Cohiba Medio Siglo - buy blind?

[mwaller]

Is this a cigar that you would buy blind? 

Thanks!

[jerrybrowne]

Is this a cigar that you would buy blind? 

Thanks!

I guess it depends on the vendor but kind of risky at that price point no?


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[mwaller]

I trust the vendor to sell authentic cigars, but they don't hand select.  Price is relatively attractive $377 per box.  

I guess I'm trying to gauge how consistent the quality has been leaving the factory....

[cigaraholic]

Blind drunk...

[mwaller]

2 minutes ago, cigaraholic said:

Blind drunk...

?

[oliverdst]

Yes, you have to be blind to buy them 

[Spanishcedar]

Maybe drink till your blind and then buy them?... I don't know.

I don't worry too much about buying blind but I can't feel good with making a suggestion about what you should do with your money without giving you the money... so I can't offer any suggestions .

Just trust your vendor or be patient and then be quick, really I've seen Medio Siglo sit for a while on 24:24 so you may not even need to be quick .

[jerrybrowne]

I trust the vendor to sell authentic cigars, but they don't hand select.  Price is relatively attractive $377 per box.  

I guess I'm trying to gauge how consistent the quality has been leaving the factory....

Wasn't really talking about authenticity. Yes quality varies from box to box coming from the factory, but some sellers such as gray market sellers often sell boxes that have been passed over by authorized retailers. Also bum boxes that have sat on retailers shelves that have been resold to the gray marketers.

Without Rob or yourself to visually inspect the boxes, you can get some real crap. Have been burned several times before by other retailers.



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[ElPuro]

If you trust the vendor, go for it. 

[jerrybrowne]

If you trust the vendor, go for it. 

This too....


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[Chuckmejia]

I have a box that's smoking well, go for it.

[cigaraholic]

Sorry for the joke ?....that's not a joke. But if I did get drunk enough to order these, I would not get them blind. HSA seems to think that because they've come up with a new cigar you should pay them for their great idea. I would hate to spend that much money on a box of cigars and be underwhelmed. If there's one thing HSA is consistent at these days, it's producing lots of cigars that belong in the garbage can.

[Corylax18]

I struggle to recommend buying any CC blind anymore. Cohiba may have a higher hit rate (quality wise) than other marcas, but as the blind tasting of cigar #4 recently showed us, the marca is certainly not infallible. I would lean towards patience (and maybe a few more $) to help ensure you don't get one of those crap boxes.

[NSXCIGAR]

28 minutes ago, jerrybrowne said:

Wasn't really talking about authenticity. Yes quality varies from box to box coming from the factory, but some sellers such as gray market sellers often sell boxes that have been passed over by authorized retailers. Also bum boxes that have sat on retailers shelves that have been resold to the gray marketers.

 

With all due respect, I have to disagree with this. I do not believe that gray market vendors acquire "passed over" boxes as a general rule. Sure, it might happen in some cases, but the vast majority of the hundreds of boxes I've received from gray market vendors over the last 15 years have had no quality issues and certainly could never be placed in the category of a box that would be "passed over". Sure, there are cigars that I would not buy blind, but a lack of rosado wrapper on a RyJ Churchill doesn't mean it's a crap box--just not the box I'm looking for. 

In addition, one of the most popular gray market vendors ships sealed boxes and always has, thereby eliminating the possibility that the box was inspected and "passed over". In the case of another certain popular vendor, I believe he opens and inspects his own boxes and would never ship out anything questionable and will try and honor customer requests for wrapper color, etc. 

I also don't believe that cigars make their way back to the distributors after they have been selected by the retailer and not immediately returned. IOW, a box (or boxes) would not sit on a retailer shelf collecting dust only to ultimately wind up back in the hands of the distributor, as legitimate gray market vendors only purchase wholesale directly from distributors. Also, most of the gray market vendors are dealing with mainly recent stock that clearly would not have been sitting anywhere for very long. 

[jerrybrowne]

7 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

With all due respect, I have to disagree with this. I do not believe that gray market vendors acquire "passed over" boxes as a general rule. Sure, it might happen in some cases, but the vast majority of the hundreds of boxes I've received from gray market vendors over the last 15 years have had no quality issues and certainly could never be placed in the category of a box that would be "passed over". Sure, there are cigars that I would not buy blind, but a lack of rosado wrapper on a RyJ Churchill doesn't mean it's a crap box--just not the box I'm looking for. 

In addition, one of the most popular gray market vendors ships sealed boxes and always has, thereby eliminating the possibility that the box was inspected and "passed over". In the case of another certain popular vendor, I believe he opens and inspects his own boxes and would never ship out anything questionable and will try and honor customer requests for wrapper color, etc. 

