Several years ago I was a proud member of the Club Stogie community. Club Stogie was a popular cigar forum, with a large member base, that was ‘newbie’ friendly. The community has since been purchased and folded into a larger community, which is nothing like it used to be, however, it was there that I got my feet wet in trading cigars. My eyes were opened to a variety of cigars that I couldn’t buy locally and I found my luck far better than blindly selecting cigars from the vast offerings of online retailers.
When I wasn’t trading cigars or participating in box passes, I was reading up on what the new ‘hot cigar’ was. I recall reading about this new cigar on the market from Famous Smoke Shop, the Famous Nicaraguan 3000. It was a Nicaraguan puro that was offered as a once and done run. When the stock was exhausted, there would be no more.
Cigars were packed in naked five-packs and bundles with a low price point. There was a craze that rippled through the forum and everyone was buying up this inexpensive gem. I was one of the people that loved it and did my part in buying up the limited stock.
Even after the supplies were exhausted, demand was high and Famous came out with a second batch that they claimed took a lot of work for them to get ahold of. Those sold out and what do you know, a third batch hit the market.
By the time the third batch was released, interest began to taper off. While I didn’t personally buy any of the later releases, I recall people claiming that each subsequent release was less and less like the original.
While digging around in one of my coolers, I came across what I can only imagine is my very last Famous Nicaraguan 3000, from that original release. I thought it would be fun to fire it up and see how it held up with more than five years of age.
The video below features a cigar that is practically extinct. The chances of you stumbling onto one of these cigars is virtually zero. The suppose the purpose of this review is for entertainment and nostalgia.
Thanks for pulling this one out of the pile, Walt. I haven’t had any of the earlier versions, since I just tried this line in the past year, but the ones I had were enjoyable. I still have an Epicure, which is no longer available, and I liked both that one and the torpedo (what they now call the one you had). I suspect the current version is different from even the one I have, since they were “closing” these out a couple of months ago. I just wish these companies would level with us and let us know when things change
I haven’t had one in about a year, but I’ve enjoyed all the one’s I’ve had.
I too miss the old Club Stogie, but all the mods there left and started http://www.cigarasylum.com which is pretty much the same board with a different name.
I love finding a nostalgic smoke tucked away in the humidor. I was digging around a few weeks back and found a 2 year old padron 2000 natural, I gotta say the age actually treated it well, the already smooth 2000 was a little watered down and the spice was gone, but the smoothness of the flavors, nuts and earth were still present and dominant and delicious, but it also picked up a creamy backbone from -I think- the aging which I really enjoyed. I wish I had a couple others to see if that cream was from the aging or just an oddball stick.
Nice review Walt and I like the memory lane cigar videos. I never picked these up but remember the craze. If memory serves me correct Dale from Dog Watch spoke of buying 200 of these in one shipment!! Talk about passion for the original release!
Dave,
I’m glad you enjoy these types of reviews. They are fun and bring back some fond memories.
You are right, Dale bought up a bunch of these when they were released. In fact, I think he bought up a bunch of the second batch as well. At one point in time he was talking about putting them in a pelican case to store for extended periods of time. I wonder if he has any left or if he went through them all?
Thanks for the comment