in your experience, cigars from 99-2001 that really stood up?

[El Presidente]

Many cigars from 1999-2001 suffered from poor construction. The reasons are well documented (over production/inexperienced rollers etal).

I can tell you first hand being in the trade that it was heartbreaking to see so many great cigars such as Punch SS1/ DC cabs/Churchills.... simply unsmokeable.

Not all were bad by a long way. There were still plenty of good cigars. Having said that if I were running a hand picked program back then, I know the stock I would be able to put a stamp of approval on would be less than half what it is today.

However, this thread is not about the bad but rather the good.

For those that have been around a while and secured stock from that period (either then or later), let us know your experiences, the good the bad and the ugly with particular focus on those cigars which were consistently stellar from this period (99-01) in your experience.

[Duxnutz]

Have a box (10 ct) of '99 Sancho Panza Coronas Gigantes acquired a couple years ago that are smoking like a dream. I did however have to open 3 boxes to find the one I bought.

[CUBANO]

Have a box of Punch RS#12 that are delicious and very smokeable. Forgot to mention a box of Black Prince from 2000 or 2001 that was great as well.

[Maplepie]

ERdM PC, Punch SS2, Punch Churchill (mine, anyways), Belvederes of all kinds. Punch RS12, Bolivar Demi Tasse (thanks Chris! ), Dip 1s

Partagas SdC 3s and 1s, Rye's Black Princes,

Will edit as I remember more.

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[Rye]

I have smoked through 3 boxes of Punch Black Prince from this era, and it pains me to hold off on decimating my remaining cigars. All fantastic, no plugs, and very much still alive.

It sounds like I've been lucky with the CoLa's from that era as well, as all I've smoked have been a treat.

I've been gifted quite a few more from friends stashes and I've had better success than failure rate by far.

1 bad Partagas charlottes to 2 good ones, stellar Boli Coronas, and many more. I am not scared of the era at all, but I'd have to see a box before buying, or have it come from a trusted friend before I'd buy, especially if paying any sort of "aged premium"

[shlomo]

Had 3 boxes of Des Dieux. One was absolutely stellar. One was mediocre and tannic. One was full of tent pegs.

Box of Bolivar Lonsdales have been out of this world.

Box of RyJ Churchills were mediocre at best to me, but some friends absolutely loved them. They have them all now.

Two boxes of Punch Churchills. One was pure peanut butter and amazing, albeit slightly tight. Other was lackluster with little flavour, but at least the draw was decent.

Punch DC. Split a box. Apparently I got the 12 that were awful, as the guy I split with said his were outstanding. Good draw on them, just not much in terms of flavours.

Have some Black Prince and Ninfas that I haven't dug too deeply into yet from that period, as well as a few year prior. Slightly worried about the Ninfas, but just because of their vitola, not for any other reason.

I have no worries about provenance from any of these. No storage irregularities or problems.

Have had many, many, many fivers from random cigars from this period that have just been awful and FAR too tight. The list includes:

BPC

Esplendido

Partagas SDC 1 or 2, cant remember

Monte A

Sir Winstons

and some others...

No need to dig deep and find a gem at this point imo unless buying from a private collector who has owned the box for a decade. Best boxes have all been picked through dozens of times through various retailers worldwide.

[Maplepie]

Box of Bolivar Lonsdales have been out of this world.

x5

Best Bolivars I've EVER had!

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[greenpimp]

Upmann coronas--very good, representative of classic marca but some too tight

Partagas Lonsdales--all quite excellent, among my favorite

ERDM Tainos--very very good, still too strong

Punch SS#2--great cab, only a few left

Partagas Churchill Deluxe--good, simple but strong

Bolivar Inmensas--excellent, among the best I've had from boxes dated 97-08

Bolivar coronas---very good, ample flavor but some too tight

I'll think if there are any more. Overall this is all that sticks out as good or better in my mind that I smoked. Had more than a few stinkers in the period.

[ogus]

RYJ Churchill

[Smallclub]

Bolivar Demi Tasse (thanks Chris! ),

You have secured a stock of Bolivar demi tasse? (Robs question is "For those that have been around a while and secured stock from that period (either then or later")

[ehdg]

For me the 3 best cigars where all from 2001 n where in no order.

1) H. Upmann 2's

2) SLR DC

3) QdO Clairo Corona

[Smallclub]

Based on box purchases and stock I have checked in B&M's:

Good:

SLR churchills, Punch coronas and RS11, Partagas coronas, Upmann Super corona, Sancho Panza Molinos.

Not so good:

Punch Black Prince, Juan Lopez in general, Hoyo du xxx series;

Bad :

Upmann Monarchs non tubed, Punch DC and churchill÷

I'd add that many Lusitanias purchased as singles were showing a serious lack of ligero.

[tmac77]

Cohiba Lancero from 2000 smoking another one right now... brilliant!!

