Highly contested cigar review!

[PigFish]

This

cigar

was

a

waste

of

time

and

money.

I

am

sorry

I

bought

it

and

added

to

its

sale

statistics.

It

was

not

as

good

as

a

typical

Rafael

Gonzalez!

It sure were a purdy seeg'r.

Review over...

[zuma]

Almost poetic review... I can almost hear a Cremonese violin in the background...

[shrink]

I was similarly unimpressed by my first Behike, a 52. Hopefully they'll taste better with some age.

[Vortigan]

Makes me feel better about the fact that they're outta my price range! I'm just about to spring for a 3 pk of The RyJ SC,hope I have better results than you did there my friend.

[nonameno]

Hello Mr. Piggy,

Thanks for the review of a cigar completely out of my price comfort range. The bands on these things remind me of the disco days of the 80's!

I would sure love to see you do a review of a Rafael Gonzalez.....

Thank you,

Curtiss

[riazp]

very nice zippo piggy! seems like bhk 54's are the way to go...

[khomeinist]

U

R

A

F

U

N

N

Y

B

A

S

T

I

D

RG, Quai, or ERDM over BHK any day.

[jedipastor]

I liked the one I had, but I liked the Trini Rob T I had the following week just as well, and in some ways better. And it's 1/2 the cost, so ...

But yea, we'll see what some age does to them! I have a sampler on the way, so I'll be able to test that out myself

[Puros Y Vino]

It seems that the "Cigar Of The Year" needs another year or two of sleep to live up to it's reputation? Funny & unique review Piggy. The BHK52's are built beautifully but I've failed to be really impressed by them at that price point. There are a lot better/cheaper cigars such as the Trini Robusto T mentioned above over this one. The BHK54 so far seems to show immediate promise. I've also had a BHK56 and it was a sweet tasting cigar,which could also use more sleep.

[Scdalak]

I disagree, my first BHK 52 was tremendous, easy 95+...

[laficion]

This

cigar

was

a

waste

of

time

and

money.

+2. There's not much more that I can add. Thanks Piggy.

[PigFish]

I gave this cigar ample time to dry. It was not wet.

I live in the camp; once a crappy cigar, always a crappy cigar. While cigars can change over time there is no evidence that they reliably get better or worse with proper storage. I will grant belief in the ability or tobacco taste to change over time, what I don't grant is the prediction of the direction of a change. It is one of the many speculations in the cigar world designed by collectors to benefit collectors. Life as a box of bad Cuban cigars is an endless array of apologies and excuses! I paid too much for this cigar for it to be bad, and frankly I know better!!! I wanted to report on a good cigar and was happy to prove to be magnanimous about it and say so. My mindset about this cigar was optimistic, or I would not have bought it. If this is the best H SA has got to offer, many of us who love the CC are in big ******* trouble. If this is it... You can't BUY a good cigar at H SA!!! There again is no relevance to cost and performance.

Here is what I think! H SA et al will go to any length to sell a cigar for a few bucks more. That includes screwing over their own customers. I think they have contempt for us, frankly.

A cigar with this price tag, this 'reputation' and this amount of hype surrounding it, should be good... good for anyone who picks one up, unless you simply don't have a taste for Cuban cigars. That is how I define a flagship cigar; worth the ticket. BUT alas, I don't work at H SA (et al).

JMHO... -Piggy

[PigFish]

Hello Mr. Piggy,

Thanks for the review of a cigar completely out of my price comfort range. The bands on these things remind me of the disco days of the 80's!

I would sure love to see you do a review of a Rafael Gonzalez.....

Thank you,

Curtiss

Curt, I have reviewed many RG cigars on this forum. If you search them out you can find them. I am a bit of an odd ball however. You can see that I titled this thread with no reference to this cigar. My last mini-review of the QdO Coronas Claro was titled "Speaking to God," or something of that nature.

