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| Mine, all mine |
At the time, it was priced on the higher end of the spectrum and was considered a good cigar.
During this period I used to travel to eastern North Carolina on a regular basis. I usually flew into Raleigh and drove over to Greenville to the headquarters of my main customer. Not too far out of my way I could visit one of the outposts of the JR Tobacco company.
JR had these giant stores that sold pretty much everything at a discount, including cigars. You could get everything from clothes to books to perfume. But the heart of the store was cigarettes and premium cigars.
I often made the trip to JRs during my layover. I flew in one day, spent the night and flew out the next evening.
During one of these trips I picked up a box of H Upmann Chairman’s Reserve. They came in a beautifully crafted cedar box. I still use the box today to store my cigar smoking paraphernalia — cutters, lighters, matches, a small ashtray. That is my box in the picture, a little scuffed and worn.
I believe I bought this box of cigars around 2002 or 2003.
I tell you this because I still have a few of these erstwhile smokes in my humidor. You see, if I really like a cigar or if they were moderately expensive, I don’t want to smoke them. I keep them, often opting to smoke a cheaper or less quality cigar. Yeah, I don’t know why.
Well today is the day. I am going to have one of these fine H Upmanns. I doubt they taste the same as they did more than 20 years ago. They have been stored loose with a range of other cigars and are bound to have picked up other flavors. Tobacco also changes flavor as it ages.
Still, it will be a good thing to smoke an ancient cigar. After I share one with my buddy, I think I will still have two of the Chairman’s Reserve left. Maybe I’ll try them again in another four or five years.
Less you think this is a one-off, I have several others that I have in my humidor for more than a decade. Yeah, I’ll tell you like I tell my wife, it’s none of your business how many cigars I have in my humidor(s). The answer is not enough. I need more.
11 comments:
Wish I could still smoke without coming down with a bout of chronic bronchitis. Enjoy that puppy for me, too.
I think it was a favorite of Rush Limbaugh.
Hubby was big time collector of stuff. In one of the boxes he brought home was an old cigar box with 5/6 still left but some were for celebrities such as Red Skeleton. Box packed away but can a cigar maybe 50 years old be any good any longer. No cigar expert here.
You have to bring it back slowly in a humidor
Joe
Anonymous - If when I unearth them I'll be glad to send them to you. They've gather dust for probably 20 years. Of course that could be a year from now. My goal is sell all the furniture and unpack the boxes and depose of them.
Anonymous was me. Joe. Let me know and we can work something out. I am interested in those old stogies
I'm down to less than fifty boxes, shudders, but at least 10/15 are for library's in our area so that helps some. I'll let you know when they appear. Cardboard cigar is what the cigars were found in. If remembering correctly it was out of Miami.
👍
Joe
Know where you went, JR's on I-40/85 in Burlington. Still there going strong. Don't know if this cigar is in the back store room.
I used Togo to the one in Burlington when I was going to Charlotte every month. Long ago JRs had a store in Selma, NC too. That’s the one I hit when I went to Greenville, NC
Joe
Joe, I've found the cigars. 4 royal masters, 1king edwards, 1royal jamaica 1primo del rey and last but not least is a House of Windsor Complimentary Of Red Skelton. The cardboard box has inside the lid has a coat of arms and says Custom Made Cigars. Top is a faded print. The box lid has become concave over the years but still has original small nail to keep box closed.
Sent email to you last night. Need address to ship if you still want these.
Glasslass'
Margi D.
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