Time to stock back up on BBF cabs and it looks like those amazing 01s i loved so much are gone. so it looks like i'll be getting an 03 or 04 box. I'm wondering if anyone might perfer one year over the other. So anyone have a preference? I'm sure they are both great, but i'd figured i'd ask ahead of time. Thanks for any advice.
Posts: 1540 | Location: Boston | Registered: February 28, 2003
Color is absolutely a mere coincidence and luck of the draw. One year will not be darker than another, or lighter for that matter. Cured tobacco that is used for wrapper (where darker or lighter is the issue...because inside it is all the same, and it doesn't matter...a little ligero, a little seco, a little volado...binded by capote) will run the gamet of colors, and cigars ready to be boxed are sorted according to color, without regard to roller. And the same holds true from factory to factory...you cannot safely generalize that cigars from '01 are going to be darker or lighter, or that the cigars from La Corona factory are going to be any different than cigars from the H. Upmann factory, simply by date or factory code. No way.
I've posted about this before, but it bears repeating. The same lots of tobacco that comprise the desired blend or mix are distributed to the factories to make a particular brand and size. In actuality, it's like one giant factory, perhaps like a GM plant in Detroit, in Toronto, in Atlanta, all making the same cars with the same parts, just in different places. (IS there a GM plant in Atlanta? I haven't a clue...but for the purposes of illustration, assume that's the case). In the end, the consumer can't say that they prefer cars out of the Detroit plant because they use better lug bolts or gaskets...they use the same stuff at the other plants, and you really can't tell the difference between a produce from one factory or another. Same materials. Same process. Same molds. Same brand. Same features. Just made by different machinsts and assembly lines. Do the assembly line workers have pride in THEIR product and think and say it's better than the OTHER factories? Of course. Across the board. But in the end, they take all the alpine white GMC Yukons and put them together and then distribute them to dealers, and a dealer might get 5 from Detroit, 8 from Toronto, and 12 from Atlanta, and nary a customer should be able to tell the difference.
Same thing with cigars. The factories are run by the state, the mezcla is pre-determined and standardized, and then distributed to the various factories where rollers of similar levels of skill make the cigars that are eventually sorted according to color. They are sold by the State to Habanos where they are distributed to sales outlets (casas de Habanos, etc).
Now, if we could only get that 'lemon law' passed!
Now, that being said, there can be variations from year to year, certainly, depending on available crop, and other variables, just like your Yukon one year can have a different grill or faceplate that rattles, a recall for a faulty brake line, a seat bolt that tends to break, things like that. So, yes, the year of production can make a difference. HOWEVER - the box date will NOT necessarily correspond to the production date.
A cigar is produced, allowed to sit and settle, then it is sorted, boxed, banded and reboxed, sealed and then sits again until Habanos places its order or it is determined that the cigar should be placed into the stream of commerce. That can be 15 days, 30, 60 or 120, or more! The box code (factory and date) is stamped onto the box as it leaves the factory and is sent to Habanos! So, a cigar with a box code of 11/03 might have actually been made in 6/03! THAT is why I say box codes are illusory. Mind you, ordinarily you can count on a box date code to correspond more or less to the date of production, within 60 days, but that is certainly not the rule.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER! VIVE CPD!
Posts: 10302 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
c'mon paco i know a dark BBF looks amazing, but that doesn't mean it tastes great, its only wrapper. . .although those 01s were DARK and tasted amazing.
Posts: 1540 | Location: Boston | Registered: February 28, 2003
See? Classic example of the misconception I noted:
"...although those 01s were DARK and tasted amazing..."
It's a chicken and the egg thing...cause and effect. The foregoing assumes that all '01's were dark. But that's not the case at all! Were they dark because ALL BBF from '01 were that way? No. Not all BBF from '01 were dark. Were they dark because the ones that YOU got were that way? Obviously - and the conclusion was relative to YOUR cigars. Were they dark while others from '01 were light? OF COURSE! Cigars are assembled for boxes by reference to wrapper color, and there will always be darker wrappers, lighter wrappers, and everything in between. I believe that there are 64 basic colors, and then a myriad of shades within the color range, all discerned and sorted by a couple people in each factory. Were they dark because of the factory they came from? No...for the same reasons. You can have a box of cigars with dark wrappers of the same color or shade from a certain date, made in 2 different factories. Or, you can have one box with lighter wrappers right alongside a box with very dark wrappers with the same date code and the same factory.
