Budget Box Pass

[ashauler]

The herf was an incredible success!

Ribs, beer, cigars, and great company.

Attendance:
badwhale
irish79 + wife
funkycold5
myself + girlfriend

A total of 19 sticks were burned by the 4 of us.

The pass is now in badwhale's posession.

Pics?

[badwhale]

Pics?

I think they're forthcoming... Dan's camera was clicking all the pics... I only have one from this morning

Will

[craig]

Something I should have mentioned earlier:

- While in transit, the cigars in the pass have been exposed to various temperatures, bounced around, shaken, and stirred.
- all the cigars in the starting line-up were conditioned to 72%RH@65F to help minimize the effects of transit. Tobacco with a moisture content greater then 70%RH@70F is essentially a vapour barrier, i.e., almost all the moisture in the binder/filler can only enter/leave via the foot. (70/70 is where about 11% to 13% of the weight of a tobacco leaf is water.)
- all the cigars in the starting line-up were put in cello. The cello both protects the cigars and is a moisture barrier. While cello is not an absolute vapour barrier, it does inhibit the movement of water vapour.
- ligero leaves (top of plant) absorb the most water, and are typically located in the middle of a cigar. Typically, fuller-bodied cigars have more ligero.
- besides moisture content, a cigar's draw is a function of how much tobacco is in the cigar, what kind of tobacco (viz. ligero, above), how old the tobacco is, type of filler (short/medium/sandwich/long), and the construction method (book vs. accordion vs. entubar) and the quality of construction. (As an aside, this is why more expensive cigars are usually heavier than less expensive cigars. Less tobacco generally loosens the draw, thus allowing the use of less expensive construction methods like booking, at the risk of the cigar burning too hot.)
- Cubans tend to pack in more tobacco and use younger tobacco, so they tend to experience harder draws. They also appear to have looser quality control than similarly-priced non-Cubans, so excessively hard-to-draw cigars do show up fairly regularly. I can't remember the last time that I used a draw tool on a non-Cuban, but I use a draw tool on Cubans fairly regularly.

What this means:
- cigars taken from the pass' initial line-up should be rested before smoking. Removing the cello will speed up that process. Roughly, with no cello, it takes about a month (if the RH has to be lowered) to three months (if the RH has to be raised).
- the usual impact of a hard draw is that the cigar burns funny, resulting in a sour taste. Regular purging (blowing out through the cigar) minimizes the formation of that sour taste, but once that sour taste is in a cigar, it probably isn't going away.
- most people find most Cubans draw decently when the RH is around 60% to 65%. If you have your humidor at 70%RH, then I highly recommend that you drybox Cubans. Note that I'm not saying that 60%-65% is the RH that a cigar will taste best at.
- because of the ligero factor, stronger and/or thicker cigars are usually more affected. For example, the Por Larranaga's (except the PLPC) don't have any ligero; I've never had a draw problem with those. OTOH, I've had entire boxes of stronger cigars that have had problems. (The box of Boli Short Boli's is the exception in this pass. So far, this box has had a very loose draw and can burn too hot if one uses the effort one assumes is needed with a Cuban.)

While I'm here, if you go the Cigar Aficionado website and look at the video's:
- in the most recent video, "Cuba's regionals," Suckling trashes the Boli Short Boli. There have been a lot of disparity in reviews of this cigar, which, I suspect, is due to folks' expectations for a Bolivar.
- in the video "Cigar Wars: Episode 2 - Cohiba vs. My Father" Suckling/Savona talk about the difference between the draws of Cuban/non-Cuban cigars.

[Irish79]

The pictures from the herf have been posted in this thread.

I concur that it was a great success and such a good time meeting everyone. badwhale & I might are going to try and meetup this week to hand-off the pass yet once again.

[badwhale]

Ok. Here goes (and I agree with Nate, that its hard to match prices...)

Take #12 Quintero Quintero Panatela Sep 06 ~ $2.32
Put #64 Famous Nicaraguan 3000 ~ Torpedo ~ $2.35
Analysis: ($46.99, ) = AVG $46.99/20=$2.35

Take #7 José L. Piedra Petit Cazadore Jul 08 ~ $1.90
Put #65 Indian Tabac Maduro ~ Boxer ~ $2.18
Analysis: ($54.50, ) = AVG $54.50/25=$2.18

Take #62 Cuesta Rey Pyramid #9 ~ $5.14
Put #66 La Gloria Cubana Serie R ~ #6 ~ $5.40
Analysis: ($142.95,$129.95,$129.95,$129.90,$129.95,$126.99,$ 129.95,$124.95,$126.00,$124.95) = AVG $129.55/24=$5.40

Take #63 Oliva Serie G Special G ~ $4.22
Put #67 Ramon Allones Small Club Corona ~ $4.28
Analysis: ($113.95,$107.00,$139.00,$103.00,$95.20,$83.16) = AVG $106.89/25=$4.28

[Irish79]

Take #12 Quintero Quintero Panatela Sep 06 ~ $2.32 (I calculated within $0.02 using cc)
Put #64 Famous Nicaraguan 3000 ~ Torpedo ~ $2.35 (confirmed using pricing from FFS)

Take #7 José L. Piedra Petit Cazadore Jul 08 ~ $1.90 (I calculated this value to be $1.72 using box values from cc of 46 + 39.76 = 85.76 / 2 = 42.88 / 25 cigars = $1.72
Put #65 Indian Tabac Maduro ~ Boxer ~ $2.18 (confirmed using cc)

Take #62 Cuesta Rey Pyramid #9 ~ $5.14 (previous put value)
Put #66 La Gloria Cubana Serie R ~ #6 ~ $5.40 (confirmed using cc)

Take #63 Oliva Serie G Special G ~ $4.22 (previous put value)
Put #67 Ramon Allones Small Club Corona ~ $4.28 (confirmed using cc)

Everything looks good except Take #7, but I might be missing something.

