HU Sir Winston: PTR NOV 16

[MooseAMuffin]

5 hours ago, zeedubbya said:

Haven't received yet, but here's a pic the friend of mine who picked them up for me took.  Same code PTR NOV16.

 

 

You are the Sir Winnie master. You always have good ones. Great pic!

[zeedubbya]

42 minutes ago, MooseAMuffin said:

You are the Sir Winnie master. You always have good ones. Great pic!

It's my favorite cigar of all time Moose, but I am far far from a master.  I am just a dabbling rookie.  H Upmann is a new Marca to me--for some reason I didn't get into Upmann until recently.  It's been a revelation however.  If funds were a non-issue I would buy as many boxes from as many years as I could find before any other cigar.  Before Cohiba, before Partagas, before all the best and well revered REs and LEs.  

[Smallclub]

6 hours ago, JohnS said:

Hey, who knows, they're probably the Gran Reserva leftovers,

Very unlikely IMO. Why would they put a terrible wrapper on a cigar made of specially selected and aged tobacco?

More probaly, one or two distributors insisted to get some, so they rolled them with whatever wrappers they had at hand… (This eventuality is not speculation on my part, a swiss merchant told me how it happened before).

[subport]

8 hours ago, stinkhead said:

Think there is a stamp on both. I know my actual box is stamped

Correct. Stamp on both.

[JohnS]

8 hours ago, Smallclub said:

Very unlikely IMO. Why would they put a terrible wrapper on a cigar made of specially selected and aged tobacco?

More probaly, one or two distributors insisted to get some, so they rolled them with whatever wrappers they had at hand… (This eventuality is not speculation on my part, a swiss merchant told me how it happened before).

I'd be prepared for anything when it comes to Habanos S.A, but yes, this theory is more plausible than mine, Frank. Yet, if so, it leaves me a little deflated as I do hope there is more H.Upmann Sir Winston to be produced this year, and not just for one or two distributors. Well, let's see how it (all) pans out. 

[TheMonk]

Very odd looking wrappers, IMO. The last two boxes I've got are also from 2016 production, picked up in Cuba, and even though one of the boxes has darker wrappers then the other, they both look very good.

Box 1:

 

Box 2:

[Kbb]

2 hours ago, TheMonk said:

Very odd looking wrappers, IMO. The last two boxes I've got are also from 2016 production, picked up in Cuba, and even though one of the boxes has darker wrappers then the other, they both look very good.

Box 1:

 

Box 2:

Could you share the box code and where in Cuba you found them?

[TheMonk]

2 hours ago, Kbb said:

Could you share the box code and where in Cuba you found them?

They were brought back for me. Boxcode on both is ROM JAN 16.

[planetary]

You guys are brave, and I wish you luck!  @zeedubbya, I hope your cigars are as good as the shade of the wrappers imply!  Personally, I'd want someone I trust to inspect these cigars and judge them to pass muster before I spent the coin on them.  The more time I spend with cigars, the more I agree with what some others have said in the past: wrapper appearance is one thing, but aroma might give you more information about the quality of the total cigar.  

...We need Smell-O-Vision!  Dang it, it's 2017, for pete's sake.  We were promised flying cars!

[JohnS]

12 hours ago, planetary said:

 @zeedubbya The more time I spend with cigars, the more I agree with what some others have said in the past: wrapper appearance is one thing, but aroma might give you more information about the quality of the total cigar.  

...We need Smell-O-Vision!  Dang it, it's 2017, for pete's sake.  We were promised flying cars!

This is so true. I was thinking of this very same subject this week. How often have I blamed an average cigar on my humidor? We excuse them, often saying to ourselves, "they need some more time to settle", even when 5 from the same box are exactly the same! I've had a great week so far, enacting my 'Smell-O-Vision' skills prior to selecting my cigars to smoke this week. No, that quality barnyard aroma I've sought out hasn't let me down this week!

[zeedubbya]

Ok so I received these today as my friend just got back.  They're gorgeous.  But check out the bottom row.  Interesting  color scheme...I was shocked to see the bottom row so dark on one side but light on other.  Very surprised.  They also have an interesting smell.  Remind me of what Bushidos smelled like fresh.  More rich tobacco than barnyard or musky.  Smoke will be the only true test.  Probably won't smoke any for at least a year.  But...it's great to see some Winnie's back again for sure! 

 

[FireDigger]

On 3/23/2017 at 4:38 PM, chris12381 said:

Never have had a box but I thought the Sir Winstons came in an outer cardboard box?  I ask because if it does, I'm surprised to see the actual wooden box with a factory date stamp and not on the outer cardboard box. 

Now that we agree Sir Winstons come with the outer cardboard box, I have another related question. When did HSA start to stamp both the cardboard AND the cedar box? I ask because I have an 2008 box where only the cardboard was stamped, but I saw pics of 2012 boxes today where the stamp was on the cedar box. I'm guessing somewhere in between, but could anyone nail it down further?

[FireDigger]

On 1/18/2021 at 11:35 AM, FireDigger said:

Now that we agree Sir Winstons come with the outer cardboard box, I have another related question. When did HSA start to stamp both the cardboard AND the cedar box? I ask because I have an 2008 box where only the cardboard was stamped, but I saw pics of 2012 boxes today where the stamp was on the cedar box. I'm guessing somewhere in between, but could anyone nail it down further?

After looking at some BR data, it looks like there were many 2008 and 2010 Sir Winstons, but none with a 2009 date code. We all know Sir Winstons tend to disappear from production for periods at a time (such as now), so perhaps that was a dry period. Of the 2010 box codes, I've seen some where the code was printed on the cardboard and some on the wooden box, so perhaps that's my answer: the stamp transitioned from cardboard box to wooden box sometime in 2010?