FESTIVAL DEL HABANO XXIII: GETTING HOME & FINAL THOUGHTS

[El Presidente]

 

FESTIVAL DEL HABANO XXIII: GETTING HOME & FINAL THOUGHTS

CONTINUED

[MrBirdman]

Jacking up the Gala price by 70% while cutting the Gran Reserva sampler pretty much sums things up for Habanos right now. 

That said, I hope our members in attendance had a great time!

[Puros Y Vino]

Good read.  Of note.  "This year, there were no samples of the Cohiba Espléndidos Gran Reserva Cosecha 2017s."  That's cheap.  But OTOH, the amount of flipping prevented by not giving them out is significant.  The Partagas Maestra line swag/sticks was very nice.  I'm still finding the blue motif doesn't really fit the marca.  But I guess they already got red covered in the RyJ Oro line. 

[NSXCIGAR]

the Melia Cohiba has been closed for over a year for renovations and I haven’t seen a roller at the Hotel Nacional since my trip in 2020.

I don't know what he's talking about. Melia Cohiba's been open since at least the new year I always see a roller at the Nacional...

[NSXCIGAR]

1 hour ago, Puros Y Vino said:

I'm still finding the blue motif doesn't really fit the marca.

No, I find it odd as well. For some reason I had it in my head that Partagas had a pre-Rev history with blue, at least with blue bands but I think I was confusing it with RyJ which does have an extensive history with blue bands. I can't find any vintage Partagas bands that are blue other than one that's kind of small and maybe dark blue...certainly nothing like RyJ had.

Maybe they didn't want to go with black because of the NC Black Label but I think black fits the brand much better.

 

Or at least they could have used a darker navy-type blue instead of a bright royal blue. Partagas has a very strong association almost exclusively with red and white. I think they could have done something to adhere to that. Yes, the RyJ LdO has red boxes but everything else is heavily gold. 

I found this Party band that has some yellow as well. I think maybe they could have done something with this scheme:

[JohnnyO]

Plenty of water and gas? Brooks must not have seen the lines in the Oro negro in 5ta y 96 and in Wajay on the way to the airport that I saw last week. John

[MrBirdman]

2 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

That's cheap.  But OTOH, the amount of flipping prevented by not giving them out is significant. 

When you’re paying over $1250 for a single ticket the least they could do is let you try one. Who cares if the person flips it?

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, JohnnyO said:

Plenty of water and gas? Brooks must not have seen the lines in the Oro negro in 5ta y 96 and in Wajay on the way to the airport that I saw last week. John

Yeah, I saw gas lines about as long as they were in Jan which were only a bit less than they were in Nov. Bottled water was available every time I wanted it but I didn't really get that many.

[Puros Y Vino]

5 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

When you’re paying over $1250 for a single ticket the least they could do is let you try one. Who cares if the person flips it?

Well part of Habanos reasoning for price hikes was to kill that market.  Don't get me wrong, they should have given out samples.  

[Bill Hayes]

Sake and cigars? Ha ha! Maybe plum wine, maybe sparkling dessert style sake but I've never heard of a more ridiculous pairing. The cigar would completely dominate the subtle complexity of top quality sake, not complement it IMHO. Boli gold medals sound good though. Buying lotto ticket now. 😃

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Well part of Habanos reasoning for price hikes was to kill that market.  Don't get me wrong, they should have given out samples.  

Give out a single, no packaging. No one's going to flip one loose stick. Let people think they got a little something for their $1200. 

Then again they couldn't even pony up a Herederos at the $550 Monte welcome event. 2 Slams, a WE and a Monte 2? Seriously? 

I remember at the Partagas Festival the welcome dinner was around $150 but the easily handed out close to that in cigars and that was when things were cheap. Siglo VI, Lusi, Coronas Gordas Anejados, Connie 1, La Chine Lanceros all handed out plus a few more. I had a huge handful of cigars.

[ha_banos]

1 hour ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Give out a single, no packaging. No one's going to flip one loose stick. Let people think they got a little something for their $1200. 

Then again they couldn't even pony up a Herederos at the $550 Monte welcome event. 2 Slams, a WE and a Monte 2? Seriously? 

