Montecristo 80th...how many really?

[El Presidente]

So the word is that Habanos is currently out of "Montecristo 80th" 

By "out" I mean that they cannot currently resupply distributors in August. 

Given that most major retailers received a few boxes.....one wonders where the the remaining 600,000 sticks will be coming from...and when? 

*24 months late to market

*Limited to no stock in a major release cigar 

*From HSA itself, the only information is the sound of "crickets chirping". 

30,000 boxes? 600,000 cigars? I have some questions on that one. 

3000 boxes, 60000 cigars I could perhaps come to grips with. 

I am not into big gauge cigars but I can't fault what I have tasted in the current release. It is simply perplexing....(even taking into account HSA's history of perplexing decisions)....as to how an organisation can screw up something so integral to their core business. 

If you have heard any facts or rumours on what is going on with this release from around the world....share them here. We are all ears 

 

 

[IGIEM]

That is astounding indeed... Glad I managed to secure a handful of them


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[stogieluver]

Hey Rob, Cuban government, U. S. government.  All the same.  I can't imagine what you go through trying to run a business whose product is produced and delivered by "the government", regardless of which one. 

[Fugu]

Not nervous here.

[archosaur]

Ugh...a gigantic cigar that is somehow supposed to be mass produced and premium/exclusive at the same time...make it stop

[padrinocubano]

amigo,

there are no wrappers available for this cigars.

I guess the next time the wrappers for this and other bigger cigars are missing.

la Corona, el laguito etc. are out of stock.

saludos

 

PC

[drsupremos]

I had one, knocked me out.  I think these will really need some age on them.  Pres what do you think about the aging potential?

[vintagerodshop]

I have a fiver I bought from a private source. I have not seen any since then. I thing that was like six months ago.

[Bohn007]

I know one La Casa Del Habano store that had 40 boxes arrive last month, posted the availability in an e-mail and sold out in one hour. Everyone else is out in spite of my putting considerable effort into trying to find this cigar. On another note, I got an  e-mail from another La Casa Del Habano that said that they had a conversation with their rep from Habanos who told them that production of Cohiba Robustos was being stopped till 2017 due to lack of leaf. Possibly other lines effected as well. 

[Fugu]

10 hours ago, padrinocubano said:

amigo,

there are no wrappers available for this cigars.

I guess the next time the wrappers for this and other bigger cigars are missing.

la Corona, el laguito etc. are out of stock.

saludos

 

PC

Mind disclose sources?

10 hours ago, archosaur said:

Ugh...a gigantic cigar that is somehow supposed to be mass produced and premium/exclusive at the same time...make it stop

It's a joke, indeed.

4 hours ago, Bohn007 said:

...their rep from Habanos who told them that production of Cohiba Robustos was being stopped till 2017 due to lack of leaf

Not that I am questioning it, but that somehow makes no sense to me. The vitola with one of the lowest requirements in terms of wrapper size, and likely the biggest seller in the Cohiba line being stopped? There are other vitolas that would spring to mind much sooner than the CoRo. If they stop the CoRo then for me it rather reads - they stop Cohiba till 2017.

[Ryan]

15 hours ago, El Presidente said:

If you have heard any facts or rumours on what is going on with this release from around the world....share them here. We are all ears 

 

I don't have too much to add other than there is no price listed nor mention yet on the Spanish "Comisionado para el Mercado de Tabacos" website for the Monte 80th. This site is updated very regularly. No listing usually means the cigars are not available in Spain, at least not yet.

[Merovius]

Looks to be more like 300 boxes. 

[Bohn007]

4 hours ago, Fugu said:

Mind disclose sources?

It's a joke, indeed.

Not that I am questioning it, but that somehow makes no sense to me. The vitola with one of the lowest requirements in terms of wrapper size, and likely the biggest seller in the Cohiba line being stopped? There are other vitolas that would spring to mind much sooner than the CoRo. If they stop the CoRo then for me it rather reads - they stop Cohiba till 2017.