[Charltonc]

I just picked up a 50 cab of slr dcs from 01 to split with some brothers, those have been amazing in the past and I hope these are as good. I've had good luck with 01 slr serie a from a cab, slr lonsdale from 98 from a cab and some from dress boxes, had some tasty 01 sir Winnie's, and some tasty 01 rass. I've had some horrible 99'slr church ills ( no draw), crappy slr regios very musty, and some average cohibas from 01.

[Skyfall]

The First w happen to be 2 of my all time favorite sticks:

2000 partagas churchill de luxe

2001 SLR Lonsdale

2000 Partagas Lonsdale

1999 HU Sir Winston

[rcarlson]

2000 Boli Gigantes got it all. Still have 4 or 5. Can't wait to dig in.

[BonVivant]

However, this thread is not about the bad but rather the good.

For those that have been around a while and secured stock from that period (either then or later), let us know your experiences, the good the bad and the ugly with particular focus on those cigars which were consistently stellar from this period (99-01) in your experience.

Diplomaticos ’01 no.1 and 3

El Rey del Mundo ’99 Gran Coronas and ’01 Tainos

Hoyo de Monterrey ’99 Epicure no.1 and Hoyo des Dieux, ’01 Hoyo du Dauphin

H.Upmann 00 Connoisseur no.1, '99-00 No.2 and ’99 Coronas

La Gloria Cubana ’01 Medaille d’Or no.1 and no. 2, ’00 Tainos

Partagas April-June ’99 Serie du Connaisseur no.1 and Jan ’99 Très Petit Coronas

Por Larrañaga ’99-00 Montecarlos/Panetelas

Punch ’01 Coronas and ’00 Petit Punch

QdO ’01 Gran Coronas and Panetelas

Ramon Allones ’00 Specially Selected

San Cristobal de la Habana ’99 El Morro and La Fuerza

Sancho Panza ’99 Corona Gigantes

[tmac77]

Looks like this thread might, once again, turn into a list of all Habanos produced between 99 - 01

[shlomo]

What I find interesting is that nobody is mentioning any (or very few) of the best sellers or most popular cigars (nowadays at least).

Monte 2, Monte 4, RASS, BRC, BBF, Upmann 2, CoRo, PSD4, JL2, Epi 2, etc....

Some notable exceptions seem to be the bigger sticks like the RyJ Churchill, Punch Churchill and DC, Lusitania, Sir Winston.

Robusto and pyramids (belicosos) seem to be invisible during those times from the best or the worst lists. Its like nobody has them, nobody is trading or selling them, or they are all in private collections waiting to be smoked, or already smoked, and there is so little mention of them. Ever.

I think it may be easier to find a 1970s Monte 2 than some from 1999. Is it just me?

[hoyopr]

Have smoked through 3 boxes of Boli CE from 99 and generally very good construction, some sticks have been tannic. Still have one box left which I might leave for a while longer.

[polarbear]

I got my hands on a couple of '00 Diplo 1 & 3 boxes and everyone I've smoked has been exceptional.

I've got a box of RA898s there that are from 01. If even one of those is plugged I think I'll cry :-(

[Ken Gargett]

SLR DC. daylight second.

[cybermadhatter]

01 Unicos

01 Clasicos

01 SP Coronas

00 Punch RS11

01 scdh el principe

01 q d o coronas

[CaptainQuintero]

What I find interesting is that nobody is mentioning any (or very few) of the best sellers or most popular cigars (nowadays at least).

Monte 2, Monte 4, RASS, BRC, BBF, Upmann 2, CoRo, PSD4, JL2, Epi 2, etc....

Some notable exceptions seem to be the bigger sticks like the RyJ Churchill, Punch Churchill and DC, Lusitania, Sir Winston.

Robusto and pyramids (belicosos) seem to be invisible during those times from the best or the worst lists. Its like nobody has them, nobody is trading or selling them, or they are all in private collections waiting to be smoked, or already smoked, and there is so little mention of them. Ever.

I think it may be easier to find a 1970s Monte 2 than some from 1999. Is it just me?

I've been staring at an Upmann #2 from 2000 in my humi all week, it's sat quietly there for about four years, I'll let you know soon!

I've enjoyed Punch Monarcas, Partagas Astorias/Lonsdales/Seleccion Privada in fact Partagas seems to have faired quite well from what I've smoked.

Re Monte, the best tasting box of cigars that I've ever gone through was a ten count of 2001 Monte #3 which got me into cigars seriously

[Philski]

Robusto and pyramids (belicosos) seem to be invisible during those times from the best or the worst lists. Its like nobody has them, nobody is trading or selling them, or they are all in private collections waiting to be smoked, or already smoked, and there is so little mention of them. Ever.

Well, I'll try to rectify that in my own small way. I have a cab of '00 BBFs that were horrible when I first got them in around '06; ignored them until earlier this year, and what a turnaround. Lovely, intense cigars now.

The only others I still have from that period are about half a box of '01 Cohiba Lanceros, a 96++ cigar in my opinion. I used to have many more from that era, but I was burgled in '04 and my entire humidor was lifted; luckily, my insurance company coughed up handsomely, so although I lost a couple of boxes of the really good early ELs, I probably did quite well out of it!