La Esception, Flor Especial

[El Presidente]

FOH crew 

What Period are we looking at here? 

What cigar size?

 

 

[NSXCIGAR]

This box could be very old. No manufacturing stamp and any other warranty seal is mostly missing but what's left of the edges doesn't appear to match anything 1889 onward. This could certainly be 1850s-1888. 

The quality of the wood looks quite high compared to typical dress boxes. Not sure about the size, but the box looks fairly deep and there is a "100" stamp on the side so perhaps this was a 100 box. 

The inside lid factory artwork is beautiful and in remarkable shape. Colors still vibrant.

 

[Puros Y Vino]

cool.  I'll take it.  ?

[El Presidente]

3 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

This box could be very old. No manufacturing stamp and any other warranty seal is mostly missing but what's left of the edges doesn't appear to match anything 1889 onward. This could certainly be 1850s-1888. 

 

That is what drew my eye to it. I am not sure that I have seen too many older boxes. 

[Habana Mike]

Agreed it seems quite old. Not much info available though I now know where you're finding these!

[Çnote]

3 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

Agreed it seems quite old. Not much info available though I now know where you're finding these!

Yeah seriously 

[El Presidente]

2 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

Agreed it seems quite old. Not much info available though I now know where you're finding these!

Check everyday mate. I have to ckeck that  those empty boxes are not being filled and put on BR. 

it is also the reason that I don't try to promote the website. The amount of fakes is astounding. 

[ATGroom]

The earliest it can be is 1882, which is the year that the factory depicted on the papeleta was built.

To the best of current knowledge, the union seal was introduced in 1889 and applied to all boxes, so that puts it somewhere between those two dates.

I was thinking that maybe you could date it from the papelta design. The design in Rob's pictures has 22 medals. Unfortunately the picture quality isn't good enough to read the places and dates they were awarded, but if you could, that would give you the a minimum date for the box. I've attached another box of the same cigars with basically the same design with the picture of the factory, however, this one has 24 medals. The most recent date mentioned is Tunis in 1893. This later box has a post-1912 seal.

This later box looks deeper than Rob's one if you ask me, and is stamped 50 rather than 100... not sure what to make of that. I also have this 1898 Spanish government price list that lists the cigar in boxes of 100.

[El Presidente]

Brilliant work Alex 

[ATGroom]

Ah, actually, slight revision, the line in the price list has the boxes in 100s is followed by "idem," i.e., Latin for "ditto", with 50s.

And looking at the amount of space the name and logo take up on the lid of the 100 vs the 50, I would say one is 4 layers of 25, the other is 4 layers 13,13,13,11. Quite a small, skinny cigar.

[NSXCIGAR]

Excellent observation on the factory. Hadn't even thought of that since we think of these factories as always having been there. But this box is that old! 

Indeed, 1882-1888. I would imagine that's about as tight a window as you could peg it.