Here was the exact e-mail that I got a couple weeks ago from La Casa Del Habano. "Some month ago Habanos S.A. decided to stop the production of Cohiba due to shortages of high class wrapper. This has caused the situation we face now as Cohiba cigars are sold out everywhere. From what we expect production will only restart in the first quarter of 2017."

[laficion]

19 hours ago, El Presidente said:

 

 

 It is simply perplexing....(even taking into account HSA's history of perplexing decisions)....as to how an organisation can screw up something so integral to their core business. 

 

AMEN !!!!!!!

Guy

 

 

[Lotusguy]

Here was the exact e-mail that I got a couple weeks ago from La Casa Del Habano. "Some month ago Habanos S.A. decided to stop the production of Cohiba due to shortages of high class wrapper. This has caused the situation we face now as Cohiba cigars are sold out everywhere. From what we expect production will only restart in the first quarter of 2017."

Sounds like the Hamburglar - often the source of unsubstantiated rumors. Take with a shovel of salt.

[PigFish]

18 hours ago, El Presidente said:

....as to how an organisation can screw up something so integral to their core business. 

 

 

 

Oh, my friend you have me laughing at that one?

When you reject freedom, you cannot understand a free market place. You may be able to follow it, but certainly not lead it. Not even a monopoly, when poorly managed, can keep them going forever. This company has no vision for the future. It depends on its heritage, a name that it stole, and then rejects all the cigars that made that name, all at the same time. In ten more years the ex-pats will have pulled Cuba into a competition where Cuba has by her own hand destroyed its linage followers. They will be reduced to having no more staples than when the NC companies started. Few people will understand and have taste for Cuban heritage cigars because they are simply allowing that market segment to die.

The days of Cuban cigar dominance are numbered and Tabacuba has no one to blame but themselves! I look forward to the day when someone who really understands the 'value' of a Cuban cigar owns the tobacco once more. If I am not dead, I will be lighting up a PC when they auction off their one and only, their last 80 ring, 80 inch cigar to some damn collector!!!

The custom of using and enjoying tobacco must be underpinned with a new customer and that man will necessarily be a commoner, not a collector. The collector alone does not support the market, he is only a segment. Abandon the force that made tobacco a 'custom' for the greater populations of society, and you abandon tobacco altogether. I think Tabacuba is well on its way.

A constant revamping my be necessary in technology but not in tobacco. A core must be kept or your customers become those of the new and fanciful and not the established and reliable. They become 'anyone with something new's customer.' Anything but 'your' customer.

Perhaps by some quirk of fate, something like these damn FDA rulings might just save them. I suppose it takes one government killing freedom to support another government killing freedom... I will have to ponder that one awhile!

-Piggy

[shamz84]

A contact I was talking to about this issue says that he's not heard about production being held however have did say there is a general problem in Cuba. In the past two years, the over general tobacco being harvested has been poor due to the weather changing drastically.



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[Merovius]

4 hours ago, Lotusguy said:

Sounds like the Hamburglar - often the source of unsubstantiated rumors. Take with a shovel of salt.

My first thought as well considering the self interested source but I know a lot of people that were talking about stocking up big time this year. Time will tell. 

I picked up some CoLa a few months ago AMO MAR 16

If someone can post codes from June/July well know its bs. 

Weve been hearing reports about bad weather for as long as I can remember but there may be something more to it now after a bad year of El Nino rains. Heavy tourism doesnt help. 

[El Presidente]

20 hours ago, drsupremos said:

I had one, knocked me out.  I think these will really need some age on them.  Pres what do you think about the aging potential?

The ones i have smoked were not huge cigars in terms of strength. Medium bodied in the main but the epitome of Montecristo flavour and delivered in spades. 

Ageing potential? can't get a read on it until i smoke a few more from a few different boxes. My opinion right now for what its worth (and that is not much)....I would put them in a sweet spot for me at 3-5. 

[El Presidente]

15 hours ago, Bohn007 said:

 On another note, I got an  e-mail from another La Casa Del Habano that said that they had a conversation with their rep from Habanos who told them that production of Cohiba Robustos was being stopped till 2017 due to lack of leaf. Possibly other lines effected as well. 

