Puros Y Vino

LOT MAR 11 Sir Winston and some Sam Adam's. What a nice afternoon for a cigar

Over the years I socked away some nice Cohiba and Trinidad boxes. With this news, I must admit I look at these boxes as $$$ now. There are a few I've cracked open which I will continue to enjoy but there are others that may be leveraged for future sale. I was looking forward to trying the new releases, Novedosos, Ambar, etc. But there is no way in hell I'm paying jacked up prices for new releases. I'm fortunate to have put together a collection with a wide variety of Marcas and cigars to pull from for years to come. It seems to me that Habanos is chasing the money and somewhat abandoning their longtime customers. I'll save some of my Cohiba's for special occasions going forward.

Great weather today. Fired up a 2012 Hamlet custom 1966.

I go through HUHC quite quickly. I was also dipping in to my LGC MdO4 boxes a lot during the pandemic. Would like some RyJ Churchills, Ex No 4 and Partagas President's too. Low on those

Reports of 4 dead, 13 missing.

Horrible news. The fire was related to unexpected activity in the alleyway? Very odd. I hope his insurance comes through. Fixing this will not be cheap.

Conde 54 on Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo to those that celebrate. Enjoying a Edmundo Dantes Conde 54on the fine evening.

Listings have disappeared. They'll come back once retailers have decided what the pricing should be in their part of the world.

An HU Connie A from 2014 box I cracked open. Very dynamic and smooth flavor throughout

10/10 for me as well. I've always leaned towards the Bon Scott era as I found there was some "cheekiness" about those albums that I enjoyed. But. Brian Johnson's debut with the band was a good sign. Not many bands do great after the loss of their main singer. Van Halen comes to mind. Even though it was all about Eddie's guitar, the music style changed too much when Sammy Hagar joined. Back in Black is one of those albums you can put on and just listen to front to back. There's no skipping of a weak track required. I'm always surprised how universally loved this album is even among fans who don't really listen to hard rock.

So basically, a wood jar?

This looks like something that was sold in the "Den For Men" franchise in the 90's. They often carried cigar related merchandise, shaving kits, ties, cufflinks, etc. A reasonably priced Dunhill shop if you will. It was the sole, male refuge of any mall whose stores appealed to women mostly.

Can hop on briefly. Might be done by then too.

2010 Cuaba Generosos

2012 RyJ Churchill

I have this one!

Cracked open a 2014 Connie A cab just glorious

Home made Lasagna last week.

1980 LA Escepcion Excepcionales. (Yeah it's a Hoyo band. Whole box was like that). Cuba being Cuba I guess.

There is definitely more qualitative data/opinions on CC's aging potential than NC than there is actual studies/evidence. Some people I know who smoke both, have mentioned that they try to age both and see no major differences. The following anecdotes stuck with me. One friend mentioned he has Opus X boxes of the same cigar 10 years apart. To his palate, the 10YO doesn't taste any different than the fresh ones. Another guy I knew swore by aging boxes of Padron 1000's series for at least 4 years to really make them more complex. But, he said the higher end Padron stuff that is already made with aged tobacco, pretty much stays the same. Many friends who are crazy about Drew Estate cigars have told me they aren't worth aging either. They tend to go through them ASAP. Two to three years max on their lifespan. I've found the OR Cohiba Maduro Genios(2007) start to stagnate around 10 years of "life" and that includes the age of the tobacco when released plus some years in the humidor. I smoked one around 2012 and found that it was very lifeless. That made me pickup my smoke rate of my 2009 Genios just in case. 😁 I think Habanos releases where the tobacco is already aged, then rolled tend to be spot on upon release. But I "feel" that cigars that are not rolled with aged tobacco, tend to fare better over time as I believe (and I stress believe over "know") that they have more of their oils intact. And over time, those oils from the various leaf types shape the flavour and body of the cigar. My belief stems from the many vintage cigars I smoked that were just regular production sticks that I found to smoke better than something like a Cohiba Maduro. For instance. Let's take a 2009 box of CoRo and Cohiba Maduro Genios. Upon release the CoRo's are 1YO and the Genios are technically 5YO already(Wrapper = 5yrs. Binder/filler=3yrs). So, that makes the Genios "older" from the start. In 2019, If I reached for one of each, I'd bet the CoRo's have more life left in them than the Genios. But that's just my opinion.

Totally agree with this. These haven't been around enough to determine how well they fare in a humidor. Classic style Dress boxes and Cabinets have proven to have no negative effect on the contents. Even lacquered Habanos boxes have been neutral in terms of off-putting odors, etc. I remember years ago when Tatuajue released the "monsters" series and the first runs had problems with the fancy boxes in terms of odors inside and out. Even Habanos faltered with the BHK. The felt, slip cover smelled horrible. I don't know of anyone who hasn't tossed those aside when storing the boxes.

I'm torn. The examples you've shown are all fine except for the RA one. It looks like a Vegan vomited out that color. 🤢 I guess fancy Habanos boxes era began with the Reserva series in 2003 and then got somewhat normalized with Behike in 2010? I still prefer the classic cabinet boxes. The odd fancy box is nice if the release warrants it. The JL one is very sharp and the RyJ ones look decadent. The only negative view I have on these is that they are starting to look like NC style boxes. NC makers compete in a large field against each other. Sharp box designs need to catch the consumers eye. Cubans really don't compete against NC's in the same way. People are drawn to Cubans for the tobacco, history and mystique to a degree. In a sense, Habanos in throwing themselves with NC makers whose box designs are catchy but whose contents always leaves something to be desired.(with some exceptions.ie The Padron 50th Humidors are gorgeous and the cigars inside are stellar).

So. I'm a bit confused. An EL released as an RE? Is Phoenicia having the first official launch or are they the worldwide distributor as well?

I came across this short documentary last night. Run time is under 7 minutes. Circa 1974 Clips of the cigar making process along with pictures of Lithographs interspersed. IMDB Link Watch on Youtube Hi-Res poster for the movie.