What Cigar are You Smoking? 2023

[pantsBoots]

JFK's favorite! Why can't they be replaced?

His favorite was the Petit Upmann, which was similar in size, but supposedly a slightly different blend - I believe the Petit Corona was the high end mareva in the Upmann line with the PU being a step below, but above the Epicure, Majestic, and Coronas Major and Minor.

They were sadly discontinued in late 2016. I always kept a couple boxes on hand, but when that was announced, I hoovered up all the boxes I had room for - 8 boxes in total when they left the market. I continued to smoke through them, hoping it was a fluke, or perhaps a discontinuation a la Sancho Panza Non Plus, which is STILL listed as discontinued in the HSA catalog, but is still being produced. Unfortunately, the last boxes anyone saw were dated January '17. I have a couple of those and they were exemplary in terms of construction and wrapper quality. As a matter of fact, the final production was some of the best Upmann PC I had ever seen.

I've got 2 full boxes plus this recently-opened one left. I smoke through them as a special occasion smoke, which is unfortunate because I used to smoke 1-2 of these every week. With the new pricing and availability issues that have hit Havana cigars, it's a moot point now anyway, as I probably wouldn't be willing to pay the asking price.

 

[Grangerous]

Rocky Patel Edge

 

[AJL67]

Boli Sublime from el laquito for the festival.

 

[cshubhra]

After I ordered the Oliva 2022 advent calendar(Now on sale at Cigar Page for 99.99) , I lit up a Oliva Serie O (Possibly I bought it as a part of 2021 calendar)

Almost all Oliva cigars taste excellent (specially the Melanio, the Master Blends 3 and the variety of Cains) and offer excellent value.

 

[AJL67]

His favorite was the Petit Upmann, which was similar in size, but supposedly a slightly different blend - I believe the Petit Corona was the high end mareva in the Upmann line with the PU being a step below, but above the Epicure, Majestic, and Coronas Major and Minor.

They were sadly discontinued in late 2016. I always kept a couple boxes on hand, but when that was announced, I hoovered up all the boxes I had room for - 8 boxes in total when they left the market. I continued to smoke through them, hoping it was a fluke, or perhaps a discontinuation a la Sancho Panza Non Plus, which is STILL listed as discontinued in the HSA catalog, but is still being produced. Unfortunately, the last boxes anyone saw were dated January '17. I have a couple of those and they were exemplary in terms of construction and wrapper quality. As a matter of fact, the final production was some of the best Upmann PC I had ever seen.

I've got 2 full boxes plus this recently-opened one left. I smoke through them as a special occasion smoke, which is unfortunate because I used to smoke 1-2 of these every week. With the new pricing and availability issues that have hit Havana cigars, it's a moot point now anyway, as I probably wouldn't be willing to pay the asking price.

Found you a box (or boxes) of 2016 from a swiss vendor for the low low (LOL) price of $480 a box ... hahaha

 

[onestrangeone]

Curivari Sun Grown with a cup of Ethiopian coffee

 

[onestrangeone]

Found you a box (or boxes) of 2016 from a swiss vendor for the low low (LOL) price of $480 a box ... hahaha

Damn! What a deal!

 

[danimalia]

What's so depressing about the Upmann PC thing is that Habanos does smaller cigars so well. Like, I had a Rafael Gonzales perla a month or so ago, and it was fantastic and by all accounts has become a bit of a minor hit due to its quality and value...

I just don't understand why they can't throw a bone to the traditionalists. They can still sell their 4.3" X 56 new releases to the whales, but just do some seasonal runs of the classics as a sort of cigar fan service.

Smoking a My Father Special S from the CRA pack

 

[mtwaller]

601 Blue Label Maduro

 

[Rockyrepose]

Apostate cigars The Feathered Serpent.

 

[Zamora]

His favorite was the Petit Upmann, which was similar in size, but supposedly a slightly different blend - I believe the Petit Corona was the high end mareva in the Upmann line with the PU being a step below, but above the Epicure, Majestic, and Coronas Major and Minor.

They were sadly discontinued in late 2016. I always kept a couple boxes on hand, but when that was announced, I hoovered up all the boxes I had room for - 8 boxes in total when they left the market. I continued to smoke through them, hoping it was a fluke, or perhaps a discontinuation a la Sancho Panza Non Plus, which is STILL listed as discontinued in the HSA catalog, but is still being produced. Unfortunately, the last boxes anyone saw were dated January '17. I have a couple of those and they were exemplary in terms of construction and wrapper quality. As a matter of fact, the final production was some of the best Upmann PC I had ever seen.

I've got 2 full boxes plus this recently-opened one left. I smoke through them as a special occasion smoke, which is unfortunate because I used to smoke 1-2 of these every week. With the new pricing and availability issues that have hit Havana cigars, it's a moot point now anyway, as I probably wouldn't be willing to pay the asking price.

He did favor candelas so maybe Petit Upmann was made with them. I know Cuba stopped offering candelas after the Embargo because it was mostly Americans who bought them. That really sucks they were discontinued, H Upmann does seem to be pretty sidelined by other Habanos brands. I've never had any Cubans but I've enjoyed all of the the non Cuban H Upmann's I've smoked, especially AJ's. I know Cuban Legacy brands are totally different from actual Cuban beyond branding lol.

What's so depressing about the Upmann PC thing is that Habanos does smaller cigars so well. Like, I had a Rafael Gonzales perla a month or so ago, and it was fantastic and by all accounts has become a bit of a minor hit due to its quality and value...

