jdrabinski: Sorry, I didn't see your post above. After scrolling above, I believe you are part of a three way with Bud and JD1. Besides, I'm still in the waiting game to see how reliable my sources are in acquiring this covenant cigar.
We should all post a review if and when we can get to taste this highly praised cigar. I'm kinda excited!.
Ed

emgjet ---

The Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 85 Sun-Grown was a line that was rolled exclusively as Arturo Fuente's personal cigar. It was his personal stock. When he was living ... he had them rolled by his best rollers for his own use, using the finest blend of leaves that were available to him. They were never meant to be released to the public ...

But, it was eventually released for the first time, in honor of Arturo Fuente, after his death ... which was a very difficult thing for Carlito and his family to do ...

I'm not sure of what the last '8' stands for, but '85' is the age Arturo was when he passed on.

The three different releases (starting in 2000) are all slightly different in flavor and strenght. Some say the first release was the best, some say the the last release (2002) is the best. I've only had the pleasure of smoking the second and third (last?) releases ... and there is a slight difference between the two. The 2002 release has a much darker and shinier (oily) wrapper than the 2001 ... and the taste is much smoother.

I've smoked a lot of different cigars, and have found many that I think are at the 'top of the line' in the ultra-premium catagory of fine cigars ...

... but the Flor Fina 858 Sun-Grown leaves them all in the dust.

Damn Slim! I'm still game for grabbing one of the two available boxes I know of at $166. This is one of those smokes you savor once/twice a year...fellas? anyone game? DON'T MAKE ME BUY THIS BOX MYSELF! She'd kill me! Worse than that, she'd prolly dump all my smokes!

Is this a different blend than the Chateau, Dbl Chateau, and Royal Salute SGs?

Absolutely ... do you think Arturo Fuente would have had his 'personal' cigar made with something that all the rest of the Fuente 'sun-growns' were made with?

The blend is a highly guarded secret (as it is with the OpusX and some of the other 'rare' releases) ... and as of Carlito's latest statement, will not be released again ... at least for 2003 ...

jd1

As I said before, I am IN! 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, whatever. I'm in.

John

You guys go ahead a split up whatever you can get. I got a few at home and that's fine for me at the price.

I'll still check on them for you though.

jd
email sent

I believe the 1st release is the best. I've had the 1st,2nd but not the 3rd as I am aging these a bit. The 1st release is an awesome cigar,IMO. The 2nd is very good also,but not quite as complex. I'm down to just a couple....sigh. X

Bud (Mike) I would like 2 or 3 sticks - if you can???

barryneedleman {at} yahoo {.} com.

I've been told the 1st release and the 3rd are pretty close ... and it's a toss up between the two with those who have had them both ... as to which release is better.

Pretty evenly matched, it seems ...

Just got one in a trade. It was purchased Dec 02. When can I smoke it?

I have three left from a box that 'redneck1' scored for me about a month ago ... I've smoked almost one a day ... I can't keep my hands off them! It's the only smoke that seem to hit the spot every time ...

They are smokeable right now ... so incredibly good, but will probably be even better with some age on them.

I couldn't wait ... LOL!

Stopped by my local cigar shop last night. They had a "full open box" of the SGs alright, but it was filled with regular 858s.

They had a bunch of Chateau and Double Chateau SGs that the manager tried to tell me were the same. I told her I was going to sick Slim on her. Actually I told her she should do some web surfing before giving information. She didn't like it and walked away from me.

Sorry guys....I tried.

LOL @ Bud ... you make me proud!

I'm telling you ... these are not easy to find, and when you do, you are NUTS not to grab up as many as you can afford.

I tried for over 1½ years just to get a few in trade over at CF ... and finally Jimbo and a few others were able to help me out.

And like I said ... it was 2 years before I was able to score my first box (and actually ended up with 2) because I managed to get a couple different 'solid' leads on them.

I'm not going to open the second box (if I can hold out) until next year ...

Oh...I never doubted you Slim. I was just suprised when my local shop had some. Figured I found gold, but turned out to be another uninformed retailer.

Regular 858's in a sungrown box? That sounds like the old bait and switch to me. In fact, I'd say they're pretty darn good at it, "Master-baiters?"

bud451 ---

I certainly hope that the couple you picked up for $6.95 were the SG's (cedar wrapped with the black band on the foot). If they are not the SG's, they goughed you 'big-time', and I would return them and get your money back!

The MSRP on the regular line is a little over $3.50 per stick ...

... if they are not, email me.

Definately SGs...I knew the difference, thanks for the heads up anyway.

I've seen them in there for a while, I'm just not up on all of Fuente's "hard to finds".

I still owe you ... big time, for what you did for me around Christmas!

Someday ... 😉