"What's Hot What's Not" Tales from the Warehouse - MAY 18

[El Presidente]

What's Hot, What's Not : Tales from the Warehouse. 

Finished 17/5/18. Next Visit scheduled 29/5/18

Summary:

Mixed bag.  

In terms of supply all Cohiba are short on the ground. Talisman we are told are coming to the supply end.  Winstons and Connie A out. Another month goes by without Behike, Monte Especial. Even Monte 2 are low in quantity (25’s).

The wrapper shortage bites hard but we hopefully are entering the final phase of the shortage. Hold on for another 6-9 months.

On the upside I am seeing more Rosado and light wrappers with sheen. Why now? I can only hazard a guess. Did they have them all along and consider them the bottom of the barrel? Surely not!

 

What's Hot

1. Partagas P2.  Who would have thought that this battler would top the list. Rosado magic this month. It has been two good shipments for these. The pick of the piramides right now. MSU DIC 17
2. Partagas Lusitania 25’s:  Magic examples. Few if any dudders. UEB SEP 17
3. Cohiba Corona Especial. So few. So magnificent in quality. ASR FEB 18
4. Trinidad Fundadores. Some of the best since 2005. RAG DIC 17
5. Ramon Allones Gigantes.  Great to see the big girl in such fine form. ABO SEP 17
6. Bolivar Belicoso Finos: still in the top 10 for a reason. MSU FEB 18
7. Partagas Maduro Number 1. Dark oily thin wrappers. Spot on construction. LGR DIC 17
8. H. Upmann Magnum 46. ABO OCT 17 and MSA DIC 17 are the pick if you can. Rosado wrappers a plenty.
9. Trinidad Vigia. Two Trini’s in the top 10. Madness. Love the golden hue to these. RAG ENE 18  
10. Juan Lopez Seleccion Number 2. Fantastic effort to being one of the most consistent cigars out of Cuba over the past 18 months. ATE DIC 17

*date codes are indicative (no exclusive) of the best that I came across.   If you are buying blind elsewhere, you can do worse than to hunt for these.

What's Not

1. Upmann Half Corona (25’s). Surely they realise that someone is going to eventually open the box.
2. Ramon Allones Small Club Coronas : Darts. Ugly darts at that.
3. Montecristo Number 2 (10). I hit a golden seam but 75% of the rest were pathetic.
4. Sancho Panza Belicoso:  I won’t sell them when they are like this.
5. Bolivar Corona Junior. Back to back crap.
6. HDM epicure Number 1. She is due for a comeback but oh lord she needs some help.
7. Partagas Salomones. What’s worse than a small crappy cigar, a big crappy cigar. Someone put some tobacco in these!
8. Cohiba Magicos (25’s).  For the love of God they have Colorado wrappers.
9. Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion 4. I was praying these mastercases were as good as last months. They weren’t.
10. Upmann Noella Jar.  This is for the jar that arrived with no cigars in it. Brilliant……just brilliant.

 

[Monterey]

So what happens to subpar cigars?  Cuba have a return policy?

[Carlo13]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

Upmann Noella Jar.  This is for the jar that arrived with no cigars in it. Brilliant……just brilliant.

?

[OllyBond]

Thank you for the update

[teewinot]

And I was just reading about the Bolivar C.J. today..thinking about pulling the trigger.   

[thedame007]

7 hours ago, Carlo13 said:

  7 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Upmann Noella Jar.  This is for the jar that arrived with no cigars in it. Brilliant……just brilliant.

[Alexw33]

8 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Upmann Noella Jar.  This is for the jar that arrived with no cigars in it. Brilliant……just brilliant.

At least it’s a lovely jar 

[backbone]

I love these threads!

Thanks Prez

[Danimalia]

Looks like Trinidad and RAG has been on a bit of a roll lately, which is great to see. 

Just bought a 10 box of Lusis based off the past 2 months of reports. One of those cigars I always want to have on hand, and I've been out for a few months.