I remember at the Partagas Festival the welcome dinner was around $150 but the easily handed out close to that in cigars and that was when things were cheap. Siglo VI, Lusi, Coronas Gordas Anejados, Connie 1, La Chine Lanceros all handed out plus a few more. I had a huge handful of cigars.

Those were the days I guess. I'm gutted I missed out. 

[MrBirdman]

16 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Well part of Habanos reasoning for price hikes was to kill that market.  Don't get me wrong, they should have given out samples.  

It wasn’t to kill the market per se, it was to capture those profits for themselves. Considering they have handed out samples of the newest Reserva for many years, I presumed the jacked up Gala price partly reflected the higher retail price of LE’s moving forward (I had looked into attending the festival but couldn’t make it work with my schedule). Even if they put a single GR in packaging, the few that get sold are unlikely to recoup much more than the cost of attendance, if that. 

To me, increasing the price that dramatically while quietly cutting the biggest perk for most attendees amounts to a bait and switch by HSA. 

 

14 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Then again they couldn't even pony up a Herederos at the $550 Monte welcome event. 2 Slams, a WE and a Monte 2? Seriously? 

Exactly, and it’s stuff like that makes me relieved I didn’t go. I don’t mind paying for a good time - but I do mind when a business starts treating me like a sucker. It sounds like the entire Festival has been “Cohiba-ized”: aimed at a crowd who enjoys the status more than the actual cigars. 

That’s not meant to impugn you or other members who attended (I’m sure many attendees are and will be CC lovers), and maybe this is how it always has been. It’s just not the impression I had about the festival until this year, and it’s turned me off ever attending.

I am probably reading this too pessimistically - but something about them not handing out a sample just sticks in my craw. 

[NSXCIGAR]

7 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

That’s not meant to impugn you or other members who attended (I’m sure many attendees are and will be CC lovers), and maybe this is how it always has been. It’s just not the impression I had about the festival until this year, and it’s turned me off ever attending.

I attended this year for multiple reasons but I doubt I would go again. The value just isn't there anymore. I also agree that it didn't seem very well run this time.

Seems to be a consistent theme when Cuba has a lot of time to prepare for something it never works out. Maybe too many cooks start getting into the kitchen. Even with the cigars, many of the long-anticipated and hyped releases disappoint while the cigars that appear all of the sudden tend to do well. 

I'm glad I didn't have to deal with the mess at the gala dinner with the Boli GM. Sounds like it turned into a Moraccan bazaar. 

[Corylax18]

On 3/9/2023 at 2:13 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

Yeah, I saw gas lines about as long as they were in Jan which were only a bit less than they were in Nov. Bottled water was available every time I wanted it but I didn't really get that many.

 

On 3/9/2023 at 8:55 AM, JohnnyO said:

Plenty of water and gas? Brooks must not have seen the lines in the Oro negro in 5ta y 96 and in Wajay on the way to the airport that I saw last week. John

In all fairness, I didn't see any lines last month like I saw last summer. I stayed a block from Tangana gas station and they got a delivery (of a singe grade) each evening. For most of the morning and afternoon, there were only a handful of cars, but as the delivery got closer, the line would start to pile up. It was a far cry from what I saw in Mariel over the summer, we're talking 20-30 Cars Vs. 300+

Ill create a separate post on WHY Cuba has more Gas/Diesel than they did over the summer, but it isn't sustainable. 

[JohnnyO]

Last week I rented a car for a week. 33rd Ave and 42 St in Playa is the destined gas station for tourist rented cars. On 3/5 attempts they told me there was no gas and I had seen a short line on all of the occasions. On the last day I couldn't use the car as I was down to 2 liters. John

[NSXCIGAR]

On 3/21/2023 at 5:53 PM, JohnnyO said:

Last week I rented a car for a week. 33rd Ave and 42 St in Playa is the destined gas station for tourist rented cars. On 3/5 attempts they told me there was no gas and I had seen a short line on all of the occasions. On the last day I couldn't use the car as I was down to 2 liters. John

That's the Oro Negro right there at the roundabout? I don't believe they had any gas there festival week. 

Plus, it's hard to tell if a station has regular or diesel. There might be a line but it's only one or the other. You have to look at what pumps people are using and you can't really tell just driving by. 

My driver would be unable to work without his two 5 gal gas cans. There's no way he could work with only one tank full at a time. The biggest stress in his life is gas.