Min Ron Nee has passed away

[El Presidente]

What can you say about such a person?

Eccentric, private, generous to those he trusted, sometimes controversial. 

In the world of Cuban cigars (without diminishing his other accomplishments}, he has left a legacy from which we all benefit. 

Personally, as the saying goes, "On the shoulders of giants." 

I look forward to that next life cigar and dinner with the good Dr, Nino, Ross, Chuck, Mike, Simon Chase. 

God I hope it's not vegan. 

RIP MRN 

 

 

[Puros Y Vino]

  On 3/12/2024 at 1:19 AM, JohnnyO said:

I hope MRN and Nino are herfing with a massive cigar in the big cigar sky. John

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They can take their sweet time smoking a Partagas Visible Inmenso .  🥲

[canadianbeaver]

Just saw this on IG. How heartbreaking for the Cuban cigar community. Good thing we got those newest beautiful books last year, and we have the one in the photo here! 
 

Such a wonderful friend @Nino, they can now be together forever.😪 😎

CB

[canadianbeaver]

  On 3/12/2024 at 2:01 AM, El Presidente said:

I look forward to that next life cigar and dinner with the good Dr, Nino, Ross, Chuck, Mike, Simon Chase. 

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Beautiful Rob!

[Ghabanos]

What a legend....RIP

Just saw the auction details... Mar 23, 2024; estimated value of cigars HKD 10-18mm.

[ATGroom]

A very sad day for me and I’m sure many others who knew him personally.

I was given a copy of the Min Ron Nee book for my 21^st birthday and pawing through those pages was a big part of what kickstarted my interest in the hobby. Impossible to overstate the impact that that book had on the Cuban cigar community. Without it, I doubt there would be any CCW, and I don’t think the vintage market would exist in anything like its current form.

I first met him personally in 2019. He was a true eccentric. Funny, deeply knowledgeable about many subjects far beyond cigars, generous to his friends and totally unforgiving of his enemies. Nights with MRN invariably ended at 3:30am with me bordering on passing out and him bouncing around the room keen for another cigar and another champagne and ready for three more hours.

During 2021 and 2022 and the many covid lockdowns in Melbourne and Hong Kong I had a 4hr phone call with him once or twice a week as we worked through all 700 pages of El Habano Moderno together. Anybody who knew him will know why it took so long to get through it –  conversation with MRN would invariably meander through many repetitions, and down side paths of stories about his life, Chinese history, photography, champagne, and many other things. It was not an efficient way to work, but I had nothing but time for him and enjoyed every minute. I have notebooks full of his musings. In between it all were flashes of true genius. EHM would not be what it is without his input.

I’m honoured to call him a friend and will miss him deeply.

Sharing one of my favourite photos from our time together. MRN was waxing lyrical about the strength of the bamboo cabinets he had prototyped for his unreleased second edition and invited me to test it out. For what it’s worth, it didn’t flex at all.

[ldncigarsmoker]

Such sad news to wake up too. I've heard so much about Min Ron Nee and that incredible book. Passing condolences to his friends and family ❤️

[Perla]

  On 3/12/2024 at 2:01 AM, El Presidente said:

What can you say about such a person?

Eccentric, private, generous to those he trusted, sometimes controversial. 

In the world of Cuban cigars (without diminishing his other accomplishments}, he has left a legacy from which we all benefit. 

Personally, as the saying goes, "On the shoulders of giants." 

I look forward to that next life cigar and dinner with the good Dr, Nino, Ross, Chuck, Mike, Simon Chase. 

God I hope it's not vegan. 

RIP MRN 

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MRN was never a vegan and to comfort you he loved champagne horizontally and vertically all day long. 
 

Sorely missed 💐. Deepest condolences to his family & friends. 

[dicko]

Rest in peace. I will cherish my book forever. What a great contribution he made to the cigar community.

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk
 

[ldncigarsmoker]

  On 3/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, Lancero said:

The catalogue of his collection up for auction is absolutely mind boggling, some incredible bits in there.

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Are there any details online about this?

[BrightonCorgi]

Is there a charity or cause for donations in his name? Any more details on his death?

[SigmundChurchill]

I never met him in person, but we were in a private online cigar group together in the early 2000’s. Funny thing is, most of our discussions with each other revolved around medicine, not cigars.  He sent me a RyJ Churchill tubo that he said was from “one of his favorite boxes”. From the mid 80’s if I remember correctly.  It was an, as he liked to say, “ethereal experience”.  He was a quirky guy, with a sense of humor that I’m not sure everyone “got”, but I thought he was funny as hell. He was a perfectionist, as anyone who has seen his book can tell. May he RIP.

[Lancero]

  On 3/12/2024 at 1:06 PM, ldncigarsmoker said:

Are there any details online about this?

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The PDF is floating around but I'm unsure if it's meant to be shared openly, it says at the top of it that it's not meant to be public so I don't want to be that person.

[Slayer]

May he Rest In Peace and Deep Condolences to his wife and family. 

Thanks Alex for sharing stories about your time together with the good sir, as they're always enjoyable to read. I only had the pleasure of speaking briefly on the phone with him a decade ago and even those few minutes he imparted a lot of wisdom which he never minded to share. He will be missed.

 

[LACG]

I had the good fortune to smoke a quite old Quai Panetelas from one of his humidors. The man knew a good cigar.

[benfica_77]

Is there any info on the unreleased second edition of his book? Will it ever get produced? @ATGroom after what you have gone through with EHM I feel like you would be an excellent candidate to make this happen. 

[rckymtn22]

Sad to hear about his passing. I very much enjoyed reading the late Nino's blogs/tails of visiting MRN and pictures of his collection.

[El Presidente]

  On 3/12/2024 at 6:26 PM, benfica_77 said:

Is there any info on the unreleased second edition of his book? Will it ever get produced? @ATGroom after what you have gone through with EHM I feel like you would be an excellent candidate to make this happen. 

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wrong time. 

[MagicalBikeRide]

Great memories @ATGroom - thanks for sharing them 

[BrightonCorgi]

As mentioned before, I wanted to smoke a special cigar in his memory.  King of Spain lancero.  It's about 15 years old.  RIP.

[Ford2112]

I always wanted to get my hands on his book. Seems like he was an amazing guy and a character.

[jfrisko]

I continue to store my selection as MRN did.

May the light shine on his family. 

[Ken Gargett]

very sad news. RIP.

such a wonderful contributor. 

always fascinates me how so many talk about what they can get for that book. i cannot imagine selling mine or ever even thinking about it. 

it stands out above all else. 

[ned]

  On 3/12/2024 at 1:19 AM, JohnnyO said:

I hope MRN and Nino are herfing with a massive cigar in the big cigar sky. John

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I had the same thought when I saw the news. 2 incredibly influential figures in the cigar world.

RIP MRN

[Pyro]

The auction is open for anyone that registers on Madison Auction.

The auction in question is here:

https://www.madison-auction.com/auction/73