Moby Dicks - your “whale” tales

[ayepatz]

We all have them. Cigars that we pursue relentlessly, for the most part, in vain. Our Moby Dicks. Our Great White Whales.

But, every so often, the tide turns, the wind veers, and we find ourselves face to face with the subjects of our obsession.

To catch and finally land your whale is, I would suggest, one of the most gratifying moments in a cigar smoker’s life.

My first, a few years ago, was a cab of SLRDC, harpooned for me by @El Presidente, and today, having gone on a fishing expedition in Leipzig, Germany, I managed to snag my second “whale” - a box of Trinidad Ingenios.

Lonsdales are a dying breed, which we often mourn here on FOH, so to find a box of ELs, and land it at a reasonable price was particularly satisfying.

I’d love to hear other people’s whale tales. What have you hunted down? What were your amazing finds, your great bargains, your overwhelming obsessions? And how good was that first one out of the box? Was it worth it?

Trinidad Ingenios, Edición Limitada 2007,OUR DIC 07

[bierz]

I'm new enough to this that I don't have any white whales, as I'm still sampling the readily available options.  In your experiences, is the hunt more satisfying than the kill, or have these whales been head and shoulders above their more accessible selections?

 

[PigFish]

Mate.... I don't want to drag down your thread, but I find this topic saddening. Not that you found a cigar that you really want for whatever the reason, but that there is this 'need to hunt' mentality at all.

I understand it from a collectors mindset, but I see a guy like you not much different from me. Yes, perhaps you like the thrill of finding a particular cigar, which I would too if I found a cab of RA Coronas or even a new box of Partagas Petit Coronas. I understand and celebrate your thrill.

What is sad about it is, that appears to me to be what the life of a cigar connoisseur has come down to. The fact that one really needs to think this way, to scour the earth to find a great Lonsdale.

The day is lost when I could contact a vendor and ask the code of a couple boxes of 898UV. Or send Rob and email and ask him if he has Partagas Lonsdale and he would say yes... and I have some great... whatever they might be. Maybe, hey Ray, I have some beautiful Grandes de Espana.

Yep, I am crying over spilt milk again. I am happy for you. It just sucks that you have to travel around the globe to find a cigar you perceive as such a valuable find.

I used to tell neophytes don't sweat the aged stuff. You will have your own to age yourself, great cigars are rolled everyday. I am far lesser likely to say that as days go on and Tabacuba destroys the traditional catalog of once made fine cigars.

I truly don't have a 'white whale' cigar. I have great cigars. I have had great cigars that I have no more. My white whale is for Tabacuba to be run by those that can balance the lives of a hight profitable cigar line that satisfies white whale hunters, and people who just enjoy a great colorado claro Coronas that tastes like they did 20 years ago. I have nothing against while whales, but man I am happy with a tin of sardines as long as they a great sardines!

Cheers! -Piggy

[BrightonCorgi]

R&J Belicosos have been on my list for a while and was fortunate to secure a nice box on this site.  I'd like get some Monte A coffin's, but never have any luck finding good ones.  Same with Fundadores; would like to score a good box some day

[ayepatz]

1 hour ago, PigFish said:

Mate.... I don't want to drag down your thread, but I find this topic saddening. Not that you found a cigar that you really want for whatever the reason, but that there is this 'need to hunt' mentality at all.

I understand it from a collectors mindset, but I see a guy like you not much different from me. Yes, perhaps you like the thrill of finding a particular cigar, which I would too if I found a cab of RA Coronas or even a new box of Partagas Petit Coronas. I understand and celebrate your thrill.

What is sad about it is, that appears to me to be what the life of a cigar connoisseur has come down to. The fact that one really needs to think this way, to scour the earth to find a great Lonsdale.

The day is lost when I could contact a vendor and ask the code of a couple boxes of 898UV. Or send Rob and email and ask him if he has Partagas Lonsdale and he would say yes... and I have some great... whatever they might be. Maybe, hey Ray, I have some beautiful Grandes de Espana.

Yep, I am crying over spilt milk again. I am happy for you. It just sucks that you have to travel around the globe to find a cigar you perceive as such a valuable find.

