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Alright here it is lets get it!! Newbie/Veteran Handicapped Boxpass It’s early, and it’s also about that time of the year to gauge interest for a newbie/veteran handicapped box pass. This is to merely to continue gain interest at this point. So, the box would not be sent out until June at the earliest. We are still desperately needing more Veterans!! Please read over this entirely to see if you would like to participate. Fundamental Principles: NEWBIES DON’T FEEL INTIMIDATED!!! This is not about ‘proving yourself’ to the other users. You don’t have to have aged, rare, or limited edition stock to participate. In fact, the whole point is to hook up some beginners who DON’T have a lot of cigars stashed away. Only have commonly available vitolas from 2017/18/19? Perfect. This is for YOU. Put what you’ve got. What constitutes a newbie? Glad you asked. If you got into the game within the last year, I would consider you a newbie. If you’ve been in the game longer than a year but less than 3 shoot me a PM, we’ll talk. If you’ve been in the game longer than 3 years, you are definitely a vet, and if you participated in the past as a newbie, you will be considered a vet for this years pass if you want in. A lot of vets love an opportunity to help newbies expand their tastes and try stuff they might not have been willing to shell out the coin for, never having tried them before. This speaks volumes about the overall character of the folks in this hobby/community. It’s awesome to see folks with experience go out of their way to hook up beginners. I want to make sure that we have a decent mix of newbies and vets so everyone gets a shot at trying new stuff. 20 newbies/10 vets is what I’m shooting for. That way we get some cool, aged or unusual stuff for the beginners to choose from. 1 vet, 2 newbies, 1 vet, 2 newbies etc - this basic structure should keep the stock in the box plentiful and interesting so everyone has a chance to enjoy the process. We were pretty close to this last year, and I think it worked out well. I’m announcing this very well in advance of the start. This will give the newbies some time to add a few more marcas and vitolas to their humis, chat with the participating vets about the process, and get excited! I’m looking to start sometime around June-ish, obviously Covid-19 cooperating would be fantastic! This will be Habanos ONLY. If anyone has interesting NCs you want to contribute to the box, I’m sure someone will be excited to try them! Just count them as a ‘FREEBIE’ stick, separate from your puts. CUSTOM ROLLS. As a bit of a change this year they can count towards your puts/takes. You can add as many of them as ‘FREEBIES’ but will only be counted towards the regular pass contributions/swaps in a proportionate limit, No more than 1 for your contributions/swaps as a “Newbie” Veterans can have up to 2 count. Provenance must be proved and unquestionable. Feel free to gift as many as you would like. This will also be USA only. Sorry folks, due to customs in every country it gets real tricky with tobacco anything these days. The Rules Registration: I’m ideally capping the entry at 20 newbies and 10 veterans. Entry will be first come, first served, in the name of fairness, counted by the order in which they are received. I will be as prompt as I can with responses. A response of affirmation to this thread (e.g., I’m in and a newbie/vet) AND an email to [email protected] with your contact information will be counted as an entry. I will give you a detailed rundown of logistics/etiquette when I email you back. First come, first served. When you respond, declare yourself as either a newbie or a veteran. This will determine which set of puts/takes rules you are expected to adhere to. These will be clarified below. Puts/Takes: I’ll personally sign off on all proposed puts/takes. There shouldn’t be any issues, though, as we are instating a homogenized valuation system. Newbies – You get a handicap on your puts. Each cigar is given a numeric point value based on clear criteria. For each cigar you put, you will receive a 1 point handicap. Please do not try to put in 4 – 2 point cigars to grab an 8 point HTF. Points will be awarded as such. Add the points up for each of these criteria that your put cigar meets: 2 points: Base level score for all regular production, <2 year old cigars 2 more points: 2- 4 years old (Going strictly by the box code dates) 2 more points: 5 – 9 years old (Going strictly by the box code dates) 2 more points: 10 – 14 years old (Going strictly by the box code dates) 2 more points: 15+ years old (Going strictly by the box code dates) Discontinued Sticks: these will be handled on a stick-by-stick or case-to-case basis. There are some discontinued sticks that are more highly sought after than others, like the VR Don Alejandro, Bolivar Coronas Gigantes and have a higher monetary value than say a H.Upmann PC. So, there may be times where a put is not equivalent to a take just because of the point value given to it. I reserve the right to make judgment calls on all puts/takes to be of fair value. LCDH releases: Recent production LCDH/Habanos Specialist cigars will automatically be given a value of 4 to compensate for extra financial costs associated with them. Aged will add more points as described above. EL/RE releases. Recent production EL/RE will automatically be given a point value of 8 to compensate for extra financial costs associated with them. Aged will add more points as described above. Special circumstances may apply to these, for example, the LGC Serie D No. 5 ER Espana, are not a truly HTF stick or as valuable as others, so, there may be times where a put is not equivalent to a take just because of the point value given to it. I reserve the right to make judgment calls on all puts/takes to be of fair value. For example: RyJ Duke EL 2009: 8 (base score) + 8 (10 – 14 yrs) = 16 point value LGC Glorias RE 5ta 2016: 8 (base score) + 2 (2 – 4yrs) = 10 point value Extra points may be awarded on a case to case basis for GR and other extremely expensive/rare puts. For