Havana Report - Feb 1st-5th

[treberty]

Hello,

I just got back last night.  The weather was great (not too sunny, a nice 23-26C everyday).

Here is a brief report of what we saw in the LCDH around the city: 

1) Winnines were rather easy to find (!).  There was not piles and piles of boxes, but you could find some here and there.

2) Many boxes of Connie As and Mag 50 and the Robustos (Anejados), Partagas Anejados, Ramon Superiores & Gigantes, ERDM Choix Sup, SLR Regios.

3) Lots and lots of "mainstream" stuff: RyJ, Montecristo, Cohiba Sigs (we saw one box of VI), regular Partagas, etc.   Soooo no EL, or something out of the ordinary (except a handful of boxes of QdO 50 at Parque Central that the lady would not let me open... I didn't get them and regretted it a little).

4)  Otherwise, I have never seen so many cheapies in LCDH than on this trip: it was short filler galore! J Piedra, Por Laranaga, RG, Quintero and even some Troyas were everywhere.

So we focused on customs and got some Monsdales (that cost 6CUC per stick since Feb 1st... the day of our arrival/visit at Club Habana), Yolanda's Laguito 1, Alex's petit coronas and Reynaldo's robustos... Got a nice box of 2014 Connie A as well.

We watched the SP at the Nacional, which was great... except that a guy who had consumed about 2 bottles of vodka almost started a brawl.  What would a SP be without an obnoxious drunk?  Great game!

Turned out to be a really nice trip!

 

 

[Ethernut]

Thanks for the report!

[alloy]

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing. 

[ComancheKeen]

Thanks for the update.

Any sign of Trinidad La Trova down there?

[treberty]

35 minutes ago, ComancheKeen said:

Thanks for the update.

Any sign of Trinidad La Trova down there?

Hi; none. I only saw a lot of Reyes and the seldom boxes of Fundadores.  I really saw nothing out of the ordinary or exceptional (aside from the QdO 50 or the Anejado cigars, which I refuse to buy out of principle).

[GotaCohiba]

Sounds very similar to what we experienced in Mid January 

I was told they were holding stock to put out for the festival 

[El Presidente]

Thanks for the report 

Cruise ships are becoming the backbone of the Havana divans, hence the proliferation of cheapies on display front and centre. 

[Doctorossi]

Any chance you had an eye out for any LGC MdO2's?

[oliverdst]

Oh boy

Hard time for my mule in Havana. 

Even harder for me when she returns. 

[Ole]

17 hours ago, treberty said:

4)  Otherwise, I have never seen so many cheapies in LCDH than on this trip: it was short filler galore! J Piedra, Por Laranaga, RG, Quintero and even some Troyas were everywhere.

Which means they can get away with younger tobacco.

Is Rafael Gonzales a cheap brand no? Destroying the most complex brand ever; taking the great Lonsdale (pre 1997) out of the market..

Box code 2019 will be good.

[treberty]

2 hours ago, Ole said:

Which means they can get away with younger tobacco.

Is Rafael Gonzales a cheap brand no? Destroying the most complex brand ever; taking the great Lonsdale (pre 1997) out of the market..

Box code 2019 will be good.

Hi,

I was referring to the RG Panatelas Extras, which is short filler (I'm a huge fan of the RGPC and RGP).  As a matter of fact, there was a cruise ship docked on Sunday.

[NSXCIGAR]

On 2/6/2018 at 3:10 PM, Doctorossi said:

Any chance you had an eye out for any LGC MdO2's?

I asked around about these everywhere when I was there in Nov an no had seen any in years. All the 14s have surely been snagged by now and it's certain none have been produced since then.

We can only hope the excellent 17 crop and what is shaping up to be an excellent 18 crop will deliver all of our missing favorites back to us. With back-to-back great crops there's no excuse for not making everything they need to make and with high quality. 2019-2021 could be a golden period for CCs.

[havanaclub]

Any Espy?


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[treberty]

3 minutes ago, havanaclub said:

Any Espy?


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Didn't see any on the shelves.  Only saw Winnies, some Punch DC (including a cab of 50), RA Gigantes, HdM DC.

No MdO 2s either...  

Alexi from the casa de las Artesanias LCDH (where I usually find real gems) said that he was hoping to get a decent shipment on Tuesday (the 6th).  Again, the stores were well stocked, but with regular stuff and lots of short fillers (the cruise ship theory does make sense).