I used to tell neophytes don't sweat the aged stuff. You will have your own to age yourself, great cigars are rolled everyday. I am far lesser likely to say that as days go on and Tabacuba destroys the traditional catalog of once made fine cigars.

I truly don't have a 'white whale' cigar. I have great cigars. I have had great cigars that I have no more. My white whale is for Tabacuba to be run by those that can balance the lives of a hight profitable cigar line that satisfies white whale hunters, and people who just enjoy a great colorado claro Coronas that tastes like they did 20 years ago. I have nothing against while whales, but man I am happy with a tin of sardines as long as they a great sardines!

Cheers! -Piggy

Thanks Ray, I hear you, and agree with you, mate. It is indeed sad that we simply cannot put in a phone call or email to secure the cigars we enjoy.

My job takes me from place to place, and one of the ways I stave off the boredom of being on the road (currently 5 months and counting) is to seek out small, independent merchants, and see what they have to offer. So hunting (or perhaps fishing might be a better metaphor) has become a means of passing time on the road.

I’m not a huge smoker, but neither am I a collector or a flipper. I seek out things I like in order to smoke them, and, occasionally, share with friends. If they’ve been good. ?

Also, I’ve really only been into cigars for about a decade, so most of my stock, naturally, has come from that period. The “whales” I speak of are, generally older cigars which I have either sampled through the generosity of fellow cigar enthusiasts, or the odd single I have stumbled upon along the way, and thought, “Ooh, I’d love a box of that!”

Unfortunately my tastes seem to run to that which is no longer readily available, although that is generally to do with vitola, rather than marca.

Hence, the hunt (or fish, or pointless waste of time, whatever you want want to call it!)

I reckon I can’t be the only one who has chased down boxes of discontinued stock from the years before they started smoking, and I’d love to hear other peoples’ tales.

I’d be willing to bet you have a box or two that didn’t exactly land in your lap, mate!?

All the best,

Iain

 

[ayepatz]

2 hours ago, bierz said:

I'm new enough to this that I don't have any white whales, as I'm still sampling the readily available options.  In your experiences, is the hunt more satisfying than the kill, or have these whales been head and shoulders above their more accessible selections?

 

Good question. With the SLRDCs, they surpassed my expectations. I haven’t tried the Trinis yet.

I’d like to know other people’s experience, too.

[topdiesel]

I get that happy/excited feeling every time I purchase a box.  I wouldn't purchase a box that I wasn't excited about.  But that isn't what you are talking about.  I think I have more of the regrets than the white whale acquisitions.  Regrets:

• Cab of Eslavo all to myself
• Bolivar Super Coronas
• Edmundo Dantes El Conde 109
• LGC MdO No. 1
• More BGM
• Bolivar 108
• Bolivar Especiales No.2

I will post some pics of a couple I was able to land (price be damned) when I have the time in a week or two.

[cigcars]

 *MY White Whale for the longest was the Ramon Allones Phoencian Anniversario for the longest. Guy "La' ficion" blessed me with one some years back, and I was "satisfied" - aaahhh!   The White Whale(s) I am after now is the Edmundo Dantes 109 RE (Mexico) that I have been diligently searching but cannot acquire  ANYWHERE. Also the El Rey Del Mundo Baltic RE, and any Por Larranaga lonsdale  size that is unfortunately discontinued, or a RE of that size. I've had Por Larranagas that were Regional mammoth size (out of the UK), but it was like smoking empty air, and smoked very underfilled. 

[JohnInCleveland]

For a long time, it was Sir Winston.  Finally tracked them down with a box code I loved and I kept buying and buying.  I know a lot of times the search is more fun than the actual joy from smoking them.  

 

Those times aren't sir Winston.  

[luvdunhill]

I would like to find a 50 cabinet of Juan Lopez No. 1.

CCW says they exist, just haven’t seen one yet.

[JohnS]

4 hours ago, luvdunhill said:

I would like to find a 50 cabinet of Juan Lopez No. 1.

CCW says they exist, just haven’t seen one yet.

When Trevor was researching information for the site around 10 years ago, he was able to locate fixed and approximate dates for changes in packaging most of the time. These have been coded in grey on the site with the date in parenthesis. In the case of the Juan Lopez Seleccion No.1, the discontinuation of the 50-count packaging is undetermined, as it is also for the H.Upmann Petit Corona and Romeo y Julieta Petit Corona. 

