Top 12 all time retail stinkers.....Number 1 : Habanos Estuche X Festival 2008

[BrightonCorgi]

16 hours ago, JohnS said:

Yes.

That's how they were being sold the first time I tried them.  I think the blend was different or the quality improved on the coffin version.

[La_Tigre]

Number 4

Partagas Culebra 

Honestly.....how many people actually smoke these on a regular basis? Have only smoked twice, once burning all 3 at once for the wth factor. Have one loaded and ready in the travel stash.

Sure...one off buy. Great fun, decent smoke. However who has two or more boxes (9 coffins per box) in their humidor. ✅ 5 in total

Who has ever paid full price? ✅ 

Does anyone here smoke them on a regular basis? They are good and good fun when there’s company and four’s a crowd. Definitely a bust at the price point and quality as they tend to be wind tunnels.

[El Presidente]

Number 3

Sancho Panza Non Plus 

Yes, it has plenty of fans on FOH however FOH is not normal.....as if I had to tell you 

I have spoken to retailers from San Sebastian to Santiago Chile and you can't give this cigar away without a discount and a hefty one at that.

For retailers it is a shelf sitting, cash flow sucking, dust collecting machine.  It has always been thus. 

Mind you I would love to have 200 boxes today!

 

[Paladin865]

I have a few sticks of Non Plus, I like them. Had a Sancho Panza Regional Benelux a good cigar 

[BoliDan]

People don't like non plus? Sanchos are awesome

[El Presidente]

3 minutes ago, BoliDan said:

People don't like non plus? Sanchos are awesome

I think it is time for a poll 

[BrightonCorgi]

Spotty construction and underwhelming flavor is what I think of the Non-Plus.  A pass for me.  I am sure there are some great boxes of them out there, but I am not going to chase them.  SP lack of popularity is warranted; sorry.

[mprach024]

52 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Spotty construction and underwhelming flavor is what I think of the Non-Plus.  A pass for me.  I am sure there are some great boxes of them out there, but I am not going to chase them.  SP lack of popularity is warranted; sorry.

100% agree with @BrightonCorgi, SP are just never something I chase or even think about asking Di a box for on the rare occasions they showed up.

SPs remind me of the MDO4, no one fussed over them until they finally disappeared.  The Beli is a good cigar, but it’s just that, a good cigar, of which there’s plenty of options for a “good” cigar.  I can’t claim to be an NP expert, I’ve only had a handful, usually thrown in with a bundle of cigars I wanted.  I honestly never gave them a second thought.  

 

[westg]

I have 10 singles . And you are right 200 boxes would go in 200 seconds. Want what we cant have. Where do I put them . The thing is the ones that I have smoked that looked bloody ugly were terrific . The text book examples were bloody awful. It would be nice to have a box or two. Would much prefer Dip  4 and Upmann PC they are real casualties

[JohnS]

When the Sancho Panza Non Plus was announced as discontinued I acquired two boxes solely because of the propensity for deleted Habanos product to 'sprout', 'grow wings' and come good long after its disappeared. I mean, I thought the classic fairy tale of an ugly duckling becoming a beautiful swan was just that...a fairy tale. But when it comes to Habanos cigars the Trinidad Robusto Extra, Sancho Panza Molinos, La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No.4 are just three examples of cigars that I've really appreciated long after they stopped been available.

It begs the question...why don't Habanos S.A just make these type of cigars that are rustic somewhat when young, like the SP Non Plus, with aged leaf like Non-Cuban companies like E.P Carillo and Oliva do. Now that's an idea!

[Fugu]

9 hours ago, El Presidente said:

For retailers it is a shelf sitting, cash flow sucking, dust collecting machine.

I bet they still had been easily rivalled by the Sanchos. 😅

[Perla]

The SP Bachilleres are wonderful. The NP is my personal challenge, never get the taste. It took me 15 years for the click to understand and appreciate the salty taste. 
They are rusty and ugly like hell. 

and yes I paid the regular price. 

[ha_banos]

As I said in the deep dive thread! Only ever smoked them at 10+ years. Lovely. Sure a bit rustic, but quite unique. big fan.

[Duxnutz]

10 hours ago, BoliDan said:

People don't like non plus? Sanchos are awesome

Bloody oath. Love ‘em just like I love(d) SLR, Habanos decimated that line too.

