I actually didn’t get it right (or mostly right) until I went back to cigarettes (so I wasn’t huffing on it to beat a nic fit), and then had a chance to sit down with an uncle who’s been piping for 60 years or so. I tend to think a pre-existing nicotine addiction is probably the thing that makes it most difficult. Most of the pipe tobacco I go for tends to smell appreciably worse than it tastes. In that it smells like tobacco just like anything else, rather than smelling like a flavoring.
As for Cubans of the ones I’ve enjoyed I haven’t noticed them being objectively better than any other type of cigar at the the same rough quality/price point. A good cigar is a good cigar, the trick is in finding something to your tastes at the right price point. I used to like Nicaraguan cigars much more than Cuban, but I’m a bit less into their insane nicotine levels now. But since I started smoking cigarettes cigars are much less enjoyable, kills your taste buds and sense of smell. Much of the subtly is gone for me now.
