What's Hot, What's Not : "Tales from the Warehouse" JULY 18

[El Presidente]

 

 

What’s hot What’s not. Tales from the Warehouse JULY 2018

 

 

Not too much change this month. No matter which distributor/retailer you talked to this month, stock levels supplied by HSA were poor. If they haven’ reached the bottom of the barrel, they can certainly see it.  We all know that leaf (wrapper) reinforcements are due in the next few months and the last shipment late July showed some promising signs in terms of variety and quantity. Let’s face it,  It is never a sign of confidence when HSA can’t supply Monte 2 to its distributors…..but we are back on track as of next week.

 Let’s have a look at the tale of the tape.

 

 

What’s Hot

 

1. Montecristo Number 4.  They were as good as you will ever find and in good quantity. They smoked like a chocolate bar. ABO MAR 18
2. Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure 2.  Back to back top 10 goes well for the old girl.  LGR ABR JUN  18
3. Romeo y Julieta Churchill (25) . Back in the top 10 after a brief period out. Consistent SOB and these were truly special. MSA MAR 18
4. Ramon Allones Specially Select: Of all the mainstream Robusto, these have been the most consistent by far (either 25 or 50 cab).  MSU ABR 18
5. Partagas Presidente  Stunning. I wanted to hug them. Consistency was excellent.  GOS SEP17  
6. Montecristo Petit Edmundo. Ay caramba!!!! MUL JUN 17
7. H. Upmann Connoisseur Number One. Rosado Connie’s are one of the rarest delights of all. Just this code. BRE  AGO  17
8. Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill. Too early to call that it is back….but this months were beyond stunning. SMA ABR 18
9. Saint Luis Rey Regio .batting way above their price range…again. LAT OCT 17
10. Partagas P2.  It’s back again. Sensational quality. Pick of the Piramides for another month. MSU DIC 17 and MSU ABR 18
11. 

 

What’s Not

 

1. Sancho Panza Non Plus. Due to popular request, will put them up as seconds on Monday. Some ugly mudder duckers indeed. BOR APR MAY 15
2. Partagas Serie E 2 (25’s) This batch (excluding a few) were just not up-to their recent standard. LAT MAR 18
3. Vegas Robaina Unicos . Still a trainwreck. Some survived, the rest need to be put down (permanently). BRE SEP 17
4. Trinidad Reyes (24). You could only assume the quality control manager at FD factory is on the take. SLE OCT 17.
5. Upmann Half corona. Rare to see these on the naughty list. Just a bad batch. You swear they used binder as wrapper. EPM AGO 17
6. Diplomatico Number 2. I expect better from la Corona LGR ABR 18
7. H. Upmann Connaisseur A: Again, I expect a little better than what I saw this month. Don’t let the standard drop.  REG ABR 18
8. Bolivar Petit Corona: The Upmann Petit Corona was culled. If all BPC were like this, they would be next. ETP JUN 16
9. Montecristo Double Edmundo. Marketing 101. Premium Price demands a Premium product or the market will drop it like a hot potato. This Monte should be a case study. ASU SEP 17
10. Cohiba Maduro 5 (any). They are in struggle town during July. Some are managing to get out but the rest are just a wallet trap. Again, La Corona appears to be the biggest infringer LGR (17)

[rguinn]

Wow, those Diplomatico 2’s look like death! Prez, any quality Fonseca No 1’s on tap anytime soon? The ones coming through the pipeline last year were fantastic and I’m down to my last 5 or so. 

[Kitchen]

So the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill, does that include the 10 count boxes too? 

[El Presidente]

6 minutes ago, Kitchen said:

So the Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill, does that include the 10 count boxes too? 

No. Apologies, I should have clarified. Last month the 25's received were far superior to the 10's. 

[El Presidente]

Forgive me db but this thread is about observations and not absolutes. 

 It is almost impossible to comment on your cab except to say GOS cabs were excellent in the main.  As for smoking, I love young RASS, and encourage you to try one or two as long as they have rested 90 days. The sampling gives you a "reference point" to compare with in the future.

[Guantanamera]

Love those 2018 Monte #4’s! So oily that they stick together coming out of the box....or maybe that’s glue. I don’t think so. Anyway, can’t keep my hand off them, although I know I should. Sitting here smoking one as I write this note. Awesome sticks!

[Danimalia]

Awesome to see such a nice run of some classic cigars on that hot list. I have a box of the Epicure No. 2 coming, and i'm looking forward to getting into them. May need to do the same with the Monte 4 as they're missing from my humidor currently.

Such a shame about the Double Edmundo. It's a bit perplexing, since it seems they'd do well to just make a bigger version of the Petit Edmundo. Is it primarily a wrapper issue that holds them back, or is it blend/construction/combination of things?

[El Presidente]

14 minutes ago, Danimalia said:

Is it primarily a wrapper issue that holds them back, or is it blend/construction/combination of things?

I doubt it. The Lusis in 2018 have been spectacular. 

[awkwardPause]

Evidenced by Sancho’s expression, seems he’s hit the bottle pretty hard again. Can’t blame the man having his face pressed up against these dog rockets.

[awkwardPause]

That said, I’m probably going to buy them for yard gars, as they’re called. No man left behind.

[travistbn]

RMU April 17 Vegueros tapados are excellent thank you. 

[cohibasurfer]

So what I'm interested in is where do you find the 2nds for purchase like the SP non P you referred to? I know it seems dumb to want to buy cigars that you have deemed inferior, but I'm curious.

[Doctorossi]

That is some *ahem* bold wrapper variance on those Sancho Panza.