[El Presidente]

• Popular Post

Posted August 30 · IP  (edited)

Top 12 all time retail stinkers

Good mate Ravi once told me that all cigars sell eventually and if you hold onto them long enough.....regardless of how tough they were to move initially......they will sell at much higher prices. How right he was!  

Still there are certain cigars that hung around for years in the humidor........a couple for a decade. They were the bane of my life.  Each morning I would walk in the humidor and see them.....year after year. You would put them up on sale and only hear "crickets chirping". 

My Dirty Dozen of the Cuban cigar retail world. 

If you can remember them.....give us your impression/memories of the daily cigar. 

Let me start today with Number 12 as we work towards number 1 

 

Number 12. 

Romeo y Julieta Piramide 

Releases 2001. Discontinued 2003. 

This goes down as the worst Cuban cigar ever released under  Habanos sa.  Construction was abysmal. Wrappers looked like binders. Flavour wise it tasted as if you had fallen into a  putrid fetid swamp. It was so bad the cigar only lasted 24 months before it was pulled. As a retailer at the time,  they couldn't be moved for love nor money. 

 

From CCW.......because all images appear to have been wiped for reasons of mental heatlh. 

 

 

 

Number 11 

Cuaba Tradicionales and Generosos

who slept with who to keep these going? 

I can't split them. 

With the deletion carnage that has decimated many a great cigar brand over the past 20 years, Cuaba remains largely untouched. 

Why oh why? Now you could make an argument for the Divinos, Distinguidos and Salomones as they do move albeit slowly. The Tradicionales and Generosos however hung around longer than the LCDH reception potplant.  Now the Tradicionales is technically deleted but we have seen March 22 boxes. Jesus wept you can't kill these things off with a stick. 

If cigars gave out sexual favours, then the Tradicionales and Exclusivos would have be the office tramps. But they don't and hence one can only assume that their continued survival (Tradicionales at least) is beacuse thay have some powerful friends somewhere deep in Tabacuba/HSA.........God knows  they have few if any friends outside of that enclave 

 

 

Number 10 

Vegueros........any

Most brands at least had a "heyday". Most brands except Vegueros 

 

It was a failure when launched in 1997 and it has ben a failure since the 2013 relaunch. OK, less of a retail failure....which would make it a high fiving success in the Havana boardroom. 

I have had (and enjoyed) plenty of original vintage Vegueros. There are plenty around becasue few people bought them...or at least bought them twice.  

There is a special type of mind that comes up with a blend profile that is largely herbacious with few endearing features. I have found them to age pretty well and some honey comes into the picture with a decade on them (original 1997 blends) but who wants to wait a decade? 

From the blend to the naff packaging, the entire brand is a complete cluster F.....a retailers nightmare 

It has HSA written oll over it. 

 

 

Number 9 

Partagas Serie D Number 6 

Great cigar. Dumb price point. Dumber packaging.  Sales flop. 

 

I think the Partagas Serie D Number 6 is one of the finest Partagas blends out there. Truly a stunning blend. 

Dumb and Dumber from marketing decided on a high price point and in a 20 box timber presentation. 20? Really? 

Come-on HSA, this is one cigar that deserves a 50 cab.....but 25 at least. Do that, tweak the price and you will see the D6 go from a sales dog to a winner. 

......and make it as a Double Robusto and you have a retail gem on your hand. 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 8    "Tie"  

Cohiba Panetela and Montecristo Joyita. 

 

Gram for gram, Cohiba Panetela is more expensive than cocaine..........without the demand. 

These are the cigar worlds version of "concept cars". Pretty to look at but the public isn't going to drive them. 

These toothpicks are simply expensive and far too often of  questionable construction. 

Now at their best they are super tasty. Superb!  However you had better have deep pockets and lungs that can suck a golf ball through a garden hose. 

Retail duds maximus.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 7

Hoyo De Monterrey Elegantes 

The only LCDH release that really failed to take off. 

 

I don't mind the Tacos format but the cigar needs to have character. 

The HDM Elegantes does have some fans but in the main the cigar simply confuses most CC lovers with a largely "wishy washy" performance.   

The greatest thing that has happened to this cigar was Covid and supply shortages 

 

 

Number 6

H. Upmann Magnum 48 LE 2009 

The longest LE sitter of all time. 

