best cigar years from last decade?

[Savoy]

as i have been stocking up on cigars from 08....i am wondering which other years the cigars have been outstanding...04 is another great one imho...looking for additional feedback?

[bassman]

Funny how tastes differ. IMHO, 04 one of the worst years. Bland & under filled cigars. My favorite years are 02, 06 & 08. The few 09s I've smoked are also excellent, but smoked too few to really get a handle on it.

[OZCUBAN]

Funny how tastes differ. IMHO, 04 one of the worst years. Bland & under filled cigars. My favorite years are 02, 06 & 08. The few 09s I've smoked are also excellent, but smoked too few to really get a handle on it.

Hi Bassman

your spot on and 09 appears to be shaping up to be a stellar year also

cheers

OZ

[PigFish]

My opinion, shaped by my tastes and empirical experiences, has lead me to the conclusion that there are no bad years just bad cigars. I think it is to easy to generalize a whole year as a bad production year when some cigars may have been wonderful while others are less than. I think more in the terms of what years produced a certain stellar cigar or less than stellar cigar. One could run with the '04 bad year model for example but my preference for smaller ring cigars has not reflected that generalization. Although I do agree that this year ('04) exemplified the pendulum swing from tight cigars as measured by a draw machine I can't back the condemnation of an entire vintage of cigars. I have KMM '04 larger ring cigars from the Petit Robusto to the JL #2 that are fantastic cigars. 2004 saw the reintroduction of the PLPC which have not been matched by current production.

Todays cigars are excellent. But perhaps some of you have noted that while you get more cigar to cigar consistency there are less stellar cigars in the mix. I am not casting good or bad on the situation I am only saying that Cuban cigars are more uniform and less unique than they used to be. The jury is out for me. Do I prefer to pursue excellent cigars with the commingling of the mediocre, or is it better to have a more consistent good cigar at the expense of the truly sublime cigar? The jury is still out.

Best, Piggy

[HawaiiBill]

Funny how tastes differ. IMHO, 04 one of the worst years. Bland & under filled cigars. My favorite years are 02, 06 & 08. The few 09s I've smoked are also excellent, but smoked too few to really get a handle on it.

Aloha bassman, how are you bruddah? Long time, great to see you again! Anyway, I pretty much agree on the years you mentioned, but would also add several cigars from 07 when they first started to add aged fillers. It seemed that year many of the cigars that normally need a few years of age were a lot more balanced and approachable when young than normal. As for my favorite cigars from the last decade? Jeez, so many! The one that comes straight to mind is my very first Party 898V I smoked when I first started smoking in 02. I got it as a single so I dont know the year, but it was the first time I ever experienced the evolution of flavors that tasted like 3 cigars in one. In thinking of which specific cigars from those years:

01 Quai Dorsay coronas ( I REALLY miss these )

01-PLPC (sorry but so far the 04 & later, just aren't as good)

01-PSD 3 EL ( not the most complex, but I just liked em!)

03-Hoyo de Monterrey Piramide

02 Rass (the ones with the reddish wrappers)

02-Cohiba corna esp

02/03-Party 898V

06-Party serie du conn 1, 3 (pretty sure they were 06's?)

06-sig IV and VI

07 rascc

07-Party 898V

08-CORO and sig VI

No doubt there are plenty more, but those come to mind

[cigcars]

Aloha bassman, how are you bruddah? Long time, great to see you again! Anyway, I pretty much agree on the years you mentioned, but would also add several cigars from 07 when they first started to add aged fillers. It seemed that year many of the cigars that normally need a few years of age were a lot more balanced and approachable when young than normal. As for my favorite cigars from the last decade? Jeez, so many! The one that comes straight to mind is my very first Party 898V I smoked when I first started smoking in 02. I got it as a single so I dont know the year, but it was the first time I ever experienced the evolution of flavors that tasted like 3 cigars in one. In thinking of which specific cigars from those years:

01 Quai Dorsay coronas ( I REALLY miss these )

01-PLPC (sorry but so far the 04 & later, just aren't as good)

01-PSD 3 EL ( not the most complex, but I just liked em!)

03-Hoyo de Monterrey Piramide

02 Rass (the ones with the reddish wrappers)

02-Cohiba corna esp

02/03-Party 898V

06-Party serie du conn 1, 3 (pretty sure they were 06's?)

06-sig IV and VI

07 rascc

07-Party 898V

08-CORO and sig VI

No doubt there are plenty more, but those come to mind

*It's soooooo hard to find people who are fans of Quay d'Orsays like I am, and who talk about them. And yet, when you look on most sites, they are the precise ones that are always sold out!

[Mel]

02 Partagas Coronas, SLRDC and RAG are some very standout cigars for me so 02 gets a nod for a good year. 04 and 05 were ok but the last few years are rpoducing cigars that are more flavor intense with little aging time neede to overcome the roughness of youth.

I found the 01 year to have the most construction problems cheifly tight cigars.

[bassman]

*It's soooooo hard to find people who are fans of Quay d'Orsays like I am, and who talk about them. And yet, when you look on most sites, they are the precise ones that are always sold out!

Not in the same league as the pre 95s I used to have, but the 08 Quay D'Orsay Imperiales are a fine smoke. Not as mild as most people think & nice flavor.