Going through the grades

[El Presidente]

I went through a mastercase of RASS today and it was a very good one indeed.  UTL ABR 18  in the main.  UTL has been a solid code for RASS.

I broke them up into 4 piles (PSP/HQ/PE/Fails).  Normal selection criteria applied (wrapper/aroma/construction). 

No two mastercases are really the same. They each have their own characteristics. 

In this one, the PSP and HQ were very close. From the photo below you have the PSP bottom right, HQ bottom left and PE top. 

The PSP were not PSP because they were darker. If you look closely at the wrapper you will see the silky sheen. The wrappers were glorious but there was also a little added punch to the aroma at cold. Construction was very good across all. 

The fails looked like this. Super thin pale wrappers. You can see that the wrappers are somewhat translucent and some had a little damage. 

 

All April 18. Same mastercase. 

 

PSP closeup. 

 

[JohnS]

Excellent pictorial examples, Rob. Thanks!

[RDB]

Really informative, thanks. I'm currently smoking a box of your RASS ALO SEP 16 and they are very good at PE quality.

If and when I see the PSP up I'll be all over them...

  

[inter4alia]

Excellent post. Very helpful and informative. Thanks. 

[hedgeybaby]

What happens to the fails, are they returned to PCC?

[havanaclub]

Great thread Rob, very informative and really like the pictures for comparison.
More of this with other kinds of boxes would be awesome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[40 Palms]

Thanks for the visual, Rob. 

What do you do with the fails?   Ship them back or note the issues and put them on 24/24?

[BuzzArd]

It’s almost like they rolled different quality levels on purpose....   Some for connoisseurs, some for every day smokers, and some for the petrol station and bar crowd....

[MooseAMuffin]

Love posts like this! Could we get a weekly thread like dealing with this topic? I enjoy looking at the grades next to one another. The PSP pics looks fantastic. Love to see the sheen on cigars like that.

[JoeyBones777]

Really appreciate the time and attention you put into sorting through stock for us, Rob! This is why I haven't bought cigars elsewhere in quite a while.?

[El Presidente]

6 hours ago, hedgeybaby said:

What happens to the fails, are they returned to PCC?

Everything get's sold mate. HSA takes nothing back. 

Again, putting it in perspective.  They are only a fail as per my grading. Those cigars are a normal part of life for all distributors and vendors around the world. I doubt HSA would see them as a fail at all. Just claro wrappers with a small tear.  I would reply to them that I love claro but these were a poor quality claro wrapper being thin, dry and in this case damaged. 

I should reclassify as:

Premium, HQ (High Quality), PE (Premium Economy), CQ.  = Clearance Quaffers. 

I prefer to use the term Seconds (for my fails)  as members know what they are getting. they are normally heavily discounted. 

Again they are only a fail as per my classification.

My definition of fail  = I wouldn't gladly use my own coin on that normally. 

 

[unclepauly25]

5 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Everything get's sold mate. HSA takes nothing back. 

Again, putting it in perspective.  They are only a fail as per my grading. Those cigars are a normal part of life for all distributors and vendors around the world. I doubt HSA would see them as a fail at all. Just claro wrappers with a small tear.  I would reply to them that I love claro but these were a poor quality claro wrapper being thin, dry and in this case damaged. 

I should reclassify as:

Premium, HQ (High Quality), PE (Premium Economy), CQ.  = Clearance Quaffers. 

I prefer to use the term Seconds (for my fails)  as members know what they are getting. they are normally heavily discounted. 

Again they are only a fail as per my classification.

My definition of fail  = I wouldn't gladly use my own coin on that normally. 

 

Rass was my favorite cigar until I got a few from lcdh in playa del Carmen Mexico that were those pale ones you posted a picture of. I know better know since I joined the forum, I’m going to have you pick a box for me , I love how you grade the cigars here, I’ll never buy from anywhere else! Got my JL S#2 a few weeks ago from you, absolutely amazing! Thank you so much ? 

[SCgarman]

Call me crazy but I would prefer any of those boxes except the very dark PSP one. I would gladly take a Colorado, Claro or Rosado wrapper over the Maduro shade ones regardless of "sheen". Maybe it is psychological, but dark wrappers just don't taste as good as lighter, and I have had the spectrum over several boxes of RASS over the years. Smoking through an AUM15 box currently with Rosado wrappers, and they are fantastic.

 

[Derboesekoenig]

Just now, NYgarman said:

Call me crazy but I would prefer any of those boxes except the very dark PSP one. I would gladly take a Colorado, Claro or Rosado wrapper over the Maduro shade ones regardless of "sheen". Maybe it is psychological, but dark wrappers just don't taste as good as lighter, and I have had the spectrum over several boxes of RASS over the years. 

 

I always thought the darker ones age better so try not to touch them? We're talking far longer than 4 or 5 years. I'm thinking 10-15+, right?

[El Presidente]

Just now, NYgarman said:

Call me crazy but I would prefer any of those boxes except the very dark PSP one. I would gladly take a Colorado, Claro or Rosado wrapper over the Maduro shade ones regardless of "sheen". Maybe it is psychological, but dark wrappers just don't taste as good as lighter, and I have had the spectrum over several boxes of RASS over the years. 

 

Taste is personal. I would say the exact opposite when it comes to RASS. That is as long as the wrapper is not thick, dark = bitter. 

You can also get PSP in claro. Rare as hens teeth. i prefer those on Upmann/Cohiba

The great news is that you can happily focus on  HQ/PE/Seconds. 

[SCgarman]

3 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

I always thought the darker ones age better so try not to touch them? We're talking far longer than 4 or 5 years. I'm thinking 10-15+, right?

