Añejados program

[laficion]

Hi all,

Just wondering what you think as a whole of the Añejados program ?

As for me ,I think that It has failed on the whole.

Tell us what you think.

Guy

[NSXCIGAR]

It may be a success from a sales standpoint, but the program itself is highly questionable and the cigars are still mediocre at best, and unsmokeable turds at worst.

As discussed here, I think it's safe to say that in terms of producing quality cigars that appear to be and smoke consistent with the program's stated parameters, the program is a complete failure. My view of success is a great smoking cigar, period, so it depends on your definitions.

As for the program's legitimacy, there are simply too many logical and logistical inconsistencies in the story, especially for an outfit notorious for fudging its production in various ways for me to have faith in the veracity of this program--and that's not even considering the cigars themselves are mediocre to outright crap. Add in that fact and you have a **** sandwich with a side of possible fraud.

[luv2fly]

Never had one so can't say.  What I find questionable is that some sizes do not exist in regular production as far as I know.  I could be misinformed.  Just not sure about this program so I will not participate.

[Joshtupps]

12 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

"Add in that fact and you have a **** sandwich with a side of possible fraud."

That cracked me up NSX!  I've found that some of the regular lines are more worthy of my hard earned cash.....

[JohnS]

No, one couldn't say that overall it was and is a success. Although there have been highlights, I've enjoyed the Montecristo Churchill and the Partagas Corona Gorda has had positive reviews.

[Colt45]

Guy,

I've never smoked any of them, so I can't comment on the cigars themselves. But as to the concept of the program, it's my understanding that they simply age the cigars themselves, so I suppose that guarantees storage conditions (their storage conditions). But, I've never read or seen discussed anything regarding tobacco quality, etc. That is, it doesn't seem like they've chosen the "best of the best" so to speak for the production of these cigars, so for me the concept falls a bit short and doesn't have much appeal.

[stogieluver]

Guy, where have you been?  Haven't seen you post much lately.  Maybe I just have missed it.  As to your question, no help here.  I don't spend the coin on those.  I hear enough negative comments about their consistency.

[laficion]

35 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

  That is, it doesn't seem like they've chosen the "best of the best" .

Having smoked them from the first to the latest one,it's hard to belive that these cigars were aged

 that long and that the tobacco used was the best Tobacco for this purpose.

Guy

[oliverdst]

If they are selling well I would say it's a success.

[Lotusguy]

Not selling well.

Constantly on sale at every site.

Not a success.

[westg]

Just picked up a box of partagas from Rob  and have the monte as well . So far  very nice , very enjoyable cigars .

[PapaDisco]

4 hours ago, JohnS said:

No, one couldn't say that overall it was and is a success. Although there have been highlights, I've enjoyed the Montecristo Churchill and the Partagas Corona Gorda has had positive reviews.

I've also had great, consistent luck with the Churchills and the Corona Gordas.  Especially the Churchills.  The Partagas CG's were quite good but not quite up to the Monte's level.  Still, they were both good enough that I reordered several boxes of each.

Did not try the R&J Pyramids.

[NSXCIGAR]

2 minutes ago, westg said:

Just picked up a box of partagas from Rob  and have the monte as well . So far  very nice , very enjoyable cigars .

But are they unique and offer something not found in regular production? Do you find them superior to average regular production? And if the answer is yes, are they worth the 50% price premium over regular production? I think these are important and valid questions.

There are many cigars that I would call "very nice and very enjoyable." But when I buy something like an Anejado release that comes with a hefty price tag I expect and deserve something better. I have personally found the Anejados to be no better than the worst Monte 4 I've smoked all year, and the worst were pretty darn lousy. Totally unacceptable for a premium program and premium price.

Again, if this were 2001, and the best HSA could do, that'd be one thing. But when one can simply reach for a ROTT Monte 3/4, Punch Punch or La Fuerza that all just absolutely dominate these Anejados, I get a little miffed. HSA is obviously not bringing their A game here, but they're asking for A game money and justifying it with what I believe is something of a tall tale. No sir, I do not play that game.

The worst part is that there were so many excellent cigars being produced from 07-09 that there's no excuse as to why these so-called Anejados aren't great. I've smoked quite a few 07-09 stock recently and they're still great. Just another reason to doubt the veracity of this program. If my personally aged "Anejados" are this much superior to theirs, HSA needs to contact me ASAP to get the next release right. Will work for cigars. 

[Lant63]

The partagas is one of the d/c punch... That's why everyone likes it

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[PapaDisco]

Yeah, I don't like the 50% upcharge either, but then this is still less than the HSA Aged program.  If you're lucky enough to have a well stocked cellar with 10 year old boxes then you can skip the Anejados program or just sample it for novelties sake.  I buy them for both the novel formats and particularly for the aged tobacco.  These sticks never show a youthful bite anywhere, least of all in the last third.  At least in the ones I've tried.

[RijkdeGooier]

I have tried samples of each release and they were underwhelming to me. 

I compare them to my own aged stock and those invariably have more taste. 

[westg]

2 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

But are they unique and offer something not found in regular production? Do you find them superior to average regular production? And if the answer is yes, are they worth the 50% price premium over regular production? I think these are important and valid questions.

