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Partagás Lusitania (MUL MAR15). A wonderful weekend to you all.

Tasting of the 109 and the petit 109...gorgeous! The petit 109 was slightly milder than the 109. Excellent for morning cigar, lol.

A 10-count box of UBL Mar 2024 Montecristo Wide Edmundo...

GEL ABR 2021 red dot for breakfast. My niece is getting married today so no time for breakfast. Got to help my sister get everything set up today and clean up the mess tomorrow. Fun, fun!

Starting off with this RA, first time, medium-full body, full flavor, wow. Surprising 2h session. Have great weekend y’all!

Smoking a CoRo now. Smoked a BRC on the way out. A good holiday weekend to my fellow Americans. Wishing good regular weekend to everyone else. Siglo VI this morning.

Padron 2000 Have a great weekend all 🥂

This week's "from a laundry room in Kyoto" review is the Illusione Epernay Le Grande, a 6 x 46 Corona Extra (one of my favorite sizes). Illusione Epernay, like all Illusione as far as I know, is a Nicaraguan puro (though rolled in Honduras). I've found Illusione to be among the most consistent (in a good way) cigars around. And the Epernay specifically is a line you often see mentioned on lists of the most "Cuban-like" non-Cuban cigars. With Habanos priced out of reach for so many of us these days, that sounds like quite a draw. The Le Grande has a beautiful medium Colorado wrapper, with one large vein and no imperfections. I store them at 65% and have found that seems to work pretty well. These have been sitting for about 3 months in my tupperdor. I usually prefer a V-cut but went with the guillotine today. Pre-light was graham cracker, biscuit, and a bit of cedar. Draw and burn are almost never an issue with Dion Giolito cigars and this is no exception. Burn was maybe the slightest bit uneven and I gave it a couple of quick touch-ups but apart from that, perfect as usual. Body started out light-medium, and gradually progressed to medium. You often hear of white wine notes in the Epernay (thus, the name) and there is a bit of a crisp Chardonnay quality to this - more on the oaky side than a Chablis. Consistent throughout the 75 minute smoking time was a nice milk-chocolate sandwich cookie element. Over the first third that dominated, to be joined later by a rye bread note. There's a bit of barnyard to this too - an element of Cuban "twang" I actually don't get in Habanos as often as I used to. In the second and final third a grilled meat note emerged, very nicely pairing with the winey aspect. Cedar was more of a presence in the second half of the cigar than the first. Is this "Cuban-like"? Somewhat yes to my palate - maybe a bit of Upmann in there. Fairly complex and nuanced rather than a flavor bomb. Nicaraguan puros are naturally going to pack more of a kick than Cuban tobacco, but the Epernay doesn't leave you unconscious by the side of the road - it has some delicacy to it. It's a clean, "on-profile" smoke that delivers what it promises, pretty much every time. And at about $6-7 a stick by the box a great value (as Illusione usually are) in the current cigar landscape. Very good indeed - 90/100.

Shorts single (‘22/’23), it may all be imagination, but this is pure Partagás; red bell pepper, paprika, fried bacon, juniper kindling. Yep – meaning the cigar.

Monte for tonight.. Leyenda [LGR SEP18] from our gracious host.

Hike on Prairie Mtn last week with the 6 year old. 8.4kms with ~700m elevation, and other hikers were shocked with his performance. We ended up less than 100m from the summit till he got hungry. The mission was to have fun, so we turned around and went to lunch. We're revisiting this weekend

First time to try davidoff signature. Impressed AF work of art, I need to buy a box

Always too slow for the 24:24 full box sweepstakes, so I picked up some singles at the LCDH in Taipei. Happy Friday FOH!

2nd last day of a four month project in the West Australian Pilbara. Will miss the beautiful morning 🌄 sun rises.

Green dot special tonight El Laguito D4 from October 2019 Excellent oily wrapper, the scent is mesmerizing. What a lovely treat Cheers FOH!!!

Morning walk with a cigar in Okinawa! So amazing ！

SLR Pacifico with @Islandboy and @Glass Half Full. Wonderful afternoon with a special cigar and special company!

UTL MAR 18

Just thought I would pick up on this today. Second out of the box today with a few months rest was delightful. This second cigar really reminded me of old band Trinis. A good amount of body. aromatic sandalwood, lots of rich thick smoke with a core background RG chestnut/chocolate sweetness. Having major second thoughts on this cigar now. They may indeed be what I'd hoped them to be, and so much more.

Leaving aside the typhoon and coming to Okinawa, the atmosphere of the bar that came in by chance is quite good🥃

C&C time. Lusi (2018) from our gracious host.

