Theme Week 39 = GRAND FINALE
Two Great Families and the Cuban Tragedy

I have thoroughly enjoyed dedicating entire weeks to sampling each of the labels in my humidors. I have also enjoyed providing historical recaps of the various companies and cigar labels over these many weeks. The industry has such a rich heritage, and for those who simply love tobacco, there is always something more to learn and something new to enjoy. I hope y'all have enjoyed these 'theme' weeks as much as I have enjoyed posting this excursion into various series of cigar brands.

Now that I have finished my 'theme' weeks, I am going to wrap up this little project with a few of the finest cigars in my humidors (with a paragraph for each one in the list). I also have included a BONUS TRIVIA at the end of this post. But first, on to the "grand finale":

- (1) Opus X The Lost City (very rare)
- (1) Opus X Pussy Juice (almost impossible to obtain)
- (1) Fuente Opus X Don Carlos Anniversario 2006 (totally impossible to find)
- (2) Fuente y Padron LEGENDS (one of each, extremely rare)
- (1) Padron Black #97 Maduro (a 'one and done' thus immediately extremely rare)
- (2) Padron 1926 Series 90 (Natural and Maduro)

FIRST: The Opus X The Lost City has a very interesting history. The cigar is named after a 2005 film whose most memorable scenes were shot at Chateau de la Fuente, a tobacco farm where the legendary Fuente Fuente Opus X wrappers are grown. The movie by Andy Garcia is a tribute to the tragedies suffered by so many families when the murderous thieving communists confiscated the properties and businesses of what so many families had built for the prior century, pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into something for their progeny. But the communists stole everything, impoverished the entire country (for the last 65 years and still continuing), and tortured/raped/murdered the citizenry from whom they confiscated everything for 'the state', causing so many to flee to the freedom 70 miles away. Every dollar spent on Cuban cigars since 1960 has funded the communists' pockets in Cuba while the populace has remained totally impoverished for the last 65+ years (with no end in sight)! The Lost City was directed by Andy Garcia, and the Fuente Fuente Opus X The Lost City cigar was created by the Arturo Fuente Cigar Company to commemorate the film and benefit underprivileged children. "When we finished shooting the scene, I asked Carlito what he was going to do with the tobacco," Andy Garcia recalls. "He said if the tobacco was good, he'd use it. I suggested using it to make a cigar with the logo from The Lost City, and that the project would benefit his foundation." The cigar is distributed by Prometheus and God of Fire. A portion of the sales proceeds of Fuente Fuente Opus X The Lost City cigars goes to fund The Lost City Scholarship Fund. The mission of The Lost City Scholarship Fund is nurturing the future leaders of the Dominican Republic.

SECOND: The Opus X Pussy Juice has two reviews at Halfwheel: 7/4/2012 = https://halfwheel.com/review-opusx-pussy-juice/28625/ and 1/5/2015 = https://halfwheel.com/redux-opusx-pussy-juice/76488/ . These cigars are only available from Carlito to friends and associates, so acquiring even just one of these cigars is practically impossible (except in a specialty box like selected "Impossible 13" boxes, but not all of those limited editions include a PJ). Of course, acquisition via acquaintances of Carlito must be kept in confidence since no one with access to these cigars would ever want to jeapordize their connection to the Fuente family and the producer's super-rare specialty cigars. It is interesting to note that there are three red Xs on the label, making the "Pussy Juice" a triple-X (rated?) cigar, LOL.

THIRD: Opus X Don Carlos Anniversario 2006, the very first limited production run of this tribute cigar, is no longer available.

As noted in one of my earlier posts but if any exist anywhere in the world, they are squirreled away in the private collection of a handful of aficionados, such as my remaining 7 (now will be only 6) cigars from that single production released only once 15 years ago.

Later limited production years may still be found, though anything labeled prior to 2019 is now basically impossible to find.

FOURTH: The Fuente y Padron Legends cigars are rare or, in some cases, totally impossible to find. The joint collaboration between Fuente and Padron to honor their fathers, the Fuente y Padron Legends, is a unique occurrence and obtaining this particular pair of cigars is now extremely difficult, and soon to be impossible to find, thus making them a truly unique treasure in one's humidor in the coming years.

FIFTH: Padron Black #97 (a.k.a. PB97) is expected to be a "one-and-done" production, making them something that will likely be impossible to find, even immediately after release. I was able to get my hands on two, so I will enjoy one and save the other one for posterity. Read more about this unique product at Halfwheel = https://halfwheel.com/padron-black-pb97-begins-arriving-at-retail/435890/

SIXTH: Padron 1926 Series 90 (Natural and Maduro) are a specialty item, a bit rare yet presently available if one seeks to find them. These are 'tubos' and produced to honor the ninetieth birthday of brand founder and legendary cigar-maker José Orlando Padrón.

BONUS TRIVIA: History Of Padron's Serial-Numbered Underband
The following is an archived news story buried in the Padron website's "xml archive" folder (http://www.padron.com/xml/news_archived.xml ) explaining what happened after the 1999 massive counterfeiting bust: The new bands, which began appearing on February 1, 2001, will sport numbers to guarantee the cigar's authenticity.

Jorge L. Padrón, president of the Miami-based company, said that Padrón had been working on the anti-counterfeiting measure for a year. "We've been working on new ways to make the band more difficult to counterfeit," he said, "and to make consumers feel more secure that they are getting a genuine Padrón." Numbered bands are fairly rare in the cigar industry, but Padrón already uses a numbering system for its Padrón 1964 Series Millennium cigars. The Millenniums have one number for each cigar -- if, say, cigar No. 1,100 has been smoked, it's gone for good. The numbers on the Anniversary bands may repeat, but never in the same box. The company said there was a system to the numbering to help track possible fakes, but it won't be revealed to the public. For Padrón, the move is a logical one, as counterfeiting has been a growing problem over the last year and a half. In June 1999, the first fake Padrón Anniversary cigars surfaced in Nicaragua. In January 2000, police seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Anniversary cigars and 5,000 fake bands from a Los Angeles warehouse. Two months later, a seizure in Miami forced the Padróns to send a letter to retailers warning about the surge in counterfeiting. Most recently, undercover agents seized more than $60,000 of fake cigars in a September raid that took place in New York City. Along with adding the additional band, Padrón has modified its Anniversary boxes: all of the box hinges will now be engraved. Other measures to hinder counterfeiters will be added. In the future, changes to the regular Padrón brand and the Millennium brand could also take place if necessary. "We have to make it as hard as possible for someone to counterfeit our cigars," says Padrón. NOTE: Padron will likely be changing this again to include a new larger serial-numbered single band in the near future = https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/padron-modifies-cigar-bands.

I hope you have found the themes and history of these various cigars, as well as the BONUS TRIVIA, to be as interesting as I have.