The RG lonsdale is a favorite, but so is the CE and the PC. I am no guru though mate. Just cause I like'em or dislike them does not mean that anyone else will. I think all reviews should be viewed with an open mind and I relate (cigar-wise) to those who review highly or lowly to the complementary array of cigars as I would. I refuse to let hype change my mind. The cigar should taste the same, band on or band off.

-Piggy

[Orion21]

The BHK 52 is not immune to being inconsistent from one cigar to the next. You would think that with the quality of tobacco purported to be used in these that they would be more consistent than other lines, but that has not been the case. I have smoked 3 52's, 4 54's and 1 56 and cannot vouch for any line, but can tell you all 3 52's I smoked were exceptional (95+ cigars, legit unbiased). Two of the 54's were like smoking a Mag 50 and the final 2 were boring. The 56 was like smoking a tailpipe on a Porsche and not enjoyable because of the sheer size. But unless someone has smoked through a few boxes there is not the depth of experience required to say if these are worth it or not. Rob has probably smoked the most and has high praise for the 52's and some 54's. But if you reached financially to buy one cigar ($30-$100 depending on local for 52,54 or 56) and were not impressed with it I wouldn't blame you for writing it off completely. I would personally buy up all of Rob's 52 stock every month if my wife wouldn't murder me in my sleep for doing so.

Cheers and happy smoking!

[CaptainQuintero]

I think if the price of the BHKs were say 30-40% less then they would be fantasticly fantastic. But they are just too much for being an aristocratic fonseca

[ramon_cojones]

I don't read most of pigs posts since they tend to be a bit long winded but please feel free to send me the rest of your 52s at a steep discount as this is one of my favorite cigars.

[BobKincaid]

an aristocratic fonseca

That's a low and dirty blow! Fonsecas are what they are. This thing, according to Piggy, purports to be something it's not, i.e. celestially superior.

Me, I'm grateful for the review. It reminds me that there are magnificent CCs to be had for a far less bank-breaking price. That's important to someone like me who's trying to slowly add to his stash and hopes to buy smokes that will be consistently good. Add into the bargain that I don't have the patience to wait five years to see if a $500 gamble paid off. I tend to be a cigar smoker and not a cigar waiter.

[Colt45]

I've found the Behike discussions interesting, with the overall impression I've gotten being that perhaps expectations have led to somewhat of a let down -

a generalization, as I know some enjoy them immensely - and by most counts, they've been a successful release.

Not having smoked any myself (and doubtful I will - unless Ray's ponying up :-), I'd ask those that have - taking price out of the equation completely - are

they good cigars? Bringing price back in, are they a value / worth the admission?

Without any rancor, I think I look at these as kind of a marketing tool - Cohiba name, fancy band, medio tiempo leaf, presentation, etc. And as I'm not the

biggest fan of the Cohiba marque to begin with, they just don't have that much appeal to me.

[CaptainQuintero]

lol maybe I was a bit harsh with the Fonseco comment, but they are to me similar in terms of they are not going to punch you in the face; they for me are delicate and refined, subtle even. I think that's what Fonseca would be like if I ever find an unplugged one

But as a cigar are they good? Yes, they are delicious to me but at the price point realistically they are not worth it, they just taste to me like a great quality reg production stick. If Mag46 was the same price as a BHK I would say the same thing; delicious but not worth the price.

[laficion]

Not having smoked any myself (and doubtful I will - unless Ray's ponying up :-), I'd ask those that have - taking price out of the equation completely - are

they good cigars? Bringing price back in, are they a value / worth the admission?

No Ross, for me and I repeat, FOR ME, they are not what they were meant or said to be.

They are not exceptional. with the care and the supposedly great tobacco used in the master blend

plus the adding of a most sought after leaf such as the Medio Tempo and then aged to perfection

has not made a "celestially superior cigar", no matter what the price, even medium priced.

What they have achieved however is how to adapt the principals of NC marketing.

