Expert: James Yee - 11/4/2007

Question
I have a collection of around 500 or so cigars, all cuban. I do not collect as an
investment more to age a little and enjoy. I have a couple of questions and
would be extremely glad of your opinion.
1. I tend to keep the same make of cigars in the same humidor. i.e. I have
100 Cohibas of various guises and keep them together unboxed. Is this
sensible or should I be keeping Maduro with other Maduro etc.
2. I buy most of my cigars now on line, and always use distributers that are
Habanos approved and on their web site, is this fool proof regarding fakes.
Incidentally, I did get what must have been fakes from a web site that claimed
to be Habanos distributers by using their logo, but apon futher investigation
they were not. Buyer beware eh !!
3. I read recently that a great drink to have with a cigar was coke. I tried it
and it is very complementary, what say ou ?
Cheers
Justin

Answer
Hi Justin,

To answer your questions:

1.  It’s perfectly fine to keep cigars of varying wrapper shades together but most people – as a personal preference – prefer to keep their humidors neat and organized by shade colour (ie: keep maduros together and separate from the other shades.)  Keeping cigars of varying wrapper shades together in one humidor will not affect the cigar flavours but if it’s a concern to you, you can keep cigars separated with cedar dividers.

2.  When buying Cuban cigars online, it’s always best to do some research and try to find out as much as you can about that online retailer.  Though there are some great, reputable retailers on the Internet, there are a lot of fraudulent merchants and many of these merchants will use (without authorization) the “Habanos SA approved retailer” symbol on their website.  Know who the appointed distributor for that website’s country is and ask the questionable merchant who their distributor is.  Habanos SA only appoints one distributor per region/country so if the merchant doesn’t know who their distributor is or insists that they get their cigars from another country/distributor to help lower cigar costs and make cigars more affordable for their customers, that is a big red flag.

What you can also do to make sure the retailer is honest is contact the appointed distributor and ask them if they supply that specific website/merchant or not.  Habanos SA’s official website (www.habanos.com) has a directory of distributors from all over the world so you can easily find the authorized distributor for whatever region and contact them.

3.  I’ve also heard about drinking coke while smoking and you’re right, it can compliment a good Cuban cigar.  I have always enjoyed an occasional Coke and years ago, someone mentioned that I should try a Coke with a Cuban cigar because the cigar actually tastes better.  I was actually skeptic but when I tried it, I became a firm believer.  Sipping an ice-cold Coke while smoking a cigar does taste good.  (I've tried other carbonated beverages with cigars and the results weren't so good.)

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

Regards,
James