Dunhill Selección Suprema No. 504 Don Candido

[s1911]

I no longer have these, but figured I'd post a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This box was from 1959 or 1961 I don't remember.

 

 

[finecigar]

Very nice. The size reminds me of the sharks. Did you have a chance to smoke one?

[s1911]

5 minutes ago, finecigar said:

Very nice. The size reminds me of the sharks. Did you have a chance to smoke one?

Smoked one with a damaged foot, it was very good but not worth keeping. I've had much better cigars from the 80's that I wish I had more of.

Thankfully my palate isn't geared towards super old cigars..unfortunately with wine it's a different story.

[Smoke6]

Love the size and shape as well!  They do resemble sharks--wonder if CF saw some of these? 

[finecigar]

Just now, s1911 said:

Smoked one with a damaged foot, it was very good but not worth keeping. I've had much better cigars from the 80's that I wish I had more of.

Thankfully my palate isn't geared towards super old cigars..unfortunately with wine it's a different story.

With the value of Don Candido cigars nowadays, I'm sure the return was much better than the flavor. You could probably get some vintage first growths in exchange for that box  Thanks for sharing - unique looking cigars. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I too had smoked one.  As you'd expect in a cigar that old, very clean after taste but the flavors were quite delicate.  Not "smoking paper" delicate, but more towards that end of the spectrum.  Even burn and was a cigar to smoke to the nub.  Real treat.

[Fugu]

44 minutes ago, finecigar said:

Very nice. The size reminds me of the sharks.

Boxpressed Campana. Looks like they had been repacked from a 25 SBN to a 50 SLB.

[s1911]

11 minutes ago, Fugu said:

Boxpressed Campana. Looks like they had been repacked from a 25 SBN to a 50 SLB.

Oddly enough some of the other 50+ year old cabs I've had looked pressed too and they were untouched. I wonder if they were packed tighter and with age flatten out more?

Ill post some more pics when I sort them.

[NSXCIGAR]

28 minutes ago, Fugu said:

Boxpressed Campana. Looks like they had been repacked from a 25 SBN to a 50 SLB.

Funny, I thought the same thing.

There's no way a cigar in 50 cab would be pressed like that. Those sticks are nearly square. In addition, CCW lists only a SBN 25 as packaging for these, and there's no record of any SLB packaging ever being used for any Don Candido model, ever. If this box is in fact from 1959-1961, it's a post-revolution box, meaning there's no reason the SLB shouldn't be on record, but it is not listed by MRN or CCW. It's possible that this box is much older than 1959, and this would further indicate the cigars have been transplanted to it from a SBN. It's possible the SLB was used for the SS 504 at some point from 1935-1959. But Don Candido was such a well-known and famous marca, and all examples would have been sold in London, so I find it very odd that there's no record of the SLB. If it is genuine, this may be an extremely rare packaging format.

[NSXCIGAR]

To amend the above post slightly, there is some discrepancy between MRN and CCW. According to MRN, SLB 50s were used for Don Candido Seleccion No 500 which was a 48 x 165mm parejo and the SLB 25s were used for the Seleccion No. 508 which was a 28 x 175mm Panetelas Largas. All other models, including the Seleccion No. 504 Campanas, were packaged in SBN exclusively, so no record of any SLB being used for this SS No. 504.

[s1911]

3 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

To amend the above post slightly, there is some discrepancy between MRN and CCW. According to MRN, SLB 50s were used for Don Candido Seleccion No 500 which was a 48 x 165mm parejo and the SLB 25s were used for the Seleccion No. 508 which was a 28 x 175mm Panetelas Largas. All other models, including the Seleccion No. 504 Campanas, were packaged in SBN exclusively, so no record of any SLB being used for this SS No. 504.

MRN is missing quite a few in his original book, haven't sen the new one yet. These were not purchased at auction or second hand. to give you an idea of the amount of pressing here is a picture of a different cab from the same collection.

[NSXCIGAR]

You're right, for some reason, very old bundles I have seen do appear much more "pressed".

But the box is still a mystery. I don't think MRN is missing much post-revolution. Examples? He seems to be quite thorough in his accounting of the Don Candido formats, even claiming to measure the Seleccion No. 500 himself. 

[s1911]

Just now, NSXCIGAR said:

You're right, for some reason, very old bundles I have seen do appear much more "pressed".

But the box is still a mystery. I don't think MRN is missing much post-revolution. Examples? He seems to be quite thorough in his accounting of the Don Candido formats, even claiming to measure the Seleccion No. 500 himself. 

I'll post some more that I don't believe are in the book because I remember checking at the time. The new book(s) ...from the looks of things has every Cuban cigar ever made in it, somehow I don't see me shelling out the money to purchase them.. or even having the opportunity.

[TheMonk]

Beautiful!

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, s1911 said:

I'll post some more that I don't believe are in the book because I remember checking at the time. The new book(s) ...from the looks of things has every Cuban cigar ever made in it, somehow I don't see me shelling out the money to purchase them.. or even having the opportunity.

I'd love to see them.

Also, don't forget that much of that may be pre-revolution, so you'll have to give MRN a break on that. The only reason I'm picking on this one is that Don Candido/Don Alfredo happen to be very well accounted for both pre-rev and post-rev. Any other marca, I'd rely less on MRN. 

In this case, I'm sure an email or phone call to Dunhill could shed more light on it. 

As far as the new edition of MRN, I would like to see photos and notes of many of the cigars only listed in the 2nd ed. like the Dunhill Selections. It appears that it's going to have expanded and updated tasting notes on all of the cigars in the 2nd ed. and will include the same for every special release which of course numbers into the mid- hundreds with humidors and festival releases, etc. Also, a lot more info on print, memorabilia, advertising, collectibles, etc. It will be the most comprehensive work on the subject of Cuban cigars (or any cigars) ever made, by a factor of 10. The REs and LEs since 2004 alone would result in a near doubling in size of the 2nd ed.

As a side note, according to Nino, as of 10/19 (yesterday), the work is basically complete with MRN ready to give final word on the printing and run.

[luv2fly]

Very nice!  Let me pick my chin up from the floor....

 

Thanks for the post!

[s1911]

1 hour ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I'd love to see them.

Also, don't forget that much of that may be pre-revolution, so you'll have to give MRN a break on that. The only reason I'm picking on this one is that Don Candido/Don Alfredo happen to be very well accounted for both pre-rev and post-rev. Any other marca, I'd rely less on MRN. 

In this case, I'm sure an email or phone call to Dunhill could shed more light on it. 

As far as the new edition of MRN, I would like to see photos and notes of many of the cigars only listed in the 2nd ed. like the Dunhill Selections. It appears that it's going to have expanded and updated tasting notes on all of the cigars in the 2nd ed. and will include the same for every special release which of course numbers into the mid- hundreds with humidors and festival releases, etc. Also, a lot more info on print, memorabilia, advertising, collectibles, etc. It will be the most comprehensive work on the subject of Cuban cigars (or any cigars) ever made, by a factor of 10. The REs and LEs since 2004 alone would result in a near doubling in size of the 2nd ed.

As a side note, according to Nino, as of 10/19 (yesterday), the work is basically complete with MRN ready to give final word on the printing and run.

I completely forgot the book is "post revolution" and obviously the reason they're not in there.

The new one is going to be insane I'm sure but probably more than I care to spend. Just looking through the original one is dangerous to the wallet!