For those in the "know", when was your first knowledge of the "Anejado" program?

[El Presidente]

No, I am not a conspiracy theorist

I am just a little intrigued as to the first time you had heard that Habanos had an "Anejado" program in plan. Naturally this is aimed at those with personal contacts within industry but not exclusively so. We are not looking to disclose the sources of the information by any means, just to get a rough idea of timing. When it comes to releases, not much is kept secret in Cuba.

I only knew 6-8 months prior to the release of the R&J Anejado Piramide and Monte Churchill Anejado that such a release was in plan. In none of my trips to Cuba or discussion with industry retailers, distributors, contacts was it ever mentioned.

So back to the initial question, when was the first time that you heard that HSA had an Anejado program in the planning?

[Ken Gargett]

i think they picked up the idea from our videos!!

[PapaDisco]

I'm just your average Joe . . . didn't hear boo about it until I heard from youse guys! And, btw, just cracked into my box of Monte Churchills that I bought after your video review . . . mahvelous! This is definitely going to be my Christmas Dinner cigar!

[BonVivant]

May 2011?

http://www.habanos.com/en/noticias/lanzamiento-del-concepto-habanos-anejados-o-vintage-en-el-mercado-interno-de-cuba/

[JohnS]

I'm just you're average Joe . . . didn't hear boo about it until I heard from youse guys! cigar

And, btw, just cracked into my box of Monte Churchills that I bought after your video review . . . mahvelous! This is definitely going to be my Christmas Dinner cigar!

Same here. I first heard about it through our forum and I concur, my recent Montecristo Churchill Anejados have also been sensational.

[ElAbogado]

Just now...

[polarbear]

I do find it strange that HSA had a bunch of Monte Churchills specially rolled and then hidden away for 7 years before they'd release them and no one I know of had much of a clue the release was in the works before the release list dropped

[Guest rob]

They lost my confidence in this program when a release that wasn't part of its line up (Monte Churchill) was released as if it had always been there.

[Colt45]

i think they picked up the idea from our videos!!

Aged!

[Ryan]

At the gala dinner at the November 2011 Partagas Festival, there were anejado Hoyo des Dieux handed out.

There were plenty of people "in the know" there and that was the first anyone hard heard of them.

As for the current Monte and Romeo, no idea.

I saw pictures from Nino's blog of the factory in Quivican where they were being boxed a few weeks/months prior to release.

[NSXCIGAR]

May 2011?

http://www.habanos.com/en/noticias/lanzamiento-del-concepto-habanos-anejados-o-vintage-en-el-mercado-interno-de-cuba/

OK, so, from the article:

All the Aged Habanos have been selected by a group of quality control experts who have reviewed each one of these Habanos in Cuba.

So does this happen before or after the aging process? And since these cigars mostly appear to be unique, unseen-before vitolas in their marcas how does anyone know what they are supposed to taste like or what to expect with age?

They are easily identifiable because they apply a second ring and the seal “REVISADO”at the bottom of each box, which ensure their perfect ageing process.

Except they're not easily identifiable by the "revisado" stamp since that stamp is used specifically for other purposes quite frequently.

Also, these Anejados contain their own paperwork and bands which are obviously placed on the cigars AFTER the aging process has occurred, meaning there's no indication that these cigars were ever intended for this Anejados program at the time of rolling.

Has anyone noticed this image from CCW that appears to show the main band OVER the Anejados band? Assuming that's an unaltered state from the box that would mean that the marca's band is applied after the Anejados band! If these cigars are sitting around unbanded for 5-10 years in a factory I simply cannot believe everything about these Anejados is kosher. Good, bad, great--that's not necessarily the issue. But is HSA being 100% straightforward about this program? Highly questionable...and I'm not a conspiracy theorist either.

[Fuzz AI]

Has anyone noticed this image from CCW that appears to show the main band OVER the Anejados band? Assuming that's an unaltered state from the box that would mean that the marca's band is applied after the Anejados band! If these cigars are sitting around unbanded for 5-10 years in a factory I simply cannot believe everything about these Anejados is kosher. Good, bad, great--that's not necessarily the issue. But is HSA being 100% straightforward about this program? Highly questionable...and I'm not a conspiracy theorist either.

Robaina band could have just been a bit loose and slipped over the Anejados band.

[irratebass]

Just now...

[Merovius]

They lost my confidence in this program when a release that wasn't part of its line up (Monte Churchill) was released as if it had always been there.

Smoke & mirrors?

[mk05]

2011 as said above. However, one could have surmised that with all the difficult-to-roll, higher-level roller mandated churchills and skinnies being sent back to Cuba due to being plugged/re-QC, Habanos had a chance to cook up something instead of sending them back at a lesser/same price as REVISADO. So those once-plugged cigars were opened up with a poker - "draw tested" - slapped on with an Anejado band, and now sells for 5x more rather than at a 2/3 nominal value as REVISADO.

What isn't there to like?

EDIT:

So that said, the next Anejado will probably be the skinnies from 02 that were sent back to EL for QC REVISADO, like the Hoyo DD and LGC #3...or more Churchills and DCs first.

[LGC]

Everyone whom buys these cigars, out of fear of missing something special, only supports the churning out of these Revisado sticks.

[monkey66]

[monkey66]

Just found this in one of my Humis.was given to me a couple of years ago. Guess it is the Hoyo

[monkey66]

[Ryan]

That's probably it. There were no other bands on them. And that band looks right.

[monkey66]

Smoked it tonight at the Whiskey club with John DaCosta. Really good smoke.

[El Presidente]

Smoked it tonight at the Whiskey club with John DaCosta. Really good smoke.

Two fine gentelmen

[monkey66]

...well one at least

Stefan, Pete and KT also present.

[CanuckSARTech]

I'm obviously not as tied in as many others, yet I've been extremely lucky in recent years to be involved on some slight insider discussions. So take anything I say here with a grain of salt.

It seemed like it was something that was only really discussed upon release at the start of the year. Lots of discussion in Feb-Mar 2015 during / after Habanos Festival, but nothing discussed overtly in Nov 2014 at Encuentros Partagas festival when a lot of the same crowd was there.

Had a really good discussion with Nino and Gino about it in March, as it relates to special blank-packaged boxes in storage at a certain special "# 3" warehouse.

Frankly, it's all a giant crock o' stink, IMO. They don't taste like they should, and they're generally bland and crap.

Being that Cuba / Habanos S.A. can't keep a secret worth keeping, and this came so out of the blue, it seems like it was dreamed up in a nanosecond, and doesn't have the provenance that it purports to have. A giant bait-and-switcheroo, as far as I'm concerned, and my dollars are staying far from it.

[MrGinger]

November 2011.

This is from a 50 cab of aged Hoyo de Deiux bought in 2011.