FOH'ers Daily Smoke

[Paso]

La Fuerza  

[Raskol]

C&C time.

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[Markke]

Love these...

[CampDelta369]

RG Perlas doing its thing. Excellently 

[inter4alia]

Really great stick 

[Wookie]

Topes 

[sw15825]

19 hours ago, JohnS said:

I have spent the last few weeks going over the history of this marca (as I intend to finish off the What's Smoking Hot 2020 Video Review Series with the new Trinidad Esmeralda, Media Luna and Topes releases) and let me tell you, if you were to follow the Habanos S.A story you'd only get a small picture of it.

The short story is that the Robustos Extra and Robustos T were discontinued due to poor sales in comparison to Cohiba as a premium marca. I've highlighted that last point in bold. The source of this information is from Christoph Walters when he first made mention of the languishing brand performance of Trinidad from his Hamburg LCDH blog website in 2012 below:

Trinidad cigar brand discontinued

Habanos S.A., Cubas cigar monopole, recently took the decision to discontinue the production of the Trinidad cigar line. But, it will not be the end!

When these high priced cigars were launched for public sale back in 1997 the brand consisted of only one cigar - the famous Fundadores ( 40 by 192mm). Shortly after these were available Cubas “dark years” in cigar production began and specifically almost 75% of the thin ring gauged cigars were plugged. Demand on these 38-40 ring cigars dropped to almost zero - just an understandable market reaction. Without causing too much noise back then the Fundadores was taken off production. Stocks sitting at importers warehouses did last until the line was re-launched in the early 2000’s. Some new sizes (Vitolas) were added, the entire line then made at Francisco Donatien cigar factory in Pinar del Rio, a new design, more new Vitolas, extensive quality control and finest tobacco blends then became corner stones of the legendary brand besides Cohiba - but sales were never up to par.

Now, considering the blend of any of the Trinidad cigars is excellent, the draw without equal and the presentation outstanding there is only one reason why the market never really accepted the brand as such - the nasty price tag. Consumers around the globe bought Cohibas instead and left these Trinidads sitting on the shelf.

The decision subsequently taken by Habanos S.A. is good. Let the “old Trinidad” cigar line rest in peace. In a distant future we will most likely see a second re-launch of this famous brand which then might follow the corner stones of the old line combined with new Vitolas and hopefully a very moderate price tag. Those loving the current Trindads shall stock up quickly - stocks will not last forever.

Happy smoking from Hamburg
Christoph Wolters
La Casa del Habano Hamburg

He added a further addition to his blog soon after to amend the initial statement:

More on Trinidad…..

We have posted some news about the discontinuation of Trinidad - and that has caused a lot of discussions. Even though we have been informed personally about what we have posted two days ago the NOW official statement is, that Reyes, Coloniales and Fundadores will not be discontinued but only the other sizes such as Robusto T and Robusto Extra. Sales figures are just too bad to justify a further production. Always good to see more news from Havana every day. Stay tuned for more

Happy smoking
Christopher Wolters
La Casa del Habano Hamburg

There is much more to say on the matter but from my dedicated research it seems to me that every prominent participant in the Trinidad story from Fidel Castro, Avelino Lara (former manager of El Laguito and source for the infamous Cigar Aficionado public unveiling interview of the Cuban brand in 1992), Adriano Martinez Ruis, Simon Chase and Christoph Walters discussed things like 'pieces from a puzzle'. The whole story requires a fuller appreciation of the Trinidad family starting the brand in 1905 and incorporating it in 1958 as TTT Trinidad. This 1958 date is much more significant than the traditional 1969 origin date Habanos S.A give for the brand because it led to a trademark dispute in 1997 in the US court system for the right to the brand name between the Trinidad family and Habanos S.A. Note well that this happened after the Trinidad family re-started selling a Non-Cuban Trinidad product in the US in 1997. It's no coincidence that a Cuban Trinidad product became a public brand in 1998 soon after. The Trinidad family won this dispute around 2001/02 and again, it's no coincidence that in 2003 the marca band was updated to reflect the TTT Trinidad name and new vitolas were added.

Altidis went into partnership with Habanos S.A in 2000 and in my opinion there was strong support for the Habanos Trinidad brand due to the legal disputes with the Trinidad family, the trademark rights in the USA and an emphasis on brand recognition after the initial legal issues were settled in 2001/02. When British Imperial Tobacco took over Altidis' 50% share in Habanos S.A in 2008 there was a renewed interest to support the 40th anniversary of Trinidad with new releases but this quickly waned due to the aforementioned poor sales. The Trinidad Habanos brand was left to languish for a few years in the 2010s until the recent 50th anniversary of the Habanos Trinidad brand with new releases which has resulted in a spectacular turnaround. Again, in my view, it's no coincidence that Imperial Tobacco pulled out of Habanos S.A in 2019 and a new player, Allied Cigar Corp invested in Habanos S.A, with a focus on the expanding Habanos market in China.

