Deck Question: When in your experience/opinion was the Habanos "Heyday".

[El Presidente]

I was asked this question last Friday and I was conflicted in coming up with an answer. 

In terms of financial results, you could put forward an argument that the Habanos "Heyday" is 2025/now. 

In terms of operational/logistics results, it would be the period 2005-2019.  

For the consumer, 2005- 2014 was pretty special. The beetle problem was gone (Habanos freezing introduced) , QC improved year on year (from a very low bar), Regionals appeared, cigars were cheap and plentiful. 

Habanos was on a roll. Few questioned their hold on the global premium cigar market and the heart of the cigar consumer. 

Your thoughts? what had I missed 

[JohnS]

I think you covered it well, El Pres. Yes, after Limited Editions and Regional Editions were introduced, production was streamlined and prior to the current Economic Crisis in Cuba with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. So around 2005/6 until 2019.

[Lucas Buck]

As far as the consumer is concerned definitely 2003-2019. Cost, quality, availability all aces for about 15 years. I feel sorry for anyone getting hooked on CC 2019 on. What a golden era it was!

[Chibearsv]

2014-2015 was a great period of time for taste, quality, and value. 

[Dadof3]

What about prior to 2000 when the older strains of tobacco were used and the cigars were still more traditional in terms of pricing and profile. The branding meant a bit more then I think in terms of what you’d expect from the cigar. The pricing wasn’t nuts either.  

[TheGipper]

Shortly before 1998/1999. The old Corojo tobacco. Blends were very distinct. A Partagas Corona tasted completely different from a Montecristo No. 3. The best sizes (Coronas, Lonsdales, Dalias) had great tobacco and were readily available. Anything bigger than 52 RG seemed comically large.

That said, I do believe the true glory days from the consumer's point of view are still ahead of us, once we get Cuba to open up economically and we get the best producers in the world working with the best tobacco in the world.

[Ford2112]

Pre embargo?

[El Presidente]

23 minutes ago, Ford2112 said:

Pre embargo?

Ken can probably remember that period but it is out of memory reach for most of us. 

[Ford2112]

Just now, El Presidente said:

Ken can probably remember that period but it is out of memory reach for most of us. 

@Ken Gargett how were those old Churchills back in 1930?

[El Presidente]

7 hours ago, TheGipper said:

Shortly before 1998/1999. The old Corojo tobacco. Blends were very distinct. A Partagas Corona tasted completely different from a Montecristo No. 3. The best sizes (Coronas, Lonsdales, Dalias) had great tobacco and were readily available. Anything bigger than 52 RG seemed comically large.

I loved the cigars from the early 90's. 1998/1999/2000/2001/2002/ not so much. Don't get me wrong, plenty of great cigars from that period but 1998/1999 were appalling years from a QC perspective. You had to be a retailer to truly understand the depth of the problem. 2000-2002 were "rectification years". 2003 for me was the first comeback year. 

 

[CanuckSARTech]

Best Habanos period? 2008 to 2014 was just about the most solid run, frankly. Epic blends, epic quality (goodbye to the curse of 98-2004 or so), epic availability, pricing for what you got (especially the 2006-2010 run of LE / RE stuff), it was all very solid.

For best Habanos "heyday" - I'd say when we / the whole FOH / AmiCigar crews were in town, group trips ala 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018.  😜  

[HDGSN]

In the 22 years I have been in this hobby, the best 5 year period was 2013-2018, but I’d like to reach back to those PLM box codes in 2011 and say 2011-2018 was the best run for Habanos.

[Bagman]

2016-mid 2018 was some of the worst Cubans since 2002.  Late 2018-2020 will, for me, go down as the best time for Cuba. In part due to us in the US being able to go to Cuba during that time. I was going so often during that period. The 2016-2017 cigars were a distant memory. Going to the airport with 20+ boxes. Many of them like the Sir Winston for 331 a box. 50 cab of DC for 570. Paying no import tax. Then Covid-19 came and ruined it all. I feel the cigars from then on won't age like the 2020 and earlier years. And then the price increases came. I also have the memories and friends during my many trips during that period. With all that in mind, 2018-2020 was a period I will look back the most fondly.  

[dicko]

My experience is from circa 2007 onwards, buying a box every month or two but pausing during mid 2010s because of perceived underfilling issues. Picked up again during Covid as the QC and flavour blew me away again. I have slammed the brakes on now as not smoking as much and have a decent stack to work through. Any newer stuff 22/23/24 has been good though.

