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I've been a member of FOH for years but am not proficient in discerning various nuances of cigar tobacco. However, I know a couple 3 things about CA. cabernets. The Pahlmeyer cabernet is top tier although a little early for drinking as the 2018 vintage needs time. I'm sure it was decanted for a couple of hours. Pahlmeyer is not a big production wine so the winery's attention to production is top-notch. It must have been quite enjoyable juice.

Another excellent episode. My wife and I both enjoy listening as we relax after a long work day. Keep up the good work boyz.

Habanos seems to have no concept on the long dollar. Or Habanos crystal ball is that cigars will be eventually outlawed. Make hay while the sun shines.

You HAVE to visit the House of Grauer (although i don't know your cigar budget) when going to Geneva, i never went to Gérard but it seems worth your time too. I'm fairly new here but tbh i'm a bit surprised HoG has nearly never been talked about on FOH.

Ninfa. These are excellent cigars .

My first visit to Gesto in late 2014 reflected this. Meeting the owner Jean-Charles and talking for hours about the "old days" of Cuban cigars smoking and sales in Geneva (meaning the 80s/early 90s), marveling at the wonders on the shelves (ERDM Gran Coronas, French/Swiss REs from the late 2000s, etc), gratitude for the reasonable prices as I purchased those ERDM's and several other boxes I'm still smoking through today......it was an incredible place to visit for the cigar enthusiast. Then I visited again in October 2022 on our way back to Canada from Portugal on a layover to Geneva. Couldn't be more different. The shelves were bereft of all but the basic CCs. Prices had skyrocketed. J-C was not there that day, but his staff were perfunctory and generally passionless for conversation. It was just another cigar shop. I don't think I'll ever return. Disappointing to read this news, if indeed accurate. HSA's new direction appears to be to skim profit at every level possible. Understandable from a pure cold business perspective, but unwelcome news to most consumers, particularly those outside of AP and those specific European markets mentioned. As if we needed any more efforts to further push Cuban cigars out of reach from all but the privileged few.....

Family in Biel? It's where I live. Feel free to pm me if you are in town.

I am going to be near Geneva next month any recommendations?

They have nearly everything you could ask for, a good friend of mine who's been collecting for decades knows Mourade Hendor (their cigar sommelier) very well told me about HOG and basically if they don't have what you're looking for, you might as well stop looking for it. There are other great places of course but it's one of the top shops in the World for sure. It's not cheap to say the least 😅😅 Not only americans' 😉

The legit Swiss grey market vendors were a dream to deal with for years. Great prices and service, guaranteed delivery. No customs hassles. Made American's lives soooo easy.

Are saying that their current inventory of Cubans is good?

RJ DIANAS...

I believe the numbers are printed on a separate piece of clear material located under the crystal. That is actually the regular seconds counter. The large slim hand that looks like the second hand is actually a sweep hand that moves at 1/10 of a second when activated. I’m really enjoying this purchase. Thanks for the kind words!

Nudie Queen Corona. Got them 2 months ago.The extra 30 days rest really improves the cigar!

Must be insane lume at night.

Just when the average Cuban cigar consumer outside Asia thought it couldn’t possibly get worse...I really feel for anyone who’s only gotten into CC’s since the pandemic.

It does look impressive. I don't get to Geneva much when in CH. Zurich is closer (family in Biel).

Gesto was the swiss retailer all French aficionados wanted to go to a few years ago but it no longer is. On the other hand the House of Grauer is still a REALLY impressive place 🤯

Yeah, we must be a lot te feel the same 😮‍💨 I've come across the 2015 Coprova (french distributor for Habanos) price list and i cried 🥲

I've seen this video a few days ago and it was VERY interesting. Between this and the "zapatón", i learned a lot already.

Does anybody have this one? My fave Omega by far!

This was one of the first 'corrections' I made, based on a post from last July showing a PLM box from 11. After seeing your post today, I was thinking it was either (a) @HDGSN's box was poorly stamped. (b) one of these two codes is for one of the factories that doesn't have a listed code in 2010-2012 or (c) this is from the same factory and there was a communication error between stampers or a technical error with a stamp. I was originally thinking that it was (b), as the missing '–' from HDGSN's box from the same exact month as your box is odd to see. However, after looking at Bond Roberts - and turning my OCD Gizmo switch on - I've found four unique boxes of Fundadores and a box of Connie 1 with the PLM code from May 11. (Direct links to boxes on BR: HUC1, TF1, TF2, TF3, TF4) Looking at these photos closely after some master photoshop work, we can see that these PLM MAY 11 boxes were stamped with the same funky stamp with the misaligned short P. Searching for BLM MAY 11 didn't show anything on BR, but there are three non-Fundadores boxes from July 11, which do have the dash seen on John's box. Here are all four images, with John's marked. (Direct links to boxes on BR: PCS1, VRDA, PCS2) I'm pretty convinced all four BLM markings are from the same stamp, with the month changed, as we can see the identical 1's in "11" and the odd shape of the M and curvatures in the Ls. I guess we'll never know for sure, given this is 13 years ago now, but I'm feeling that the correct explanation is (c) - a code communication error to one of the stampers in the Piloto factory in PDR or a broken stamp that didn't have the letter B available (very Cuba, if you ask me). Seeing so many fundies out of "PLM", and then another authentic box from "BLM" would also lead me to think it's the same factory. The original source document (I only have one for this specific timeframe, multiple for other years), does seem to show BLM. My conclusion is that PLM=BLM and there was a broken stamp or messy communication in mid 2011 in Piloto factory in Pinar Del Rio. I'm curious what others think! (Also - $261.60 for a box of fundies...I wish I had a crystal ball )

If they are plugged due to excessive leaf stems or simply too much tobacco packed during bunching, no amount of lower humidity/ drying out will rectify these issues. I have an '05 box of Juan Lopez#1 that were tent pegs when bought new around 2009, and they are tent pegs to this day in 2024. Hamlet explained the issue perfectly when he stated the tobacco is over moistened with water, which allows the buncher to "squeeze" more leaf together tightly, which results in poor/no smoke draw. Consider yourself lucky with the Monte4's.

That's what i thought too !