Cuban Cohiba Ideales Hits Market At Jaw-Dropping Price

[NSXCIGAR]

On 8/27/2023 at 4:02 AM, ha_banos said:

Astonishing numbers for sure.

I wonder what the markup looks like through the chain?

Farmers and workers -> greasing -> tabacuba -> greasing -> Habanos -> greasing -> government -> greasing -> regional distribution -> greasing -> regional politicians -> greasing -> local distributors -> greasing -> punters.

 

I don't think I missed too many steps?

Fakes aren't coming from HSA. If they wanted to sell more they'd just make more. Cubans don't have the ability to make perfect fakes. Some "real" boxes will get out to be sure but we're talking maybe a dozen or so. These boxes, bands and everything else are tightly controlled and probably don't even leave the HSA warehouse. Everything's probably put together there. The factory sends only the cigars to the HSA warehouse. They'd be insane not to do it that way. 

The flawless fakes are coming from China made from whole cloth. They probably cost $500 to make top to bottom, cigars to bands to box. They're taken from China into Europe and peddled for $7-8k each. Even doing 100 boxes is $1M profit. 

The only hurdle is getting suckers to take them. The gray market is so desperate right now they might, even knowing they're almost certainly fake. If they're flawless no buyer will know unless they take it to HSA and Vrijdag for a physical inspection. 

The official vendors I think have probably woken up to this by now and would never take a box of anything from a third party source even if it looks perfect after the MF debacle and the recent Majestuosos incident in Europe. At least I hope so. They can get their products from the distributors. Gray market does not. 

I am a bit surprised they wouldn't at least use the same NFT technology for the Ideales that they used for the Siglo de Oro. Not saying it's that effective but surely it's better than nothing. 

[NSXCIGAR]

14 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

I can count on one hand the number of retailers I would buy these from (if I were crazy enough to want to), and of those only one can sell internationally. 

Agreed. And I just realized the PSE2 GR has just been released and is a lot easier to fake than the Ideales. There's nothing to those. Standard E2 & GR bands and a relatively simple box that hasn't changed in 14 years. 

[rondogg]

Like my watch collection, what body part am I selling for this? Are they that good?

[NSXCIGAR]

Was able to try a couple of these last week. They were an enjoyable Cohiba, nothing more. 93-94 pointers. Similar to a Robustos blend I would say. I had some Siglo VI last week that were exceptional although young that I'd reach for before these. 

If you buy these books do it as an investment or to collect. They will not give you $500 of smoking pleasure. You're better off buying Siglo VI or Esplendidos to smoke. 

[SigmundChurchill]

13 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Was able to try a couple of these last week. They were an enjoyable Cohiba, nothing more. 93-94 pointers. Similar to a Robustos blend I would say. I had some Siglo VI last week that were exceptional although young that I'd reach for before these. 

If you buy these books do it as an investment or to collect. They will not give you $500 of smoking pleasure. You're better off buying Siglo VI or Esplendidos to smoke. 

I smoked one of these a few months ago, but I don't know if I would describe it as a CoRo blend.  I would describe the Ambar as a CoRo blend.  It is basically a Cohibo Robusto Extra, and very much "in your face", in a good way.  

But I found the Ideales to be much more subtle, nuanced, and complex, while still retaining the classic Cohiba flavors.  I wouldn't disagree with the 93-94 rating, and absolutely not worth $500 to me.  If money was not in the equation, I would probably choose this over the Siglo VI or Esplendido, but perhaps not a Behike 54.

[ElJavi76]

I too have had one recently (maybe it was with Elliot, maybe it wasn’t). I agree that it’s a very pleasant Cohiba experience, but it almost stands on its own. It reminds me a lil of the Trovas and other Trinidads. The Trova has hints of Trini goodness but it smokes completely different to any other one. 

The Ideales are certainly in that 92-94 range for me. I was expecting more from it maybe considering the book cigars. It is a massive cigar so you’re enjoying it for close to 2 hours at least. Maybe next time I’ll v-cut mine to arrest more of the flavor near the cap. See if that 92 can be turned into a 95+. I’ve got at least 20 more tries. I’ll keep you posted on my progress 😂. 

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, SigmundChurchill said:

 I would describe the Ambar as a CoRo blend.

Interesting. I've smoked about 10 Ambar over the last 6 months and I find them quite mild. The CoRo is much fuller. I think the Ambar is designed to be the lightest large Cohiba. 

[SigmundChurchill]

13 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Interesting. I've smoked about 10 Ambar over the last 6 months and I find them quite mild. The CoRo is much fuller. I think the Ambar is designed to be the lightest large Cohiba. 

The two I smoked were at the EL factory.  Not sure if you have ever smoked them right off the rolling table, but it is a very different experience. In the past, I have brought cigars home from the factory and they have lost quite a bit of power compared to the same exact cigar that I smoked while there. But let’s just say I have it on very good authority that the blend is similar to the CoRo.

[NSXCIGAR]

15 minutes ago, SigmundChurchill said:

Not sure if you have ever smoked them right off the rolling table

No, but a week old. I guess we have differing opinions on this one. But the bottom line is just stick with CoRo! 

[SigmundChurchill]

20 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

No, but a week old. I guess we have differing opinions on this one. But the bottom line is just stick with CoRo! 

Unless it becomes part of the regular production lineup, in which case we will have to see where the price lands compared to the CoRo. 

 

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, SigmundChurchill said:

Unless it becomes part of the regular production lineup, in which case we will have to see where the price lands compared to the CoRo.

I believe it is supposed to be regular production, even offered in petacas. Ambar $72 and Robustos $69 in Cuba. 

[SigmundChurchill]

Just now, NSXCIGAR said:

I believe it is supposed to be regular production, even offered in petacas. 

Yes, me too.  But when it comes to Cuba, I never take anything for granted.

[ElJavi76]

All this Ambar talk got me feeling reckless. It’s my wife’s 21st birthday again today. This is for her, for me. lol 

[JohnS]

3 hours ago, ElJavi76 said:

All this Ambar talk got me feeling reckless. It’s my wife’s 21st birthday again today. This is for her, for me. lol 

Congratulations! For her birthday, hvae you got a bowling ball with you name on it lined up @ElJavi76, perhaps?

[ElJavi76]

49 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Congratulations! For her birthday, hvae you got a bowling ball with you name on it lined up @ElJavi76, perhaps?

John I actually told her this one’s for you. She took a puff said it was good. She goes what’s my favorite one, I said the Siglo VI. She goes where’s my Siglo VI? I’ll have to smoke her Siglo VI for her tomorrow. 😂