Warehouse Wrap-up

[El Presidente]

That was a very good week in the warehouse. It needed to be as I am not back in there until mid March. I am indeed looking forward to my time away in the US 

The quality rampage continues across most lines. There are still ordinary cigars about across the board but generally there are few abjectly poor cigars. 

I was asked last week to show a comparison between what I believe to be good and to be poor (paraphrasing). 

Now let's first revisit what PSP/HQ/PE grading is:

1. It is a quality grading

2.  It is a quality grading based on wrapper, construction and aroma at cold. 

3. It is what the majority of purchasers would likely pick if they were in a B&M looking at a dozen or more boxes. 

 

let's look at the following H. Upmann Connaisseur A as an example.  I went through them on Wednesday. 

1. Same mastercase. Same box code. 

 

There is nothing wrong with colorado wrappers. I do tend to have concerns on dry and brittle colorado wrappers however. If this colorado wrapper (left) had sheen and a silky tensile feel (+ good aroma at cold and construction) it may well have been PSP. They are my favourite type of wrapper alongside Rosado. They are few and far between these days. 

There is nothing abjectly good about darker wrappers. Silky thin colorado maduro wrappers with sheen however have proven themselves to be fantastic. Sandpaper thick dark fireproof wrappers are just  abhorrent. 

 

Lets look again

A

B

 

 

Now all other things being equal (construction, aroma at cold, price), 9 times out of 10 I suspect if members were choosing between the two, then they would take the latter (B).  

That is all PSP/HQ is about. Nothing more and nothing less. 

Box A could smoke brilliantly. We have all had cigars that look like crap but taste wonderful. I will punt on Box B to deliver a superior smoking experience. They certainly have for me 80-90% of the time. 

Box A here I would classify as a second. Box B here would be HQ. 

Have a great weekend!!!!

[benfica_77]

Safe travels in the U.S. !! Remember alcohol kills viruses stay pickled 

[Corylax18]

If the wrappers are that far off, imagine how far off the rest of the blend is.  Marca DNA? HAHAHAHA.

[Chucko8]

Some good looking sticks there

[pedro849]

So has there ever been pictures of the Inside of the warehouse itself????

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, pedro849 said:

So has there ever been pictures of the Inside of the warehouse itself????

Straight breach of insurance policy. They need no further excuse to raise premiums. 

[GavLew79]

This is also evidence here for those that chase box codes...

They are not a guarantee of quality.

Nice to see quality ERdM CS though. Wow. Look at those!

[TTP21]

13 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

If the wrappers are that far off, imagine how far off the rest of the blend is.  Marca DNA? HAHAHAHA.

It's the weekend and I've got time to read, so I'll bite. Are you implying that Marca DNA is simply a figment of the imagination?  Creative and pervasive marketing?  I'm fully willing to admit that no 2 boxes of cigars, or even 2 single cigars in a box are truly identical, but I'd say that more than 85% of the time that when I light up a BBF or Party Short, I get a similar flavor profile and experience. 

The way each of us tastes and smells and the environment which we're enjoying a cigar in heavily influences a cigars flavor, along with the wrapper, binder, filler, construction, and burn.

I get the impression that you're of the opinion that variance in wrapper appearance is an indictment of the cigar making process and proves the process is incapable of overcoming that one piece of the complex puzzle to achieve consistency.

I'm intrigued by the little things, like when I buy a bunch of grapes or blueberries and not one truly tastes like the other.  Tobacco is a natural product much like these and yet the blenders do a pretty darn good job of making the final product taste similar to a majority of folks.  

That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. 

[wine_junkie]

I know I had a BBF from a reputable dealer online that tasted mediocre at best and one from FoH and the FoH BBF PSP was absolutely delicious....same with a Partagas Lusitania....

[dominattorney]

6 hours ago, TTP21 said:

It's the weekend and I've got time to read, so I'll bite. Are you implying that Marca DNA is simply a figment of the imagination?  Creative and pervasive marketing?  I'm fully willing to admit that no 2 boxes of cigars, or even 2 single cigars in a box are truly identical, but I'd say that more than 85% of the time that when I light up a BBF or Party Short, I get a similar flavor profile and experience. 

The way each of us tastes and smells and the environment which we're enjoying a cigar in heavily influences a cigars flavor, along with the wrapper, binder, filler, construction, and burn.

I get the impression that you're of the opinion that variance in wrapper appearance is an indictment of the cigar making process and proves the process is incapable of overcoming that one piece of the complex puzzle to achieve consistency.

I'm intrigued by the little things, like when I buy a bunch of grapes or blueberries and not one truly tastes like the other.  Tobacco is a natural product much like these and yet the blenders do a pretty darn good job of making the final product taste similar to a majority of folks.  

That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. 