Perplexing indeed. 

I am not currently having too many problems receiving early 16 CORO Tubos.  SLB CORO on the other hand is so scarce that when I am allocated boxes....it is just that, boxes at less than a dozen.  That means that only a few Master cases at best made it to the Asia Pacific distributors that month. 

[Bohn007]

5 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Perplexing indeed. 

I am not currently having too many problems receiving early 16 CORO Tubos.  SLB CORO on the other hand is so scarce that when I am allocated boxes....it is just that, boxes at less than a dozen.  That means that only a few Master cases at best made it to the Asia Pacific distributors that month. 

I have to wonder is that because there is a great profit margin on the Tubos compared to the SLB. If you have limited leaves available, natural to allocate them to the highest gross profit margin items. 

[El Presidente]

4 minutes ago, Bohn007 said:

I have to wonder is that because there is a great profit margin on the Tubos compared to the SLB. If you have limited leaves available, natural to allocate them to the highest gross profit margin items. 

 

I think (and I am not a great thinker) that given "travel retail" is some 25% of Habanos sales, it made sense to allocate what CORO resources they had to that sector.  That means AT etc. 

[wade1979]

Wouldn't all production of  quality leaf go to Cohiba? Its the most prestigious and profitable (at least I think) marca to defend. One would think so much of HSA margin is tied up in Cohiba and then traveling down in order to LE, RE, and major lines i.e. Monte and Party that Cohiba would be such a large hard cash (hard dollar) draw that they would steal from less popular marcas to fuel Cohiba production at any cost in quality. I find it so interesting that Winnie, Sig VI, SLDRC, LHDD, and BHK are non existent yet we get the Mag 56, Dip 2, and other TOS stars. 

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, wade1979 said:

Wouldn't all production of  quality leaf go to Cohiba? Its the most prestigious and profitable (at least I think) marca to defend. One would think so much of HSA margin is tied up in Cohiba and then traveling down in order to LE, RE, and major lines i.e. Monte and Party that Cohiba would be such a large hard cash (hard dollar) draw that they would steal from less popular marcas to fuel Cohiba production at any cost in quality. I find it so interesting that Winnie, Sig VI, SLDRC, LHDD, and BHK are non existent yet we get the Mag 56, Dip 2, and other TOS stars. 

Hence my kudos to HSA/Tabacuba (and I don't say it often). 

You can get as many beautiful wrappered Quai D'orsay Corona wrappers as you like (there are mastercases upon mastercases) that you could genuinely use for Siglo 1/2/III. 

They didn't do so for a reason......I don't know what that reason is.....but I am sure they have one. 

[Fugu]

10 hours ago, wade1979 said:

Wouldn't all production of  quality leaf go to Cohiba? Its the most prestigious and profitable (at least I think) marca to defend. One would think so much of HSA margin is tied up in Cohiba and then traveling down in order to LE, RE, and major lines i.e. Monte and Party that Cohiba would be such a large hard cash (hard dollar) draw that they would steal from less popular marcas to fuel Cohiba production at any cost in quality. I find it so interesting that Winnie, Sig VI, SLDRC, LHDD, and BHK are non existent yet we get the Mag 56, Dip 2, and other TOS stars. 

I know, its not popular to say, and people are usually reluctand to hear this - but I will say anyway: There is simply no free, random switching of any tobacco to any Marca. There may be to a certain extent, but you simply cannot use a Mag 56 wrapper for a Sig VI or a Dip2 blend in a SLRDC.

If you believe it were so, why at all bothering about availability of Cohiba - hey, simply buy what's available, people!

But that's then the true reputation to lose for Cuba if they'd thrust out anything for everything. And that would come worse in the long term than a temporary shortage in supplies (and as a side effect a shortage always sparks interest, as we can see in this and some other recent threads). I can follow the HSA policies quite well in this regard (but less so as regards the headline-stick of this thread, but that rather appears like being one of those "accidents" again).