#22 Might be worth a shot. However, these were Nick's private stash. I got a tour of the place and didn't see another sign of it. Even got one of the earliest boxes of the Lot 23 maduro. Nick was having the boxes re-done because the originals were too dark (the box, not the cigar), and I had to ask to purchase that, as they weren't in the humidor out front. Whether that's the same thing he gave out at factories, I couldn't say. The smoke I had in Nick's office had a very dark wrapper on it, although they were clearly Nicaraguan puros. It's always hard to tell from pics, but the pic I'm seeing here, the factory smoke wrapper looks about two shades lighter. IIRC, he had one fairly large humidor or box, the smokes only came in a torpedo about 6x52 or so, maybe 6x54. I've never been one for coffee with cigars, but the Cuban coffee was amazing with the smoke. I got the feeling that Nick got asked to sell some many times before, and he just wasn't budging (not a complaint, I wouldn't dis a man who gave me one of the best cigars I've ever smoked). I think that *maybe* if one of his kids needed a kidney and I had the only match, I *might* have been able to get one then. My wife, who doesn't smoke and was sitting with us, even commented on how good it smells. That's rare.
#23 If you're a maduro junkie, a kidney might just be worth the price. I don't even know if he still makes them, as tastes change and this was 2003 or 2007 (the latter, I believe). I'll try to pick up a factory smoke some day to compare, but when I got to smoke one from his own stash, I got the impression the yield for the blend was extremely limited and they were only shared by Nick in person. One wrapper, one vitola, and only one box in sight. Plus, if he still likes them the way he did back then, I doubt he'd cough them up without having (a) a bigger yield, as they are for sale at many places, and (b) a bigger price tag. Look at the price of the Edicion del Silvio. That is the most expensive regular production smoke I ever saw from Nick and they are good, but cost almost twice what the factory smoke runs. Perhaps if you were to give him a holler and drop in on him...worked for me. Not worth another 6000 mile round trip (we were on our way down to Key West), but worth the drive up from Little Havana if you're kicking around there.