's as the box has a date code stamped. Most non CC's do not have dates on the box.
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I know it's hard and I really don't have a good solution. I just know that I can't rate an '06, '08 and '10 RASS the same, yet they all get grouped together in this method. I think that most CC smokers have a good idea of the year of what they're smoking.

The magazine definitely seemed slanted to the domestic market, which I understand. I enjoyed the interview with Eddie and the blog pieces a lot.
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I hope it wasn't slanted, it wasn't the goal. Was an editorial piece with an editorial opinion, which also contained facts about how hard it's going to be going forward to get Cubans. :-)

We actually have a piece coming up comparing Cuban's to their Dominican "counterparts".. where in most cases the Cuban is recommended over the non-cuban.
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In this regard, I believe the CCs are much different than their NC counterparts. I could add, that in every instance they are not comparable to each other, but I have not had every single CC -vs- NC bearing the same name.

Of course, this is not to say that the CCs are better than their NC counterparts (except that my opinion says that is true in many cases). However, some of the NCs, while I wouldn't call inferior, have a way different flavor profile, which should be expected considering where the tobaccos are grown. How do you say which flavor profile is "better"?

Better is a personal taste issue.

So, there are numerous NCs which I personally believe are every bit as good as, if not better, than CCs. Again, that is my personal opinion.

For example, there isn't a CC out there to compare to the flavors I get from an Oliva V, Litto Gomez, Coronado, Kristoff, Taboo HSGs, or AF Hemingways (just to start a list of some of my favorites). This isn't to say that they are better than CCs, but that there is no CC that has a flavor profile to match these brands.

While the Tatuaje and Illisione brands seem to be "Cubanesque" to many tastes (not mine), they are unique in their own right. Those who like them, if they like CCs, will have both in their humidors.

Next, I'd like to say that everybody needs to smoke what they like, according to their own individual tastes. Don't smoke it because it is trendy or the new thing (unless this is the first taste to try it), smoke it because you like it.

Saying that, I have both CCs and NCs in my list of favorites. Some I know only like CCs. Some only smoke NCs. Whatever you enjoy, smoke. The cigars in my humidor (CCs & NCs) are there because their flavor profiles are the ones that give me pleasure.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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Well said.

GO PACK!
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I'm not trying to be an ass here, but what's the point? Sure, they have the same name, but that's it. Why not through in some Cohibo's too? :-)
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The point is many people don't understand there is a difference. While we live and breath cigars daily on forums.. the average joe that walks into a cigar shop and buys a Cohiba.. thinks it's every bit as good as the cuban cohiba.. same with Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta etc.

Why do you think those name brands continue to be among the largest selling cigars? Joe Consumer doesn't under know that outside of name, there is a BIG difference.

for what it's worth.. there is a reason I put counterparts in quotes.. I am well aware they are polar opposites.
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OK, I guess that makes a little more sense to me. I could see the article being written without needing to try and compare/reviews, but I get it.

On a different note, I tried to login/create an account on yourcigarratings.com using the Facebook connect, now I get this every time I go to the page:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e09'

The EXECUTE permission was denied on the object 'FBRegister', database 'cigarfriendly', schema 'dbo'.

/include/Secure.asp, line 110
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blasted hell.. my host made a change of permissions and didn't change some of my stored procedures. Should be resolved now.

On a side note, I appreciate the honest feedback and I've decided to change it around a bit. Rather than have a "this one is better than that one" feel to it, I'm going to make it understood which we preferred, but at the same time explain the good sides of either cigar.
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Just read through the first issue and I thought it was really well prepared and right up my alley. However, for the rated cigars portion of the magazine, I found myself wanting a bit more of an explanation of the cigar than the comment bubbles provided. Nothing major, but maybe a one or two sentence blurb about it.
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This is a very good thing!
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Just ordered a subscription myself! Do I receive the first issue as part of my 4 magazines a year? Or do I have to wait until the next issue in 3 months?
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The first print issue will be Spring 2011 (which is actually only a few months away since we're already halfway to February). The first issue will only be an online release.
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I've considered this myself. Part of my intention with the first issue was to get as much feedback as possible.

I will be sure to add specific information in the next issue alongside the quotes. Thank you.
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