Sancho Panza Bachilleres

Boy don't you hate it when things make you think of other things.  Sure, sometimes it's good, in fact some times it's REALLY good, but this is the bad kind. 

Had my best '66 GTO dream ever last night, and I really miss that car.  It's far too long a story for one blog entry, but every 6 months or so I remember in depth and at length about the sad story that is 'why I no longer have that car'.  But I digress. 

When Habanos SA first began announcing discontinued cigars, no one knew if they were serious.  It was a really bad concept for the cigar collector.  But while I think of it, it was a great time to be a cigar seller.  You could do what you liked with your old cigars after the announcement.  Some held a fair line, some scalped, some just stashed.  Half of the habano-knowin'-about population thought it was a sales gimmick.   898s started the march, then duplicate vitolas in a marque, or poor sellers.  Some people snatched up a closetfull of their favorites.  Others speculated.  Still others believed that HSA was only half-serious to begin with.  And to add fuel to the fire, that shocking announcement, of what later became known as "the list" became a regular, annual thing.  A perverse tradition.  As supplies of cigars slated for, or even a few years into "discontinuation" began to dwindle, buyers have become accutely aware of priorities within their personal cigar wish lists.  Moving SLOWLY towards the door like smart people did on Wall St. a few months before the big flush.  Like people SHOULD do in a burning theater.  But now it's much more urgent for folks, and the price continues to rise on cigars for which it is now obvious that the bell has tolled.

What the hell was I talking about?  Oh yeah, Sancho Panza Bachilleres, or as it's known in my house, the perfect cigar in the perfect size. 

You can FIND this cigar if you look and have money.  And if you are relatively comfortable with sticker shock.  It's not the COST of the box, it is the relative cash to leaf ratio that gets 'em.  This is a Fransiscano vitola de galera.  That's the term for factory size.  There are a decent amount of Fransiscanos, and I think most of them are kaput.  It's a little shorter and a little thinner than a petit corona.

 

Other standouts were the Rafael Gonzales Tres Petit Coronas as well as the eponymous (or epynomous) offering from Partagas.  Of note in particular is the El Rey del Mundo Lunch Club, long an insider favorite.  The little Romeo y Julieta Tubos #3 is also a Franciscano.  So we are together on the whole discontinued cigars thing?  It's BAD.  So now it's tougher and tougher to find the Bachilleres, and huge discounts on them are but yarns and lore for putting newbies to bed with at night.  But hang on.....

I think I have 3 or 4 around.  

Yeah, there they are.  Really spectacular little cigars, and they never die, they just fade away and change and evolve.  As delicate and delicious as any cigar made, actually.  Anyone who runs into one is bound to be pleased.  It is neither strong nor dry.  A sweet and tangy, chewy-smoking cigar with easily discernable chocolate and berry flavors, and rich tobacco and toffee at times.  And they put 24 more in a box to ease the pain.  Man I love Pixies.

The cigar is a nice blend between box press and round, kind of a Dave K cigar.  Lots of smoke almost every time.  I have never had a bad draw on a Bachilleres.  It's on the playful side of light, burning perfectly, but not slow.

So what's say we smoke one shall we. 

Hah, I'm  kidding.  I am not smoking one.  Maybe later.