I could add further but I think I will incorporate a fuller account (of this intriguing and on-going story of Trinidad) into a new topic on our forum within the week.

I guess they got the part about the "more moderate price tag" for the re-launch of Trinidad wrong. Unless we consider that the Cohiba brand has pretty much doubled in price (on average), since the time they cut the robustos T.  Trinidad still remains a pricey marca, but less than Cohiba. Lol...

[HDGSN]

Can’t pass up a sunny 60F January day 2,000 feet up in East Tennessee!

Monte No. 2 TAO NOV 19. Clearance, my ass on these No. 2s. Wow! Every No. 2 should be like this. Silky thin wrapper, perfect construction, tastes like it is 5 years old already. Glad I bought 2 boxes.

Enjoyed with some Glenlivet Caribbean cask I just got as a gift today.

 

[JohnS]

2 hours ago, sw15825 said:

I guess they got the part about the "more moderate price tag" for the re-launch of Trinidad wrong. Unless we consider that the Cohiba brand has pretty much doubled in price (on average), since the time they cut the robustos T.  Trinidad still remains a pricey marca, but less than Cohiba. Lol...

I would speculate that from Habanos S.A's point-of-view the main thing is that the market has changed so that keeping up with demand for Cohiba, especially in the expanding Asian market, requires another premium marca. The three additions to the Trinidad marca in late 2019 are 'pricey', but as you say, in comparison to Cohiba price rises in the last few years, it makes Trinidad look like a decent alternative.

The LCDH La Trova tested the waters in 2017. It was first released in the Asia-Pacific region and its success paved the way for the current resurgence Trinidad is enjoying, in my opinion.

[El Hoze]

Drank a little too much last night, which I like to chase with bling cigars, smashed cheeseburgers with carmelized onions, and tons of good Bordeaux and Bud Lights.

[RDB]

Burning through some of my less good boxes on the cold nights here. PSD4 from 2014 and Famoso from 2019. Neither delivering anything like what good examples are capable of, but ok for a 20-30 minute smoke.

[sw15825]

This 2010 Siglo VI is just smoking beautifully. It's strength is just a notch under what they were when younger. The flavors are big, smooth and well rounded, with grass, hay, vanilla bean and floral notes with a perfect amount of sweetness to pull it all together. It is much different than a fresh one. I am a believer that Cohiba does not really begin to hit it's stride until around 5 years of age. As a note, I am basing that idea on Cohibas I have smoked with box dates of 2014 and earlier. 

[TheFullMontecristo]

Epi2

[TobaccoRoad]

Coronation UEB ABR19

Connie #1 BRE SEP17

[Habana Mike]

First NC of 2021 - Anejo Shark

Can't fault Fuente construction. Tasty smoke with a few years on them.

[havanaclub]

Drank a little too much last night, which I like to chase with bling cigars, smashed cheeseburgers with carmelized onions, and tons of good Bordeaux and Bud Lights.

So did you find that under your couch?


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[havanaclub]

TLE FEB 20 Esmeralda with some 100 proof Knob Creek. Cheers to 2021


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[JayHabanos]

MonteCarlo


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[Bijan]

Party short tonight. Hoping for a short winter.

[Dusk]

 

[El Hoze]

8 hours ago, havanaclub said:

So did you find that under your couch?


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good memory! I recently moved actually and the cigar never showed up. Starting to think it may never show up!! Cheers!

[Fabrice]

Trinidad Coloniales one of my favorite cigar. Never disappoints. And this Blair Still Fauna and Flora is a little gem of sherry, malt, spices and oak. Underated whisky...


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[Paso]

[Gamehawker]

On 1/1/2021 at 3:28 AM, Meklown said:

Last smoke for 2020 through midnight in to 2021. Happy new year all B/SOTL!

Wow was the cigar?

I have a sealed box of these "TOR DIC 15" and I tempted to smoking one.

 

On 1/2/2021 at 2:26 AM, Wookie said:

How was the Mag 54? I love H .Upmann and have never had a Mag 54 but I am thinking about buying a box?

[Wookie]

39 minutes ago, Gamehawker said:

How was the Mag 54? I love H .Upmann and have never had a Mag 54 but I am thinking about buying a box?

It's a very elegant smoke. For me, the most refined of the Connie 1, #2, Connie A, Mag 46 group. Lighter bodied than most but its flavor profile is totally epicurean.