2011 Limited Edition from Cuba

Since 2000, Habanos launched every year Limited Editions cigars (Edicion Limitada), introducing to the market cigars not in regular production, in limited quantity, of course, as the name says. Usually these cigars have been issued for the most well-known brands (Cuaba possibly being the exception with their 2008 Piramides).

I understand that initially they were made using regular tobacco and with two-year old tobacco for the wrapper, which was also selected from the upper part of the plant (was it the famous medio tiempio tobacco currently used for the Behike? We will never know! :) ). However, since 2007, all the tobacco used in Limited Editions is at least two-year old. This should contribute to a more enjoyable cigar as the tobacco has had longer time to develop its unique flavour, although not in an assembled cigar (which means that it may still be good not to smoke Limited Editions straight away).

Over time, there have been some magnificent Limited Edition. One I'd certainly like to mention is the Partagas D No. 1 from 2004. Or maybe the Montecristo Sublimes from 2008 (by the way, I felt that these cigars were really good when they first came out, they then lost somewhat strength for a couple of years but they seem to have gained again in flavour over the last 12 months... the power of aging!)

In 2011, Habanos issued three Limited Edition. In classic cuban style we only saw some of them in 2012 but here they are in the picture below:

They include:

1) Hoyo de Monterrey - Short Hoyo Piramides, a 5 3/8 inches long, 46 ring figurado

2) Ramon Allones - Allones Extra, a  5 5/8 inches long, 44 ring gauge

3) Cohiba - Cohiba 1966, measuring 6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring gauge

They are still relatively fresh and they need further time to develop. Generally, I have not been too impressed by them, particularly the Allones Extra which seems to be very much a hit or miss (ie they don't seem to have consistent quality). The Cohiba - which name was chosen to commemorate the 45th anniversary since the launch of the brand - seems to have great potential but it needs a bit of time and it certainly comes at a significant price. The other two are interesting because the Hoyo is a bit stronger than the traditional Hoyo while the Ramon Allones is a bit lighter than the traditional Ramon Allones. But then, why would I buy a Hoyo or a Ramon Allones? I think I'd rather have brands that stick to what they are good and known for, but perhaps time will prove me wrong and with aging I will be praising all of these cigars... In the meantime, I would suggest to stock-up if you can, particularly on the Cohiba. You can most likely expect those prices to go up and once the cigars have run out you will find some major aficionado (or some wealthy newcomer) ready to spend money to still smoke them (assuming that you will have the strength to sell them!). Enjoy!

Christmas cigars

Like every Christmas, I went home and spent some time with my family, eating and drinking loads, opening presents, etc, etc... but what would Christmas be without good cigars? :)

Thankfully, my parents put together a great area outside their house with a nice and cozy area to enjoy some great puros, a personal "smoking lounge" well protected from the wind and therefore great to smoke (for me - not sure that was the intended use :))!

On Christmas day, after an amazing lunch, I therefore enjoyed a nice Partagas P1 (see my review here) with my brother; I somewhat felt that wasn't enough for such a special day and therefore I doubled-up with a Montecristo Maravilla. While smoking, I got a little bit carried away with the Christmas spirit and therefore I took also a picture of the nativity representation my sister Francesca had prepared in the "lounge" :) 

As you can see, I had with me all you need for a great smoke starting from my inseparable travel cigar caddy, a cutter, some matches and in this case a nice bottle of port - my brother Marco was recently in Portugal and brought back some bottles of this Portuguese internationally famous export...

And here is the Montecristo Maravilla, a limited edition issued in 2005 for the fifth release of the Habanos Collection "Book" series and the 70th anniversary of the Montecristo Brand, an amazing double-robusto size 55 ring gage for 182 mm.

This was definitively an outstanding smoke. A very classic Montecristo flavour, with lots of spice, tons of smoke and a great aroma from pretty much the beginning till the very end, one of those cigars that you wish you could smoke more often but are unfortunately not so easy to find, since they were produced in a somewhat limited number (well, in theory only 500 copies of the book containing 20 cigars each where made, or 10,000 cigars in total; in practice I think a few more of those cigars were made available for my own luck...)

A casa!

Casa in Soho is where it all started... or at least where my cigar passion started to get real. Right next to Floridita in Wardour Street, at the first London's Casa del Habano. After the smoking ban in the UK, the shop didn't keep the franchise as the area dedicated to cigar smoking is relatively small and I understand there are some sort of minimum size requirements to comply with the franchising... In any event, even if now only "Casa", this remains one of my favorite places to sample cigars in London... 

So I couldn't avoid having a stop by Casa to celebrate my birthday... and what is better than a classic  Montecristo A!

As you can see from the picture, this is not a cigar to be enjoyed in a short timeframe... it measures 23.5cm in length with a 47 ring gage and I enjoyed the smoke for over 2 hours... First released in 1971, it remains one of the most time consuming cigars to this day. It even made it to the Guinness Book of World Records because of its size!

This cigar is not the strongest Montecristo, it exhibits vanilla and spicy flavours all around building out in strengths - it's a great cigar I think as you don't need necessarily need to be a cigar aficionado to fully appreciate it, though most people get scared by its size (and the time required to fully smoke it, admittedly you may not always have 2+ hours for a smoke!)

These pictures give you an overview of what the smoking area of Casa looks like - it has a nice home feeling, with large black leather sofa-chairs and wood shelfs on one side and a big picture of the Cuban island on the other side. What you cannot see is the walk-in humidour, where I also keep a box with some of my precious cigars...