There are many cigars that I would call "very nice and very enjoyable." But when I buy something like an Anejado release that comes with a hefty price tag I expect and deserve something better. I have personally found the Anejados to be no better than the worst Monte 4 I've smoked all year, and the worst were pretty darn lousy. Totally unacceptable for a premium program and premium price.

Again, if this were 2001, and the best HSA could do, that'd be one thing. But when one can simply reach for a ROTT Monte 3/4, Punch Punch or La Fuerza that all just absolutely dominate these Anejados, I get a little miffed. HSA is obviously not bringing their A game here, but they're asking for A game money and justifying it with what I believe is something of a tall tale. No sir, I do not play that game.

The worst part is that there were so many excellent cigars being produced from 07-09 that there's no excuse as to why these so-called Anejados aren't great. I've smoked quite a few 07-09 stock recently and they're still great. Just another reason to doubt the veracity of this program. If my personally aged "Anejados" are this much superior to theirs, HSA needs to contact me ASAP to get the next release right. Will work for cigars. 

 

We are slaughtered like Pigs by the aus government when purchasing cigars

 I picked up the Partagas from Rob at $27 a stick, PSP stock $680 ...which is less than a third of what you will pay for them elsewhere here in Aus, FACT  . Pretty simple really ..I saw him stare at that stick in the video review and the way he described it I ordered a box . I am not going to compare them to regular production cigars . Everything else is a load of BS from my standpoint ..I don't think their are any scams, games or misleading information from HSA ...Rob tells me this is a good box of cigars ..I buy them ..sit back smoke them with a glass of red or scotch and nothing else maters ...

A box of Monte 4 from a retaler one hr from me is $943.75 Aus  so I guess I am deliriously happy ..

[Smallclub]

Almost everyone with a bit of experience know or at least has the feel that there's something wrong with these cigars. Only the Montecristo gets a few positive reviews, but honestly, a Montecristo of that size, that age, that price should be a bit more than just "a good cigar".

[Hoepssa]

Mediocre.

Anejados series tells us many things:

1. Age cigars yourself is fun and needed.

2. Average woman still have photoshop, but cigars don't.

3. Garage sale items can tag with luxury price after using fine advertising language.

 

 

 

 

[Fugu]

9 hours ago, Lotusguy said:

Not selling well.

Constantly on sale at every site.

Not a success.

Well, you know, it has just been a huge production...

 

6 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

The worst part is that there were so many excellent cigars being produced from 07-09 that there's no excuse as to why these so-called Anejados aren't great.

And at the same time - you have to ask - why did they discontinue so many excellent vitolas while simultaneously "inventing" this highly questionable program?

[Fugu]

It appears similar to the approach some Chtx. in Bordeaux follow. Many keep a significant bit of each vintage in their own cellars instead of releasing everything to market at once. Ok, that's not specifically new. But e.g. Latour even took it further and withdrew from the primeur system recently. They aren't selling en primeur anymore since a couple of years. After all the hype, they figured they wanted to keep that revenue for themselves instead of leaving it to the speculators. It seems HSA wanted to mimic the same idea, but forgot that you'd need a known, first-class and highly sought after product of established reputation for that to work out successfully. Bringing a new product to market as "anejado" is just bollocks (well VW might try similar to get rid of all its brand new diesels as classic cars in 20 years from now.....)

And then coming up every once in a while with "new" non-marca vitolas nobody had ever heard of before is just fishy. If that story were true, they had announced the program right from the get go (i.e. at the very latest on production) in order to fuel the hype.

To the cigars themselves, I can't comment - for a reason: I have got a few that I got as freebies quite a while back. I think the Montecristo, the RyJ. I haven't smoked one yet. Why not? I never even felt the urge to do so far, as I know I would never go and buy these anyway. So, no immediate need to try them. Prefer doing the aging of select boxes of reg. production myself (and under known conditions) and not leaving that to HSA at inflated prices.

[alpyigit]

Being an impulsive person, I could not help but fire the most disliked of the programme, HDM.. I still smoke as I type!

For the records, I picked this box from the Prez through a 24:24 at an excellent price point of 10 bucks per stick..

My take: the general consensus view is somewhat valid, nothing too special.. Muted, mild flavor etc.. Smoked more exciting cigars.. BUT it has super construction, uniform burn from beginning to end, no youth bitterness. I would not smoke with a strong tasting single malt etc, but goes well with green tea and water..

Conclusion: Bring on more at the same price point, I will buy again. At 15 a stick, I will venture away.. Same goes for the LEs, REs.. With a small premium, I am a happy camper for the non regular stuff. I like diversity..

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[planetary]

The subject of the most recent episode of What Embargo:  

 

 

[eswary]

Sorry to deviate off any of the questions, but I can only share my feeling for the Anejados line.

I'll be honest, when trying new material I typically gamble on the ones that have a lot more positive credentials. There has been enough negative reviews and experiences since there initial releases that I haven't touched them or spent any large amount of time researching them.

This thread and the premium price point have only made a stronger case for not investing in them.

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[maxcjs0101]

To me, the LE's make more sense than the Anejados program. Personally i would not spend my hard earned coin on one unless its priced a little more decent (20-30% from current prices).