The Dud Box

[Rehman]

In a deep corner of my lockerdor is a box of deformed, plugged, tatty-wrappered, blemished or beetle-damaged cigars. Throwing them out with the garbage just seems wrong, so I toss them in The Dud Box (an old foam-lined travel humidor with a stout nylon zipper so their twisted vapours don't escape). It is an oubliette, a place of forgetting. Boxes come and go, lives and localities change, time passes; once in a while another dud is tossed in the Dud Box and forgotten.

Until today. Unzipping the Crypt of the Living Dead to toss in a PSD4 whose too-dry wrapper had unfurled after a clumsy cut, I was greeted by an arresting sight. And smell. Burnished and aged wrappers, dully gleaming. I retrieved a Magnum 46 with a beetle hole near the foot. Clipped it, lit it, it's half-done as I type, and as perfect a one of these as I've ever had. My heart has even softened for the beetle that had had this specimen consigned to the dungeon all this time. We have similar tastes. He's a mate.

These duds are like Papillon or Mandela, attaining greatness in captivity.

[nonameno]

Hello Rehman,

Wow! That was a terrific read! Wonderful prose and a great story. Maybe there are more diamonds in the ruff to be saved...

Thank you for sharing,

Curtiss

[cigcars]

I have a selection of cigars that were from 1998 til about 1999 that consist of a Montecristo A, I do believe a discontinued Davidoff habano with the curly head lonsdale size, a few other old Habanos that I either had doubts about or that I had to freeze over and over again due to beetles. I'm reluctant to smoke them due to both their rarity and collectibility, and I just refuse to toss them or give them away. They are just stored away in a plastic ziplock unzipped and that I some times rehumidify when I remember to.

[shrink]

Bravo. I've had similar experiences... on rare occasions. Most of the time old "duds" are just crap.

[Dbone]

These are the stories which keep me digging further down the rabbit hole hoping to find that hidden gem. Cheers Rehman.

[davidl]

Indeed a great read...Thanks for sharing

[nick17]

wonderfully written. thank you for posting such delight

[Rehman]

Thank you! Curtiss is right about some duds being just duds. Plugs can be lifers, damn them. To paraphrase David Soul, though, don't give up on those babies, one or two may be worth one more chance...