Cuban Cigars in the 90s vs Now with Cigar Expert Aaron Sigmond

[@mrbuidl9332]

Amazing interview. Sig is such a cigar legend and historian.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

He really is. If you can get past all the French words and massive vocabulary that's hard to keep up with, he's a great dude with so many interesting points of view.

[@laboanegra1]

That’s a great interview, I love it specially when he talk about the new world cigar.💨💨

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Ha ha! he really went off there for a second, huh? It's good to hear him break it down though, it is definitely an overused term.

[@francesco-CigarCrumbs]

Such a great conversation

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

What was your favorite part brother?

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

The man has forgotten more about cigars than I have ever known.

[@francesco-CigarCrumbs]

@@RepublicofDebauchery to be honest every bit of it has some interesting insights, would be tough to choose one part only.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@francesco-CigarCrumbs I agree, so much good info here. I always think I know a lot about cigars until in the presence of someone like Sigmund

[@francesco-CigarCrumbs]

@@RepublicofDebauchery I feel you brother, there’s some people with so much knowledge that just one interview can’t share it all. Looking forward to the next episodes

[@jeffherdz]

A huge shame that young cigar smoker (Including me) will never understand the true flavors that a Cuban cigar like a RA once had. Great interview. P.S. No need for AI.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Yeah, I've only had one or two old school Cubans, and they truly were a magical experience. The closest thing I've tasted to that recently was the Don Pepin Vintage, but still not the same. Thanks for letting me know. That'll save a lot of time editing. Literally like 10 hours

[@lukemilton8510]

All of the best cigars I’ve ever had have all been aged Havana’s. With that being said Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are producing some truly phenomenal cigars. To me personally Havana cigars are definitely my favourite. Again I’ve smoked a lot of amazing Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars as well. It all comes down to the individual. But Havana cigars are personally my favourite.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Have you been smoking the recent Havanas or ones from a while back? I have had some mind blowing Cubans, but none recently.

[@lukemilton8510]

@@RepublicofDebauchery I smoke recent Havana’s and of course aged. I’ve had several recent Havana’s that have been good. But the best cigars I’ve ever had have all been aged Havanas. Hunters & Frankau the official importer and distributor for the UK market has the best quality Havana cigars in my opinion. Yes cigars are very expensive here in the UK but when it comes to Havanas we have the best in my opinion. Read about EMS (English Market Selection). With that being said I’ve also had some unbelievably amazing New World cigars. I absolutely love Nicaraguan tobacco. Nicaragua is producing some first class cigars. I’m also a fan of Dominican and Honduran tobacco as well. But Nicaragua is producing phenomenal cigars. All Havana cigars benefit from age in my opinion. Even if it’s only 2 years. I’d actually like to attend the Puro Sabor (Nicaraguan Cigar Festival) in January of 2025. Honestly it all comes down to preference. Havanas are favourite but I absolutely adore New World cigars as well.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@lukemilton8510 I will definitely be looking into EMS. I've heard of Hunters and Frankau, but you just gave me a much better understanding of what they do. There is a really good chance I will be at Puro Sabor next year. I have been wanting to go for a while now. I hope to see you there. Question for you: Which Nicaragua or Dominican cigar, in your opinion, would you say is the closest to that Havana taste?

[@lukemilton8510]

@@RepublicofDebauchery Yeah Hunters & Frankau does a phenomenal job. The EMS stamp is only applied to boxes that are destined for the UK domestic market. The H&F stamp is on cigars intended for UK travel retail outlets and the export market like Ireland or Gibraltar. On your other question that is super hard. Each region has its own unique characteristics and terroir. Havana’s are my favourite followed by Nicaraguan cigars. Again I absolutely love Dominican and Honduran tobacco as well. Nicaragua is definitely on the rise. Make sure you are familiar with Cuba factory codes. Anytime I buy a box I always look at the factory code. The best rollers are in Havana in my opinion and I’m sure most would agree. I find more quality control issues with Cigars rolled in the provincial factories.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@lukemilton8510 This is all new and very fascinating to learn. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Havana vs provincial is new to me too. Another Question. Do you know how to read the factory codes? I hear they've changed it a couple of times.

[@frankynonos3793]

Nice Discussion - great to get Aaron's perspective

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

There are so many different sides of the industry. It's always cool to hear it from someone else's view.

[@mrmisc8427]

I’m out in Toronto and been recently purchasing boxes of Upmann half coronas and I’ll be honest, flavour and construction have been flawless on those. What I am finding though that regular production boxes are becoming scarce which is worrying.

[@chipc4936]

Thank you for the interesting interview. What were you two smoking?