[badwhale]

I think I found the problem.
I just cut & paste from cc for #7, mabye not realizing that the high number was for a doulbe box? I delelted that figure, and got 1.77 (close to your 1.72)

Will

[craig]

Ok. Here goes (and I agree with Nate, that its hard to match prices...)

Take #12 Quintero Quintero Panatela Sep 06 ~ $2.32 $2.34/cigar, typo assumed.
Put #64 Famous Nicaraguan 3000 ~ Torpedo ~ $2.35
Analysis: ($46.99, ) = AVG $46.99/20=$2.35

Take #7 José L. Piedra Petit Cazadore Jul 08 ~ $1.90 $1.72/cigar, 42.88/box, prices 46 39.76.
Put #65 Indian Tabac Maduro ~ Boxer ~ $2.18
Analysis: ($54.50, ) = AVG $54.50/25=$2.18

Take #62 Cuesta Rey Pyramid #9 ~ $5.14
Put #66 La Gloria Cubana Serie R ~ #6 ~ $5.40
Analysis: ($142.95,$129.95,$129.95,$129.90,$129.95,$126.99,$ 129.95,$124.95,$126.00,$124.95) = AVG $129.55/24=$5.40

Take #63 Oliva Serie G Special G ~ $4.22
Put #67 Ramon Allones Small Club Corona ~ $4.28
Analysis: ($113.95,$107.00,$139.00,$103.00,$95.20,$83.16) = AVG $106.89/25=$4.28

I'm happy . I came up with all the same figures as Irish79, so corrections are in blue. Puts aren't affected.

As for price matching, it helps to have a large variety of cigars, and to have a cigar inventory on a spreadsheet/database with price paid. I only keep records for box/bundle purchases - so the starting lineup of the pass came out of box purchases . Also, in other passes, you'll often see some folks grossly over-put and/or make extra puts; if one puts a $20 cigar in place of a $10 cigar, there usually won't be any comments ... except in this pass .

One thing that does come up occasionally in other passes is how dupes of cigars are handled - e.g. if there's a Short Story in the pass when one gets it, then one's puts generally shouldn't add another Short Story - unless it's a Maduro. Other passes may start with dupes, e.g., the Avalon pass mentioned earlier.

Irish79, you're up!

When you smoke them, it will be interesting to contrast the Quintero with the RASCC. BTW, would you know the date stamped on the bottom of box for the RASCC, please?

[badwhale]

Craig, (and all other pass participants),

Is it cool if Dan and I meet on Thrusday this week to do a handoff? If not, I'll mail this mofo monday or tuesday.

Thanks,
Will

[badwhale]

snip: BTW, would you know the date stamped on the bottom of box for the RASCC, please?

March 08

Will

[Irish79]

I left my memory stick at home today (dope!), on which are my spreadsheets, so I will post my proposed takes/puts tonight after work.

[craig]

Craig, (and all other pass participants),

Is it cool if Dan and I meet on Thrusday this week to do a handoff? If not, I'll mail this mofo monday or tuesday.

Thanks,
Will

Fine with me!

Thanks for the box date! Have you tried some yet?

[badwhale]

Fine with me!

Thanks for the box date! Have you tried some yet?

Thanks Craig.

I have tried some....ummmm.... the box has been decimated down to about a dozen right now

They're very nice to me. Maybe I'll tone it down, and see how they come out by next year...Mabye

Will

[craig]

Thanks Craig.

I have tried some....ummmm.... the box has been decimated down to about a dozen right now

They're very nice to me. Maybe I'll tone it down, and see how they come out by next year...Mabye

Will

Ah. I hadn't seen a review .

Given you like the way they taste now, just smoke them . You may not like the taste as much next year. (If so, then wait another couple years - at least that's what I tell myself when that happens to me .)

[Irish79]

A Take #38 Mad Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970 Robusto Grande $4.58 (Previous Put Value)
A Put #68 Playboy Toro $4.92 (using cc prices of 115.95 118.90 118.95 118.95 with 24 to a box)

B Take #11 Quintero Londres Extra Jun 07 $2.67 (using cc prices of 65.50 67.75 75 79 67 60.50 85.50 61.60 39.20 with 25 to a box)
B Put #69 Romeo Y Julieta Habana Reserve Robusto $2.92 (Paid)

B Take #49 Short Nestor Reserve Maduro Torpedo $1.86 (Previous Put Value)
B Put #70 Leoninos #4 $1.92 (using cc prices of 60.95 34.99 with 25 to a box)

C Take #52 Take Big Graycliff 1666 Presidente $3.80 (Previous Put Value)
C Put # 71 El Titan Redemption Lancero $4.20 (Paid)

D Take #67 Ramon Allones Small Club Corona $4.28 (Previous Put Value)
D Put #72 Cusano 18 Robusto Maduro $4.44 (using cc prices of 79.95 79.99 with 18 to a box)

Have at me!

[FactoredReality]

Quick someone find a problem with the accountant's math!

[craig]

Quick someone find a problem with the accountant's math!

Nobody's perfect .

[mrtr33]

looks good to me. Nice work.

[Irish79]

Quick someone find a problem with the accountant's math!

Hey peanut gallery, did you find anything?

[FactoredReality]

Hey peanut gallery, did you find anything?

Nope, looks good.