SenorPerfecto

Very cool! we know the underfilled cigars smoke like wind tunnels; are the 11g cigars plugged?

Rocky's VP of Sales, Dave Bullock, was photographed wearing "blackface" at a party. In response over the last 48 hours, Rocky has done... well, nothing. Except remove Bullock's Linkedin page and Facebook page, sanitizing comments from their official social media, and quietly hoping the controversy goes away. Before the equivocating starts: Yes, it's blackface even though he was imitating someone of Indian descent. Yes, blackface is racist. No, it doesn't matter if the Wayans Brothers did whiteface in a movie -- this is not that, and that's not what we are talking about. No, it's not excusable if an Indian at Rocky's party thought it was "funny" or "ok." If you're white and have one black friend who is "ok" with you using the n-word, you're still a racist for using it. You're sick of "cancel culture" and people being "PC" and "when did people start getting offended at everything" -- good for you. Feel free to move along and not comment. Some of us feel it is important to call out acts of racism, especially if it informs where to spend our money. If you don't, maybe think about why. Doing nothing about it is tantamount to okaying it. No word yet if there is a connection between making shitty cigars and having racists at high levels in your company, but, Gurhka and Rocky Patel? It's a pretty strong correlation. Rocky makes a lot of money, and this news is already all over the cigar community. When we found out about Hansiota, he had to "resign" as President of Gurkha, and there were some vague promises that he would also sell off his financial interest there (absolutely no confirmation that this has happened or is seriously being considered -- if you weren't already, due to poor quality, surely stay away from Gurkha now). Will Rocky Patel himself, or somebody at his company who actually cares about sales, and -- dare we say it: the right thing to do -- actually make a statement about this racism at the VP level in their organization? Does the fact that the blackface appears to have been tacitly approved by at least one of the Patels make this a very sticky situation for all of them? Here's the photo.

When your palate is blown that’s one too many.

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Hope for the best on the 2016 but unlikely...

2014 LGC MDO No. 4

Not gonna happen.

Well done!

China? Wait til the US smartens/opens up. You want hoovering?

On the Way Up In Your Estimation ? 1. Romeo y Julieta Churchill 2. SCDLH Principe 3. On The Way Down In Your Estimation ? 1. RASS 2. Party Shorts 3.

Esmeralda

Sounds perfect!

Whoa

1 case of Estupendos please. PayPal or Venmo?

It's a fail because the vast majority of consumers don't know about aging and its effects on Cuban leaf, and therefore won't pay more for it. That's not fixable. People will never pay more for something they don't believe is better. Long term education of Habanos customers is not even a solution -- because at the end of the day, most people A. Don't know how to smoke and therefore can't appreciate the difference between an 80 point cigar and a 90 point cigar, and B. most people have crap palates anyway. Those who will appreciate aged tobacco were turned off by the fact that the provenance of the cigars is as opaque as the rest of Habanos. Nobody knew if the cigars were what they were said to be, and the price of entry was high -- most of us who like aged CCs age our own, so why pay extra for them? I think there is a narrow market for these -- new aficionados who know and like aged cigars, but have not been around long enough to age their own. And if the price is low enough, and the product smells and tastes right, maybe some of the old timers will be convinced to part with a little extra coin for pre-aged regular production sticks. Do I think this is a sustainable product line? Probably not. If the prices we've seen reflect the true cost of doing Anejados, it's just too high and will never catch on. If they were doing a cash grab and are willing to lower prices and raise quality? Maybe. A big fat maybe. On paper it's a nice idea. But the small potential customer base plus the high cost of entry means it likely won't ever fly.