H.Upmann Connoisseur No.1

[KCCubano]

How have recent production been smoking? Had many boxes of 07-09 that were excellent with a few years on them but all gone now. 

Thx!

[Kaptain Karl]

Great as always! There's a few threads on the late 2018 BRE production that smoked very poorly within the first 2 years, but now seems to be smoking fine. 

[NSXCIGAR]

Connie 1 is a steady horse except for a bump in the road in late 18. 

[KCCubano]

Good to know I can buy with confidence!

Thx

[Bijan]

7 minutes ago, KCCubano said:

Good to know I can buy with confidence!

Thx

Yes, but be careful if you buy blind as some of those late BRE 2018 boxes are still problematic (others are fine though, kind of a minefield).

@NSXCIGAR for comments

 

[KCCubano]

1 hour ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Connie 1 is a steady horse except for a bump in the road in late 18. 

Do they need major down time or just 6 months or so?

[NSXCIGAR]

2 minutes ago, KCCubano said:

Do they need major down time or just 6 months or so?

No, something's wrong with them. Tannic, bitter. All BRE OCT-DEC 18. Seems like a processing problem with that batch of leaf. 

[Bijan]

3 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

No, something's wrong with them. Tannic, bitter. All BRE OCT-DEC 18. Seems like a processing problem with that batch of leaf. 

The problematic ones are all BRE OCT-DEC 18.

But not all BRE OCT-DEC 18 are problematic. @JohnS had a good box of BRE NOV 18. I think @Kaptain Karl has a BRE OCT 18 or BRE NOV 18 that's ok.

But I also know a lot have been burned by boxes in that range. @Odessa I think.

[NSXCIGAR]

30 minutes ago, Bijan said:

But not all BRE OCT-DEC 18 are problematic

I've heard some in that range are OK, but why risk it? Only a 90 day period and plenty of stock is available before and after. 

As far as buying blind, most of the high-volume blind-selling vendors are into GEM 20 and at the least BRE mid-late 19. I personally waited until late 20 to buy blind again to make sure the late 18s had filtered through.

[Bijan]

1 minute ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I've heard some in that range are OK, but why risk it? Only a 90 day period and plenty of stock is available before and after. 

As far as buying blind, most of the large blind-selling vendors are into GEM 20 and at the least BRE mid-late 19. I personally waited until late 20 to buy blind again to make sure the late 18s had filtered through.

I got a list from one large vendor back in December and 10 of his 22 boxes were BRE OCT-DEC 18.

[mprach024]

21 minutes ago, Bijan said:

I got a list from one large vendor back in December and 10 of his 22 boxes were BRE OCT-DEC 18.

You think that list is just for boxes?  I always assumed they were master cases, how many boxes left in each case I always figured was the mystery.  Curious.  If that list is actual boxes on hand I’m a little surprised, figured he’d have far more inventory.  

[Bijan]

3 minutes ago, mprach024 said:

You think that list is just for boxes?  I always assumed they were master cases, how many boxes left in each case I always figured was the mystery.  Curious.  If that list is actual boxes on hand I’m a little surprised, figured he’d have far more inventory.  

I think it's for a subset of boxes that are tracked, but it's pretty close to boxes.

Yeah I think inventory on hand is pretty low for vendors generally. I think it comes in a mastercase or two at a time, or partials of that for grey market stuff.

Looking now there are 30 boxes of Connie 1 in stock at that vendor, which agrees with the 22 boxes in the list in December.

[mprach024]

Just now, Bijan said:

I think it's for a subset of boxes that are tracked, but it's pretty close to boxes.

Yeah I think inventory on hand is pretty low for vendors generally. I think it comes in a mastercase or two at a time, or partials of that for grey market stuff.

Looking now there are 30 boxes of Connie 1 in stock at that vendor, which agrees with the 22 boxes in the list in December.

Interesting

[Bijan]

1 minute ago, Lrabold89 said:

It’s mastercase


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Interesting. I have never seen a vendor have more than let's say 100 of any particular box in stock, except the smallest cigars, that come in big numbers. Interesting that he'd have 22 master cases which is something like 500 boxes, and only 30 in stock for sale. Also there were 6 BRE OCT 18 listed. Did he really have 6 mastercases of that box code?

[Gamehawker]

2 hours ago, KCCubano said:

Do they need major down time or just 6 months or so?

Many people love them with little age on them but I think they come into another level with at least 5  - 7 years of age on them. 
 

My 2011 boxes are absolutely Devine and I have not even touched my boxes of 2015 yet. 

[PuroDan]

10 minutes ago, Gamehawker said:

Many people love them with little age on them but I think they come into another level with at least 5  - 7 years of age on them. 
 

my 2011 boxes are Devine and I have not even touched my boxes of 2015 yet. 

I agree at least 5 years is the key.

[mprach024]

31 minutes ago, Lrabold89 said:

It’s mastercase


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Ah ha!!!  That’s what I figured

[rcarlson]

I'm one of the guys that made a relatively recent purchase from a European vendor that got a BRE NOV 18 box.  First few I had months ago I thought were good.  I just learned of the problems with the late BRE code.  Read Bijan and NSX and panicked.  I yelled at my kids, slapped my wife around, put our dog on the street to learn him good, blamed my parents for my suffering, then went back and pulled another to get the inevitable reckoning out of the way before calling it quits . . .  and . . .  it was really good. 

