Yoruba Hacker

This. To the OP, I'd say SW. Doesn't sound like you're going to buy aged stash, and while I haven't smoked a Sir Winston in quite a while, they have to be better than the Esplendidos, which to my tastes are riding on reputation of late. As I've said a million times before, I'm not convinced that great aged cigars means they age great. Lots of great churchills back in the day, but not so much since and won't ever be, in my very humble opinion. Larger formats have fallen off in general, but, more importantly, aging profiles have changed significantly, so buy what tastes good to you now. Projecting what they will be is imprecise at best. Leaves and agronomy. What are ya gonna do? <shrug>

Apparently. Which is fine with me.

Who doesn't like them? Think they're amongst the best ELs recently.

Watched the Masters with MK05 there the day before. Hours before, actually. Left around 9PM and walked under the stands on the opposite side of the street (Boston Public Library side), making my way through the tourists and others. Done it many times before. Have frequently watched the race from Cigar Masters if in town. Creepy. First blast a block up, no more than 50 yards away. Second blast closer still; a couple of stores before. Obviously CM is closed until further notice. Makes me pretty certain it wasn't organized Al-Q stuff. It would have/could have/should have been much worse. Patriot's Day is the best day in Boston and on Patriot's Day, Copley is Times Square. Red Sox game a short walk away, Bruins and Celtics games, Marathon runners and fans obviously, tourists, Bostonians who got Patriot's Day off: Could have been monumentally horrific. Very angry, but very happy it wasn't worse. Some people neeed a new hobby.

Absolutely agreed.

Been smoking a couple I picked up at the La Casa here in Cancun on vacation. Pretty good, in my humble estimation. Very young, so who knows what will happen over time, but I definitely think these show promise. Paid La Casa prices for a new release, so they were preposterously expensive, but as one of my brothers said on another board, you get a hint of CGR from these, which is kinda nice, I think. All due respect, but I'm shaking my head a bit at the reaction here. HSA comes out with a new regular production cigar (albeit Cohiba), and people grumble. HSA comes out with RE's EL's and Books, and people grumble on other threads. Seems a little overdone. Fortunately, there are still far more choices for regular production cigars than I for one will ever smoke. In fact, there are tons I have never or rarely smoke. I certainly don't think HSA is perfect (killing the Robusto T? Huh?), but generally seaking, there's plenty to choose from to meet any taste and pricepoint when the need arises. For me at least. Salute.

Again, yup. Dead accurate, though I've never had an issue with a cutting fee at Stanza. Definitely a pain to get to but if Mark is hosting you, you'll be alright.

Yup.

Same ownership as the Cohiba Divan, no? Or am I confusing it with another place? Awesome place in any case. Had my first HC7 there on my honeymoon in '06.

Well done. Your writing perfectly describes what they used to taste like. 2002 is about the end of the line of the good Monte 2's. Congrats.

Patently obvious to say each person's experiences are unique to them, but your post is another reminder of that for me. Had a very negative impression of these when they first came out, as did many of my cigar brothers. All charcoal and mollasses and EL with no hint of Cohiba-ness, and I was mad about it, as they were spendy back in the day. Hated on them for years, but have tried a couple over the past two or three years, and like the Sublimes, I take everything I ever said about them back. Very smooth, and the charcoally-ness has fallen off to unveil more Cohiba than EL. Not that they have become equivalently aged Esplendidos in taste, but much more of that flavor spectrum came through. In fact, I'd argue that they are approaching just the right balance of mature Cohiba and EL. Always wonder how much of this is the cigar and how much is my palate. I recall in those days, I couldn't understand how anyone could drink that horrible iodine-y Islay scotch. Couldn't pay me to drink it. Now it's pretty much the only type of scotch I drink. <shrug>

Top.

Sunday in the US.

Most places, yup. Taking 24 vs 25 into account, significantly.

How much age do you think they need? Given those who think CoRo with age are better, how do you compare the two two at equal stages? By this standard, the Robusto T is superior, IMHO. Heck, by any standard.