Rumours from Havana : Behike 58 blend

[El Presidente]

Cohiba Behike 58 blend testing is ongoing with the final blends being "tweaked" in order to get an outcome where the tasters are happy. It has eluded them so far. 

I understand another tasting is at the end of this week and the end of the month is when it all needs to be completed by. 

[SmokyFontaine]

I think this is all building up to marketing play. Cubans love cigars and baseball. Eventually we're going to get a Behike 90, which is just a baseball bat made out of tobacco, and it will sell for $5k each. I wish I could get on board with this larger ring gauge thing, but for me anything over a 52 just seems like overkill. 

[TBird55]

2 minutes ago, SmokyFontaine said:

I think this is all building up to marketing play. Cubans love cigars and baseball. Eventually we're going to get a Behike 90, which is just a baseball bat made out of tobacco, and it will sell for $5k each. I wish I could get on board with this larger ring gauge thing, but for me anything over a 52 just seems like overkill. 

It won't be too long before a 50 is considered skinny, the way things are going. I wonder if the pendulum will ever swing back. 

[LLC]

Maybe they should be spending some time and energy making the sizes already in the lineup but not readily available.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dshot]

Where will they source all that Medio tiempo leaf if they have a problem with the 3 sizes they currently have in production. Sounds like a train crash waiting to happen.

[SenorPerfecto]

They want it to be so big that the counterfeiters are forced to order longer bands ?

[Astar20]

That 58 RG ???

[fabes]

Are they having trouble getting the blend correct because of all that volado?

[NSXCIGAR]

If this is also longer than the 56 it will be comical to see someone smoke it. I think we're finally getting to novelty giant cigar territory.

[Puros Y Vino]

I hope all the larger RG releases get at least two bands. That way I can chase the regular production stuff with less competition. ?. 

[Homer]

And the bands (hopefully double) are shiny. 

 

[Cigar Surgeon]

Make Coronas great again.

[Doctorossi]

59 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Make Coronas great again.

I'd settle for making them at all again.

[havanaclub]

Certainly don’t understand this at all. Stuff like this ticks me off about HSA. They can’t even produce 52, 54, 56s in the past 2-3 years but they can pump out 58s?!?
Makes me believe they have been holding the medio leaf only to make a larger and way more expensive behike. The instagram crowd will be all over these. All about the dollar bills.
Give me a 52, or better yet, a 46 behike.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[brainninja]

I'm with havanaclub! I'd buy a 46!

 

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[mk05]

Maybe, just maybe, the plan for the 58 had been in the works for so long as to save the medio tiempo for its production. Maybe, just maybe, Habanos had been saving the medio tiempo for a special Festival Humidor and accompanying numbered production of 50 to 450 humidors containing the Behike 52-58 range...you know, for the upcoming 10th Anniversary of the Behike. 

In other note, the tasting forum was simply to figure out the fortaleza people preferred while smoking such a long stick.

[HumidorJuan]

So a guy on Instagram from Mexico City was saying they’ve figured out the blend. ALLEGEDLY these are two of the 58s blends. The one on the right is a double ligero blend , and the one on the left is a single ligero. The blend they’re going with is the single ligero.  @El Presidente is this guy just blowing smoke? 

[Lotusguy]

Where will they source all that Medio tiempo leaf if they have a problem with the 3 sizes they currently have in production. Sounds like a train crash waiting to happen.

Who says there will be any medio tiempo in it at all? It’s not like anyone can prove it anyway.

[El Presidente]

3 hours ago, HumidorJuan said:

So a guy on Instagram from Mexico City was saying they’ve figured out the blend. ALLEGEDLY these are two of the 58s blends. The one on the right is a double ligero blend , and the one on the left is a single ligero. The blend they’re going with is the single ligero.  @El Presidente is this guy just blowing smoke? 

 

I am not sure why they would have used different wrappers.

There are so many alleged insiders and each with a different tale 

I think they all believe that  they know what is going on. 

 

[Cigar Surgeon]

11 hours ago, Lotusguy said:

Who says there will be any medio tiempo in it at all? It’s not like anyone can prove it anyway.

Someone who has expertise in tobacco could. Texture and aroma would be a dead giveaway.

[Lotusguy]

15 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Someone who has expertise in tobacco could. Texture and aroma would be a dead giveaway.

That wouldn't be "proof", as taste is subjective and 98% of smokers (me included) can't even reliably identify the correct marca in a blind tastings.

Nobody even talked about medio tiempo before the BHK came out and it was touted it as differentiating feature. It was just mixed in with the ligero - you're really saying a significant amount of people could differentiate by taste if a cigar had it or not? I used to be in marketing and that would be exactly the kind of BS I would come up with to justify a higher price.

[Corylax18]

8 minutes ago, Lotusguy said:

That wouldn't be "proof", as taste is subjective and 98% of smokers (me included) can't even reliably identify the correct marca in a blind tastings.

Nobody even talked about medio tiempo before the BHK came out and it was touted it as differentiating feature. It was just mixed in with the ligero - you're really saying a significant amount of people could differentiate by taste if a cigar had it or not? I used to be in marketing and that would be exactly the kind of BS I would come up with to justify a higher price.

Agreed 100%. I've had several rollers tell me doubling up on regulor old Ligero is equivalent to adding Medio Tiempo and that they do so on a regular basis. There are probably ten thousand people who think/say they can tell the difference for every 1 person who actually can. Where was Medio Tiempo hiding for the first 150 years of Cuban cigar history? It was mixed in with the rest of the Ligero, because that's what it is. The strongest Ligero leaf at the very top of the plant. It doesn't taste different or better than the rest of the plant, its just the strongest.

If Medio Tiempo is really supposed to be the star of the show here, than the 58 makes less sense than the previous three sizes. Adding 18 leaves of Volado isn't going to intensify that flavor at all, its just going to dilute it. Making it even easier/less noticeable for them to add regular Ligero rather than the ultra rare and special Medio Tiempo. Marketing Hype at its worst. 

[Cigar Surgeon]

2 hours ago, Lotusguy said:

That wouldn't be "proof", as taste is subjective and 98% of smokers (me included) can't even reliably identify the correct marca in a blind tastings.

Nobody even talked about medio tiempo before the BHK came out and it was touted it as differentiating feature. It was just mixed in with the ligero - you're really saying a significant amount of people could differentiate by taste if a cigar had it or not? I used to be in marketing and that would be exactly the kind of BS I would come up with to justify a higher price.

98% of cigar smokers can't tell the difference between different leaf primings, they wouldn't be the ones making the determination. 

Nowhere have I made the claim that a significant amount of people could differentiate, I'm not sure you read my reply... and I certainly didn't claim they'd be differentiating based on flavor.

You'd need to open up the cigar and look at the leaves inside. 

[Lotusguy]

15 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

98% of cigar smokers can't tell the difference between different leaf primings, they wouldn't be the ones making the determination. 

Nowhere have I made the claim that a significant amount of people could differentiate, I'm not sure you read my reply... and I certainly didn't claim they'd be differentiating based on flavor.

You'd need to open up the cigar and look at the leaves inside. 

Right - so the overwhelming majority of buyers would have no way to tell if there is medio tiempo in the cigar - so might as well leave it out (which is exactly what is happening, if you ask me).