When a hobbyceases to be fun.

[nubchin]

Hi Trevor , first of all thank you for your website which we all appreciate and use in daily bases.

As users we see your web site as a BOOK , a cigar smokers bible , a very accurate very fun and very passionate BOOK were there's historical archives and recent news all together and even free of charge to use which perfectly reflects the comradery in our community so again thank you for your hard work and if you plan to publish it in paper , I will purchase it without any doubt .

I think the amount of users and visitors justifies a wider recognition from the HSA and distributors part to facilitate on updating the news part which serves well for them selves at the end, so you definitely need a HSA inside partner on that. And if you are having a hard time obtaining certain historical sticks , then maybe a bigger ISO announcements are needed toward cigar collectors world wide for those to be donated. For obtaining those sticks by monetary means , you need a monetary fund as to the suggestions above by paypal etc .

But if you are struggling whether to expand your site as a hobby , or to maintain it as it is , or simply to stop and relax , either ways you choose is the best way , and I am sure we would all support you and your pursuit .

[OZCUBAN]

Hi Trevor

Let me just say that your website is an invaluable tool and or reference, to us smokers wether we be newbies or experienced alike and, it would be a real shame for it to disappear ,but like you said it is a hobby ,and you are the one wholly responsible for the upkeep and constant updating etc etc

I hope some sort of solution can be achieved and it survives into the future .

The only advice I could give you are the words of the late Steve Jobs "STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH "

If not the only words I can say is THANK YOU

Cheers OZ

[Michel1968]

Hi Trevor,

Rationalization isn't always pretty... happens to all of us in any thinkable scale and on any thinkable level and I think we all felt like Don Quixote at certain times. Dealing with 'Cuba being Cuba' might need some kind of a flegmatic approach which might not work well with 'Trevor being Trevor'...

Perhaps a irony-driven 'Announcements are more important than Production' corner on the site might bring some needed relief. It also makes visible what you are dealing with in your quest. For any visitor.

It would be a great loss if you give up the site. Myself and 169999 others can only acknowledge the importance of the work you did. A Monument!

So get that cigar that has been notching to you all that time, open that Grange which has been smiling to you all that time and get out on the deck! You deserve it Big Time!

[hebbe72]

Hi Trevor,

From the very beginning of my short career as a BOTL I have enjoyed your website.

To me the information you provide is far more useful than the one on the official HSA website.

Please keep up the good work. It would be a great loss to me as the information you provide always is accurate compared to many forums where rumours tend to turn in to truths in a matter of seconds sometimes.

[Scdalak]

Don't Let the Bastards Win!!!!

[cottierm]

Dear Trevor,

After reading all the beautiful messages written to you, I think that there is no real option for you than to go on with your baby. How could you with one stroke on your keyboard end up that wonderful website? How will you have the heart to reduce the 170,000 of us to the state of crying orphans!!!

On a more practical level and as you know already the interest I have with books on Cuban cigars, I would be happy to soldier on with the task of reviewing some of the books you mention on your list without having had the time to review them, as well as a few more that are not on your list yet and that I happen to possess.

With best wishes (as always),

Michel

I started my website as a hobby and it seemed a good idea at the time.

I had just retired and had an interest in cigars and computers and had time on my hands.

I quickly found that most of the technical information about Cuban cigars on the internet was incorrect and out of date (or both). No one knew which cigars were still machine-made or hand finished; the Habanos packaging abbreviations being guessed at; etc., etc., etc., and this information was being quoted (and misquoted) on forums as gospel.

So information got put together and a very basic concept grew to what it is today. Visitors from 172 countries and over 170,000 users (this figure is from user's IP addresses...it is not a hit counter).

My main objective with the website is accuracy and completeness. However it is also intended as a hobby....and a hobby should bring enjoyment and satisfaction.

However I find myself being somewhat discouraged by current trends.

Habanos SA....well what can I say about them.

Habanos makes many secret societies look like a bunch of blabber-mouths. They have an out-of-date website and they don't answer emails.

They consistently trumpet new releases in February that only start to dribble into the markets in November, and many will not be released until next year. In fact, some celebrated 2010 releases have not hit the shelves.

The regional edition release program is even worse. Habanos decided that the regional distributers would be responsible for marketing; however the majority of regional distributers do not have the simplest of websites. I can count on one hand the numbers of distributers (or their major retailers) who take advantage of my website's free advertising potential.

With the 2007 British Imperial Tobacco buyout of Altadis (who own 50% of Habanos SA) and the 2009/10 corruption purge in Habanos SA, it was hoped that some modern management techniques might be injected into the organisation. This was not to be.

The current philosophy appears to be that Announcements are more important than Production.

When is the last time you ever saw positive views being expressed about Habanos in forums. All I can recall is them being torn to bits over the latest round of deletions. Perhaps if Habanos had explained the reasons behind the deletions...it may have placated people! Who knows?

I have never asked for much in relation to my website. It is kept as a free and totally advertising free because it is my hobby, and I don't want to profit from it. It's not that I'm some form of eccentric millionaire....just the opposite, but I am happy to fund it myself. All I have asked for is information and assistance in obtaining the more elusive cigars for my photographic and reference collection. Currently this assistance comes from Rob and three overseas dealers, together with three overseas distributors, and a handful of private individuals. Fairly sad for over170,000 website users!

With the worldwide anti-clampdown on cigars and cigar smokers, and the increasing restrictions on internet trade, I see the problems in obtaining cigar samples from overseas becoming more difficult.