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I believe it is the Fuente Fuente Opus X Phantom. It was a gift from Aaron right before we started filming.

[@chipc4936]

@@RepublicofDebauchery Excellent. Thanks!

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Thank you for watching my friend.

[@chipc4936]

@@RepublicofDebauchery My pleasure. (And don't worry about your eyebrows. LOL) Cheers!

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Ha ha! Thank you sir

[@SomaFlly]

what about aging them at a lower RH and temperature like what Edward Sahakian of Davidoff London recommends?

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Edward has more experience than most people. And I've also noticed that cigars aged in cigar shop walk in humidors tend to be much better than home humidors. There might be something to that.

[@innovationgroupofsouthflor4744]

Great video!

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Thank you very much! It's a privilege to get to talk to these people.

[@thegreatdisillusionist]

Great interview. Good informations. You guys should consider investing in either a second mic stick for the interviewee or two small handfree mics. Some people just don't realize that we can't hear them unless the mic is directly pointed at them. Hands free mics would greatly improve the act of smoking a cigar while doing an interview.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

The mic thing has been a headache. We used lav mics on our first time to one of the Vegas shows, but the audio was unusable because Drew Estate always has a DJ blasting music and lav mics are omni directional, they pick up everything. We got this hypercardiod mic because it has a super narrow field of pickup which helps a lot, but they're not cheap. To get a second one with a second wireless XLR transmitter runs about $350. But once we launch our new website, we'll start to generate some revenue and pick up a second one. We have mostly stopped doing interviews at these shows and focus on the recap videos, but it's still nice to do one or two really good interviews when we get someone really interesting.

[@thegreatdisillusionist]

@@RepublicofDebauchery Absolutely, and it was a very interesting interview and I enjoyed a few of your recap videos so far. The omni directional mics definitely don't sound like a solution in a busy trade show and your hypercardiod mic sounds really great, if held up correctly. Even when it was an a foot or two away from the person speaking, it still picked up the voice really well. Keep it up, great stuff!

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Thank you so much! Yeah, we had to nix the Steve Saka interview from this year because he took the mic from me and no matter how much i asked, he would not hold it up to his mouth.

[@thegreatdisillusionist]

@@RepublicofDebauchery Classic Saka LoL

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Ha ha! Right? Ain't nobody telling that man what to do.

[@tomomahony6301]

I was very surprised by the Hoyo De Monterey Cuban cigar lately. They are 2019 production and was exceptional in build quality and taste.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I'll have to try to get my hands on one.

[@teddyarcher3957]

Hoyo de M, Epicure N1 is the cigar that got me into cigars... absolute banger of a stick.

[@HabanosChris]

very fascinating topics👌. 😚💨

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Glad you enjoyed it Chris. I am sure Aaron has a lot more to give, we just need to do a more formal interview.

[@HabanosChris]

@@RepublicofDebauchery Agreed & very nice job working with the time you had. I shared a link of this on the FOH forum where Rob & the guys were just getting into a discussion on the term "new world". They'll be happy to see all the other interesting bits as well. 😚💨

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@HabanosChris That's awesome man. I need to head over there and check that out. Have you seen the video we did on Mold vs Plume using the FOH study?

[@HabanosChris]

@@RepublicofDebauchery i'll take a look-looking forward. That foh study is prominent of course.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@HabanosChris The greatest study ever on the topic! Hands Down!

[@jamalmohamed7773]

Great, Great interview

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Thank you, friend. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@drcroutons]

Fantastic interview! I learned quite a lot from it! I do have 2 critiques: 1. The use of AI images was jarring. The faux-historical photos of locations took away from the credibility of the content. 2. Bits of the questions and answers would get cut off, likely because you're both sharing a single microphone. Lav mics for both the interviewer and interviewee should solve this, and probably would make your life as an interviewer a lot easier at the cost of increased production overhead. If I were to pick one thing to change, it would be to remove the AI images. Otherwise, fantastic content. You got yourself another subscriber.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That's awesome! Thank you so much for the subscribe, that means so much, you have no idea! As far as the ai is concerned. Yeah, you are in the majority... of like 100%. Absolutely nobody has liked the ai so far. heads up, the next video is a crazy insane story told by Matt Booth, and I use a lot of ai, but after that, you will most likely never see it again until the quality improves big time. To Answer your points: 1. Actually, only 1 historical location was ai generated, the big white Davidoff building (which is what it should have looked like IMO). Other than that, the other historical locations were actual photos put through the ai motion generator. But yeah, that software took some additional liberties. I ran each photo through about 10 times and took the best one. You should have seen some of the other nightmares. 2. We have tried lav mics before. Unfortunately they are omni directional and the convention floor is so noisy that the audio was practically unusable. That's when we switched to the Hyper Cardioid mic which is 1000X better. Unfortunately that mic is pricey and our budget is... well, it doesn't really exist, we're about $100k in debt on this channel, but it's a labor of love. We turned off monetization because it was only generating about $100/month. I think for next year we might invest in another mic though. Mostly because Steve Saka stole the mic this year and we couldn't hear a word he said. It sucks not being able to use a Saka interview.