BRE NOV 18 Connie 1 ruined my life even though mine are terrific.  I lay it all at the feet of NSX and Bijan.  Thanks alot.   

 

[Bijan]

33 minutes ago, Lrabold89 said:

It’s mastercase


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2 minutes ago, mprach024 said:

Ah ha!!!  That’s what I figured

Dove into this again. It seems very narrow to be mastercases. For example Monte 2 has 38 box codes listed, and currently 45 boxes in inventory. Granted my code list is from 2 months ago, but a mastercase of pyramids is 24 boxes.

[mprach024]

10 minutes ago, rcarlson said:

I'm one of the guys that made a relatively recent purchase from a European vendor that got a BRE NOV 18 box.  First few I had months ago I thought were good.  I just learned of the problems with the late BRE code.  Read Bijan and NSX and panicked.  I yelled at my kids, slapped my wife around, put our dog on the street to learn him good, blamed my parents for my suffering, then went back and pulled another make to get the inevitable reckoning out of the way before calling it quits . . .  and . . .  it was really good. 

BRE NOV 18 Connie 1 ruined my life even though mine are terrific.  I lay it all at the feet of NSX and Bijan.  Thanks alot.   

 

??? best post I’ve seen in a while

 

9 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Dove into this again. It seems very narrow to be mastercases. For example Monte 2 has 38 box codes listed, and currently 45 boxes in inventory. Granted my code list is from 2 months ago, but a mastercase of pyramids is 24 boxes.

I don’t know bud, he’s one of the largest retailers in world.  The list I last saw had less boxes of inventory than my local B&M so I just always figured they were mastercases.  You could fit all those boxes in my bedroom, no need for a warehouse.  

[Bijan]

1 minute ago, mprach024 said:

I don’t know bud, he’s one of the largest retailers in world.  The list I last saw had less boxes of inventory than my local B&M so I just always figured they were mastercases.  You could fit all those boxes in my bedroom, no need for a warehouse.  

The list I got has 3,600 box codes. If that's the subset he tracks for codes, I think that's reasonable, maybe 5,000-10,000 boxes. Do you think he has 50,000+ boxes in stock? Honest question, I don't know if that is reasonable or not.

[mprach024]

7 minutes ago, Bijan said:

The list I got has 3,600 box codes. If that's the subset he tracks for codes, I think that's reasonable, maybe 5,000-10,000 boxes. Do you think he has 50,000+ boxes in stock? Honest question, I don't know if that is reasonable or not.

Me neither.  Which is why when you said boxes, I just said “interesting”.  Lol, cause I don’t know any different.  

[Bijan]

Just now, mprach024 said:

Me neither.  Which is why when you said boxes, I just said “interesting”.  Lol, cause I don’t know any different.  

Me neither ?

Yeah I'm basing a lot on the online inventory numbers, but I don't know if there's a big bottleneck between mastercases in warehouse and ready to ship to customers. If that's the case it could be mastercases.

Again getting back to inventory 12 codes for Punch Double Corona, 4 boxes left in inventory two months later. I mean if it disappears and doesn't come back I'll assume it was boxes, mastercases otherwise. Guess I have to keep digging.

[mprach024]

Just now, Bijan said:

Me neither ?

Yeah I'm basing a lot on the online inventory numbers, but I don't know if there's a big bottleneck between mastercases in warehouse and ready to ship to customers. If that's the case it could be mastercases.

Again getting back to inventory 12 codes for Punch Double Corona, 4 boxes left in inventory two months later. I mean if it disappears and doesn't come back I'll assume it was boxes, mastercases otherwise. Guess I have to keep digging.

Ask Rob on next zoom, he’ll know

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, Bijan said:

I got a list from one large vendor back in December and 10 of his 22 boxes were BRE OCT-DEC 18.

If you're able to pick codes, it's not blind. 

I think the surplus of precisely the codes that have been a problem from that vendor indicate they're being passed over. I guess word is out on that date range.

Typically, vendors that don't disclose codes tend to ship older boxes first so the late 18s are pretty much gone by now. Not saying it's impossible to get one, but I'm not hesitating buying blind. 

 

4 hours ago, rcarlson said:

I'm one of the guys that made a relatively recent purchase from a European vendor that got a BRE NOV 18 box.  First few I had months ago I thought were good.  I just learned of the problems with the late BRE code.  Read Bijan and NSX and panicked.  I yelled at my kids, slapped my wife around, put our dog on the street to learn him good, blamed my parents for my suffering, then went back and pulled another to get the inevitable reckoning out of the way before calling it quits . . .  and . . .  it was really good. 

BRE NOV 18 Connie 1 ruined my life even though mine are terrific.  I lay it all at the feet of NSX and Bijan.  Thanks alot.   

 

So you had some and they were good but despite that, you believed us over your own taste buds? 

That's cult leader kind of influence right there. 

 

6 hours ago, KCCubano said:

Do they need major down time or just 6 months or so?

Ready to rock fresh but they do age beautifully. As said, many people are loving 10-12 year old ones right now. I I don't think a "peak" on these has been determined.