Compay Segundo Cigars/Humidor

[wolff]

I smoke a cigar now and then and ran across this at a site I frequent. I would imagine, in Cuba, this is quite an honor.

Montecristo Cabinet of 95 Cigars

95th Cumpleanos ( Anniversarry) of Compay Segundo

We are proud to offer you the New Montecristo cabinet of 95 Cigars for the occasion of Compay Segundo 95th Birthday

Numbered edition of 95 items, Each Humidor containing the Following

55 Cigars Montecristo N°4 (42X 129)

40 Salomon N°2 ( 56X172.50)

Each cigar is banded with a ring stamped by Compay Segundo Picture

Compay Segundo - Many people have discovered Compay Segundo thanks to the Buena Vista Social Club. However, Compay had been making music long before he crossed paths with Santiago Auserón or Ry Cooder.

Born Francisco Repilado in 1907 in Siboney, a city in the Cuban province of Santiago, Compay Segundo is a vital link with Cuba's musical history and participated in the development of the son tradition. He learned how to play guitar from Sindo Garay in the early 1920s . "The first person I heard playing guitar was Sindo Garay.

Segundo is connected to many notable musicians and groups, including El Conjunto Matamoros,

Compay continued to perform intermittently as a solo artist for several years, while also rolling tobacco leaves at a cigar factory

[ralphie_boy]

I wouldn't mind smoking a few of those babies!

[wolff]

The #4's go for $5 each, but the Soloman's go for around $30+ . I have one that I got during a special....buy 4 boxes and get a Soloman free. It will probably sit in my humi for years.

[brownie]

The launching of these special (or limited) editions of Havana cigars is part of the Cuban authorities drive to improve the current production of cigars. Several wellknown brands of cigars (including the Bolivar Churchills) have seen their production stopped. Others (including the cheap and machine-made Guantanameras) have appeared.

And quite a number of the limited editions humidors - including that Cumpay Segundo one - have also appeared on the market even if most of them are being kept for very exclusive customers.

Another very expensive special edition for instance is the Humidor 510 Anniversary Arrival Cigar that retails for something like $4,000. For that price, you get 20 Cohiba Esplendidos, 20 Montecristo nr. 2, 20 Hoyo de Monterey Epicur nr. 1, 20 Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion nr. 4 and 20 Royales (whatever those are)!

I am still puzzled by the fact that the communist government that controls everything in Cuba aims to please the very rich customers who can afford those very expensive cigars. And I am pretty sure that these cigars are mainly aimed for the cigarlovers in the USA - who are still officially deprived of the pleasure of tasting Havana's puros - in view of creating a special niche of customers when trade between the two countries will be officially authorised.

I am happy with the regular brands of Havanas. Quality of the puros has improved after a bad slip several years ago. More and more of those Havanas are available in France. But I enjoyed some of those 'special' Trinidad Havanas that a friend who works in Cuba provided me with. That friend still remembers when Compay Segundo was one of the regular musician playing gigs at La Casa del Amistad (The Friendship House)in the Vedado section of Havana in the mid-90s.

Hope that the Salomon cigar is up to its reputation! I have not had the privilege of tasting one yet.

Not sure all this belongs to the Artists forums. But after all some of the jazz greats (Earl Hines and Willie the Lion Smith are names that automatically come to mind when the words jazz and cigar are linked) were heavy cigar smokers.