Sunday 4th. of August 2019

[Vitola]

Keeping to a marque - Mag 54 this evening




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[moteyi]

SLR Incas this evening - one from a previous box split that I?d been saving.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PeeJay]

I finished off the weekend with what is fast becoming my favourite Partagas


67588109_10157663077391654_6125273484705660928_n.jpg

[grumpybaldy]

Thoroughly enjoyed the RASS from @Turin last week; thanks Greg. Haven't had one of these for a long time.

[Tomm783]

CR CoRo with about 4/5 years on it.... smooth! El lag rolled apparently.... but Cohiba it isn?t!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Courtesy of the ?Italian??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Simon Bolivar]

Starting the last of the vacation days with a 12 Choix Supreme [emoji41]

The Choix Supreme is always a classy smoke, hop you enjoyed it Henrik?

[Simon Bolivar]

Courtesy of the ?Italian??

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah ha, we know who you mean Tommy ;o)

[pigpen]

Little Upman Half Corona


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Emaresee]

Courtesy of the ?Italian??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes- had two of them yesterday and a bhk52 from his CR stable ... all good. Not exceptional, but solid and enjoyable.

[Tomm783]

Yes- had two of them yesterday and a bhk52 from his CR stable ... all good. Not exceptional, but solid and enjoyable.

Interesting, they aren?t just unbanded versions of the real thing then? That?s what he told me when I asked only a few days ago!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SHAMZ84]

Interesting, they aren?t just unbanded versions of the real thing then? That?s what he told me when I asked only a few days ago!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thats what they claim..he's not the only one....I have to say he's supremos are fantastic....and have a cohibaish profile.

[Simon Bolivar]

Thats what they claim..he's not the only one....I have to say he's supremos are fantastic....and have a cohibaish profile.

I bought some Behike 56 off him after he pestered me from a FB page. I had only smoked the 52 at that stage & wouldn't have spent the money required for a 56 then (even more now). I have to say it was a great smoke & a decent attempt at a Cohiba profile. If you think of them as CC's made in the vitola of Behike's you'll enjoy them. But no, I don't believe these are real Behikes, smuggled out of the Laguito back door. I was lucky enough to be gifted a 54 & 56 some time later & these were a richer stick but again I still wouldn't pay the money they fetch today. IMHO the Sig VI is a better smoke at around half the price.

[Emaresee]

Interesting, they aren’t just unbanded versions of the real thing then? That’s what he told me when I asked only a few days ago!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very much what @SHAMZ84 and @Simon Bolivar said ..... I've had some decent dealings with him. At times I think his English is either sufficiently vague or incongruous (my Italian is pretty limited) to enable you to come to some conclusions which are perhaps a little more definitive than his intent. I don't believe he is deliberately seeking to mislead, but rather make the best of his supply line.

Over a couple of years dealing with him now, and a lot of chatting, i have defined that his BHK and CoRo offerings are rolled by different folk. Of the BHK, the 52 is the only one I have tried, although I have a 56 and a 54 in a humi somewhere. The 52 is a pleasing smoke but lacks the richness of the original. I have bought two or three batches of CoRo from him. The initial bunch were exceptionally well rolled. They had similar quality wrappers to the BHK but different colours. The BHK-ish were an almost exact match for the real deal in colour.

Sadly I had a more recent batch of CoRo which were 75% shoddy work. Badly filled, you could see stems through the wrapper, you could see holes/ tunnels through from the foot, soft/ hollow spots along then stick, and not cut off square. To his credit he held up his hands and said he had not had time to check them. He replaced the order. The replacement quality was good but not as good as the originals. I have not yet smoked one as I have them sat in a cab mellowing for a few years.

The one in the picture above represents a very well made stick - clean sharp lines, high quality wrapper, and a steady fluid draw. His Upmann 2's are similarly good. The Supremos he has done have been very enjoyable indeed and in my opinion are of exceptional quality - I got these as an order after the original CoRo order and they were of a similarly high standard, if not better.

So here is the sense of it all as I have defined it - he has a good working relationship with two main rollers. One from El Laguito and one from Upmann - both he backs as being in the top 5 rollers in either factory. The conclusion I have made is that they do private work on the side. Or maybe he is somehow selling some form of factory rejects. Clearly the Supremos cannot be rejects as they haven't been made for c.5 years He has also picked up sticks from Alejandro and one or two others which he calls out by name.

My advice in general is that if his pricing suits your pocket, then buy and enjoy them as well rolled CR's 'in the style of'... If anyone felt that they were buying them in order to get cheap Cohiba/ Upmann etc. then 'deals that look too good to be true' etc...

[PeeJay]

Thats what they claim..he's not the only one....I have to say he's supremos are fantastic....and have a cohibaish profile.

At least they should be Cuban. I tend to buy only custom rolls from a trusted seller nowadays.

[Tomm783]

Thanks for the comprehensive replies from everyone, much appreciated. I?d wager he falls into the ?trusted seller? category so appears i have another option for custom rolls.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk