Machine-Made to Handmade conversion in Habanos' catalogue

When Habanos stated it's intent to cease all production of machine-made cigars in which hand-made versions were also available, it came as a surprise.  But not an altogether bad idea if you consider their logic in making the decision.  First of all I have no idea what HSA does behind closed doors.  I can only take what little they say, and couple it with what I have seen them do in the market subsequent to those statments.  And it looks like they are comfortable with their position.  For a consumer of habanos, it came to a head during some righteous sales where a buyer could get machine-made habanos for 33 to 99 cents a stick it seemed, and then the slow rising of the price of the boxes in the hands of "smo-llectors" who bought to have something to cut the grass with and now had cigars that people wanted but could no longer get.  While it never reached the frenzy for discontinued cigars like the Ramon Allones 898 Varnished or Rafael Gonzalez Lonsdales, the machine-mades witnessed an upswing in purchases as nostalgia proved a major factor with buyers.  I know a collector with 40 boxes of Partagas Perfectos.  I wish it was me.  The cigar's demise is not likely to bring too many tears, they were spongy, inconsistent in flavor and wouldn't hold an ash.  But they were fun and cheap to smoke and now they are gone.  Save some against the push of progress if you've got a box.  Smoke em and enjoy em if you have a dozen boxes.  If you have a rush of nostalgia, find La Troya and Belinda machine-made tubos availale at better retailers.

But wait a minute, what's the second half of the two good things we got the day the cellophonic music died?  All or plenty of these cigars were, at least for now by default, switched to handmade production sticks.  This has been ongoing since near the start of the discontinuation of Machine-mades by 2003.  And after now having had two standouts among the new HAND-made versions, I am pleased that they are being offered.  I spoke about it earlier, but the Super Partagas and Por Larranaga Montecarlos and these H. Upmann Coronas Major tubos are just great little cigars, now totally handmade.  In fact, the Por Larranaga Montecarlos have overtaken the shooting star Petit Coronas that seemed to have wasted immortality.  Great cigars of near cult legend one day, and then just so-so today.  I have personally quit buying or smoking them.  But the Montecarlos spill over with creamy, toasted toffee tastes and a little caramel and pepper and spice.  Everything the old Petit Coronas used to be.  Habanos said that they were going to use the best tobaccos for the hand-made favorites and stop smearing the name of handmade cigars in a marque with the performance and the impression of machine-made cigars using the same name.  I think in a lot of cases, the hand-made versions were no longer widely available.  Now that the machine-made cigars are mostly out of manufacture, these hand-mades have almost been making market re-introductions.  And boy, some of these cigars are emerging stars...Or so it would seem to me, looking on from space.  TO ME, some of the best things being done now by HSA.  That's why REs and ELs to me are not as satisfying.  These now-all handmade versions of old cheap cigars are where the taste is now.  How that changes with time is certainly still up in the air.