2013 RASS - What was bad?


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I think some mistaken a bad tasting cigar young that has no flavor due that it has not aged . Sometimes it just comes down to it not being blended right from the get go as this is a handmade product.

I purchased a box of rass, in 2011 with a Apr 2010 box date. Smoking one back in 2011 was the worst decision I made, it was horribly young. I just revisited the exact box last month with a night and d

Smoking one from 13 and yes it' has classic RA flavor !! It's like I was smoking a 3 + yr RASS just amazing ! And by judging by the specimen I am smoking they have aging potential ... But to me t

Just picked up a box of these on the 12@12... Wasn't aware of them having a downturn this passed year. We'll see what happens..

I jumped on that sale as well after I saw that they were apparently "excellent". Hoping these are a cut above. Very anxious for them to get here.

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I've tended to find that RASS are crapola for the first 1.5 years from box date, are my favorite cigar from 1.5 - 3.5, and then lose their oomph from then on. Of course, I like a little slap and tickle in my cigars, so your mileage may vary.

If you don't want to age cigars, you may want to avoid robustos and possibly Cubans all together, unless you can source some aged stock. Remember, word on the street is that Havanas are rolled and shipped soon after whereas Dominicans are aged some before being turned loose to the distributors.

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My first CC box purchases a few years ago were RASS. The 10s are just now rounding in to form. I know they can be pretty good young. My 12s are good, will be great in a few years. I have a lone box from 11 that are a total mixed bag. Some excellent, some terrible. My boxes of 13s are OK to smoke now, but would really benefit from down time. All 25s BTW. By the sound of it, definitely worth picking up cabs.

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Cuban tobacco is now aged for sometime and they should produce a nice smoke fresh out of the box .

Other wise they would never sell as some of us who age cigars ( which is a small percentage )are not the driving force for keeping them in business .

People like us who age cigars know Cuban tobacco has the legs to age and maybe develope into something special .

But to think CC are not flavorful or enjoyable fresh is just ridiculous .

It all come down to what you enjoy there is a lot of wrong information floating around .

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If you don't want to age cigars, you may want to avoid robustos and possibly Cubans all together, unless you can source some aged stock. Remember, word on the street is that Havanas are rolled and shipped soon after whereas Dominicans are aged some before being turned loose to the distributors.

Most cigars coming out of Cuba now have been made from (at least in part) some well aged tobacco, up to 3 years from some bales, and have been laid down for a decent rest (backlogs, lack of boxes, changes in production/shipping methods) which might explain how recent production has been so approachable and good.

I'd say there has never been a better time to be introduced to cuban cigars than right now. Wether this is a result of changes in anticipation of the embargo being lifted it just a general modernisation of the CC industry I've no idea!

If CC are changing to where the fresh cigars are being slowly changed to the point that they are already near their prime then it's only good news for cigar smokers. Maybe bad news for BC producers though!

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If you don't want to age cigars, you may want to avoid robustos and possibly Cubans all together, unless you can source some aged stock. Remember, word on the street is that Havanas are rolled and shipped soon after whereas Dominicans are aged some before being turned loose to the distributors.

I couldn't possibly disagree more with this.

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With only a year on them I wouldn't expect much.

The RASS take a while to blossom. When they do, they're spectacular, but I had the same experience with younger boxes. I didn't get what all the hubbub was about until I smoked one that was 18mos old.

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Am I the only one that thinks the tobacco is not being aged that much longer than in previous years? I must be losing my mind but the cigars taste the same to me.

I've only become aware of it myself when I've revisited cigars that previously I hadn't enjoyed at all due to how they are when young eg RASS, siglo 2.

Before 2013 I couldn't stand them without many years of downtime.

I noticed it with monte 3 also as they're my favourite cigar but only with 4+ years. 2012 boxes taste like my 2008's

It might just be better fermentation techniques rather than age, or a combination of a little of both? The electronic humidification barn at Hector's farm was pretty impressive, if that sort of thing has been slowly creeping in for a few years now it might explain the quality increases/perception of aged tobacco?

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I've only become aware of it myself when I've revisited cigars that previously I hadn't enjoyed at all due to how they are when young eg RASS, siglo 2.

Before 2013 I couldn't stand them without many years of downtime.

I noticed it with monte 3 also as they're my favourite cigar but only with 4+ years. 2012 boxes taste like my 2008's

It might just be better fermentation techniques rather than age, or a combination of a little of both? The electronic humidification barn at Hector's farm was pretty impressive, if that sort of thing has been slowly creeping in for a few years now it might explain the quality increases/perception of aged tobacco?

Or it could just be your tastes and/or palate changing?

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Most RASS I have smoked young have been stellar with the hints of dry cherries and fruit etc but a couple have tasted like absolute ****. That's why I was inquiring. All of the examples I've had have been from 2013

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  • 2 weeks later...

I also heard it was a bad year and bought a box anyways.

They were young yes but they were well constructed. The flavor has been a bit Tannin-y as said above but age will fix this.

I bought another dress box cause I loved the construction on these

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I posted earlier and now coming back to this thread - like 75% of the topics, everyones taste's are different.

I have always been fond of young RASS, and my May '12's have been treating me just fine the past year.

Sure they are great with age, but they are one of my favorites fresh.

Time to order a new box.

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Cuban tobacco is aged since 2004 before it is rolled ...

And Cuban cigars or any cigars are meant to be smoked out of the box and taste great !

But judging their flavor out of the box it will give you an idea of the aging potential of the cigar down the road .

There is so much miss information going around it is a joke ...

I've tended to find that RASS are crapola for the first 1.5 years from box date, are my favorite cigar from 1.5 - 3.5, and then lose their oomph from then on. Of course, I like a little slap and tickle in my cigars, so your mileage may vary.

If you don't want to age cigars, you may want to avoid robustos and possibly Cubans all together, unless you can source some aged stock. Remember, word on the street is that Havanas are rolled and shipped soon after whereas Dominicans are aged some before being turned loose to the distributors.

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Smoking one from 13 and yes it' has classic RA flavor !!

It's like I was smoking a 3 + yr RASS just amazing !

And by judging by the specimen I am smoking they have aging potential ... But to me they taste great now ....

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But aren't RASS supposed to be one of the best young robustos? Correct me if I'm wrong here? I don't have the storage space to age - 100 ct desktop only and I'm not upgrading because it keeps me on a budget. So what should I burn young in robusto format?

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A lot of people love recent JL2 and Epi2, If I'm sticking to a Robusto, I'd go HU Connie 1 if a hermosa #4 is to your liking.

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