Expert: James Yee - 6/10/2009

Question
Mr. Yee:

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.  I am fairly new to habanos and am still learning about them.  I have recently bought two boxes of RASS, box codes TEB FEB 08, from what I believe is a reputable dealer.  Everything from the boxes and the cigars themselves appear genuine in every way.  The bands are genuine themselves; however, I noticed that they are the older bands that were discontinued in 2005.  I smoked a couple of the cigars and they tasted incredible, so I believe them to be authentic.  I was just wondering if it common to see older bands still used on newer habanos?  

Also, I have a box of PSD4, box code PUB OCT 08.  Again, everything appeared legit.  I did notice a couple of the cigars in the box had some incredibly big veins.  I smoked those first and they tasted great, so I probably should not be so picky.  I was under the impression that Partagas was a higher end cigar, so is it common to see these types of cigars get past quality control?  I realize that this did not affect the quality of the smoke, but I was just curious.  

Thank you,
Jerry

Answer
Hi Jerry,

It's not very common for a recently produced box of cigars to have older, discontinued cigar bands from at least three years ago.  If the boxes had production dates closer to when the bands were discontinued, it would be plausible but I'm not sure why or how two RASS boxes from 2008 managed to have discontinued bands from 2005.

In regards to the Partagas D4, it's perfectly natural and common to have veiny cigars.  Partagas is indeed a premium brand that has high-end cigars (ie: Lusitania, Salomones, Edicion Limitadas, etc.) but their low-to-middle end cigars is usually slightly poorer in quality.  The D4 is really considered middle-to-high end and has been known to have veiny wrappers or slightly imperfect construction.  However, this isn't limited to just Partagas as cigars from many premium Cuban brands can slightly vary in quality.  I have genuine SD4s that also have large veins so don't worry, this is a fairly common occurence.

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

Regards,
James