FOH'ers Daily Smoke

[Çnote]

Ancient Viaje - disturbingly strong

EDM - underwhelming and somehow underfilled

Hamlet Salomones from @El Presidente, thank you again! Mellow smores and caramel vibe. Maybe a 94.

Much better than I expected, even in the car at 101f/45% humidity. That's not construction bulging, that's a terrible environment.

[Droper69]

[AshMe Nothing]

Corta Suave 2/2/26. First one from the bundle. Sea salted bread and coco with a touch of butter. These start out banging with smooth salty flavors with the shaggy foot. Perfect burn. Beautifully executed.

[Duder]

OBM FEB17 HdM Petit Robustos - Toffifay, Marzipan. Beautiful smooth retro. Love these more than HUHC. 50 Mins.

[Boss Hog]

La Gloria Cubana Deliciosos Edición Regional Cuba 2009.

[ryre]

[MadridPuros]

Eladio Díaz 72nd Anniversary, one of my recent favorites.

Knuckle Sandwich Chef Special 2026, pretty good. Glad I didn’t get a box but worth a 5 pack.

Mag 54 with 4ish years on it. One of those smoked that helps decide if it’s worth seeking a box.. verdict is a yes. Coffee and wheat notes that are delectable.

[JohnS]

18 hours ago, Glass Half Full said:

I'd love to read your review of that one John!  

Sorry to disappoint but this year's notes in my Cuban Cigar Website Smoking Diary are quite perfunctory. They're either excellent, good or ordinary. (Okay, sometimes bad!) For example, I've smoked two Quai d'Orsay Imperiales this year. The one in March was..."Superlative. Simply a great cigar!" and this one was... "Just an awesome cigar!"

I'd have to go back to the one I smoke twelve months ago for a detailed review...

The Quai d'Orsay Imperiales was a regular production Churchill-sized cigar (i.e. with a 47 ring gauge x 178 millimetres or 7 inch length) that was discontinued in 2015. In 2022, Habanos S.A. announced that the cigar will return as a Duty Free and Travel Retail release, in an ornate Travel Humidor holding 20 cigars. The cigar finally hit the market in early 2024.

According to Cuban Cigar Website, the Duty Free and Travel Retail programme was introduced in 2006. Items in this series are released exclusively for sale in Duty Free and Travel Retail stores. They are generally marketed as luxury gift items. They are usually travel humidors, although there have been examples of both jars and tube sets in this category. They have contained both standard production and special cigars. Recently (as in September, 2024), the Hoyo de Monterrey Destinos was released in Andorra. In 2021, the Trinidad Robustos Extra was released after being discontinued in 2012. (Critically-speaking, this release was very well received.)

I had the opportunity to smoke this cigar twice in the second half of 2024 and again today and I can affirm that, in general, this cigar has been exemplary. In a nutshell, as a Julieta No.2-sized cigar (in other words, the factory name for a Churchill) this Quai d'Orsay Imperial Travel Humidor release more than 'holds its own' in comparison to any Cohiba Esplendidos, H.Upmann Sir Winston or Romeo y Julieta Churchills I've smoked. Yes, it's quite a bold statement to make, but quite simply, apart from a touch of cloves in the last third, this QdO Imperiales was all soft brioche, butter, cream, hay, orange citrus and vanilla over two hours of smoking bliss. In terms of construction; here again today it was impeccable. The ash-lengths were ideal, and there wasn't even a hint of needing to re-light anything or indeed touch anything up. It was that sort of cigar.

In comparison to the Quai d'Orsay Nos. 50, 54 and Coronas Claros I've smoked which have all contained the new Quai d'Orsay blend post-2017, this QdO Imperiales had no harsh edges, no cedar, oak or woodiness and no toasted tobacco in the last third. So, imagine the perfect Quai d'Orsay cigar and this would just about describe it. What about the Quai d'Orsay No.52, I hear you say? Well; yes, I smoked one three months ago but I would think that I would need to smoke a few more to make a fair comparison. It goes without saying, but that Quai d'Orsay No.52 was about as brilliant as this Quai d'Orsay Imperiales was today.

It's interesting how different this release of the Quai d'Orsay Imperiales has been different to the discontinued regular production cigar from 2015. The blend in the original QdO Imperiales was more akin to the traditional one; that being, it was herbal, shortbread and citrus, light-wrappered generally and very mild in strength and body. This Travel Humidor release is definitely not like that, especially in terms of its body. Each cigar I've smoked has been full of flavour on the palate.

I continue to be enamoured with this release. It has reinforced in my mind the notion that since mid-2022 Habanos S.A. has tiered these special releases with a higher price point to be of a smoking quality that is greater than the standard regular production offerings. And in a way, that's a shame as part of the appeal of our hobby is the value of resting and aging one's own regular production cigars and judging that value by their improvement over time against an initial outlay. The bigger the difference between those two parameters; the greater the satisfaction. 

I guess we've entered a new phase in Habanos cigars whereby quality cigars requires a much bigger initial monetary outlay. It just means that we will need to enjoy cigars like the Quai d'Orsay Imperiales Travel Humidor less often than we would have in the past. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it currently is.

[Chucko8]

2017 Mdo4 in Bali. Lemon pepper and cake, melding well with the dark and stormy drink

[westg]

La Gloria Cubana No 2 2007

[BG318]

Sancho Panza Non Plus 08. BEA NOV.

Although I usually like Monte or Upmann or a QdO with my coffee, this cigar is really delicious - delicate, with great sea salt notes. No rough edges at all.

By the way, it is a perfect 73F/22.77C outside, a temperature I could have only dreamed about two weeks ago.

[Nohiba]

Some smokes over the past week. 
 

Reyes- ESM AGO 22. Morning all-star, great consistency out of this box. 

Nudie Ninfa - 15 days OTT. Much better than the first one I tried, complexity opening up beautifully. Final third was delightful with that dried fruit sweetness stealing the show. 

 

PLPC from our host - BRM OCT 24. Not a caramel stick just yet, but still a nice smoke. 

Perla from our host - RLO DIC 24

Epi 1 - ORB FEB 24. Epi 1 > Epi 2 for me, and the more Hoyos I have, the more I feel that the Marca profile tends to work better in thinner RGs. 

Sovereign Sun - 15 days OTT. My weekly dose to finish off my Sunday. Love these.

 

[am_andrew]

Montecristo Edmundo

[Havanaaddict]

Last night's cigars

19' RASS (50 Cab) Raisin, Dried Fruit, Cinnamon

23' PSD4 Leather, Nougat, Cocoa 1/2 

 
Blah

Ok

Good

Tasty

Heavenly

[VasileDulap]

BRM MAY 25 El Principe