[@drcroutons]

Thank you for the reply! Sucks to hear about the Saka interview.

[@drcroutons]

@@RepublicofDebauchery I would be remiss if I did not mention that you may have used some copyrighted photos from Cuban cigar website without permission or attribution.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@drcroutons You are correct. I have received an e-mail from Alexander and I will make him whole. I have a particular photo of mine that has been stolen and used thousands of times, so I know his pain. I will make this right.

[@teddyarcher3957]

Thanks for flagging this, I find AI imagery disconcerting and is it seems many accounts use it as eye candy, but it also puts just as many people off.

[@L2.Lagrange]

Awesome interview! 19:10 there is actually a ton of interesting history about 'guano islands.' Many countries literally used their militaries to establish control of them, including the United States as of relatively recently. Its an incredible fertilizer, and shockingly valuable. There is a lot of controversy surrounding it. Bags of it end up in hydroponic shops in the US for cannabis growing for example, but the work conditions of the people who collect it are terrible. That is only the tip of the iceberg though. There are some great KZbin videos about it. I'm not here to be controversial, I am simply stating that seabird guano is an incredible fertilizer, with an interesting history and a decent amount of controversy around it. Super interesting stuff all around.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

This is the good shit right here! Seriously! I'm going down this rabbit hole tonight!

[@keehn20]

Great interview 👍🏻 gotta get some clip microphones

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I agree, we definitely need another mic. We tried lav mics the first year we covered the show. They're omni directional and take in noise from everywhere rendering the audio almost useless, especially if there is music playing near the area. Now we use a hypercardiod mic that is very directional and cuts out most of the noise. We need to get one more for sure, but the cost for another one of these mics and the wireless XLR transmitter is around $350 and we don't make any money on this channel.... yet.

[@keehn20]

lol I get it. Social media tends to make you forget everyone is normal people and not everyone has endless amounts of funds.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@keehn20 If people are forgetting that, looks like we're doing a pretty good job 😃

[@michakob92]

Would much rather watch you guys than the AI stuff 😂

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That's solid feedback right there, thank you brother. It's also extremely time consuming and expensive, so good to know it's not necessary. Thank you.

[@jvidia]

Yes quit AI ​@RepublicofDebauchery

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@jvidia Duly noted my friend! If that is the concensus of the feedback, you can rest assured there will be much less of it. That being said, next weeks video, an absolutely off the rails interview with Matt Booth, is mostly ai. After that, should have a good grasp on how the majority of viewers feel about it.

[@BingoMactavanish]

I came here to see if anyone also commented on it- definitely ditch the AI

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@BingoMactavanish Good to know, that will definitely save a lot on future videos. Thanks for the feedback Anthony!

[@sonnythebeast]

Davidoff was the first cigar I actually sat down to enjoy and have loved them ever since. The 2000 is my absolute favorite and the Nicaraguan box press

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I haven't had either. Will have to sit down and try them. My favorite so far is the Davidoff Winston Churchill 2022 LE Perfecto

[@sonnythebeast]

@@RepublicofDebauchery the 2000 is a nice and easy smoke not to strong maybe a mild stick, my father is my go to right now I'm in love with that brand

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@sonnythebeast Right there with you. I think I smoke more My Father than anything else right now.

[@sonnythebeast]

@@RepublicofDebauchery they are top notch and I got a new love for asylum 13

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I like their cigars, but I'm not the biggest fan of the company. The Corojo is really good, but after ordering from them and stories I've heard of CE in the past, i may not buy from them again.

[@sachmo1918]

Excellent interview. Very informative. Cubans are not what they were but Perdomo is making some of the best highest quality cigars on the market. Rivaling any Cuban. Cubas quality is resting on their heritage

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I've been to the Perdomo factory four times. That company is a well oiled machine. It's cool how they incorporate old tech with new. Like they use Ox to plow the fields, but they use drones to do heat surveys of the soil and a high tech irrigation system that constantly measures the nutrients in the soil and adjusts what each plant receives.