I just don't understand why they can't throw a bone to the traditionalists. They can still sell their 4.3" X 56 new releases to the whales, but just do some seasonal runs of the classics as a sort of cigar fan service.

Smoking a My Father Special S from the CRA pack

Yeah I'm not a big fan of big cigars, I much prefer smaller ones. Cheaper, easier to hold and smoke, quicker, and far less risk of nic sickness. My Father is a great brand, I've loved everything I've had from Don Pepin

 

[onestrangeone]

Nub Habano with some Panamanian coffee

 

[pantsBoots]

Found you a box (or boxes) of 2016 from a swiss vendor for the low low (LOL) price of $480 a box ... hahaha

Pass. Hard pass. I think the most I paid was around $150 each. They were under $100 when I started buying them. I'm pretty certain I'm done buying Havanas, unless I can scoop up some more buys from people leaving the hobby forever.

 

[AJL67]

Pass. Hard pass. I think the most I paid was around $150 each. They were under $100 when I started buying them. I'm pretty certain I'm done buying Havanas, unless I can scoop up some more buys from people leaving the hobby forever.

Even those people are gouging, I have friends with million dollar collections (actually more than that) and a couple of them I have tried to buy sticks off, these are people I've known for decades and they don't care they are getting what the replacement cost is + vintage. They are happy to give you a few sticks but you bring up money and you're paying the going rates. To be fair these are the same people that at a herf will gift you a Cubatobacco 25th and be like "enjoy!" (that's a stick that goes for a grand now ... so yah again can't really complain lol).

Best bet these days is back door sticks, the ones that come banded are still going for 500-600 a bundle for the Cohiba Sig sticks, but the true backdoor sticks without bands are 300-400 a bundle which is still frigging crazy but easier to buy a few to hold you over in between pipes.

 

[pantsBoots]

Even those people are gouging, I have friends with million dollar collections (actually more than that) and a couple of them I have tried to buy sticks off, these are people I've known for decades and they don't care they are getting what the replacement cost is + vintage. They are happy to give you a few sticks but you bring up money and you're paying the going rates. To be fair these are the same people that at a herf will gift you a Cubatobacco 25th and be like "enjoy!" (that's a stick that goes for a grand now ... so yah again can't really complain lol).

Best bet these days is back door sticks, the ones that come banded are still going for 500-600 a bundle for the Cohiba Sig sticks, but the true backdoor sticks without bands are 300-400 a bundle which is still frigging crazy but easier to buy a few to hold you over in between pipes.

Can't blame them at all. When I picked up the pipe in 2020, I sold a bunch of cigar boxes to build a cellar. Had I waited a couple more years, I could have built the same cellar with half the boxes. Oh well - c'est la vie.

If those backdoor sticks are the ones I'm thinking of from John, they're fantastic. But again, I was buying bundles of those just a couple years ago for half what he's asking! The best pickup was several bundles of the La Reina when he was selling them for maybe $300/bundle. They're true to form and after trying a couple, I buried them deep for a decade from now.

The silver lining to all of this is after spending years smoking almost entirely Havanas with some Fuente thrown in, I've begun re-exploring the NC market and finding some real gems. And with the market being so flooded, there are great deals to be had if you know what you like and where to look.

Now go smoke a KSA Cohiba with the palm trees on the band! Make sure to post a pic.

 

[AJL67]

Can't blame them at all. When I picked up the pipe in 2020, I sold a bunch of cigar boxes to build a cellar. Had I waited a couple more years, I could have built the same cellar with half the boxes. Oh well - c'est la vie.

If those backdoor sticks are the ones I'm thinking of from John, they're fantastic. But again, I was buying bundles of those just a couple years ago for half what he's asking! The best pickup was several bundles of the La Reina when he was selling them for maybe $300/bundle. They're true to form and after trying a couple, I buried them deep for a decade from now.

The silver lining to all of this is after spending years smoking almost entirely Havanas with some Fuente thrown in, I've begun re-exploring the NC market and finding some real gems. And with the market being so flooded, there are great deals to be had if you know what you like and where to look.

Now go smoke a KSA Cohiba with the palm trees on the band! Make sure to post a pic.

Don't like the KSA sticks at all, too strong for me, i've had a few different ones and they just aren't my thing.

Johnny's sticks (not the world famous) are top notch and his prices are still lower than most, on the plus side he lives about an hour from me and if he drops them in the mail in the afternoon i get them the next morning LOL If i was going to suggest anything from him now it would be the CoRos and the Sig 4s and Sig 6s .. of which I'm smoking a 4 right now.

 

[pantsBoots]

Don't like the KSA sticks at all, too strong for me, i've had a few different ones and they just aren't my thing.

Johnny's sticks (not the world famous) are top notch and his prices are still lower than most, on the plus side he lives about an hour from me and if he drops them in the mail in the afternoon i get them the next morning LOL If i was going to suggest anything from him now it would be the CoRos and the Sig 4s and Sig 6s .. of which I'm smoking a 4 right now.

Figured you had tried a couple. John's great. I've got some RyJ CF clones he had rolled a couple few years ago - perhaps the power of suggestion, but they had that RyJ character. I'm bringing those and some Sig3s of his I found hiding in my cooler. They're 5 years old, so should be ready to go.

 

[onestrangeone]

J21 #Tat Tuesday with a cup of Ethiopian coffee

 

[AJL67]

My last 2015 RASS from a cab, yr hopefully I’ll have more soon

 

[pantsBoots]

Old and crusty, from the mid 2000s.