"Edición Limitada" love them or hate them?

[Havanaaddict]

 

Edición Limitada most people either love them or hate them. If you’re in the camp that loves them why and which ones are your favorite?

[pohlmad]

I think the limited editions are fun. Yes, they can be hit or miss, but price aside, they are lots of fun. We get new sizes and blends of some of our favorite marcas. It’s like the innovation center/ r&d department for Cuban cigars.  Also, some great cigars have become regular production now (HU50/56, Trinidad Topes). Some of my favorites all came from 2019. I love the QD Senadores, the Monte Supremos, and the RA #2!  My expectation isn’t that I’m going to get double the enjoyment compared to regular production cigars because of the high prices. My expectation is that I have to pay the higher prices to try new things. And in 2019 releases, turns out I love them!  I’m willing to pay extra for those experiences. 

[Lucas Buck]

Definitely had more good ones than bad ones. The early ones were almost all great. Some that stand out are -

Monte DC

Partagas Piramides

Cohiba Piramides

Monte Robustos

RyJ Robustos

PSD3

Cohiba DC

Cohiba Sublimes

Trinidad Ingenios

Cohiba 1966

RA Allones Extra

Monte C

Monte 520

Favorite would be RyJ Hermosos 2 from 2004 - an absolutely stupendous cigar that hits all the right notes for me. Runners up would be Party Piramides, Cohiba Piramides & PSD3. 

[Li Bai]

I personally don't really care about ELs, I'm just looking for good cigars, whatever they are.

That being said the OG Libertador and Mag 50 were amazing cigars, the Short Hoyo Piramides too.

20 hours ago, Lucas Buck said:

Trinidad Ingenios

One could still find those in some French b&ms a couple of years ago, I've never smoked one myself but I've read good things about them. They were shelf sitters for years here.

[KCCubano]

I stopped buying EL's around 2007 or so. Started to taste generic to me and not really true to the marca. I also disliked the thick wrappers that were being used. 

[griller]

1 hour ago, KCCubano said:

I stopped buying EL's around 2007 or so. Started to taste generic to me and not really true to the marca. I also disliked the thick wrappers that were being used. 

Completely agree, and the several I sampled also exhibited these same thick wrapper issue you described (most notably the Partagas Piramides). 

[joeypots]

Most never came around for me so I swore off of them. The MC Grand Edmundo was the bomb for me, followed by the MC Sublimes. Regionals have been somewhat better for me but I think they are too much of a crap shoot to chase. 

[Chibearsv]

I didn’t mind paying the premium for EL before cigarmaggedon to give a few of them a try. I don’t think any I tried are better than a different version in the same brand, just different. I enjoyed the RyJ Tacos, WdO Senadores, and Cohiba Talisman as the memorable ones. But a good Churchill, Corona Claro, or Siglo VI are all better in my opinion. 

[Ford2112]

The ones I have smoked never stood out to me other than being flame retardant.

[Islandboy]

I’m in the flame retardant wrapper, not going there anymore camp. I’ve done my share of chasing these, and not a-one has improved with age - my experiences have been very much the opposite.

[Ken Gargett]

had a LE Partagas 21 2004 yesterday. might just be the best cigar i have had this year. stunning. anyone who says these things don't age is kidding themselves. it was a glorious cigar. 

[JohnS]

It's a subjective area for sure. I have had great Limited Editions in the past, without a doubt.

One thing I know for certain is that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the program has fallen through the floor. Not necessarily in terms of return on investment for Habanos S.A., rather in generating critical favour and interest amongst cigar enthusiasts. I remember clearly a number of Limited Editions that many of our members raved about prior to 2020. The last time our members spoke enthusiastically for the program was the 2019 releases (Montecristo Supremos, Quai d'Orsay Senadores and Ramón Allones No. 2), in my opinion. Nowadays, one would need to reference Cuban Cigar Website to even know what post-2020 Limited Editions have been released, perhaps with the exception of the Cohiba 55 Aniversario and Trinidad Cabildos.

[BrightonCorgi]

I like the EL's, I cannot think of one beyond a corona sized Montecristo I wasn't a fan of.  As @Ken Gargett mentioned, they can certainly age. Some have fireproof wrappers that take at least a decade or two, but who's in a rush?

To go further, I am fan of LCDH's and Regionals too.

[Islandboy]

4 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

had a LE Partagas 21 2004 yesterday. might just be the best cigar i have had this year. stunning. anyone who says these things don't age is kidding themselves. it was a glorious cigar. 

Thank you for not going so far as to say I should have my head examined Ken, I feel like I dodged a bullet here 

Assuming I’m still kicking in 10 years, I’ll definitely be able to see if I need to eat my words. I’m rooting for the cigars.

[westg]

3 hours ago, JohnS said:

It's a subjective area for sure. I have had great Limited Editions in the past, without a doubt.

One thing I know for certain is that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the program has fallen through the floor. Not necessarily in terms of return on investment for Habanos S.A., rather in generating critical favour and interest amongst cigar enthusiasts. I remember clearly a number of Limited Editions that many of our members raved about prior to 2020. The last time our members spoke enthusiastically for the program was the 2019 releases (Montecristo Supremos, Quai d'Orsay Senadores and Ramón Allones No. 2), in my opinion. Nowadays, one would need to reference Cuban Cigar Website to even know what post-2020 Limited Editions have been released, perhaps with the exception of the Cohiba 55 Aniversario and Trinidad Cabildos.

Totally agree 👍.  