All this boils down to the fact that I am becoming more and more disenchanted with my website as a hobby. As each year passes, I am feeling less and less inclined to continue with the effort involved. My nature is that if I can't do it properly, I will not do it at all.

So I suppose you are probably asking what is the purpose of this rant? Well....no real purpose. I've been stewing about this for some time and just needed to vent my feelings. I'll see how things go over the next few months.

Trevor.

[bc8436]

For those new to Cuban cigars like myself, your website has been a great resource.

Whatever you choose, thanks for the amazing website!

[Habanos2000]

Trev,

I too appreciate all the work you've put into your website. It is without question, the Gold Standard when it comes to information on Cuban cigars.

While it is unfortunate and short-sighted that the industry you directly benefit is not supportive of your efforts, you have to do what your heart tells you to do.

I hope you joyfully continue your efforts, and have the good fortune when the time is right to pass the site off to another passionate individual to carry the torch. But if that doesn't come to pass, I wish to thank you for a job well done!

[scinmyheart]

Trevor, good luck with whatever you choose to do...I can only imagine the thoughts going through your head now. I, like all others, appreciate your dedication and hard work keeping a site of accurate and helpful information going. It would be a shame for the cigar community to lose such a tool, and I selfishly hope that you keep it going

[dB69]

Trevor,

Your site is the best information source in the whole Internet. Please, don't flush it.

About the money issue. There are many sites and other things that have been excellent, but after selling them to some company they have gone bad and/or been shut down. Only mainstream sells well enough for greed people and your site is definitely not like that. It's a jewel. You wanted to do perfect job and you certainly succeeded.

Just have a little vacation. Don't let yourself even touch to the subject for a period of time. Returning to a beloved hobby after a break feels wonderful.

All good to you, Sir!

[Charltonc]

Thank u! I love the site!

[Trevor2118]

Many thanks for the fantastic support I have received.

I will recharge over the next few months and see how things go.

Rob has given me a number of good ideas and I will mull these over, with no decisions to be made until after the New Year.

Notwithstanding this, I don't see charging for website use as ever being an option.

I would also like to say that my rant about Habanos SA was necessary to convey my current frustration, but in no-way diminishes my support for Habanos and Cuban Cigars....I believe that my website is a testament to this.

In the meantime, it will be business as usual.

Thanks again guys.

[rckymtn22]

Thank you Trevor for all your work on the website! Excellent valuable resource

[anacostiakat]

Many thanks for the fantastic support I have received.

I will recharge over the next few months and see how things go.

Rob has given me a number of good ideas and I will mull these over, with no decisions to be made until after the New Year.

Notwithstanding this, I don't see charging for website use as ever being an option.

I would also like to say that my rant about Habanos SA was necessary to convey my current frustration, but in no-way diminishes my support for Habanos and Cuban Cigars....I believe that my website is a testament to this.

In the meantime, it will be business as usual.

Thanks again guys.

No. Thank You for continuing to do what you do. You are providing a valuable service that must not be lost. As tragic as the disco list is, the loss of the information you provide in one place would be horrible. Horrible I say!

Thanks for all that you do brother.

Jim

[Ginseng]

Thank you, Trev. Rock on!

Wilkey

[craigos]

Thanks Trevor for an incredible website. I got into cigars just 4-5 years ago and it was the quintessential authority on cigars.

[Hohenthal]

Dear Mr. Leask,

as others have stated before, I understand the nature of your statement, and,

being a classical concert violinist running against mainstream all my life, I know what frustration means. But the passion keeps us going.

However, just like countless others, I have visited your website in search for information long before I joined the FOH forum, the appreciation of your efforts - worldwide - is beyond words.

Mentioning your name in a conversation between cigar lovers raises the mutual sense of understanding and passion for cigars to another level.

Thanks for doing what you do,

warmest regards,

Alexander Hohenthal

[CanuckSARTech]

I would just like to clarify.........that money is not a problem....I don't mind funding the website, and I have sufficient funds to do that.

It is about the information and obtaining the necessary cigars.

A paid website would only put more pressure on me to keep it accurate.

Also, my agreement with MRN (for the use of his photos) is that the site be non-commercial.

While I completely agree with El Pres' recommendations, especially those of PayPal donations and an iPhone app, I also fully comprehend Trevor's issues with that, as outlined above.

Trevor, I know it goes unsaid and well understood by all those here, but at the same time, we also owe it to you to constantly say it nevertheless....

Your website is an invaluable reference to all those who have anything to do with Cuban cigars. It would be an absolute shame to see it go by the wayside. For you to do it in the nature that you do, purely out of passion and self-fulfillment, is a testament to the type and quality of person that you are. There isn't a time that I don't look at your webpage and think that it wouldn't be an honour to buy you dinner and drinks, and share a cigar or four with you, with some treasured conversation.

I don't begrudge your wavering opinions on this at all though - it's understandable for you to have the frustrations that you do in continuing with the webpage, being with the issues in the industry and out of Cuba.

I think we all would love to see the webpage continue. But, your reasons are fully understandable and agreeable too. It would be fair to say, IMO, that I think you'd have the full support of the FOH community no matter which path you took on this. Make the decision that most fulfills your heart and personal wishes - it's your baby, your decision.

[CohibaBehike]

Your hard work and passion has shown in your website, and it's my absolute top page in my browser and I visit it often. Thank you for your continued hard work and effort, it is extremely appreciated and I will always continue to use it.

Thanks,

Mitch