Strange Don Ramos Churchill - advice please

[scruffy]

Some advice please. Yesterday I bought and smoked a Dom Ramos Churchill - just to try something new. It was so bad it was beyond funny and I'm just trying to work out what was going on. I can't believe that a cigar could possibly be as bad as that as standard, otherwise it would never be sold. There was a really strong single-note taste to it, from the start. It was almost a chemical taste; metallic - that just destroyed anything else. Is this the taste of ammonia I have heard about on podcasts perhaps? Could I have done anything to avoid this (I am a newbie)? Or is it really just the taste of the cigar - and maybe just not my taste, but other people love it?

Just seems a tragic waste of a tenner for something so terrible. If I could avoid the same mistake - if I made one - I'd like to know how.

Thanks very much.

[Mark3142]

Funnily enough I had the same experience a few weeks ago. I was away for the weekend so purchased 3 cigars from a shop in Bristol. THey were untubed but they found 3 correctly sized tubes for me to keep them safe. WHich was good of them.
So I lit up the first cigar on the Fri night when we arrived and it was awfull. But I persevered and struggled through but it didn't get any better. So moaned at the Mrs and got no sympathy. Sat PM tried another but it was only marginally better. Again I struggled through and decided that they weren't for me. So the last cigar in it's tube was hidden in the cubby box of my car. Well after a couple of weeks sat in there I found it yesterday on the way home from work. So thought I'd give it 1 more go. Now bear in mind this cigar came from a humi and was duped into a tube and left in my car for 2 weeks. Lit it up and it tasted lovely. Nice smooth taste, even burn and lots of smoke. Sat there on the sun deck for a good 40min with it and a glass of Pepsi max. Which seems to be my drink to have with any cigar that I smoke.

I had almost given up on them but can't understand why it would of improved with being away from it's "perfect" surroundings. Perhaps I've found the most expensive mobile humi. Should I move all my cigars into the cubby box In my Discovery 3???

[monkey66]

Perhaps just not a good cigar (there are plenty like that)?

[scruffy]

Mark, it's kinda worrying tho isn't it, that 75% of these cigars, from our experience, are rubbish. Just don't know how they can justify that - basic business says it shouldn't be the case. Weird.

[Mark3142]

I have no idea how they get away with it. BUT it could be down to me being stressed after a 2 hr drive North and having a nose bleed from being that far North:smile:. Stress of having to learn this new language I was hearing. Or something that I ate. I know strong flavours can give strange results in the taste of something like a cigar. Hence why I try and cleanse the pallatte with some pepsi max or similar. As it's what I mostly drink when I'm smoking so I have a familiar taste in my mouth and why I persevered with the 3rd cigar that I purchased. Seems strange that the 2 straight from the shop humi that were smokd within 48hrs were not that good. And the 1 that was forgotten about and left in my car tasted the best after 2 weeks of living free so to speak.

[scruffy]

Still, bizarre that it takes buying a car to make the cigar taste reasonable.

Think they should perhaps mention this on the tube! :)

[Mark3142]

And not a cheap car either:(

[HabanoSy]

Perhaps just not a good cigar (there are plenty like that)?

Indeed...

The few Don Ramos I have tried have been definitely, meh!!!

Cheers, HabanoSy