Again, new CC smoker here.
I know about box code on CC, but besides telling how long its been aged, would different time period indicate better crops? (like wine)
How about factory?
I got a list from one vendor who list all the box codes of their inventory.

---Charlie (bracing for "search the forum" reply)

2004 is a great year for habanos IMO; in general. This is a great year to buy em and age.

There's resources out there Charlie that will give you a breakdown of the known factory codes as well as which factory's make what.

If you're like me, just get the oldest boxes you can find without paying a premium. I can't afford to buy '04's and put them away for 5 years, but I just got a box of 5 year old VR's that are just heavenly. PSD4's smoke great right away, same with fresth MC2's.

There's a lot of aged stock out there. Just buy it up and then send me a few sticks

word is..apparently not...as box code only indicates when boxes. others have claimed that tobacco can be from two different harvests...box codes help, but aren't exact.. i would like to see stricter control so that you do know vintages.

althogh the 04s appears to be wonderful, in fact suckling was raving about smoke with 04 box codes, particularly after august 04.

I'm not sure what's more preferable...an aged box from some of the bad years during the late 90s, or a fresh box of better quality tobacco? thoughts? comments?

Thanks. I am buying boxes between year 2000-2002 now, which means those boxes have been aged (hopefully in a controlled environment) for at least 2-3 years.

Bombardier, it sounds to me that boxes during late 90s are not good purchase? You know of any specific years to avoid?

---Charlie

as for as an imperfect blanket statement. it seems most believe that early to mid 90s was great, and then in the late 90s quality decreased (as with a lot of nC producers as they tried to meet demand of cigar boom) that's not to say all late 90s and 00--01 Cuban cigars are bad, in fact, i love 99 VRUs and 00 BBFs...but in general it looks like its tougher to find great smokes during this time...anyone else have any input?

You can get great cigars from any year.

That said, 99 and 00 seemed to have been down years. Less chance of getting good cigars from those years.

01-04, the cigars have been great. Yeah, you still get a few duds (hand made product, remember). But by and large, 01-04 have been good years. Haven't seen any 05s yet.

You mean '01 BBFs Bombardier ...

While box codes do not correspond to vintages, the tobacco also wasn't sitting around for years as well. So it is approximate for the age of the cigars. I have some '98 Punch and VR that are very good. 2002, 03 and 04 seem to get high praise, especially '04. I have cigars from all three years that are generally good quality.

quote:

Originally posted by shortsqueeze:
You mean '01 BBFs Bombardier ...

indeed i do. although now i'm cravin' a BBF!! box of 04s i'm working on are wonderful.

Didn't last year's hurricanes affect production?

not really, apparently it was between harvest and all the tobacco was already in the barns...the majority of the barns were unharmed...again, reportedly.