[joeypots]

23 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

had a LE Partagas 21 2004 yesterday. might just be the best cigar i have had this year. stunning. anyone who says these things don't age is kidding themselves. it was a glorious cigar. 

I found Cuban cigars just when the LEs were being introduced. Back then, if memory serves, the 2000 editions were nowhere to be found and the '01s were ubiquitous. I was acquiring cigars from many vendors and the rumors of fakes and scams flooded the boards so I cant say every cigar was authentic. One scam involved a vendor who was accused of removing the bands from the ELs, putting them on ordinary similarly sized cigars, and mixing them in with authentic ELs. The Cohiba DC EL comes to mind.  It was a shit show of early internet enthusiasm, the cigar boom, and a destructive lack of discretion. Looking at CCWS I see many ELs that were then getting high marks that I could not fathom, MRN consistently wrote of the ELs in his encyclopedia something like, "appears to be first class no judgement can be made before 5 years of age."

Since I hadn't yet acquired a good stash of cigars I didn't have the luxury of waiting around for every one to come around. One vendor used to happily send a stock list with codes and dates of current inventory. Voila! Around ten or twelve  years into my cigar journey I began to buy regular production exclusively and the vendor had lots of to die for cigars. BCE, BCG, Partagás Serie du Connaisseur, RA 898, ERDM PC, Hoyo des Dieux, RASS, and Cohiba . Many of them had a nice touch of age. All of these cigars were to my taste vastly superior to the ELs and I traded away every one I had and started to buy what I liked. If I made a little score I'd buy Cohiba and put them away for a while.

I have no doubt that many LEs came around and proved to be 99 point cigars after 20 years. Twenty f'n years? I'm not that patient and I didn't want to, as some say, park my coin for that long in a box of cigars.  

I had a box of Partagas EL 2004, I think, and traded it away, oh well.

I smoked a Siglo IV the other day that was everything I wanted in a cigar, but that's just me.

[Havanaaddict]

Man I can remember when the Partagás Pirámides Edición Limitada first came out in 2000, and it sucked ass! I think it took at least 10 years for it to be really good, and now its outstanding!

I bought every one till about 2005 then I cut down to cherry picking certain ones.

2011 was a great release that I smoked a lot of Cohiba Cohiba 1966, Hoyo de Monterrey Short Hoyo Pirámides, Ramón Allones Allones Extra!

As the years went on I also loved the Partagás Selección Privada, Ramón Allones Club Allones, Cohiba Talismán, Quai d'Orsay Senadores, Ramón Allones Allones No. 2, Cohiba 55 Aniversario, Hoyo de Monterrey Monterreyes No.4

Some of the new ones that have come out, smoke great right off the truck!

[ha_banos]

They are all over the place as usual, no? I try to get them if they are cheaper enough. I'm a man of variety.

Here's a quick review of roughly the number of LE and RE per year. Good luck catching them all!

Year Edición Limitada Count Regional Edition Count

2000 4 0

2001 5 0

2002 0 0

2003 5 0

2004 4 0

2005 3 1

2006 3 7

2007 3 9

2008 3 11

2009 3 11

2010 3 14

2011 3 13

2012 3 11

2013 3 11

2014 3 14

2015 2 15

2016 3 16

2017 3 17

2018 3 14

2019 3 13

2020 1 11

2021 3 10

2022 0 6

2023 3 9

2024 3 1

2025 2 2

 

 

[David88]

I was always a fan of the LEs, not all have been hits but most have been interesting at least. The Magnum 56 and Partagas Seleccion Privada were some of my favourites.

I can’t justify the LE premium that is now charged following the cigarmageddon price ‘adjustment’ which is a shame but I have enough regular production to keep me going. 

[Fugu]

On 5/10/2025 at 12:37 AM, Ken Gargett said:

had a LE Partagas 21 2004 yesterday. might just be the best cigar i have had this year. stunning. anyone who says these things don't age is kidding themselves. it was a glorious cigar. 

D1 you mean, well easy when it’s simply one of the best ELs ever done!

Top three for me are these, the Hermosos No.1 from the previous year and the 1966 from 2011.

I don’t go with the notion that ELs necessarily need/ed time. But claims of poor ageing potential and early expiry did certainly prove wrong for most of them.

I stopped buying ELs when they began charging a markup on them. Current pricing policy with LE-sticks starting north of 50$ is stupidly ridiculous. Just checked and - wow wasn’t aware of that - bought my last EL (box-wise) ten years ago, that was the Club Allones of 2015, apart from a handful singles of the Monte Dantés of 2016 (utter disappointment) and the Party Series No. 1 of 2017.

[Ken Gargett]

16 hours ago, Fugu said:

D1 you mean, well easy when it’s simply one of the best ELs ever done!

that's the one!!

[Sudzdaddy]

Ken's mention reminded me it'd been awhile since I'd sampled a D1. I grabbed one of the half-dozen I've got left, and started in earnest.

The first couple inches weren't promising. Draw was good, but combustion was spotty, requiring several touch-ups. Smoke was thin and a bit hollow, leading me to think I'd waited too long on this one.

As I neared half-way, the cigar came around with a blast of spice. Retro stung a bit, and I swear I was picking up ammonia in the aroma.

 

By the last third I was in to layer after layer of LEATHER. The cigar wasn't giving up, and I shed a few tears as I continued to retro my way through.

At the 2:30 mark I finally gave up. The cigar could have kept going. In spite of the rough start, this cigar exceeded my expectations. Thanks for reminding me!