[@JP-rv6hg]

He is talking about the Por Larranaga 47 UK Limited Edition 2021

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Thank you for the clarification. I've been wondering this whole time

[@tomvoss2131]

Just came from trip from Cuba they literally had nothing They had nothing in the stores or airport.They claimed all the good stuff went to China. Fortunately, I was able to source some cigars from a roller, which are really good five year old leaf to fill the humidor (i live in Canada). Best place to go in my opinion is Switzerland downtown Zürich. There is a shop next to the train station from the airport that has everything a little pricey but you know you get quality and no fakes Cuban or New World.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That makes sense. The Chinese market is paying whatever price they set right now. It's really sad that you couldn't find anything name brand. How was the pricing from the roller? Much better than Switzerland?

[@tomvoss2131]

@@RepublicofDebauchery my go to cigars are Ramon Allones or anything Cuban but not fakes and there are lots of those. But there are fakes and then there are banana leaves so you have to watch out and that’s why I only buy it from the government stores, but most government stores are locally run now so you don’t know what you’re getting really unless you try them back in the day 20 years ago, they used to always be a roller at every hotel. It was an old guy retiree and he’d be rolling his little cigars there and you could buy them for like one US. They were no names because they have such a shortage of cigars at the tourist stores, they have this roller there sometimes I found one and for four dollars you can get a nice cigar five years aged, almost like a Romeo and Juliet if you go to Europe, you can find cigar shops that carry Cubans. Those are always real but can get pricey, but you know that they’re legit.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I think it's worth it to spend $100 on a cigar knowing it's an actual cuban, than paying $50 and guessing. Another viewer sent me an email with all the reputable stores on Cuba and Europe. He sent a ton of really good info. I might make a video on it.

[@HOLDSWATH]

​@@RepublicofDebaucherythat would be great, I go to Cuba a few times a year and getting regular production is tough now. Great channel!

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@HOLDSWATH send me an email at [e-mail] and I will send you the list.

[@R2sojr09]

Give me Connecticut Broadleaf any day over any Cuban. Steve Sakas blends are just amazing for my palate.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

👆👆 This man knows what's up! 👆👆

[@brwi1]

The term “new world” for cigars is pretty silly considering all cigars come from the “new world”

[@canyonsuede]

I find Cuban cigars to have a unique sweet and salty flavor profile not found in non-Cubans. Wether it's better or not is subjective. Quality is certainly inconsistent, prices are high, but when I smoke a good Cuban it's a unique experience I can't find with cigars made in other countries.

[@cigarswithm]

Love This. Sig Is A Gem😊

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Takes one to know one 😀

[@Siritos]

The new Bolivar Gold Medal is astounding.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Is that a Cuban ?

[@stephensamuel4674]

For a second I thought he had a Patek. I was very impressed but I now notice it is a Bell & Ross. I am deeply offended

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

HA ha ha ha ha!!! What a sharp eye, WOW! I am sure he owns a PF. He wrote a book about watch collections. It's possible. Maybe.

[@uriel-heavensguardian8949]

I love this guy!!! He’s putting all the fluff to bed!!!💯🫡💯🫡💯🫡💯 Smoke your cigars and enjoy them. Whatever Cigar you buy and have. Forget all the mysterious BS wrapped around Cuban cigars. That’s what I took from what he said.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That's a perfect recap.

[@uriel-heavensguardian8949]

@@RepublicofDebauchery 💯🫡💯🫡💯

[@jonmelquist2825]

Forgot ur cufflinks?

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

How did I not notice that! You're the first person to see that. Sharp eye!

[@peterjoseph8974]

Its in style. "Sprezzatura"

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@peterjoseph8974 Just looked that up and learned something. Thank you Peter!

[@justintheowlman]

Law intervewing legends in teh cigar world!

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Guess I'll have to interview you too.

[@leandrolimeres]

Apart from from being a great knowledgeable interview, all american connoisseurs seem to bash Cuban cigars. Different picture when you see European aficionados speaking. That leads me to the impression they do that because some of them can't reach cuban do to the embargo. Not the case of Aaron, of course...

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I think there's some merit to that. People hate what they can't have. Tons of people hate rich people, until they have money. Then all of a sudden, they hate poor people. Lol

[@terristerris2209]

I disagree with a lot of what you mentioned, I smoke 95% Cuban, while 10 years ago I was 60% Cuban and 40% non-Cuban, because for me they are boring, many times I leave them in the middle and light a cheap Cuban 3- €4 which gives me much more satisfaction, In recent years, Havana cigars are much more ready, i.e. new ones under 2-3 years old can also be smoked Not to be outdone, there's no way the off-the-shelf would even come close to half the divine scents of Havana.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I really need to give some new Cubans a try to see what you're getting. It's one thing to interview experts, another thing to give it a try. Thanks for the comment!