The year is getting away from us as another season changes. It is a good time to give a 2024 update Supply Stock has steadily increased throughout 2024. From February to late August 2024, we have seen a 19% increase in overall stock numbers with the needle really moving over the past 12 weeks. You have seen increased stock numbers and stock breadth on 2024 as a result. We have been advised to see a similar % increase again as we move into 2025. On the surface that is good news. What we really need however is a greater increase in stock breadth in cigars that have been hard to find over the past 4 years. Punch DC/Partagas 898 etal are still off radar. HDM DC/Sancho Belicoso etc are dribbling through on small quantities. Habanos still hasn't managed to persuade Tabacuba to produce a consistent product mix to meet existing market needs. Sure there are plenty of Monte 2 / D4/ Epi 2 but the market can't survive on salad alone, be it good salad. I am hopeful things will improve slightly over the coming months but 2025 will be the acid test for Habanos. Cohiba/Trinidad The needle has moved somewhat for Trinidad. The London Trinidad event indeed was a success particularly introducing new markets to premium Trinidad. Casilda has been an absolute winner for HSA on two fronts. One: a sales gargantuan. Two: Positioning Trinidad as a serious premium brand in markets previously largely uninterested in the marque. The bycatch has been a marginal but measurable increase in sales of other Trinidad. The catch is that they are not seeking to convince old Trinidad buyers. They are seeking new "moneyed" Trinidad buyers/markets. Cohiba (existing lines) have had a tough run in 2024. The market is still adjusting to the new price normal. It will be interesting to see how Habanos manages the demand/supply equation. Specialties Generally, they continue to boom as long as they are large, expensive and with perceived scarcity. Cohiba Siglo Oro is an example of what occurs when a release is poorly conceived. Lessons learned I suspect. Markets There has been some softening of the mainland Chinese market but let's not fool ourselves, it is still a monolith. Domestic economic softening accompanied by price pushback has seen a plateau over the past six months. Middle Eastern market continues to fire as does the London. London stores have never been busier. Most other major European markets are climbing back albeit at a slower pace. Stock supply is still an issue in many of those markets but they are also still road mapping a product mix (CC/NC) that enables them to engage and meet the needs of their unique client mix. Each market is different. Each store within that market is different. Challenges a plenty. The US market continues to pump along. It is not what it once was in terms of unit volume but largely the same in terms of dollar volume. This is to be expected as the US was once the beneficiary of the cheapest Cuban cigars outside of Cuba. Global price standardisation (largely) has taken care of the anomaly. Non Cuban (Internationally) Mixed bag. Those that do it well, (Oliva/Fuente/Drew Estate/Plasencia etc) AND who have production capacity to meet those markets are finding the going good. Boutique brands are struggling. Even larger and well known manufacturers who don't have capacity are finding the going challenging. Many are also finding that Asian and European tastes are not suited to their blends and size offerings. Some have gone back to the drawing board and are making a concerted effort to redesign their European/Asian mix. Others are looking at their US hold/volume and are wondering, "why bother". Our own BR Petit 109 Linea D number 6 has hit the ground running. We (Fabrica 5) are now making cigars for the Japanese/Malaysian/UK markets with a 2025 order book for Canada/Middle East/Hong Kong. Our blends are well tailored for the traditional Cuban palate. That shouldn't come as a surprise as that is our background. Well that brings you up to date. Overall things are better but as always in this industry, you are only one asteroid away (likely Cuba) from the situation turning upon its head once again. Overall Grade: C +

BCJ

Today's vintage car festival in the gardens of the local castle ...

Trying one ROTT and all signs point to these being very good. Getting a lot of cinnamon, clove, and cream. Construction and wrappers are very good and big step up in visual appearance from the Nudies/MOFOHs. Draw is a touch tighter than open, pretty much dead on for my preference. Congrats to the team, you have made a winner.

Getting some time in the woods before winter comes...Quiet and secluded - unlike some other "camping" destinations.

Working on Monday, so not really a Holiday weekend for me, but absolutely looking forward to a couple smokes (one being a JJ Fox house blend we brought back from London, the other a Partagas E2 I’ve been thinking about all week) and some couch time with my boy Cooper.

When I saw this product, it crossed my mind that it could be targetted as a "Dry Boxing" solution for cigar lovers. something along the lines of: "Select your next 5 cigars and place them in this hand made Hyclimater to bring them to the perfect pre smoke condition" I thought that lathe in the video was a nice touch Anyway, so you have a product that you could retrofit into a significant niche (dry boxing). What it needs is a catchy name and a slick vid. What did they call it" Bamboowhale cigar set for men

Vegas Robaina Clasico (ECA Abr 2001) Mild start (which was a bit worrisome); 2nd/3rd wow; 3rd still strong in all the right ways. Makes me want to hold all VR for years, though I love the vitola (and, sadly, few are left).

BPC

Late night Fuente Fuente Opus X.

ARS OCT 18 Trova Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought some of these from the Don Lucas cigar factory back in 2018 for shits and giggles. A mild/medium cigar that's mostly a burnt sugar, molasses tobacco. Not bad for a yard gar.

TLE NOV 21 Esplendidos My first from a 6 pack bought back in March 22. The wafer thin wrapper was a touch beaten up and required some glue. Enjoyable, was it worth the £41 I paid, probably. A touch on the open side for my liking, a lot lighter than expected but some enjoyable taste shone through. Would I pay the £99 currently being asked in the UK, not a hope, but I'm looking forward to burning through the remaining 5.

JL2 ‘18

HDM SJ

C&C time. QDO Coronas Claro (2018) from our gracious host.

Viaje holiday blend

Custom Sig vi. Nice start, but fresh cigar should have left it stew. Custom was yesterday. HdM today 😵‍💫 I was conjoined. 2012 de Lush

Recent two box combo deal. Wonderful aroma emanating from these cigars. Two different shades of wrappers.

First ever PL Galanes

MAR ENE 22 Edmundos Will rest a bit before tasting 😎

Diplos from our host. The camera doesn't do justice to the chocolate sheen. Haven't had these in my humi since...I don't know when.

A 10-count of BRM May 2022 San Cristobal de La Habana El Principe singles...

Ramon Allones N°3 and a couple Famosos.