So...as I stated in the initial part of this thread, reference to date and factory codes is illusory.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER! VIVE CPD!
Posts: 10302 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
quote:Originally posted by ryj7x47: HOWEVER - the box date will NOT necessarily correspond to the production date.
A That can be 15 days, 30, 60 or 120, or more! !
Had no idea there was there was that much of a deviation in date. interesting. sure would be great if they would put the crop date instead of a box date. . .although i'm sure they would never do that so that all cigars sell. fpr example not just the 01s and 03s and no one want the 02 - type of senario. thanks for the info!
Posts: 1540 | Location: Boston | Registered: February 28, 2003
thinking about getting a box of the bbfs, and i have a choice between 04s and 00s, price difference is only a little over 20. it seems like most find the bbf to be pretty damn good outta the box, which is how im going to smoke these since i wont have the chance to age them (not enough money to buy extras to age). will the 2000s be a good deal better with 4 yrs on them vs the 2004s?
Noob, and a FNG to boot!
Posts: 491 | Location: Ithaca, NY | Registered: April 19, 2004
Some people complained that the Bolivar line in or about 2000 suffered greatly, and that is perhaps why a box is floating around now. My theory is that Altadis just completed its acquisition of a part of Habanos, and since it is a Spanish entity, and the Spaniards will not have anything remotely to do with anything relating to Simon Bolivar, to the extent that they do not even sell Bolivar cigars in Spain (so I have heard...), they sort of let that line go for a while. I have had corona gigantes from 1999 that were out of this world, with a sort of szechwan spice to them...and all of a sudden, in mid-2000, they are all just a bunch of volado...no flavor, no power, nothing to them! And this seemed to permeate the entire line. Just a theory, and quite a novel one, but hey...makes for good conversation.
For my money, I'd go for the 2004's.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER! VIVE CPD!
Posts: 10302 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
Points well taken ryj. Indeed, I have had in my possession 2 separate boxes of BBFs from 01. One box was rather light, the other was darker than the ace of spades. Both were strong & flavorful, and I probably wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the 2 in a blind test. I also have a box of RASS from 04 that are very light, but they're so strong, I'm dizzy half-way through. It's just that I enjoy a dark wrappered cigar, if only for aesthetic reasons.
just had my first BBF, very enjoyable. I found it to be a medium body medium strength smoke with a prevailing flavor of roasted nuts, undertones of cream, cedar, hints of vanilla. This was from the LCDH in Montreal and as I was later warned it may have been a little flat from being directly in front of the humidifier...oh well. guess ill just have to go ahead and get that box i posted about at some point to figure it out!
Posts: 491 | Location: Ithaca, NY | Registered: April 19, 2004
Abit of "for what it's worth", but I waited a LONG time for my vendor to sell all of his 00-01 boxes before I ordered another box of BBF. It only took me one box of these from 01 to sign off until better days. They were strong, but flavorless. The 04's I have now are back in stride again, BUT they are the worst looking habanos I have seen in awhile. The wrappers look like something you would see on a "Don-nobody from the 90's...the selection of the no-selection. (Plus, they were damaged) I am getting a replacement box in next week, which will probably be dark and oily, but could be more of the same. But the taste is right, so I am relatively happy. I am also happy for getting 2 for 1 this time around. It bears mentioning as a footnote to what RyJ said that it is possible to get a box of BBF's where each one of the 25 could have been rolled by a different roller. But when it comes to Bolivar, I think it's safe to say that we all would like to slide back that lid and see very dark and oily cigars. It may even be that the popularity of the EL lines could mean that alot of wrappers that were once headed for Bolivars are now heading elsewhere. I have not had a nice dark box in more than a year, in any cigar. Just a pile of my own opinion, but there it is.
Posts: 655 | Location: New Orleans, LA | Registered: July 01, 2002
I just got a box AGO 04 and they look amazing. dark oily and smell wonderfull, they smell stronger than the CoRo that came with them.will try one this afternoon.
The 04s are the best cigar that I have ever had strait ou of the box.These are dark and sweet. they are also the the best looking cigar in the box, as perfectly rolled as the Partagas Luci.