I'll defend @Corylax18, a fellow Coloradan. I think what he means is that marque DNA, if it exists at all, would only exist at the top 5 percent of quality for a given run of sticks. Take the partagas sd4 for example. I get the bell pepper and forest floor from good examples but they make so many of them that a bad box is indistinguishable from regular leaves bundled straight from the forest floor. I also suspect much of the marcato dna we talk about is based upon expectation more than anything else. My 2 cents. 

[Colt45]

7 hours ago, TTP21 said:

That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I'm not Cory and can't speak for any member here. But whenever this comes up, I always think of blind tasting. The yearly blind tastings here, and blind tastings in general, almost always show the reality - as I perceive it - of marque identity. I do think that blenders have recipes, but I also think that they blend for characteristics that don't necessarily jibe with how we describe the same. Some years ago I came to the belief that Cuban cigars share more common traits among the marques than they have differences. With regards to the Upmann C A wrappers pictured, my basic thought is that it shows a thorough lack of care.

[RDB]

38 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

The yearly blind tastings here, and blind tastings in general, almost always show the reality

Yes these are so useful. My take is that there is definitely marca character, but also huge variation between boxes and cigars, and that our individual context (everything from storage, setting and state of mind) also makes a huge difference. I really like this variation, even if it means the occasional crappy smoke.

[TTP21]

37 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

I'm not Cory and can't speak for any member here. But whenever this comes up, I always think of blind tasting. The yearly blind tastings here, and blind tastings in general, almost always show the reality - as I perceive it - of marque identity. I do think that blenders have recipes, but I also think that they blend for characteristics that don't necessarily jibe with how we describe the same. Some years ago I came to the belief that Cuban cigars share more common traits among the marques than they have differences. With regards to the Upmann C A wrappers pictured, my basic thought is that it shows a thorough lack of care.

That's actually a very good point.  I forgot about that.  Obviously the sample size is limited to members here, but the data from 2019 shows the following:

Cigar 1 - Upmann #2 - just under 25% correct

Cigar 2 - Partagas D4 - 10% Correct

Cigar 3 - Bolivar PC - 38% correct

Cigar 4 - Monte 2 - 33%

Cigar 5 - CoRo - 21%

 

[El Presidente]

The problem isn't the blenders. 

The problem isn't the tobacco

The problem is the $20 a month

 

[Chibearsv]

Do you find that the more expensive regular production vitollas have any more consistency?  I understand that the price of the cigar doesn't relate to the wages paid necessarily. Just wondering if some sort of QC exists in the more expensive versions. 

[El Presidente]

 

1 minute ago, Chibearsv said:

Do you find that the more expensive regular production vitollas have any more consistency?  I understand that the price of the cigar doesn't relate to the wages paid necessarily. Just wondering if some sort of QC exists in the more expensive versions. 

To a point.

Rolled at the better fabricas. Often a smaller team, closer supervision, some team / fabrica pride that they have bought into. Good Fabrica manager who has a quality bent (not just quota).

You do see it from time to time.

 

 

[Wookie]

I rarely or never have roll issues with Esplendidos. They aren't even in my top 5 favorites flavorwise. But my favorite from the 1990s, which went to sleep for 16+ years, RyJ Churchill now seems to be back flavorwise. But i still need to poke them hard with a perfecdraw to get 50% of them smokeable. To varying degrees same goes for Lusi, RAG, BCG, punch D.C., BPC, etc etc. 

[mtapia3]

Box A looks like the majority of the boxes that I've purchased blindly. 

[jackupster]

I repeatedly tell people on FB this is the reason I purchase most of my smokes from FOH! lots of people seem concerned about getting them in less than a week, I would rather wait 2-3 weeks and get box B rather than A in a week. 

[KayaKowboy]

11 minutes ago, jackupster said:

I repeatedly tell people on FB this is the reason I purchase most of my smokes from FOH! lots of people seem concerned about getting them in less than a week, I would rather wait 2-3 weeks and get box B rather than A in a week. 

Exactly this. You can think of it as an extra 2-3 weeks of aging anyway. 

[Cigar Salute]

On 2/28/2020 at 2:10 AM, GavLew79 said:

This is also evidence here for those that chase box codes...

They are not a guarantee of quality.

Nice to see quality ERdM CS though. Wow. Look at those!

I have half a box left of May 18's that look just like that.  ERDM from 2018 on is just on a whole new level of amazing.  Like smoking a Biscoff European spice cookie

[CptGoodTimes]

59 minutes ago, Cigar Salute said:

I have half a box left of May 18's that look just like that.  ERDM from 2018 on is just on a whole new level of amazing.  Like smoking a Biscoff European spice cookie

I know I’ve heard this before,,,somewhere recently.  ?  If only Trump would intervene...  ???