Expert: James Yee - 1/17/2008

Question
hello mr. James,

first of all, congratulations on your hobby, passion and expertise, you make
me jealous!!!
My question is very simple, but first an intro: I myself am crazy about cigars, I
smoke for 4 years now, and my habit has turned in to a real obsession/
passion! I'm a smoker now as well as a collector. My collection is rather
modest for the moment, in that matter that I have 15 regular production
boxes: hoyo epicure n°1, erdm grandes, demi tasse and choix, trinidad reyes,
robusto extra and fundadores, ramon spec sel, slr regios, jl sel n°2, hdm petit
robustos, r&j short churchill (tubos), rafael panatelas extra, upmann 46 and
I'm forgetting some I think. And a couple of 100 singles. My specials are a
box of untouched cohiba reservas 2003 and r&j hermosos n°2 2004, and
started boxes of partagas serie d n°1 2004 and cohiba dc 2003.
So I can state that only my cohiba reservas are meant to be untouched.
I have ordered now a box of sanchos and a box of vegueros especial n°1,
both from 2000, and at the price they were bought then (that makes 100
euro for the 25 vegueros and also a 100 for the 10 sanchos, from friends in
Spain.) The sanchos are meant to "vintage".

now my question is this: what kinda brand and cigar do you think could be a
great investment? I just guessed cohiba's,  I'm going to cuba again and I am
just hoping in november 2008 that there will be a classic limited edition on
the market then, so I can buy 4 boxes of them. I found the 2007 limiteds a bit
average to invest in. Any chance of a classic? Like a cohiba double robusto or
a trinidad sublime or prominente? Or do you know places in cuba were there
are still some early 2000 limited editions? Last year I was already happy to
find the reservas at only 400$ in a casa del habano...
The first thing would be to collect those boxes and or smoke them, not to sell
them. Maybe in 20 years ;-)
Or are there any cigars that soon will be discontinued? I must say I am rather
fond of a laguito n°1 or delicados.
Anyway, thank you for any respons

Bart Lampo

Answer
Hi Bart,

Thank you for the kind words.  Cigars and cigar smoking is not just a hobby to me but also a strong passion and serious endeavour.  I’m glad there are other people that understand, appreciate and love cigars as much as I do.

When buying cigars as an investment, it’s always best to go for limited edition cigars, specialty/discontinued cigars and perfect-looking regular production cigars.  In recent years, some of Habanos SA’s commemorative humidors with limited edition cigars have been increasing in value and demand.  Humidors such as the 510 Anniversario, Trinidad “farm house”, Compay humidor, 1492, Partagas Serie C1 and 2000 Millenium Reserve are in big demand because they’re increasingly harder and harder to find and the cigars within these exclusive humidors are some of the best-looking, highest-quality cigars ever produced.

Regular production cigars that are discontinued or specialty cigars are also in high demand because they are extremely hard to find and not available in the mainstream market.  This include such cigars as Bolivar Gold Medal, Punch Black Prince, Cuban Davidoffs (the holy grail brand for most Cuban cigar collectors), Trinidad 5th Anniversario, Cohiba 35th Anniversario, Robaina Prominente Edicion Limitada, etc.

As for brands, Montecristo, Partagas and Cohiba always fetch a premium price.  Inaugural releases such as the first year Cohiba Siglo VI, first year Edicion Limitadas, first year Cuaba Salomones are among the favourites that collectors snatch up.  When a new cigar or size is introduced, collectors usually stock up and age them.  Even sampler boxes can be in high demand as they are not part of the regular production line and therefore not so easy to acquire.  This includes the Cohiba Reservas that you mentioned as well as the Seleccion Robustos & Seleccion Piramides boxes.

When buying regular production cigars, always look for dark, oily cigars with “picture perfect” wrappers and excellent construction.  There is always a big demand for dark cigars.  2003 for example, was a great year for Hoyo de Monterrey double coronas (cabinet selection 50) and Partagas Serie D4.  That year, both cigars constantly had dark chocolate wrappers, were extremely rich in flavour and glistening with oily wrappers.  (I probably smoked more Hoyo DCs and Partagas D4s than anything else that year.  Fantastic year for both brands.  I couldn’t find a bad batch that year if I tried.)

If a box of cigars looks so good that it should be on the cover of a magazine or on display in a museum, then it will most likely be in very big demand by collectors.  Collectors are always looking for beautiful cigars.

In closing, I hope this answers your question.  If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Sincerest regards,
James