example, a Partagas Serie D No. 4 PET DIC 15 as a put would get: 2 points (base score); 2 point (2-4 years old). If you see a Montecristo no. 4 BRU AGO 10 that you would like to take, it would score: 2 points (base score); 4 points (5-10 years old) for a total value of 6 points. No handicap point on the takes. First person in line receives the box, picks the cigars that he wants, and proposes a trade to replace those cigars with others of equal/greater value from his collection. Puts and Takes are to be approved by the Box Pass Organizer prior to completion. After the trade is complete, that person removes their “Takes” from the box pass cigars, places their “Puts” in with the remaining box pass cigars, then re-packs the box pass cigars in the same manner it was received, and sends it off to the next person in line. Timely turnaround is our goal in order to keep the Bovedas fresh and the cigars in the best possible shape. Box will include cigars, extra bags, labels, and Bovedas. Members will be asked to keep an eye on the condition of the box and to help keep it in good shape. If the box needs replacing at some point, PLEASE let me know. Shipping routes will be plotted such that shipping cost and transit time between members is minimized. The box pass is meant to help some newbies try some HTF or cigars they would otherwise may not have the chance to try. Veterans – 1:1 put/take ratio and “like-for-like” as most other box passes go. Mainly to state the obvious: 1. This is USA pass only. Sorry for other members, international shipping and customs makes it prohibitively expensive and risky. 2. All Cigars placed in the box pass must be: a. In good condition, no broken head/feet, no broken wrappers, etc. b. Authentic. All puts and takes MUST have posted pictures in the box pass thread for all to see. – can’t state this enough, MUST have posted pictures!!! c. Beetle-free to the best of your knowledge. d. No more than 2 of the same cigar in the pass at one time. If all you’ve got as a newbie is something that will put 3 of in the pass, send me a PM we can figure something out. 3. No Non-Cubans cigars. 4. Custom Rolls. Provenance must be proved and un-questionable to be included in the puts/takes, if you would like to gift a custom rolled cigar to the box-pass, please feel free to do so. 5. Limits on put/takes: 5 regular production takes (no limit on puts); 2 HTFs: ER/EL/LCDH takes (no limit on puts). – some folks get heavy on the HTFs and I would like a better selection to be in the box the entire pass. I feel like some vets may miss out on some great sticks because too many takes are approved and I would like to avoid this. 6. The Box Pass is always shipped via USPS Priority Mail with tracking. The tracking number must be communicated via email to the Box Pass Organizer and the next member in line, so that the next person in line can track the package coming in and be prepared for it. Do not publish tracking numbers in the box pass thread. 7. If there is a disagreement about the value of a cigar, the Box Pass Organizer will have final say. That said, I don’t claim to know with absolute certainty the current value of every Habano ever made. If I cannot come to a satisfactory conclusion through reasonable research, I will privately reach out to senior members of this forum for input and assistance. 8. Side trades and gifts between members are encouraged, if the box can physically accommodate them. Be sure to label it clearly for the intended recipient and to mention it in your take/put post, so that those cigars aren’t taken accidentally. 9. And finally, the Millennium Rule! Cigars from 1999, 2000, and 2001 can be put into the box pass, but no more than three (3) cigars from these years combined at any one time. Any cigars put into the pass from these years must be from a box that you've recently smoked from, and you can confirm that they have not exhibited significant construction or taste issues. I will offer some contests towards the end of the pass. These contests will be posted in the same thread, so be following along. Questions? Just ask! Let's have some fun! Newbie: 1. @captaincaveman 2. @Hollywood Ninja 3. @Kyle5575 4. @The Squiggler 5. @La_Tigre 6. @armada_crew 7. @pedro849 8. @lovethehaze 9. @Monocle 10. @wickettedge 11. @Chas.Alpha 12. @elousv 13. @chadlevan 14. @zigarrenziggy 15. @UnoMas 16. @barry12321 17. @StogieHogie 18. @smitte3 19. @MasterYotti 20. @Chibearsv 21. @Reuben Veteran: 1. @FireMedic 2. @wineguy 3. @Habana Mike 4. @bdw1984 5. @taylorgov2 6. @PrairieSmoke 7. @StogieSteve23 8. @BoliDan 9. @Bucky McSwensen 10. @cfc1016 11. @inter4alia

FOH, Looks like another bringing Cubans to the US thread but I wanted a little more info which hopefully my fellow Yanks can help me out with as I very infrequently travel to the US (read twice in 15 years). I'm a American guy living in Thailand working on a ship and thanks to some new United States Coast Guard regulations coming about in 2017 I have to travel to the USA for maritime courses (3 weeks). I'll be flying Bangkok to Dubai then into JFK on Emirates metal and plan to bring my large portable Xikar humidor (about 30 sticks). What is the latest news? I read previously taking the bands off would not be conclusive evidence of them being non Cubans which to me is silly because they can't prove they aren't non Cuban hand rolled sticks. Thanks for any help! Kurt

What's going on brothers and sisters? Been lurking for a while, been smoking for longer so i decided to post. Pretty new to the Habanos game but have had some here and there throughout the years. Fan of fishing, working on cars, bourbon in the summer and scotch in the winter. I sure have learned a lot by going though these posts and I am sure that more knowledge is on the way. Got a pretty wide selection of sticks but my go to are the Ashton VSG and Mag 46. Shout out to the Pres for the hand signed box earlier this year and of course cannot forget Di and Greg. You guys are doing awesome. Looking forward to being here. If you are around hit me up and we can herf and have a cold one...or two....or three Cheers and smoke well. -Shake