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Does anyone have pre-embargo Cubans in their collection?

maduro89

maduro89

Straight Razors and Whisky
Joined
Oct 9, 2011
Messages
302
I remember reading an article about how the Editor in chief of CA had a humidor full of them and then he had a tobacco beetle infestation and how priceless cigars were ruined. I never realized cigars could last that long, but then I read how an antiques broker found a wardrobe in a basement of a house in England full of H. Upmann cigars from the 1890s and how the climate in the basement was ideal to preserve them. So my question is, does anyone have any of these 50+ year old cigars in their collection, or at least smoked them. Do they taste any different? Post pictures if you do! I'd love to see them.    
 
I wonder if those elusive cigars that JFK ordered after he signed the embargo still exist..
 
I've smoked one pre-embargo cuban, a candela wrapped corona gorda, about 25 years ago. It was fantastic with a nice pepper and spicy/mineral profile. I  would have never known it was such an old cigar due to the flavor intensity.
 
I've had several..... Been hit or miss in my experience, but when they are on, it's a really nice experience.
 
Desmond Sautter of Sautter's on Mount Street London ended up with all of those cigars from 1890 you spoke of. He's a really nice fellow who loved to talk cigars all day long. There was a time in the 80's where he was trying to give away pre embargo cigars for about one british pound each. I bought quite a few from him back around 2007 & 2009... Rest assured, I did not pay anywhere near the 80's prices. ;)
 
I have a very, very old Davidoff that was given to my by a good friend.  I may get around to smoking it shortly, but the providance on these got tainted a while back with a very well documented case of fakes being sold for stupid high prices.  Still an awesome gift from a friend, I'll see what I can see, maybe even this year.
 
So awesome! Hopefully I can grab one one day, are there any currently on the open market for sale?
 
There was a real flood of fakes not too long ago that brought into question virtually every "pre-embargo" stick in this country.  
 
Proceed with caution.....and bring a pile of money.  A big pile, actually.....
 
To be frank, I don't think it's worth the risk.  I'd rather spend a couple hundred bucks on a box of nice smokes that I know will deliver, rather than throw the dice on a likely fake that may or may not smoke decently.
 
As they say, one man's opinion.....
 
BlindedByScience said:
There was a real flood of fakes not too long ago that brought into question virtually every "pre-embargo" stick in this country.  
 
Proceed with caution.....and bring a pile of money.  A big pile, actually.....
 
To be frank, I don't think it's worth the risk.  I'd rather spend a couple hundred bucks on a box of nice smokes that I know will deliver, rather than throw the dice on a likely fake that may or may not smoke decently.
 
As they say, one man's opinion.....
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Right on the money Tom. Bill and I I were having this conversation some time ago and we kinda agreed that 25 years is the max for us. Too risky buying something that old when you can spend less money on some good current smokes.
 
I had a couple in the 90's which were supposedly found in a cave in Spain.  Not sure about real or not but they were a fair smoke for a reasonable price.  Remember some years back when they were mixing pre-embargo tobacco with legal tobacco and making cigars, I forgot what they were calling them but they for sale at a lot of places.  As I remember they were selling some percentage, as low as 10%.  I wish I could remember what they were called.
 
golfgar said:
I had a couple in the 90's which were supposedly found in a cave in Spain.  Not sure about real or not but they were a fair smoke for a reasonable price.  Remember some years back when they were mixing pre-embargo tobacco with legal tobacco and making cigars, I forgot what they were calling them but they for sale at a lot of places.  As I remember they were selling some percentage, as low as 10%.  I wish I could remember what they were called.
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Are you referring to the Camachos? I've always wondered how much pre embargo tobacco they have as they never seem to run out. Are they putting in 1% tobacco only?
 
I did find the Camacho Pre-embargo on CI going for $20 a pop though they are out at the moment. I also read about Pinar doing a line with legal Cuban tobacco. The Pinars all seem to have bad reviews. Can't say what the percentage is in any of them though.
 
I did a little digging and found that I had smoked a Farach cigar, a small perfecto and the one which was blended was indeed the Pinar although I cannot remember ever buying or smoking one of those.  An article said Pinar bought 40,000+ pounds of the pre-cuban tobacco.
 
There also lies an issue (as was pointed out by a friend)...some brands are not even made anymore - also, the blends may have changed...and or the tobacco used. 
 
Not even mentioning storage conditions...etc. 
 
The few I've smoked have been hit or miss as well. I will say...that some did smoke wonderful! 
 
Yeah, hit or miss.  But... isn't that basically the way things are in general?  I think the question is really "What was your experience like with pre-embargo cigars?" not whether they are good or not.  A shitty cigar doesn't magically become amazing because it is older than Doc. There is a BIG difference between a 40s Don Candido stored properly and a 40s Don Arco stored properly.  Same thinking as a big difference between a 2004 Sublime and a 2004 Jose Piedra. 
 
insight said:
Yeah, hit or miss.  But... isn't that basically the way things are in general?  I think the question is really "What was your experience like with pre-embargo cigars?" not whether they are good or not.  A shitty cigar doesn't magically become amazing because it is older than Doc. There is a BIG difference between a 40s Don Candido stored properly and a 40s Don Arco stored properly.  Same thinking as a big difference between a 2004 Sublime and a 2004 Jose Piedra. 
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You'd know about the Piedra's!
 
 
Then there's the machine made stuff...not worth the packaging it was put in...only to turn out the be a fantastic smoke...decades later. 
 
So yea, in general...it's all organic and all hit or miss! :thumbs:
 
^^haha oh yeahhh I completely forgot I started that thread.
 
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