tjkoala

I agree, I found a pair of them while abroad and smoked one and saved one and easily made the top 5 best cigars I've had this year.

Cohiba Siglo VI with the one vote win... What an upset!

I’m curious to how good of quality the cigars in 1885 were. I have a hunch they were more likely machine rolls than what we get now from the local B&M’s humi.

I'd like to report a murder of the CoLa and BHK 52. I'm pretty surprised how lopsided this match up is... like SHEESH.

I Just got in what must be the darkest BBF I’ve ever seen. Has anybody ever seen wrappers like this before? If so how did it smoke? (Trinidad & Partagas Maduro for reference)

Charlotte NC here - Prices for housing are certainly up and dining out prices also appear to be up. Reality is that COVID brought in a new wave of high end dining that has mixed reviews from locals with a lot of these startups running themselves out of business by charging $8 for a beer and $20 for a burger and fries. Reality is that there's a huge market for quick/cheap/casual eats and that segment is justifying doing quite well. Why go pay $7 for a beer at a brewery when I can get the same pint at the grocery store for $4 for a 16oz can? Its absurd and illogical.

What’s the best Cuban cigar? The one you can actually get your hands on!

Really excited for this one. The comment section is going to be SPICY 🔥🔥🔥 with some of these lineups

Yep, first CCE actually. Love the especiales series that Monte offers so felt like a low risk flier to snag a box, very happy with the purchase in hindsight

I picked up a 25 count box of CCE earlier this year and was lucky enough to to have two years of age on them already. Visually it is a very visually striking cigar much like the Monte Especial No 2 which both the Especial 1 and 2 being superb blends. This is the first of the box I’ve sampled and while the draw was a little snug, it was easily fixed with a perfect draw. The cold draw was impressive and quite complex, various floral and traditional tobacco flavors but no cedar or woodiness to speak of. The smoke experience was good but not great yet, the cold draw flavors continued into the smoke itself with some milk chocolate, very slight white pepper, and just depth to the smoke. The main issue was that the flavors would come in and out with periods of little flavor followed by impressive bursts. Overall happy with the two year old stick and certainly has some opportunity to grow into something impressive. Early on I would still prefer a Monte Especial No 2 but time will tell. I’ll need to do a side by side review of the two cigars later this summer or fall. Final Score: 90

The people looking to save some money on a box of cubans while on vacation were probably already priced out because a box of CoRos in the Cancun LCDH were already like $800, and the other lines aren't cheap their either since they're paying the tourist premium. Those folks will probably continue to buy glass tops off dudes on the beach who has a cousin who "works in the factory" and offers them a deal. I think the next market will be the online market where people (admittedly like us) will look for deals and will get burned. Just trust confirmed sources such as FOH and you'll be good to go.

@El Presidente Can I ask what your travel setup looks like? What cigars do you typically pack and what do you use for a travel humidor? Or is all this not needed since you're probably offered a good selection by JJ Fox

From a quality perspective, I think that’s fair and tbd on the 2022 crop. It is undeniable that volume is down and demand for CCs is undeniably high between new people getting in on cigars and panic buying. Anytime you see a 30% drop in supply you’ll have some issues meeting quota no matter how good the quality. The article linked cites below: “The harvest has fallen from 32,000 tons in 2017 to 25,800 in 2020 and will likely reach only 22,000 tons this season, he said.”

Part of me thinks that this might be some foreshadowing by HSA on the current state of recently harvested crops. There was a post a few months back that linked to an article citing a few important notes. 1. Fertilizer isn’t being imported in high enough quantities 2. HSA sets the market price for tobacco 3. Farmers are switching to more profitable crops 4. The total volume of tobacco collected dropped in 2021 compared to prior years. I’d suspect the tobacco quality has probably suffered due to the same issues. I believe what we’re seeing in the supply shortage and the HSA price increase is signaling that they know they’re far from the end of this supply issue and need to cool off the market pressure for CCs. Hopefully they’ll correct prices when things are looking better but I think they know they’re going to struggle to meet the standards expected for their super premium brands (Cohiba and Trini) and are trying to hedge for the lack of supply.

Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas - UPO Oct 21 Absolutely flawless box, feels like I hit the lottery