Most interesting smelling box of cigars?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Hey everyone, I hope all of you have some good smokes lined up for the weekend!

So I recently cracked open a new box of SLR Regios and I was hit by the most fruitiest odor imaginable. I've have other boxes of Regios that have a faint fruit smell but nothing like this most recent box. I mean the damned thing smells like it was packaged with Fruit Punch Koolaid packets! 

So that had me wondering, what are some of the most interesting smelling boxes you've had and what did they smell like?

Both CC and NC is fine, as I know I have a box of Ashton Symmetry's that smell like...well, very unique. Sort of like....a mixture of exotic wood and pickles, haha. Don't worry though, they don't taste like pickles when you smoke them.

[riderpride]

A cab of plpc. It smells like a bottle of Buffalo Trace tastes - caramel,  toffee, and some spicy wood.

Also a box of mag46 at the 8-10 year mark with humidity around 60%. That smells like heavily salted peanuts and sweet leather. My mouth waters just thinking of it.

I also had some Padron '26 no9 (?) that smelt like blueberries.  Unlike the other two, it definitely didn't taste as good as it smelt.

[Islandboy]

Sticking my nose in a box is one of the great pleasures I’ve come to appreciate in my short 6 years of collecting cigars, and nothing compares to the pungent uniquely Cuban aromas that come from a box of Partagas 898’s. The smoking experience that follows is equally satisfying. 

[RDB]

A good box of Cohibas can be pretty amazing: that spiced orange liqueur note... mmm must leave them alone.

Vegas Robaina for the dark tropical wood and fruit, and often a slight ashiness to the smell that doesn’t appear when smoking.

A 50 cab of Lusitanias. Maybe not the most complex, but seriously delicious baked bread and sweet roasted vegetables.

[IanMcLean68]

SLR are definitely unique when it comes to box aromas. Not available anymore, but the SLR Serie A I felt always had a unique box aroma not shared by any other Cuban cigar. Good boxes from beyond the early 00's have a distinct aroma of fresh kid leather and green apple. That aroma does translate through to the taste of the first third of the cigar too.

I love the cedar, honey and lemongrass aromas from a good box of Cohiba Linea Clasica. Particularly lanceros, but also robustos and esplendidos.

[Corylax18]

I cant speak to a particular box, but I brought a suitcase back through the Fort Lauderdale airport once that smelled so strong, the customs agent almost got sick when I opened. it. 

I was probably about 4 times the legal duty free limit and had already sat for almost 45 minutes waiting for them to call me. My connection was already tight, so I really didn't want to count them and go through the paperwork. 

The agent called me, asked me to put my bag on the counter and open it. I did, She took about three steps back, gagged and asked me if it was only cigars. Yes! I said, I bought most of them directly from tobacco farmers, they smell A lot like where they came from!  

She either believed me, or simply couldnt stomach(literally) counting through all of them with me. She gave me my passport back and told me to leave. 

I pulled one of those cigars out last weekend and while the light ammonia sent has long since faded, the sweet/pungent barnyard is still RIPE. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

That is quite interesting @IanMcLean68 , those SLR Serie A sound amazing...a little before my time but maybe they will pop up on Bond Roberts someday...anyway, I'm happy to at least have the Regios!

@Corylax18 that is a great story! I can't say I've offended any customs agents but I've had some non-smoking friends and family smell some of my boxes and it seems like a 50/50 split. Some can appreciate the smell while others look like they just smelled rotten eggs, haha. But then it also largely depends on marca/box chosen I think. I know my mother, for example, loves the smell of the most R&J boxes I've handed her but is terribly offended by Punch Punch boxes, go figure!

Thanks for the responses everyone, all have been informative & interesting!

[SingleBarrel]

I have a box of 1999 sancho panza sanchos and it smells like Grandmas house, just don’t understand how cigars can smell like that!!

[ha_banos]

I decanted an NC recently from its cello jacket. As I do with CCs, took a big whif of the cigar and it went right back in the cello! That'll learn me!

Had a very strong musty earthy smell to it. Did not fancy smoking it after smelling that. I will have a go at it though it of curiosity. Maybe a few months has mellowed it out. We'll see!

[RDB]

My lovely partner, who doesn't smoke and has a very sensitive sense of smell, loves the aroma of unlit boxes of cigars. I think anyone who is open minded and likes flavour complexity is likely to do so! 

[Wolvan]

I been buying some flavoured cigars to try. I have never smelled anything as awfully penetrating as Toscano Toscanello Blu (Anice). It was a unrefined in your face stale smoke with a hint of hay and coffee kind of a smell. Double packaging it in a zippo lock didn’t stop the smell from invading my nice Cubans. Now it has its own tupperdor.😅