Therefore, the Juan Lopez Seleccion No.1 did come in 50 cabs at one stage, but the listing in grey on Cuban Cigar Website suggests this is no longer the case.

Furthermore, there are only seven vitolas that come in 50 cabs currently, and if the Saint Luis Rey Double Corona is in fact in hiatus, then this would make eight.

[luvdunhill]

I think I am missing 8, if we start counting somewhere in the middle of 2000. Of these, the only one I have never seen is the JL1, so it might be a fair amount rarer. Anyways, if it pops up great - i don’t have access to auctions and secret trading groups, or anything like that - not too worried about this white whale

[MrGlass]

For me it's the Hoyo de Monterrey Particulares.  When I first started smoking cigars, my family got me one of these as a single.  I have always wanted to get my hands on another, but the 2002 release was never especially popular, and from what I've read, were plagued with construction issues.  Earlier in the year, a box of these came up in a locker sale, but they were gone by the time I saw them.  Shortly afterwards, I was travelling through Lebanon and I found around five boxes of them hidden in the LCDH at the Beirut airport.  But they were obscenely priced (something like $100 more than the locker box had gone that included the Australian taxes) and between the price and potential construction problems, I just couldn't bring myself to get them.  I saw my whale and walked away.

[godpheonix]

All pretty much long gone, so i'm not really hunting for them but if they happen to fall in my lap....i'll grab them!!!

ED conde 109

Bolivar Especiales No.2

PL Magnificos

Bolivar 5th avenue 109

 

[Chompers79]

SLR DCs.

[BrightonCorgi]

21 minutes ago, Chompers79 said:

SLR DCs.

I've wanted a cab of those for the longest time, but was gun shy on purchasing unless I could see them in person or know I was getting a good one.  I've had a few sticks over the years and they varied widely in construction.

[canadianbeaver]

Even if you or an FOH never get to have the white whale, or perhaps you find one or two and then have an hour or two in heaven, this thread is wonderful. Thank you @ayepatz

For my 50th birthday, a BOTL sent be an Cuban Davidoff and it was so dreamy! I have the box, stub, liner, all that stuff on display with my collectibles lol.

We once had a book of the Upmann Collecion cigars 2007, worth 000's. No way I was touching them. I am fancy, but not THAT fancy!

I think my White Whale is going to Australia some day and herfin' with these dudes.

CB

[ayepatz]

1 hour ago, canadianbeaver said:

Even if you or an FOH never get to have the white whale, or perhaps you find one or two and then have an hour or two in heaven, this thread is wonderful. Thank you @ayepatz

For my 50th birthday, a BOTL sent be an Cuban Davidoff and it was so dreamy! I have the box, stub, liner, all that stuff on display with my collectibles lol.

We once had a book of the Upmann Collecion cigars 2007, worth 000's. No way I was touching them. I am fancy, but not THAT fancy!

I think my White Whale is going to Australia some day and herfin' with these dudes.

CB

Thanks, @canadianbeaver!

I wouldn’t have dared smoke those Uppys either! Lol

[dicko]

I bought a 3 pack of Ramon Allones 898 a few years ago.

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

[GasGuy82]

On 4/7/2018 at 6:27 PM, luvdunhill said:

I would like to find a 50 cabinet of Juan Lopez No. 1.

CCW says they exist, just haven’t seen one yet.

I picked up one in the US box pass, it was from an ‘06 50 cab I believe and was unbranded.

[MooseAMuffin]

My first whale find was a pretty simple one. After reading up on them, I was really looking for a Bushido. Luckily I picked one up in the Christmas sampler from 2016.

New whale, more like a rainbow colored unicorn whale, would be a Tang Monarch(because I can dream cant I?). 

Realistic whale, semi realistic, Sir Winston gran reserva...one second, gotta go catch my wallet 

[Bill Hayes]

Partagas D1

Cohiba DC

I remember smoking a D1 when they came out and thought these are going to be very good with some age to balance out the flavours. I have two singles of Cohiba DC. Would be well out of my price range now.