Quality wise I think 19/20/21 was the best for me. 11/12/13 was great too but mid 2010s had a lot of underfilling issues at least in my experience.

Sent from my SM-S938B using Tapatalk
 

[westg]

For me personally 2008 to '14. So much to choose from stock was plentiful. Regional and EL definitely had a different approach and appeal to them if you ask me. Travelled the world chasing cigars. Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, the UK throughout Europe and more. I still love Cubans more than anything.  That 2008 to '14 period for me seemed to have a lot more fun to it as well. I remember it did not matter where I was or what I was doing when the clock ticked over for Live from the humidor or 24@24 my life stopped and I was transfixed. Those few moments each weren't great they were grand. Definitely my golden era for Habanos. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Pre-revolutionary years when Cuba was at its best.  

[joeypots]

I can't tell. Most of what I have was bought in the last ten years so everything is smoking pretty damn good. I know for sure we are currently in the heyday of the ten count box.

[TheGipper]

20 hours ago, El Presidente said:

1998/1999 were appalling years from a QC perspective

Yes, we all experienced that. It is exactly why I said "before 1998/1999".

[rascalmonkey]

22 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

2014-2015 was a great period of time for taste, quality, and value. 

Yeah such a crazy amazing upgrade in taste & QC...but I was stupid thinking it would never end and instead of stocking up on Boli RCs and PCs (from ULA). I wasted my money on books and GF's.

[ha_banos]

I got into the game around 2004. Always assumed the heyday was before that. So of course I would have missed it. 

 

[Mike Mecklenburg]

I like the 2020, 2021, 2022 Cuban Cigars Years so that is my "HeyDay".  After 2022 is when the prices started to rise (Cigarmageddon).

[laficion]

I would say that "The Gipper " is right, the (heyday) for habano cigars was even before 1998/1999, I'd say before the COROJO tobacco period, each brand and each cigar had their own taste and their own " IDENTITY ". Since 1999 and up to now (not counting the bad period of 2000 to 2002), you can't say that all the habanos have their own different identities for their brand like before 1998 or earlier. But cigars also have their own evolutions and in some cases, it's not for the worst. As I said before, some brands were impossible to smoke today, either too strong or too unbearable. Today the change may have it's up and downs (their price), but it's hard to say that it's (heyday) for cigars today. And with the diminishing models of cigars, YES, I regret the  "heydays" of yesterday.

Amicalement,

Guy

[REesq]

Viewing this strictly as a consumer, which is what I am. I agree that the 2004 to pre-COVID 2019 were overall probably the best years with plentiful supply, good quality and reasonable prices. I do, however, hold a particular fondness of the 1986-1998 years. You had to freeze your own cigars if there was any chance of the storage temp getting too warm, as I once found out the hard way. I never found the quality inconsistency as bad as some, but I never smoked many of the high-volume cigars because, here in the States, so many of them were fakes. I really did love the Bolivars back then though and smoked boxes and boxes of Royal Coronas, BBFs and Gigantes during that period. They had a very different flavor and strength profile as compared to today’s blends. Or at least that’s what I remember. And it was always fun trying to get the latest factory and date codes. 

[ATGroom]

Historically speaking there can be little doubt that it was about 1817-1879 - after the Royal Monopoly ended and before the Wars of Independence - that's when production was at its highest, fortunes were being made, the great palatial factories were built, and Havana was one of the richest and grandest cities in the world.

Whether the cigars were any good is a different question - that's before they isolated the Cuban strain, so all tobacco on the island was just random cross bred hybrids; it's before shade grown wrappers; before heated curing barns; before the parejo was even much of a thing.

[JDoughty]

2 hours ago, ATGroom said:

Historically speaking there can be little doubt that it was about 1817-1879 - after the Royal Monopoly ended and before the Wars of Independence - that's when production was at its highest, fortunes were being made, the great palatial factories were built, and Havana was one of the richest and grandest cities in the world.

Well don't just tease us, bring out some boxes from that era and pass them around so we can all have a try. 😆

Oldest cigar I ever smoked was tentatively dated to sometime in the 1890's, or at least pre 1901. It was not very good and most likely not Cuban. It was in poor shape so not a great collectible. It was more fun to actually taste it. Might as well have tried smoking old library pages, though.