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i am regularly astounded at how many '98 cigars are available, at outrageous prices. Then I noticed that most of them seem to be in 5 packs :)

ISO Not So HTF Fundis. But would take VHTF 99's, though not willing to pay up.

PP or 00's to trade.  :cheers:

Doesn't everyone have multiple boxes of a prominent Marca with 15+ years on them?

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[quote author=Taps86 link=topic=34804.msg147977#msg147977 date=1440510608]
Wasn't 98-00 the worst years for cubans???
[/quote]

Such a mixed bag from those years. Some poorly rolled tent pegs due to inexperienced rollers during the boom. Quite a few sale cigars from a few years back, many of which had terrible storage problems.

And, of course some great cigars were rolled as well. I think most of the H&F cigars I've smoked from that period were pretty good, but I don't know why.

I always worry that cigars showing up here are those sale cigars from the now defunct 1001...

[quote author=Taps86 link=topic=34804.msg147977#msg147977 date=1440510608]
Wasn't 98-00 the worst years for cubans???
[/quote]

99-02 are notorious for being poorly constructed or dowel rods.

I acquired a box of 98 Punch Coronas I might as well have used as garden mulch. 3/4 of tof what I've tried to smoke were plugged.

I smoked through 3 boxes of Punch Monarcas.  Best cigar ever.

I am working on a 99 Bolivar Corona that is excellent.

A lot of that pulled stock is starting to turn the corner.

[quote author=tksamtec link=topic=34804.msg147990#msg147990 date=1440521513]
99-02 are notorious for being poorly constructed or dowel rods.
[/quote]

I disagree. 99-early 01 yes. Mid 01 and all of 02 have been tremendous. As for 98s there were a ton of those made and the boom ended. A lot didn't sell and a lot sold and weren't smoked. Back then factory codes were soooo important if you wanted quality smokes. IMHO the 2002 vintage is the best vintage of CC's since 1995.

[quote author=vinnyvega link=topic=34804.msg148003#msg148003 date=1440535895]
I smoked through 3 boxes of Punch Monarcas.  Best cigar ever.

I am working on a 99 Bolivar Corona that is excellent.

A lot of that pulled stock is starting to turn the corner.
[/quote]

Forgot to add the Monarchs were from 9/98.

'98 had some fantastic sticks.  Punch Churchills, Punch Coronas, RyJ Ex4s, Boli CEs, and Fundy's come to mind, but there were also some dogs. I never had a Monte from that time that was any good.  SLRs from 98 are great, the SerAs were pretty reliable, but I had several boxes of SLR Churchills were tent pegs. Literally 2 out of a box were smokeable, if you were lucky.  

'99 was the serious crap yr.  I've heard a number of stories about what the Cubans did to the crop, but in general everything from that period tastes like crap whether or not it will burn.  I've had very few (if any) '99s that were worth a damn.  There were a number of good smokes that I used to get, like Boli CE's that totally went to garbage.  

The problem is the crop yr overlaps the calendar yr, so the '99 plague runs from sometime in '99 until into '00, and maybe the '00s crop was crap too. There may be some early '99s that aren't trash, but I avoid anything with a '99 or a '00 code.  I've never had anything from that time period that was worth smoking.  

I don't know how it stacks up for the rest of the yr, but I've still got some '01 Espli's that are to die for, and have been since day one.  

Not much to reference beyond that in the later 2000s.  That was the time when my inventory hit max and I'm still smoking some of it.