[@frederickmooney2581]

I’ll second that, the quality control seems to have come up significantly in recent years. I’ve had boxes with zero duds, which sounds stupid but it hasn’t been the norm in the recent past.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

@@frederickmooney2581 It took forever for Cuban cigars to lose even a little bit of their prestige. I think it will take just as long for people to catch on to the quality control improvements as well.

[@julianoalbazi8344]

You’re smoking the wrong new worlds my friend. A lot of the new Cubans are pretty linear and boring.

[@cigarking5553]

Cubans all day

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I wouldn't complain if that was the case

[@Dannymurmaid]

I’ve never personally smoked bird shit lol

[@paddycool]

If I understood Mr Sigmond correctly, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the Cubans to justify their exorbitant prices. Why pay $50 for one of theirs when you can smoke one from the 'new world' with equal pleasure.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That's pretty much the gist of it. I've had a couple of Nicaraguan cigars over the past few years that have that classic cuban taste, but it's rare. The Davidoff 2021 Limited Edition was one, and the Don Pepin Vintage is another

[@sillygoose4176]

This guy could pass for negan's brother

[@lancerogers9694]

You know Manila was just as valuable as Havana. And I agree, this New World stuff is a little bizarre.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I definitely want to learn more about Filipino cigar heritage. Didn't Davidoff used to make their cigars there before they moved on to Cuba?

[@johnbaptistbypassinglife]

1:13 Ai lol

[@AwesomeSauce81]

Another great video. Such an interesting interview, but please stop using AI to fill in between during the interview. They look fake and don't add to the clip at all.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I understand for this interview. The feedback has definitely been a solid NO on the ai. But on the Matt Booth story posted after this, i haven't had any complaints. I wonder if it is good for stories but not interviews.

[@koraironams4656]

what the heck is going on with the weird ai videos lol

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Just trying something out. Seems people don't like it. Will use it very sparingly going forward.

[@StagnantMizu]

sumatra is where good cigars are going to be at if you ask me. what made true cubans pre embargo etc is the incredible volcanic soil. which is abundance of in sumatra.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That would be really cool. Indonesian tobacco tends to be very light in flavor though. The Sumatra seed has more flavor when grown in Ecuador, in my opinion. I wonder how many cuban tobacco farmers have made their way to Indonesia.

[@dontgettoknowm9864]

I can probably say definitively that this guy does not or has not smoked any of the cigars that are in my humidor. He’s on a level so far removed from the common Cigar smoker. I wonder if he’s ever smoked a $20 cigar or or something less expensive. This price range is probably where 75 or 80% of all Cigar smokers live. The same could be said about wine and bourbon and scotch. It’s really fun to listen to all this information and become knowledgeable but it will never be most of our reality.I was having a hard time relating to this man’s ego, but he has an ego for a good reason. He graduated from an Ivy League college and lives on a level that most of us can dream of. Cheers.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That is a fact. Aaron started at a level most of us never get to reach. He was in the right place at the right time. I do day dream of being on his level. I am sure he has smoked some of the more affordable cigars. He told me one of his favorite companies is La Palina.

[@johnbaptistbypassinglife]

15:27 haha

[@dudeman3186]

Stop using ai images it lowers the quality of the interview substantially

[@GEEKYMICK]

Wow, the AI generated content was just terrible. Really took away from the interview.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Duly noted, thank you for the feedback. Just a heads up, the next video is fantastic, but also with more ai. After that, probably won't do it again.

[@sonnyboyx2y]

That was AI Pete Johnson? Freaky

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

Ha ha, yeah. I used an ai imagine generator to create the person and scene, then an ai app to apply his face then another ai to animate the imagine which warped his imagine a little.

[@brianbrozek4435]

Informative, interesting interview but I find the adoration and whitewashing of Fidel, a murderous dictator troubling

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

I think it's interesting to meet anyone who is famous or infamous. You don't have to like them, hell, you can hate them, but it's still interesting.

[@RUY2323]

Cubans only!!! Everything else is garbage, and I’ve been smoking for 30 years, interesting how the Hoyo de monitor reserve is overpriced, but the opus X 25th anniversary. The price is just right, talk about hypocrisy!

[@jvidia]

Video conclusion: actual cuban cigars are expensive under fermented trash.

[@RepublicofDebauchery]

That pretty much sums it up. I have talked to tobacco growers from Nicaragua that say they sell tobacco to Cuba. Mind Blown!

[@VonHanzee]

Of course Fidel loves Canada, his son is their leader.