In defense of the brother, I myself have searched for info on the new tubos without success. (If one of you is cleverer than me and can find a thread, I concede defeat and humbly ask you to send it my way!)
From what I've heard, Habanos SA is gradually turning different brands into all machine-made or all hand-made lines--so the old RyJ tubos (No. 1, 2, 3) with the metallic matte finish are machine-made and hand-finished, but the new ones (white tube, dark-red lettering?) are entirely handmade. I think the same thing happened with the H. Upmann Coronas Major--I bought a new one in a yellow-and-orange tube on a trip to Paris a few days ago, and it says "Totalmente a mano", as opposed to the older version which I understand to be partially machine-made.
Bear in mind that most of the above is based on my recollections from this forum, so if I'm talking nonsense, let me know!
Has anybody done a comparison taste-test yet? Is there any info on when the new tubos were introduced? There's a store here in Morocco that's still selling the old RyJ tubos--in theory, they should have a very specific minimum amount of age on them at this point.
FOGs? See-gar professors-at-large? Any additional edification to be got? Any gross misstatements to be clarified?
John