PLPC question

[fookite]

The problem with your comparison is that PLPCs aren't priced like top bordeaux, they are basically as cheap as any cigar coming out of Cuba nowadays -- it's no great sin to smoke them young. Rob always says he smokes half a cab and lays the second half down.

The last cab of PLPC I got was just brutally strong, it was an easy call to just put them down for a long, long rest. I've gotten cabs where they were a lot like the OP described, pleasant toasted tobacco and not much else. Those I have dipped into young, and why not? Just because it *can* develop means I *must* let it develop?

What's wrong with the OP wondering if this is the cab he wants to lay down, and DSG suggesting that maybe he should smoke this one and lay down a different one? Somehow "this is the death of Cuban cigars"? You want to talk about the "death of Cuban cigars," look at the people acting like jerks and snobs when a couple possibly less-experienced smokers dare to try to actually have a discussion about cigars on a discussion forum.

[fookite]

Pretty sure if you waited 5 years to find out you didnt like cigars you'd always get your money back.

I seldom see aged PLPCs turn up on the secondary market, and I've been looking for a while.

I figured the huge aging potential is one of the reasons you can only get PLPCs in a 50 cab.

Smoke half a cab, rest half a cab

Buy another cab and repeat

At around $4us a stick its not a huge commitment when compared to other sticks that need 5 years to open up (I'm looking at you, Esplindidos)

You smoke half a cab without resting !? Perhaps NC's are more up your ally.

[ramon_cojones]

Relax, op can do whatever he wants but the argument was regarding the baseless conclusion that the box won't get any better.

[MontrealRon]

...fookite said :

.... look at the people acting like jerks and snobs when a couple possibly less-experienced smokers dare to try to actually have a discussion about cigars on a discussion forum.

No one else on this thread has been doing anything other than having a rational, polite discussion.

Your attitude, however, has consistantly been sarcastic, agressive, confrontational and patronising.

Some of the points you make are well considered,

but your manner of presenting them entirely negates their value.

Perhaps another forum might be more up your alley.

[Profmd]

Have a box from Rob from AME Feb 2013.

Had to say hated them fresh! But now at just over a year,

I am starting to see what an aged one can be like.

Just a hint of sweetness coming through.

Makes me excited about the years to come!!

[fookite]

...fookite said :

.... look at the people acting like jerks and snobs when a couple possibly less-experienced smokers dare to try to actually have a discussion about cigars on a discussion forum.

No one else on this thread has been doing anything other than having a rational, polite discussion.

Your attitude, however, has consistantly been sarcastic, agressive, confrontational and patronising.

Some of the points you make are well considered,

but your manner of presenting them entirely negates their value.

Perhaps another forum might be more up your alley.

mk05, for telling a few people having a talk that they will be "the death of Cuban cigars" was being a jerk.

[lestabantam]

Just last week I bought five of these from a 2007 cab. I had one at the weekend and it was lovely. Ive only ever had a couple of young ones and they were nothing like this aged one. The seller told me that he regards 2007 as the best year for these in the last 20, he'd know better than me. I cant think of a nicer pc apart from possibly a siglo 2 I had with a good few years of age.

[MontrealRon]

mk05, for telling a few people having a talk that they will be "the death of Cuban cigars" was being a jerk.

It seems to me that mk05 was being critial of HSA for producing cigars that are pandering to the

"instant gratification culture" of smokers more used to NCs.

(The same might also be said of the trend towards more larger RGs.)

While he was also critical of that "culture" as well,

I do not feel that he was being disrespectful to the previous posters.

Whether he is correct or not is certainly debatable;

many recent boxes that I have sampled show great potential for further development

as well as considerable up-front flavours.

Once again, a wine analogy -

When the 1982 bordeaux were released, there was so much rich fruit,

that they were immediately delicious.

Many wine critics at the time said that they would never age.

Robert Parker made his reputation by bucking that generally accepted belief,

highly praising the '82s as perhaps the best vintage ever.

Time has shown him to have been entirely correct.

It is entirely possible that smokers 10-20 years from now may well look back

to our time as the golden age of Habanos.

[Livo]

Any advice on how to tell, specifically with a stick that doesn't always show much up front, like the PLPC, whether it has what it takes?

Should if be stronger to begin with? Should it be darker in the final third? Is there no way to know?

[polarbear]

You smoke half a cab without resting !? Perhaps NC's are more up your ally.

I smoke NC's as well

A good cigar is a good cigar, regardless of where its from.

"Ressting" is a relative term. I know people who argue that 5 years is a rest.

After a box arrives I tend to let it sit for around 6-12 months, Then it takes me around 2 years to smoke through half that cab. Then I put the rest down for at least 3 years.

While whats left of my first cab is sitting, I order another ensuring I never have less than half a cab of fresh PLPC's and half a cab with some age.

I dont mind PLPCs with that touch of mongrel in them (as Rob likes to say) but also enjoy them with some age on them. This system seems to work with a lot of the cigars I really enjoy, so I've got a bunch of half empty boxes that I've not smoked out of for around 2-3 years.

[Smallclub]

Any advice on how to tell, specifically with a stick that doesn't always show much up front, like the PLPC, whether it has what it takes?

Should if be stronger to begin with? Should it be darker in the final third? Is there no way to know?

Check this thread:

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=117297&hl=mache#entry454351

[saintsmokealot]

Buy cigars to smoke now and buy cigars to smoke later... Some cigars need age some do not. It is all up to personal preference.

[mk05]

I am certainly annoyed at Altadis, who must have put pressure on HSA to compete on the level with NC producers, for the reason of consumer crossover. Create crossover products, meaning Tabacuba would start to make cigars that are more approachable immediately, don't have much variability, and have big identifiable bands that are becoming similar to the NC variety for easy market transfer. Indeed, it was the other way around for decades. How the mighty have fallen, as the tides have changed...

As for PLPC, I actually think that they need much more than 5 years where most other cigars seem to reach maturity. '02s are absolutely fantastic right now, with '04 coming around, and '08 being way too strong still to get any clean notes without interference. '11s? Forget it, not even worth getting sour about it. Here's the kicker though, as mentioned in the previous post if the joke threw you off. '12s tasted like they were 4 years old when released, yet still do, 2 years later!

[Blakes]

It is entirely possible that smokers 10-20 years from now may well look back

to our time as the golden age of Habanos.

Not if they like Coronas!

[aes8]

Your attitude, however, has consistantly been sarcastic, agressive, confrontational and patronising.

Some of the points you make are well considered,

but your manner of presenting them entirely negates their value.

Perhaps another forum might be more up your alley.

I almost thought I posted in the thread prior to this