I am 52 years of age this Sunday. No way in Hell I am aging a box of RASS for 10+ years. Time is not on my side!

[El Presidente]

40 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

I always thought the darker ones age better so try not to touch them? We're talking far longer than 4 or 5 years. I'm thinking 10-15+, right?

Depends. 

Its a rookie error to lump all "dark" wrappers together. Same as lumping all "claro" wrappers together. People do it al the time. 

A good wrapper should be tensile. That means it should stretch almost effortlessly.  it has a good oil content that at its best translates to sheen. 

crap wrappers are crap wrappers be they dark or light or inbetween. 

Now take a good dark wrapper and it lifts those cigars that are cocoa or fruit flavor noted. Monte,RASS.  Rosado does much the same but with a fruitier note. 

Claro brings a beautiful nuttiness. I love quality claro with Upmann, Cohiba and some Monte. 

 

Different strokes for different folks but few things in life are black and white.    Dark Good /Dark bad  or Claro Good/ Claro Bad. is just another one of them. 

 

 

 

[Derboesekoenig]

9 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Depends. 

Its a rookie error to dark all "dark" wrappers together. Same as lumping all "claro" wrappers together. People do it al the time. 

A good wrapper should be tensile. That means it should stretch almost effortlessly.  it has a good oil content that at its best translates to sheen. 

crap wrappers are crap wrappers be they dark or light or inbetween. 

Now take a good dark wrapper and it lifts those cigars that are cocoa or fruit flavor noted. Monte,RASS.  Rosado does much the same but with a fruitier note. 

Claro brings a beautiful nuttiness. I love quality claro with Upmann, Cohiba and some Monte. 

 

Different strokes for different folks but few things in life are black and white.    Dark Good /Dark bad  or Claro Good/ Claro Bad. is just another one of them. 

 

 

 

I have much to learn, thank you for this. One thing that really bothers me is overfilled cigars. I've got a box of Fonseca no1 and 50% are overfilled and plugged, but have great wrappers. Very disappointed. I've had to toss a few of them, even after using the perfecdraw. Any way to combat this--let them sit at a higher humidity for awhile? Or the opposite? Keep attempting to unplug them?

[El Presidente]

20 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

I have much to learn, thank you for this. One thing that really bothers me is overfilled cigars. I've got a box of Fonseca no1 and 50% are overfilled and plugged, but have great wrappers. Very disappointed. I've had to toss a few of them, even after using the perfecdraw. Any way to combat this--let them sit at a higher humidity for awhile? Or the opposite? Keep attempting to unplug them?

Let them dry out to a 58-62 level. You often find that they will come good when held at those RH levels for a period of time. 

[prodigy]

I have much to learn, thank you for this. One thing that really bothers me is overfilled cigars. I've got a box of Fonseca no1 and 50% are overfilled and plugged, but have great wrappers. Very disappointed. I've had to toss a few of them, even after using the perfecdraw. Any way to combat this--let them sit at a higher humidity for awhile? Or the opposite? Keep attempting to unplug them?

I keep hearing, as el prez just responded, that storing at lower humidity helps with this issue. I envy the people that "can count on one hand" how many plugged cigars they've had in their 50+ years of smoking cigars. I've had entire boxes, note the plural there, that were solid as tent pegs, in less than 2 years in to Cubans. Ive had clearance/seconds smoke better than PSP. It's all a crap shoot, some people get really lucky, then there's people like you and me Haha.

I do find a lot of them come around. Cut the cap and store them in a dry environment. Check the draw regularly and see if it comes around. Some do, some dont.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Derboesekoenig]

2 minutes ago, prodigy said:

I keep hearing, as el prez just responded, that storing at lower humidity helps with this issue. I envy the people that "can count on one hand" how many plugged cigars they've had in their 50+ years of smoking cigars. I've had entire boxes, note the plural there, that were solid as tent pegs, in less than 2 years in to Cubans. Ive had clearance/seconds smoke better than PSP. It's all a crap shoot, some people get really lucky, then there's people like you and me Haha.

I do find a lot of them come around. Cut the cap and store them in a dry environment. Check the draw regularly and see if it comes around. Some do, some dont. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

Lol I hear ya. This box was a PSP too, so kinda disappointed. I'll let them rest long term. Maybe revisit them in 6 months. I hope they come around because I love the flavor profile of Fonseca. Very unique.

[prodigy]

Lol I hear ya. This box was a PSP too, so kinda disappointed. I'll let them rest long term. Maybe revisit them in 6 months. I hope they come around because I love the flavor profile of Fonseca. Very unique.

The fonseca 1, considering its price, is a fantastic smoke. Cut one and let it sit for a while. Take a test draw every once in a while. You'd be surprised how many will magically draw that you thought for sure were solid as a rock.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[MD Puffer]

8 hours ago, JoeyBones777 said:

Really appreciate the time and attention you put into sorting through stock for us, Rob! This is why I haven't bought cigars elsewhere in quite a while.?

2nd this.  The grading and 24:24, and forum, has made all the difference in ordering CCs for me and I don't even look at other online storefronts.  This thread led me to pick up another box of RASS today.  Can't wait to lay eyes and nose one them!

[El Presidente]

The grading is no panacea but it certainly helps the odds. 

Buying blind is really no more expensive. If some people prefer that, go and do it as that is the norm both here and elsewhere. 

I certainly get hit by tight draws but few plugs. One persons tight draw is another person's dream draw.  Actually that will be a good poll for the weekend. % of plugged cigars. 

 

[guideright]

Thanks for the visual aid. Another reason this place is awesome!

Thamks to Rob and everyone else for their comments.