Every now and then I’ll find myself sitting in the Private Lounge at Sir Stogies. Several of the guys will be sitting around and, on occasion, we’ll take a break from solving all the world’s problems and have a discussion about cigars.
My favorite question is “Have you ever heard of…” or “Have you ever smoked…” because it is an invitation to go deep inside the rabbit hole. I’m not well versed on new product but when something a little older comes up, reminiscence wraps around me like a warm blanket.
A great example of this happened a few weeks ago. We were all sitting around the table at Sir Stogies when one of the guys asked about an older Drew Estate cigar. After describing the band I immediately knew he was talking about the old La Vieja Habana.
“That line didn’t come in a regular wooden box. Think of it like a cigar box made out of the same material that cereal boxes are made of. Then, to keep the cigars snug and secure, loose tobacco was packed around the sticks”. We had a few laughs and we all learned a little something that we hadn’t known before.
When I come home after a day like that, I like to take a trip down memory lane. I’ll go down into my basement, turn on the light in the far corner, and crack open the lid of one of my coolers. On this occasion I sought out one of the boxes of Drew Estate La Vieja Habana that I knew were tucked away. I pulled one out of the box, clipped the head, and set flame to foot.
I wish I could tell you that it was a magical experience that brought back a lot of fond memories. Unfortunately, the cigar was terrible. Years and years being locked away left the smoke practically flavorless. I smoked half the cigar before it showed any signs of flavor.
Unfortunately, that seems to be the case for any naked cigars that have been aged in my coolers. Just the other day I lit up one of the original Tatuaje Serie P. That cigar was one of my go-to smokes years ago and I had high hopes for it. It was a disappointment. The flavor had gone flat from too much time tucked away in the coolidor.
On the other hand, some cigars have been stellar. In March of 2007 I bought a box of Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente. I smoked more than half of the box since I bought it but the remaining sticks have been resting peacefully in my Coolidor. The cellophane has a hint of yellowing and the wrappers have a distinct Spanish Cedar aroma. Lighting up one of those after all these years is a real treat.
It seems like the cigar industry gets so wrapped up in the next best thing that we sometimes forget the gems that we have tucked away. I’d like to encourage you to go into your humidor and find something that you may have forgotten about. Light it up and tell us all about it in the comment section. We all love a good story and sometimes it is nice to sit back and reminisce.
My local shop is perfect for finding older smokes..they dont have a walk in humidor so you have to know what you want before you go shopping. You have to ask the employees for the cigar you want and they go in the basement to find your cigar…when cigars aren’t out in the open they tend to last longer, I have found some old school smokes..most of their LFD’s have flower bands LOL
Charlie,
Atlantic Cigar has a PA location out in the Poconos (their original store was in New York). They don’t have traditional humidors either. The whole shop is humidified and they have tall shelves behind the sales counter. It kind of reminds me of a library.
Anyway, you can’t handle the cigars and need to browse from afar. It is easy to overlook something because of the way it is setup. I haven’t been there for years but I remember them having some older stuff on the shelves.
Found an original CAO Extreme at a cigar box out in hazleton about a year ago. Smoked like a champ
I was smoking a Camacho Ecuador (newer smoke, I know) at my local B&M. One of the long-time employees told me they recently moved some things in the their humidor and a tubed Dunhill rolling out from under the shelving. They had not sold Dunhills in a tube for something like 11 years. No word on the fate of this cigar. I am guessing that the tube would help keep the flavors from becoming too washed out. But then again, 11 years? Also if the tube were cedar-lined I’m guessing the cigar may wind up tasting too much like cedar.
Anthony,
I think you’re right about the tube and the cedar. I’d guess the cigar would hold up a whole lot better in the tube that it would naked or in cellophane. Tubes generally have a cedar liner so it would probably wind up with a fairly potent cedar taste / aroma.
I smoked an Oliva Serie G Tubo the other day that has been sitting for at least 5 years. Plenty of flavor left in it but the cedar tones from the tube liner were very apparent. Not a bad cedar taste, just very noticeable.
I’m just now finishing off a box of the original Oliva Serie V torpedoes that I bought in 2007. They have aged incredibly well. They were great eight years ago, but I think they have improved dramatically with age.
Hi Everyone,
I found this interesting and just want to say old cigars are better in taste. But nowadays there are many cigar brands who offer unique flavour and taste like one Davidoff cigars. Get a chance to taste a lovely smoke at all available online stores.
The original La Vieja Habana (LVH) was a long filler cigar line made for Drew Estate by Tabacalera Perdomo. It was the second brand made by Perdomo for Jonathan, the first was mixed fill cigar called Sportsman’s Reserve. LVH had a beautiful Cameroon wrapper grown by Rick Meraphel. Another distinguishing feature of the cigar line were the leather LVH patches attached to the wooden, slide-top boxes the original cigar(s) came in.
The second iteration of LVH is/was mixed filler, in a RCB (rigid cardboard box), with the tobacco trimmings lining the box.