I also don't believe that cigars make their way back to the distributors after they have been selected by the retailer and not immediately returned. IOW, a box (or boxes) would not sit on a retailer shelf collecting dust only to ultimately wind up back in the hands of the distributor, as legitimate gray market vendors only purchase wholesale directly from distributors. Also, most of the gray market vendors are dealing with mainly recent stock that clearly would not have been sitting anywhere for very long. 

Well we'll have to agree to disagree here.  I'm not suggesting that ALL gray market retailers are bad.  I'm suggesting that you have to be careful and buy from ones that you trust.  There are some really great gray market guys out there, but also some really bad ones.  I stopped buying from one in particular after getting 3 boxes of moldy cigars in a row.  I'm not talking about the white stuff, but green mold.  With clear moisture damage to the outside of the box.  I've also received boxes with cigars that have wrapper damage from being handled. 

In many cases I received boxes that had stamps that were 3 years old for cigars that they just recently got in stock.  Pretty sure these were from a store, based on my conversations with the retailer.

Again, there are some really good gray market guys.  You just need to be careful that's all.....

[Winchester21]

I have been on board with this one since they came out. Not a great value but a flavor bomb Cohiba in the truest sense of the term. I have bought 4 boxes here and even the tubes on clearance. Some of the best boxes in my collection all from 24/24. Pricey but worth every cent. Would I go off the reservation and take a 377.00 risk??  

Hell no. no way never. You might get lucky with this being a new cigar and typically new stuff is usually good but not worth the risk at that number. Play it safe and spend a few extra dollars. The last box I bought here was 455.00. Well worth the price

[Smallclub]

8 hours ago, jerrybrowne said:

In many cases I received boxes that had stamps that were 3 years old for cigars that they just recently got in stock.  Pretty sure these were from a store, based on my conversations with the retailer.

Grey market vendors don't buy from stores. If they do, then they become black market vendors. Like the Facebook vendors.

[David88]

I wouldn't buy a 'luxury' or pricier box blind. I think when you are spending that much money you want the best you can get. Having said that, if you really wanted it you could buy blind and receive an absolute cracker!

[Guest RobeAndSlippers]

13 hours ago, cigaraholic said:

Blind drunk...

Generally how most of my acquisitions happen. "Oh, drunk me decided to buy himself a present! Lovely!"

[NSXCIGAR]

17 hours ago, jerrybrowne said:

Well we'll have to agree to disagree here.  I'm not suggesting that ALL gray market retailers are bad.  I'm suggesting that you have to be careful and buy from ones that you trust.  There are some really great gray market guys out there, but also some really bad ones.  I stopped buying from one in particular after getting 3 boxes of moldy cigars in a row.  I'm not talking about the white stuff, but green mold.  With clear moisture damage to the outside of the box.  I've also received boxes with cigars that have wrapper damage from being handled. 

In many cases I received boxes that had stamps that were 3 years old for cigars that they just recently got in stock.  Pretty sure these were from a store, based on my conversations with the retailer.

Again, there are some really good gray market guys.  You just need to be careful that's all.....

It did appear that you were grouping all gray market vendors together with the phrase "some sellers such as gray market sellers".

Also want to point out that all legitimate gray market vendors acquire their stock the same way. There should be no negative connotation surrounding the term "gray market" vendor in the world of Habanos. If one is receiving a poor quality product, either your vendor is illegitimate, is a black market seller or is careless with product storage and shipping. A legitimate gray market seller (trusted or not) simply does not acquire "passed over" or inferior/damaged stock as determined by the distributor as a rule, nor do they acquire their stock from any party other than official distributors. 

[Lotusguy]

It did appear that you were grouping all gray market vendors together with the phrase "some sellers such as gray market sellers".

Also want to point out that all legitimate gray market vendors acquire their stock the same way. There should be no negative connotation surrounding the term "gray market" vendor in the world of Habanos. If one is receiving a poor quality product, either your vendor is illegitimate, is a black market seller or is careless with product storage and shipping. A legitimate gray market seller (trusted or not) simply does not acquire "passed over" or inferior/damaged stock as determined by the distributor as a rule, nor do they acquire their stock from any party other than official distributors. 

What he said.

Grey market ONLY means they circumvent the territorial restrictions of the distributors, which is why some of the time the barcodes and micro print are obscured.

[BrightonCorgi]

Some of the big online vendors do so much business, there would be no reason for them to peddle bum boxes.  Certainly every master case could have some duds, but if you ask for them to be inspected and they are clearly crap; they should do something for you.  

[El Presidente]

22 hours ago, mwaller said:

Is this a cigar that you would buy blind? 

Thanks!

Not at that price and not what I have seen. 

[Webbo]

On a recent trip to Spain I checked out 3 or 4 boxes at a couple of shops, all looked as rough as arseholes and all where sealed before I asked to check them. Not a big sample size I know but it convinced me that these were not all across the board winners and blind buying would be out of the question at this price.