I was just wondering, With regards to the box code date. Is it the date the cigars were rolled or the date they left the factory?

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Originally posted by LiLo:
I was just wondering, With regards to the box code date. Is it the date the cigars were rolled or the date they left the factory?

I believe the date code is when they were boxed.

The box code reflects when the box leaves the factory. It can be 20, 30, 60, or more days since they were rolled.

Cigars are rolled and then tagged according to a certain blend and desired brand...not even the rollers know what they are rolling when they roll them, whether a Punch Punch or a Cohiba Siglo IV...and kept in "rueda" (translates to "wheel" which is a bundle of 50). They then go into 'escaparate' which are huge air-conditioned vaults where the cigars settle a bit over a period of about a month (maybe more or less, it depends). From there, they are dumped onto a huge table where they are sorted without regard to date of production (some may have been produced within the past 15 - 20 days, others might have been sitting around for 2 months), and without regard to who rolled them. There, they are sorted according to 64 basic colors, and within those colors, varying shades.

The cigars are then boxed according to color, and sent off to get banded. The cigars are taken out of the box and the order is maintained (because there are slight variations in shade within the box, all within the same color range, with the darker ones to the left, lighter to the right), the rings are placed, and then the cigars are replaced in the box.

From there, the boxes may be allowed to sit around for a while, but most of the time, they then go to get sealed. The last thing that is done is that the box is stamped with a factory code and date code, and the date code corresponds to when the box or boxes are packaged to be sent out to the distribution hubs.

I see, good to know! thanks alot for that detailed answer!

Very interesting. I was not aware that the rollers may not even know brand they are rolling for.

The rollers only really know the vitola or size, not the particular brand (although in some factories, the rollers do get an idea, for example, at El Laguito, the corona gorda they are rolling is going to be a Siglo IV).

People often talk about consistency within a brand, which is a bit illusory, too. First of all, with the exception of El Laguito where everything is either a Cohiba or Trinidad) (although Cohiba and Trinidad are made in other factories...), pretty much all the factories are rolling pretty much all the brands. The materials they use are not particular to the factory, but rather to the desired blend. So, for example, the rollers making a julieta (Churchill size...7 x 47) of whatever brand are all going to be using the same materials in the same mix, whether at the Upmann factory or at the Partagas factory, using the same techniques...and they don't know what brand the cigar will ultimately be - a RyJ Churchill, a Bolivar Corona Gigante, or whaterver. So to say that there is better consistency from one brand to another, or any difference in construction between brands, or between factories, really ignores that fact. It doesn't matter if the roller is at Upmann or Partagas - the end product is pretty much the same.

Before the 1990's, the differences in cigars from one factory or another were an issue - I would always look for cigars from the Jose Marti factory (Upmann) because they were known to have the more talented staff, that was provided with the best materials. But those distinctions are really a thing of the past.

Another way to look at it is as if the cigar industry in Cuba is like an automobile brand. First of all, the tobacco industry in Cuba is a state owned and run monopoly, so there is no privatized methodology or scramble for the best materials. So, take the Jaguar line, for example. A Jaguar from years ago was made in England, whereas now, it may be made in Toronto or Raleigh, and the cars coming off the line in Toronto or Raleigh, although made in a different location, are all made with the same materials, the same standards, the same techniques, and so on.

So, no...the rollers really don't know what brand they are rolling, and they're using the same techniques they learned to roll whether they are rolling a Cohiba or a Bolivar.

We can always count on a concise detailed answer from you Bob. I wonder why our resident clowns Fric from Calbria and Frac from T.O. didn't come up with an intelligent reply, but I surmise we all know the answer to that!

Polly want a cracker.
The answer must be archived with your informative cigar reviews. Of which there are none.

Au contraire gogoots, many reviews, before you were born.

Well forget what you were once upon a time there kecke. That no longer is you by your own doing have been reduced to a stalker and troublemaker. You add nothing and take away much from this forum. An angry old man with no rhyme nor reason.In fact to answer you back and forth is not how i was raised. Respect you elders that i shall do i will not help you any longer in your path of destruction. Enjoy what time you have left sucking up to Bob and making those stupid enough to feed into you miserable.

thanks for a great explanation on the constructing, packaging and distribution of cigars. Very insightful and helpful

You are welcome.

Cigar reviews are great, but most of the time, the reviewer is basing his (or her) (or its) assessment upon a series of adjectives he (or she or it) has heard or read elsewhere, and actually looks for those features. Who knows WHAT they are smoking!!?!?

A bit more about reviews...how many things CAN one say about a cigar? It's "leathery" or has a "barnyard smell" or has a firm or loose draw, or one can sense coffee or berries. Most of the time, those adjectives are people just stretching things to bootstrap a description about something like wine and apply it to cigars.

To me, a cigar is good or bad, strong or mild, bold or delicate, audacious or with great finesse, complex or one-dimensional. Beyond that, it's all just a matter of creative writing. The truly hysterical thing about it is that the reviews start to sound like one another...and in actuality, they are! Plus, the smoking experience of one is not going to be much value to another. For example, an old poster who had quite a bit of experience with cigars would talk about how bold and strong were cigars like the Quai d'Orsay Imperiales or Sir Winstons that were, for me, very mild and delicate in terms of strength. So, I don't put much stock into reviews. Much of the time, especially for the posers here, it's just a matter of self-aggrandizement, no matter how transparent!

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To me, a cigar is good or bad, strong or mild, bold or delicate, audacious or with great finesse, complex or one-dimensional. Beyond that, it's all just a matter of creative writing. The truly hysterical thing about it is that the reviews start to sound like one another...and in actuality, they are! Plus, the smoking experience of one is not going to be much value to another.

Well said! As a noob who just started two years ago, I use to put a lot of weight into various descriptors. I even started an excel sheet of cigars I've had with tasting notes. As I smoked more cigars, I find the notes to be all very similar, and as a result they became shorter as well. I still keep tasting notes, but they have more to do with the environment I smoked it and what was going through my head as opposed to specific tastes of the cigar.