What would you pay? Would you take a punt?

[El Presidente]

 

For Auction

Former stock of the Vendetta Cigar room located in the Fairmont Hotel San Francisco, in its tube tagged 1957 Montecristo #2 cigar

[99call]

that is not an oldschool No2!   Whenever you see belicosos or piramides from that era, they look far more like their namesake...i.e.....swords i.e. the feet tend to be box pressed.    Por Larranaga Triangulares is a great example, or how these cigars looked.  in the Monte mix box, you can see a mix of old and new

 

 

 

[Fugu]

13 hours ago, 99call said:

Whenever you see belicosos or piramides from that era, they look far more like their namesake...i.e.....swords i.e. the feet tend to be box pressed. 

They tend to lose box press when stored in a tube (the sooner tubed the more). That said, I wouldn't give a penny for that one - lacking provenance.

[NSXCIGAR]

Monte 2 was also available in cabs and pre-Rev I'm sure other formats as well. That establishment could have purchased boxes of 50 or 100 for individual sale or for members. Who knows. 

If the provenance was proven and well documented I suppose it could be legitimate but not something I'd ever recommend buying. 

Plus, what's up with that tube? "Pre-embargo" didn't exist in 1957. 

[Fugu]

9 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Monte 2 was also available in cabs and pre-Rev I'm sure other formats as well.

Not sure I've ever seen or heard of any historical regular packaging of Monte 2 in cabinets or SLBs (would be keen to know, should you have any records on that). Yet, true, that wouldn't rule out the possibility of special importer's or retailer's packing. But, for example, the pre- as well as post-rev Dunhill "Selección Suprema" special packings (half-wheel in SLB or 25-ct in cabinet box) was only offered for the No.1, 3, 4 and 5 but not for the Monte 2.

9 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Plus, what's up with that tube? "Pre-embargo" didn't exist in 1957.

looks like a labelling of the pic

[NSXCIGAR]

On 8/9/2023 at 5:29 AM, Fugu said:

Not sure I've ever seen or heard of any historical regular packaging of Monte 2 in cabinets or SLBs

According to MRN they were at one point. I will say it's quite unusual that any Piramides would be packaged in SLB but we know 1, 3, 4 and 5 were. Of course we know MRN isn't the word of God but it's generally good enough unless evidence to the contrary appears, although if it never existed it's going to be difficult to prove that. 

[Ken Gargett]

On 8/9/2023 at 1:25 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

Monte 2 was also available in cabs and pre-Rev I'm sure other formats as well. That establishment could have purchased boxes of 50 or 100 for individual sale or for members. Who knows. 

If the provenance was proven and well documented I suppose it could be legitimate but not something I'd ever recommend buying. 

Plus, what's up with that tube? "Pre-embargo" didn't exist in 1957. 

my thoughts exactly. perhaps that has been overlaid, but i'd want evidence. 

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, Ken Gargett said:

my thoughts exactly. perhaps that has been overlaid, but i'd want evidence. 

Pre-Rev all bets are off in terms of packaging and formats. Anything's possible. Custom orders and personalized cigars were common. In my view provenance and documentation is everything with pre-Rev. 

But even with that loose pre-Rev sticks aren't something I could ever see as a viable investment. 

[99call]

4 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I will say it's quite unusual that any Piramides would be packaged in SLB but we know 1, 3, 4 and 5 were

Here's a picture from the Auctions.  Although with all the stuff I have seen, I have about 0% confidence whats in the box.... is original to the box. 

That said the shape of some of them in this image is a lot more convincing than modern day No 2.   Older twos had much slimmer dropped shoulders, whereas modern day 2's are much bulkier and have a fraction higher RG near the band. 

[Doctorossi]

On 8/8/2023 at 6:27 PM, Fugu said:

That said, I wouldn't give a penny for that one - lacking provenance.

Well... I'd go in for $5. 

[BrightonCorgi]

$25.  I have spent more on less.

[Fireball]

Even if they were real, I am not sure what to do with them. Can you smoke them? I’m not sure I would. I would not pay a lot for them- easily under 100$.

[Fugu]

On 8/14/2023 at 6:51 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

According to MRN they were at one point.

Yeah right, but he is inconsistent in that statement. If you look up the packaging info he gives for the respective vitolas, SLB is quoted for all but the No. 2.

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, Fugu said:

Yeah right, but he is inconsistent in that statement. If you look up the packaging info he gives for the respective vitolas, SLB is quoted for all but the No. 2.

I would have to lean towards the No. 2 not being included in that "1-5" group in his caption under the Monte 1 cab and it was possibly an oversight there. 

But as we know pre-Rev packaging formats were all over the place and any format couldn't be ruled out. Even the SBN 10 box shown above wouldn't result in a box press.