Give the cigar a great and unique presentation,( just have a look at this years IPCPR show, lots of great

packaging, as for the cigar, is it really important ?), talk and write about the cigar as if THIS cigar has

invented the art of cigars, add the fact that the cigar contains the most unique leaf and the rarest( for NC's

it's the corojo) mention the fact that the tobacco has been aged for XXX many years , (see the story on the

Maduro 5),but don't smoke them too young ? With that you get the attention needed

to buy your product but above all, come out with something better as soon as you can and have

them forget the previous,(NC's with new blends from AUTHENTIC Cuban rollers and even greater packaging,

Habanos with new releases, Habano Festival each year, new EL's or new ER's,) The fact that we all know

this should not take away the passion nor the excitement of trying something new , we could simply put it

all in another perspective by keeping ourselves updated and objective and above all, to lay back and

relax with a great smoke, even if it turns out to be an " aristocratic Fonseca".

I hope this makes some sense to you , because for me .................................

[Orion21]

Judging a whole line by smoking 1 cigar is crazy. I don't care if it is $5 or $50 you can't make an accurate judgement on Behike having smoked one example. Having said that, everything is in the eye of the beholder. Piggy's review was funny and I appreciated the humor.

Having smoked a nominal amount of Behike I find the 52's to be excellent, 54's to be good and the 56 to be a waste of time (having only smoke 1 56, see). But Piggy probably had an off stick so the QPR for him made the stick a disaster.

[El Presidente]

I still can't believe you bought one

[ramon_cojones]

No Ross, for me and I repeat, FOR ME, they are not what they were meant or said to be.

They are not exceptional. with the care and the supposedly great tobacco used in the master blend

plus the adding of a most sought after leaf such as the Medio Tempo and then aged to perfection

has not made a "celestially superior cigar", no matter what the price, even medium priced.

What they have achieved however is how to adapt the principals of NC marketing.

Give the cigar a great and unique presentation,( just have a look at this years IPCPR show, lots of great

packaging, as for the cigar, is it really important ?), talk and write about the cigar as if THIS cigar has

invented the art of cigars, add the fact that the cigar contains the most unique leaf and the rarest( for NC's

it's the corojo) mention the fact that the tobacco has been aged for XXX many years , (see the story on the

Maduro 5),but don't smoke them too young ? With that you get the attention needed

to buy your product but above all, come out with something better as soon as you can and have

them forget the previous,(NC's with new blends from AUTHENTIC Cuban rollers and even greater packaging,

Habanos with new releases, Habano Festival each year, new EL's or new ER's,) The fact that we all know

this should not take away the passion nor the excitement of trying something new , we could simply put it

all in another perspective by keeping ourselves updated and objective and above all, to lay back and

relax with a great smoke, even if it turns out to be an " aristocratic Fonseca".

I hope this makes some sense to you , because for me .................................

None of this means anything to me, in the end it's the cigar I taste not the marketing excuse people love to throw around. It's not the best cigar I've had but it is a great smoke. Not worth it as a $30 cigar then again no cigar is, I've smoked $7 d4s that surpass it then again it offers something unique in its profile and the complexity is what keeps me entertained. I'm not in this hobby to find the best bang for the buck cigar which is often the perceived goal of many. Hobbies are not cheap.

[Dbone]

Well that just about sums it up, Ray. I won't spend the $$ on them. I can just see myself getting all excited for a "special night", lighting one up and NOT having the expectations meet reality. And with the hype of the line, and especially with production outsourced from El Laguito, it's not going to be the gem it could be if they would have kept production low and quality standards high.

If my $6 cuban cigar is crap, I don't feel bad tossing it and reaching for another.

[PigFish]

I still can't believe you bought one

Sun stroke!

Deriding diatribes aside I review fairly. I can't condemn or condone without the experience and I was looking forward to this cigar. I paid the price for admission, the price was too high and experience sucked. For those who would like it expressed more concisely, that means they are a ******* ripoff! One day I will learn form the many past experiences that H SA et al special products are a waste of smoking time and my smoking budget.

As my old man used to say, "There is an ass for every seat!" H SA might add, "Now that you have your ticket, sit down and shut up." -