Cohiba supply rumours?

[El Presidente]

Outside of the brilliant Cohiba Esplendido of this month, there have been no new box arrivals of many Cohiba Siglo 1, II, III, IV, V, VI, Lancero, Robusto, CCE, Behike for several months. There have been no shipments out of Cuba to our regional distributor in four months now.

Some carton packs yes, Cohiba Piramide extra and Cohiba Robusto Supremo yes, but the others are mostly non existent or thin on the ground.

It is hard to believe that it is just wrapper/leaf shortage. If any business were to lose months of production on their premium line then questions would be asked.

I have heard a ton of rumours but have absolutely no facts.

If you have heard a rumour as to why....post it here and enlighten us. We will take them all with a grain of salt

[Habana Mike]

Hamlet took all the blend secrets with him to Florida?

[CUBANO]

The only thing I heard was that Behikes are going to be discontinued.

[Smallclub]

I've been told that the Illuminati bought all the good tobacco, with the help of the Mossad. I'm not sure that's true

[skalls]

My money is on beetle outbreak

[SCgarman]

I don't buy Cohiba anyway. Too much coin and there is plenty of other good smokes for far less. JMO

[Stanislaw]

President Raul Castro bought up all the cohibas before agreeing to end the embargo with the US....

[Dimmers]

sorry guys that's me, I bought them all.

[Smallclub]

I think all the Cohiba are in Chuck Norris humidor…

[MC4]

I read on another site that says the same, shortage of Cohiba, but does not state any reason.

Could it be due to moving of the Behikes to a different factory and re-shuffling of the factories?

[SparklePony]

I may be completely wrong (and no doubt Smallclub will point it out ) but don't you generally get boxes dated 8-12 months ago? So shouldn't we be looking for a problem from back then?

Maybe that doesn't change anything... Just a though.

[Ryan]

All the rollers are busy rolling the 45 million Limited Edition Cohiba 50th anniversary for next year.

[GasGuy82]

I know I bounced this one of El Prez once before, but the rumor I heard, from no one with any "insider" knowledge that I know of is that the Cobiba Marca will eventually be phased out in favor of the Behike name. All of the work to build up the Behike name will result in a new flagship brand so that the Cohiba name isn't further tarnished by the red dots/DR puros when/if the U.S. Market opens up.

The reality I'm positive is not that sexy.

[El Presidente]

I may be completely wrong (and no doubt Smallclub will point it out ) but don't you generally get boxes dated 8-12 months ago? So shouldn't we be looking for a problem from back then?

Maybe that doesn't change anything... Just a though.

I am only going by the supply of Cohiba coming out of Cuba in the past 4 months. No doubt the problem started in the second half of last year but if much was produced in ENE 15 (which is showing up in other cigars), we are seeing none in Cohiba.

[DropTopDee]

i always see/hear "cohiba costs too much, they're selling the name not the cigar. theres better smokes out there"... is there another smoke out there that has similar flavors with a better price?

[Mycroft]

i always see/hear "cohiba costs too much, they're selling the name not the cigar. theres better smokes out there"... is there another smoke out there that has similar flavors with a better price?

No they are unique but that doesn't mean you won't find something that for you is better. IMHO a top-notch Cohiba like the muo 2014 Esplendido and Robusto have no equal. It isn't the flavour though, it is an undefinable overwhelmingness that blankets the senses and inspires the intellect. As if the trademark Cohiba smootheness is a pathway to something transcendental. Usually though they are not that exceptional and there's more interesting smoking to be had for less, depending on your individual taste.

[Dbone]

No good marketing ploy I'm aware of to wring out the distribution supply of your premium product. Internal disorganization would be my guess ?

[Mycroft]

There were boxes of muo 2014 montecristo #5s at Delhi airport a couple of weeks ago. If they are rolling non-cohibas at El laguito maybe they are out of magic Cohiba tobacco.

[Ryan]

What I know is that El Laguito was closed for January and February, I'm not sure if it has reopened even yet. It was reopened on a very limited basis (looked like about 20% capacity) for two weeks around the festival for tours. The roof was undergoing major repairs.

I was told there is no plan to discontinue any cigars or lines of cigars and that production will be back up once refurbishment is finished. I was told this by the director of the factory while I was looking at the work being done on the roof. Whether it's true that cigars will not be discontinued, I don't know. I can only say what I was told.

That would be the reason there are no or very few el Laguito stamped boxes so far this year. It doesn't necessarily explain why there are very few Cohiba coming out of other factories.

It is Cohiba's 50th anniversary next year. It will be a big year for the brand and el Laguito.

[bugg4672]

President Raul Castro bought up all the cohibas before agreeing to end the embargo with the US....

That would be my guess also.

[earthson]

i always see/hear "cohiba costs too much, they're selling the name not the cigar. theres better smokes out there"... is there another smoke out there that has similar flavors with a better price?

PL Panetelas

[JohnS]

The repairs to the factory that Ryan mentioned is the most plausible. My opinion is that perhaps certain crop areas that produce Cohiba IS short this year and we have to wait it out.

In the meantime, I'm kicking myself for not getting more of the BTO Dic 12 individually packaged Cohiba Siglo II's that was on the 24:24 sales a few weeks ago. The wrappers on these are superb. Rob, put them back up if you have more the next time you go to the warehouse.

[Bclass1]

If the rumors for the lack of production due to the renovations to the factory are true, how does that translate to the overall previous quality? Would this then mean that the stellar crop of the recent Robustos and Esplendidos were in fact rolled at El Laguito w/ MUO factory code?

[El Presidente]

If the rumors for the lack of production due to the renovations to the factory are true, how does that translate to the overall previous quality? Would this then mean that the stellar crop of the recent Robustos and Esplendidos were in fact rolled at El Laguito w/ MUO factory code?

The dates for those MUO CORO and ESP precedes the factory closure.

[El Presidente]

What I can't work out is that given only a small % of Cohiba are actually rolled at El Laguito.....where has the rest gone?