Am I missing out on amazing stock? Is this the golden Era of cuban tobacco?

[vinnyvega]

I was replacing my wicks in the Avallo today and got sidetracked.  I started moving some things around, condensing boxes to make room for some Fuentes and I noticed the latest box date was from Sep of 2020.  I'm pretty sure my last purchase from Ravi would have been the spring of 2021!!!!  I'm not paying today's prices for current stock. 100% out of spite of course.  Since then I'm down 25% on CCs.  Up that same amount on Don Carlos and Hemingways.

Other than buying older stock on here, thanks to the amazing generosity of a few gents here that sold stock wellllllllllll below current auction prices,  I'm down to 40ish boxes of CCs.  WTF am I gonna do lol??

Am I missing out?  Are we in the golden years of cuban tobacco?  Are the prisoners increasing QC?  Curious of your thoughts.

[JL Miller]

Vivian,
IMHO, the Golden years of Cuban tobacco was early to mid 90’s.  ‘94 being the best year in last 35 years.  Smoked thru a box of 94 CoRo’s that I thought were some of the best sticks… up there with some of the Davi and Dunhills I’ve smoked.

Just my $0.02

[Havanaaddict]

I think only time will tell! But I am with JL nothing beats the vintage stuff 70' 80' & 90's! I have smoke some fresh stuff but it can be hit and miss. For me is all about the wrapper, it has to have the Colorado to Colorado Maduro wrappers. It is strange the more you smoke the fresher stuff the more you kind of crave it ??? Two of the highlights for the year have been (50) Cab of RASS & JL No.2
 

[JL Miller]

Vinny,

lol I just noticed my grammar/spellcheck changed you to "Vivian."

Maybe this new name will stick... LOL!

[vinnyvega]

LOL

[Pole Lock]

Vivian, I'd say the golden age is gone.  Even as I was deep into Havanas from 2006-2020 and now smoking my dwindling stock, I saw so many regular production sticks I smoked regularly get discontinued (LGC MdO 1-4, Des Dieux, du Gourmet, ERDM PC and lancero, HUPC).  Also, whole those were being discontinued, I noticed more and more sticks were tasting more and more similar.  Considering the crop failures of the past while, it seems they were stuffing whatever they had into the molds and slapping a band on it that matches what they wanted to ship.

Throw on the exorbitant price increases and the notorious lack of QC and it was a no-brainer for me.  I dove into NC and reviewed all of the interesting sticks that came out, finding several gems.  I also got more acquainted with brands I already liked, such as Fuente, LFD, and Tatuaje (who has some excellent releases).

I haven't looked back.  They're just cigars to me and I'm happy with what I've tried and I know what I'm buying in the future.  Sure, I'd take a box of HdM Epicure Especiales for $200 again, but those days are gone forever, so it's NC for me.

[mbflash80]

Qd52, LGC Turquino, Boli New GM, all better than any NC Ive had in last 5 years...price sucks yea...but aint no substitute for good Cuban tobacco. My 2 cents...MB

[vinnyvega]

[quote author=Pole Lock link=topic=61553.msg229152#msg229152 date=1766936745]
Vivian, I'd say the golden age is gone.  Even as I was deep into Havanas from 2006-2020 and now smoking my dwindling stock, I saw so many regular production sticks I smoked regularly get discontinued (LGC MdO 1-4, Des Dieux, du Gourmet, ERDM PC and lancero, HUPC).  Also, whole those were being discontinued, I noticed more and more sticks were tasting more and more similar.  Considering the crop failures of the past while, it seems they were stuffing whatever they had into the molds and slapping a band on it that matches what they wanted to ship.

Throw on the exorbitant price increases and the notorious lack of QC and it was a no-brainer for me.  I dove into NC and reviewed all of the interesting sticks that came out, finding several gems.  I also got more acquainted with brands I already liked, such as Fuente, LFD, and Tatuaje (who has some excellent releases).

I haven't looked back.  They're just cigars to me and I'm happy with what I've tried and I know what I'm buying in the future.  Sure, I'd take a box of HdM Epicure Especiales for $200 again, but those days are gone forever, so it's NC for me.
[/quote]

Which tatuajes have you been liking?  I'm thinking about revisiting the Cabaiguans and La Riquezas.  I vaguely remember liking those.  Curivari has been a pleasant surprise too.  Smoked them back in the day but got lost in the shuffle.

[Pole Lock]

[quote author=vinnyvega link=topic=61553.msg229160#msg229160 date=1767013650]
Which tatuajes have you been liking?  I'm thinking about revisiting the Cabaiguans and La Riquezas.  I vaguely remember liking those.  Curivari has been a pleasant surprise too.  Smoked them back in the day but got lost in the shuffle.
[/quote]

I've dug the re-released/limited edition La Riquezas a lot.  They're a nostalgic smoke for me as I used to smoke a lot of them at one point when they came out.

The pumpkin releases are always fun, though hard to track down

J21 have been rocking my world, too, as have the Short SW.  I'm not normally a Nicaraguan smoker, but these 2 are classy.

Escados are a very refined Tatuaje experience

Nuevitas remind me of the original Tatuaje Brown Label, before they swapped the Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper for Ecuadorian Habano.

I will say that I was surprised at how good the Aladino Corojo cigars are, essentially a reboot of the old Camacho Corojo before Davidoff bought and ruined the brand.  I bring them up because they appear to age very well, and occupy a spot in my smoking repertoire that was normally reserved for Tatuaje.

Happy hunting!

[Dmex]

[quote author=mbflash80 link=topic=61553.msg229158#msg229158 date=1766981209]
Qd52, LGC Turquino, Boli New GM, all better than any NC Ive had in last 5 years...price sucks yea...but aint no substitute for good Cuban tobacco. My 2 cents...MB
[/quote]

I'm with you on this MB, we've spoken about it for some time now.  I have also chased down NC cigars that people have said are just as good or better than Habanos and I'm just not getting it.  I find most regular production cigars like QdOs 50,52,54s, PL Picadores, Monte Edmundo Series, RASS, Punch Punch, H Upmann connoisseur series, JL 1s and 2s, and the Hoyo Epi series all of these, even the new releases to me, beat any NC hands down.  Maybe i need to recalibrate my expectations or I'm missing something but willing to take suggestions from my brothers here who think they've found the holy grail of NC cigars that offer what an Habanos can offer and at a fraction of the price.  To me they just don't taste the same.  I have found some good ones, Olmec, Aroma de Cuba, Davidoffs but they just don't compare to me so....

And then there are the limitadas and regionals.  The regionals are hit or miss but the limitadas I have had are all really, really good.  Are we paying a premium? Sure for the LE, but some of these regionals are pretty fun and a great price when you compare to Fuentes, Opus, Padron Anniversarios etc.  Willing to take any suggestions for an NC that taste just like an Habanos or better but till then, I'm still buying....