 

Now don't get this wrong, the Upmann Magnum 48 LE has a lot of fans.....today. 

However in terms of making those cash registers ring.....the Magnum 48 was a dog. They hung around for just over four years in big numbers. In terms of standard LE's, It shares that title with only one other that will feature as our Number "5". 

 

 

Number 5

Trinidad Short Robusto T  LE 2010

This release sat around for years. It was poorly conceived, expensive (for the time) and in 12's only. 

I always suspected this LE release was designed to piggyback on the very successful Trinidad Robusto T release.  The problem was that it was half the cigar the Robusto T was in almost every aspect but price 

This was a retail dog.

 

 

Number 4

Partagas Culebra 

Honestly.....how many people actually smoke these on a regular basis? 

Sure...one off buy. Great fun, decent smoke. However who has two or more boxes (9 coffins per box) in their humidor. 

Who has ever paid full price? 

Suprisingly they make/made these in good quantities. 

The best thing that happened to Culebra sales was Covid. The warhouses full of them have been emptied.

Does anyone here smoke them on a regular basis? 

 

Number 3

Sancho Panza Non Plus 

Yes, it has plenty of fans on FOH however FOH is not normal.....as if I had to tell you 

I have spoken to retailers from San Sebastian to Santiago Chile and you can't give this cigar away without a discount and a hefty one at that.

For retailers it is a shelf sitting, cash flow sucking, dust collecting machine.  It has always been thus. 

Mind you I would love to have 200 boxes today!

 

 

 

Number 2

Cohiba Seleccion Reserva 2003 

For over a decade you couldn't move them without a serious discount. 

Today they command big, BIG dollars 

They were always very good smoking cigars but absolute retail stinkers until as recently as 8 years ago. 

The ultimate cigar investment sleeper. 

 

[westg]

12 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Number 2

Cohiba Seleccion Reserva 2003

They were right there and for an absolute bargain. One of the first boxes I purchased and knew hardly anything about cigars ....I still do . They went with in a month or so. Good times had no regrets 

[KCCubano]

Had two boxes of these. Smoked one and sold one about 10 yrs ago. Just saw one sold on BR for 6700

[Thirds]

Just had the chance to smoke one and it was an absolute stunner.  Rich, lingering finish.  If it didn’t have the bands I would’ve guessed it was less than 5 years old with how bold the flavors were. Simply brilliant.  What I’d give for a box!  

[westg]

My vote for No 1 Hoyo Anegados No 4,🙃. Monte C ?

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, westg said:

My vote for No 1 Hoyo Anegados No 4,🙃. Monte C ?

Nah, the entire Monte Open series.

[El Presidente]

I do detest the Monte Open Series but they have been decent sellers for HSA. Well at least the regatta and eagle. 

Anejado's I should have lumped into one lot but there is one cigar still far worse. 

[El Presidente]

Number 1

Habanos Estuche X Festival 2008 

This release was a replica of the special presentation box gifted to attendees at the 10th Anniversary of the Habanos Festivals.
It is a selection of the vitolas released by Habanos within the previous  ten years.

They hung around on shelves for over a decade. The slowest moving release of all time. 

[SonGoku]

I was generously gifted one of these boxes many years ago. Don’t want to sound ungrateful because I’m not and is was very nice gesture for my friend to gift me these. But I had constantly issues with the Cuaba being covered with mold. I guess with all the packaging of this box, no moisture could dissipate from it? Anyway I smoked though the box a couple of summers ago and most cigars had a heavy cedar flavour to them. I do remember enjoying the Trinidad Robusto Extra though which wasn’t affected too much by the cedar flavour. It had a nice flavour of black tea if I remember correctly.

[Edicion]

I've really enjoyed reading this list. Very interesting to see how some these have turned out to be rare and sought after collectibles with time.

Just curious to know if there are some honorable mentions that were close on making the list? 

[El Presidente]

55 minutes ago, Edicion said:

I've really enjoyed reading this list. Very interesting to see how some these have turned out to be rare and sought after collectibles with time.

Just curious to know if there are some honorable mentions that were close on making the list? 

The Anejados were certainly hard work but actually did far better in B&M's than online. 

The 2014 LCDH Romeo y Julieta Cedros de Luxe was a dog.