[Kitchen]

So the HDM Epi 1 is not up to par, but what about the Epi 2?

Bought a sample of them a couple months ago and had my first one (ever) this week.  Those things are magical; thought I was drinking my morning cup of coffee with a shot a Frangelico and a bit of pumpkin spice. 

[BinBin]

Glad you made another one of these.Thanks man

[Wailbait]

Thanks for doing these.  This is like going to the farmers market and asking “what’s good today?”. 

[El Presidente]

On 5/18/2018 at 11:15 AM, Monterey said:

So what happens to subpar cigars?  Cuba have a return policy?

bars, clubs, seconds, wholesale markets. 

[El Presidente]

On 5/19/2018 at 6:59 AM, JoeKitchen said:

So the HDM Epi 1 is not up to par, but what about the Epi 2?

Bought a sample of them a couple months ago and had my first one (ever) this week.  Those things are magical; thought I was drinking my morning cup of coffee with a shot a Frangelico and a bit of pumpkin spice. 

The quality of current Epi 2 are "OK".  They are smoking well. 

The quality of Epi 2's. 24 months ago was the stuff of legend. We wait in hope for the return to that level. 

[Freddo]

Great thread ?

[n0s4atu]

This is a great peak behind the curtain. Thanks.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[CrownN7eveN]

On 5/19/2018 at 5:57 PM, El Presidente said:

bars, clubs, seconds, wholesale markets. 

No wonder I’ve always had burn issues with cigars purchased at the club!  In addition, I’ve noticed other patrons of the arts with canoes and tunnels as well.  But I don’t think it really mattered to them, as they were making it rain on the level of raining Sir Winston's, lol.

[IronW]

Thanks for the insight! 

[Danimalia]

On 5/18/2018 at 1:59 PM, JoeKitchen said:

So the HDM Epi 1 is not up to par, but what about the Epi 2?

Bought a sample of them a couple months ago and had my first one (ever) this week.  Those things are magical; thought I was drinking my morning cup of coffee with a shot a Frangelico and a bit of pumpkin spice. 

Do the Epi2 suffer from draw issues? I LOVE the flavor profile, but each box of the Epi2 and Especiales I've bought have had real problems with plugged cigars. I prefer coronas and gorditos to robustos, but maybe I need to try the 2s. 

[Kitchen]

I had one this morning; perfect draw as far as I was concerned.  So was the last one.  Flavors are real nice too, perfect with a cup of coffee. 

 

[Kitchen]

19 minutes ago, Danimalia said:

Do the Epi2 suffer from draw issues? I LOVE the flavor profile, but each box of the Epi2 and Especiales I've bought have had real problems with plugged cigars. I prefer coronas and gorditos to robustos, but maybe I need to try the 2s. 

Forgot to quote you.  I have not yet had enough to be an expert, but two for two perfect draws on the Epi 2 ain't bad at all. 

Great flavor too. 

[Louribal]

Thanks fot the input! Did manage to buy a few you had on the list

[rabidraccoon]

Snagged a 10’er of some Lusis. Would yall recommend putting them down for a bit or are they good to go?

[SMQQKIN]

After 90 days try one. You decide... Likely  better after a  few years stored at the proper conditions.

[Danimalia]

On 5/25/2018 at 4:32 PM, rabidraccoon said:

Snagged a 10’er of some Lusis. Would yall recommend putting them down for a bit or are they good to go?

I concur with the above post. I bought a 10er of Lusis last Spring. I think they were about 18 months from box date when I received them. I ended up wasting a couple smoking them at like 30-60 days after arrival. I thought I had a bum box, or I didn't like Lusis. I put them away for a couple more months and jumped in and they were great. So I'd let them acclimate a bit longer than many other CCs (that's been my experience with P2 as well). Then maybe try them and see if they're to your liking or if you want to age them a bit.