New La Gloria Cubana regional release

[Hookmaker]

...for Peru😎

[Tomm783]

Nice small box...


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[Vitola]

One hell of a box split

[joeray]

Now, this one, I look forward to trying. Hope it's affordable.

[pigpen]

One hell of a box split

yes please

[gojira]

Just saw the price tag. They can keep this one as well.

[pigpen]

Just saw the price tag. They can keep this one as well.

how much ??

[gojira]

how much ??

Over 2k in Geneva. I thought that 2k for the Kon Tiki was expensive but this is ridiculous. It's a bloody double robusto and one out of two LGC regionals sucks anyway. But they are nice if they get them right, lol.

[simwells]

Over 2k in Geneva. I thought that 2k for the Kon Tiki was expensive but this is ridiculous. It's a bloody double robusto and one out of two LGC regionals sucks anyway. But they are nice if they get them right, lol.

Isn’t that 3-4x the price of the last Peru RE? Which was cracking and 1/3 smaller but still?!

RE prices haven’t half been hiked in the last year or so, looks like they’re turning them into a collectors item rather than much sense for value against quality


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[Hookmaker]

Well, the only place they’re avail is one place and they are not exactly known to be cheap.
My guess is release/shop price in Peru is 12-1400 usd max.
But 50 cabs always draw attention and go for high secondary prices


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[simwells]

Well, the only place they’re avail is one place and they are not exactly known to be cheap.
My guess is release/shop price in Peru is 12-1400 usd max.
But 50 cabs always draw attention and go for high secondary prices


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I didn’t realise they ran at that high a mark up, only really looked at reg production.

The Inca was $700 for the cab so your estimate sounds reasonably in line for retail


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[gojira]

Isn’t that 3-4x the price of the last Peru RE? Which was cracking and 1/3 smaller but still?!

RE prices haven’t half been hiked in the last year or so, looks like they’re turning them into a collectors item rather than much sense for value against quality


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I have chased quite a few REs and LEs in recent years but I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that regular production with a few years on it is not often beaten by them (aged and vintage are in most cases unbeatable). I have recently started again to keep a diary of what I smoke and all the top smokes were regular production. I smoked 50 cigars since the 9th of February. 14 of them were REs and LEs.

Here's a list of the REs and LEs that I've smoked in the last couple of months:

La Gloria Cubana Orgullosos: very nice but had a lot of construction problems.
El Rey del Mundo La Reina: very nice but showed signs of youth in the last third.
Ramón Allones Club Allones: quite good, surprised me. They have come around.
Quai d'Orsay Capitolio: loved them fresh, now: MEH!
El Rey del Mundo Petit Robustos: loved them fresh, was expecting a lot more with over 5 years on it.
Rafael González Petit Piramides: nice but nothing to write home about.
Sancho Panza Gran Quixote: very good. One of the best recent REs.
Por Larrañaga Gran Robusto: piece of crap.
Bolívar Tiempo: nice.
H. Upmann Magnum 56: quite good but it didn't blow me away.
El Rey del Mundo Kon Tiki 1973: pretty good for a young stick. Worth the price? But it's a 109 and I have high hopes for it. Might source a few more singles.
Diplomáticos El Ambajador: wind tunnel, meh.
Por Larrañaga Coronas: good cigar.
La Gloria Cubana Invictos: piece of crap.

Here are some of the regular production sticks (LCDH is regular production to me) that I recently smoked, I'm only listing the best ones:

