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What I picked up at Basel, Koblenz, and Amsterdam. Best shop for singles was the Pipe House in Koblenz.

Thank you Appreciate the reply

It happens sometimes, i wouldn't worry about that.

Hello, First post, though been reading for years. I just received a 25 Box of SC El Principe. Look good, smell good. 1 of the 25 bands does not look like the rest. It is an older SC band with a more maroon color as opposed to the current which I would say is more brown. Thoughts?

Yup, we countryfolk had a good run though...sure was fun while it lasted

Great stuff, guys!

C&C time. Trini Vigia (2018) from our gracious host.

They're bracing themselves for what's coming...I wish them good luck, their shop is amazing 😍

I cannot speak to buying Cuban cigars in Switzerland, I don’t buy them here but I do enjoy smoking them here, and it’s nice. I’m just at this moment in the very lovely cigar bar at the Hotel Storchen in Zurich smoking an FoH 24:24 Juan Lopez and just check out that cutting fee, very civilized!

The "average" Cuban cigar smoker isn't in the focus. Cuban cigars aren't for the average person. Pathetic really - but that's only cause I'm average.

I've always loved their emails and posts. Never been but they seem to do things well...

Had to put this here. In his update on Cuban inventory, Eddie is hesitant to use NWC for political implications lol.

Well I guess lots of people from countries where CCs were already really expensive used to buy online from Swiss retailers and as prices are now more consistent all over the world, they might as well redirect the products to Asia directly, don't you think?

Maybe actually they see the writing on the wall for the European market (and others) with the legislation wanting to put to an end of tobacco use. Asia is where the long term market will be so they have to pivot to there?

These look beautiful.

Tasty afternoon treat

Flavours, tastes, complexity are all part of a language most aficionados agree upon to understand each other. I'm not saying this is BS or trying to belittle those who speak it, I'm just saying it's only one way to read and enjoy cigars and it doesn't work for everyone, some of us just can't speak it or don't see the point of it (it's a bit of both for me). @El Presidente talks about that in his recent interview with Dave Dude and about how Hamlet "speaks" cigars, when I have time I'll create a topic, I find this matter very interesting and I'd like to find out how you all feel about it.

TEB OCT 08 Gigantes

Some Burg, Beaujolais, Riesling and Sparkling

I am sweetheart , one day I'll come back and drink vodka with you at Havana Dreams 😉 big hugs my friend

San Cristóbal de la Habana El Príncipe LGR Jun 2018 This is my ninth SCdLH El Principe from this box since opening it just over two years ago, but I've had other San Cristobal de la Habana El Principes in the meantime from other box codes. In fact, I've had three: the first was from a newly acquired LGR Jun 2019 box code which was too strong and spicy for my liking, and two others from my TOS Jun 2016 which were much more in-line with my expectations. My last San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe from this box started off with that beautiful pancake-texture again. This time the middle was more coffee and molasses. The last third continued to be more dominant in cocoa until the halfway point of the final third saw the cigar become all cocoa and coffee, without any sweetness we come to normally adore in the San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe. This one, smoked two months later, was outright terrible. It started off with a burn issue which I had to correct due to bunched leaves, and was bitter throughout. Somehow I persevered in to the last third but honestly, I shouldn't have bothered. Sadly, I would say that this was quite possibly the worst San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe I've ever smoked, and that's saying something, on account of how many I've smoked over the years. Surely, the next one can't be this bad...surely!

Partagás Presidentes SUL Jul 2023 Prior to acquiring a 10-count of RSG Mar 2023 singles and this SUL Jul 2023 25-count box, the last time I smoked a Partagas Presidentes was from the 2018 Friends of Habanos Xmas Sampler. Do you remember them? Ah yes, the good old days when our forum host could actually access a guaranteed supply of Habanos cigars and subsequently could provide Sampler packs around the end of each year to try the best cigars of that year. What memories, folks! That particular Partagas Presidentes from the 2018 Xmas Sampler had a pleasant mix of Partagas sourdough and coffee with a Fonseca-type marshmallow sweetness. By contrast, I remember my previous forays into sampling the Partagas Presidentes revealed a more typical 'old school' blend of Partagas Earth and Forest Floor and perhaps even leather and I remember at that point of my journey within this hobby that it didn't really connect with me. My previous early-2023 Partagas Presidentes reminded me of recent Partagas Serie D No.4, the one cigar that I would have to nominate as being the best in its flavour delivery and construction since the advent of the Covid era in early 2020. The varieties that I've had of the PSD4 have been simple concoctions of Partagas sourdough, coffee and leather, intertwined in a seemingly perfect balance. Unbelievably, that Partagas Presidentes was much like that. Yes, I couldn't fathom it. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. So how was this mid-2023 Partagas Presidentes, the second one smoked from the box, acquired as a box purchase in the meantime on account of good that one RSG Mar 2023 Presidentes was? Well, it smoked slightly longer at 90 minutes and had more strength and body. There were similar simple Partagas flavours of coffee, sourdough and leather in the first third, but from that point on, it was 'Earthy' and spicy. Yes, I would say that the early-2023 Presidentes was better. By comparison, this particular Partagas Presidentes was more typical of the type I had in the distant past that were much stronger in body and strength, with old school flavours of Earth, Forest floor and leather. Still, I'm intrigued to find out how the third cigar from this box will turn out, so I figure I will be returning to this box soon.