IMHO, I thought that the '03 Habano crop made some excellent cigars, those coming out in late '03 and throughout most of '04. I've heard from overseas sources that the '04 crop is even better. :smt110
Personally, I've seen inconsistencies in '97-'99 sticks. I'll take a recent production anytime.
for me 02 gars have been really good. and recently I have had alot of 00' cigars that have been outstanding, despite the curse 99-00 gars. But the 99 gars have been hit and miss for me.
i'm not that experienced yet. the only '99 cigars i have is my recent box of JL PCs and they are perfect (so far). the 04s i've had are constructed very nicely and already burn very well.
one day i will be like you master jedi's (i hope).
I have to agree with Mo.
I have plenty of cigars in my collection back to 95 and
I think the 03 and 04 construction has been the best ever.
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I also think these cigars are coming out of their initial sick phase sooner.
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98's, 03's and 04's are superb right now. The 04's are smoking great out of the box and the 98's are simply incredible when it comes to flavor and construction.
Key cigars from 98:
ERDM Choix Supreme
Fundadores
BBF's
I have really enjoyed the '02 production-Esplendido, Sir Winston, RA 898, the list goes on...but all of '02 and on are top quality. '03, '04, while a bit young for me yet, show excellent promise!
I have not any remotely bad or tasteless experiences with the 04s. A friend on the island says that this is the best crop since 1995. The construction has been very good as well. Now if I can keep my hands off some 04 boxes I might see what they are like in 2008 !
I don't know about better than 04 but 02 has been a good year for me. 04 has shown great promise, early 03 had some loose drawing cigars but good flavor. My best smoking box has been 95 Lusi's but I'm down to my last 2 :smt010
Not much experience so far, but what I've smoked has been very nice. Construction appears to have generally improved over some '03s (which evidenced more loosely rolled cigars than I have seen in some other years). I'll defer to the experts for a more in depth comparrison to other years. I'm still buy lot of stock with age on it (even if only a few years), so I may not be buying a lot of '04s for a few years.
So far the 04s I've had have been really good. I am letting most of mine age.....I don't know if they will last 6 yrs....maybe if I get a few more of my personal favs....JL#2 and PLPC. But I am looking at a aged box of JL#2 from 99 here's the box code(TAE CCLR). Can anyone here tell me about how the 99 JL#2 are smoking? I know IHTs had luck with his JL Petit Coronas. Just wondering if and Jedis could tell me about these. Thanks :smt098