Diplomáticos Diplomáticos No.2 EML AGO 14: outstanding!
Quai d'Orsay Imperiales ULA JUN 14: not overly complex but almost outstanding
Partagás Lusitanias PUR FEB 17: outstanding!
Rafael González Lonsdales PUC ABR 02: outstanding!
Vegueros Especiales No.2 FD OASU: extremely good!
Partagás Serie du Connaisseur No.1 1997: perfection, best cigar of March 2021!
Bolívar Coronas Gigantes PUR SEP 16: extremely good despite it's youth, these will be stellar in 5 years.
Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure de Luxe AME OCT 12: outstanding, didn't expect this!
Trinidad Media Luna UEB SEP 19: extremely good, did not expect this!
Cohiba Siglo V 2012: close to perfection!
Bolívar Belicosos Finos PMS ABR 15: extremely good, have to slow down on these to let them age.
Punch Ninfas PEL SEP 02: Very, very good, strong as if Mike Tyson punched you in the face!
Quai d'Orsay Panetelas POS MAY 06: I was blown away, stellar! Much stronger than the previous ones that I had (from different box dates).
Cohiba Siglo III MOE JUN 15: extremely good, must buy another box to bury in the back of the cabinet.
Vegas Robaina Clásicos AML OCT 06: lovely aged taste, took me by surprise as the others with this code were not as good.
Punch Double Coronas UGO FEB 18: extremely good despite its youth. Very happy to have a 50 cab with the same code (different month)!
Montecristo Montecristo No.2 PMS JUN 15: took me by surprise, this box has finally come around. Too bad that I wasn't patient and smoked too many too early!

Out of 35 regular production cigars 17 were above average. Out of 14 REs and LEs only 4 were really good.

This got me thinking. Will I really continue chasing REs and LEs? Especially REs. They are expensive and only about 25% of the ones that I try really deserve the premium. My conclusion is that I will slow down on these and try to buy more regular production. But I will not stop as I still like to sample them and as they are good trade bait. A lot of collectors are chasing them and very nice trades can be worked out for them.

I am less and less interested in new regular production releases as well. Most of them come in vitolas that I'm not too keen about and they carry a hefty price tag. Take the new HU Connossieur No.2 for example. Sure, I'd like to try one but I will not buy a box. It's just another bastard child of a robusto and a robusto extra. In Europe a box is a tiny bit cheaper than a box of Party 8-9-8, I'd rather buy a fifth box of the 8-9-8 than a box of these.

But I'm still curious about most sticks that come to the market and will definitely chase a few singles to try down.

[Simon Bolivar]

50 Box a nice presentation but I won't be hunting one down. For me LGC show best in slim or skinny formats.

Great post Mike & very informative. Have to say I agree with your overall premise, that it's better to age your own regular production or even pay a premium for aged boxes than spend similar amounts on ER/EL. I am only surprised it took you so long to come to this conclusion!

My own notes to compare with yours:
La Renia, Youthful in the last third, yes, found the same but this is no surprise, it is still a very young cigar. I was just surprised how good it was for the first 2/3. I will keep my two boxes until I retire & then try one of my singles to decide whether to sell both or just one.
Club Allones, yes coming on nicely.
ERDM PR, agreed poor, disappointing..
RG PP, nothing special but didn't expect anything special from the non regular production of this marca. I really enjoy the PC, Panx & the CX is my fav, but they are what they are & putting an extra band on it & charging more is trying to make a pigs ear in to a silk purse!
SPGQ One we disagree one, too big a cigar for this Marca IMHO but then I don't enjoy the A format either.
PLGR agree, sold mine!
HUMag56, Never tried one, I refuse to put something so large in my mouth! The Mag48 is a great LE though & worth the original price but not E20+ for me.
PLC Yes, OK so far but keeping mine for a few more yrs on the basis PL always seem to improve with sufficient time.
I will finish off saying out of the EL/ER I have tried, I have never had a bad Boli or RA so if you are looking to dip your toe in this murky pool, you could do worse than start with those. But wether they are worth more than RASS or BBF is a matter of personal taste.

[ha_banos]

Always nice to see a halfwheel though. Been a few recently.

Thanks Mike for the view into your soul! It is nice to hear the regulars holding their own though.

RE, LE are more like altcoins. Not sure if should invest. Not sure if the investment will be nice to consume!

[Dorsetman]

Very interesting last few posts - many thanks!