Just back from a sweltering week in Madrid and managed to squeeze in a good few visits to 30-40 Estancos.
TBH, the city appears to have been stripped bare of any rarities. The RE & LEs were very hard to come by with the RA Caprichos being sold out completely. One shop told me they bought in 500 boxes upon release and were sold out in one month. Buyers were taking 10-20 boxes at a time. If you find them anywhere this summer, grab them
I've put together a wee list if anyone's interested in visiting any time soon
RE STATUS:
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2007. A few boxes of VR Maestros here and there. No RA Grandes
2009. One shop had LOADS of boxes of Punch and I saw a few boxes elsewhere.
2010. Bolivar 108 - NONE
2011. Sancho Panza - A few boxes only in the above shop
2012. Diplomaticos - NONE
2012. Por Laranaga Legendarios - NONE
2013. Por Laranaga Secretos - NONE (I bought all I could find)
2014. RA Caprichos - NONE
So, quite bare to say the least
EL STATUS
------------
2007. HdM Regalos & RyJ Escudos - Split boxes here and there
2008. NONE
2009. NONE
2010. NONE
2011. All 3 ELs were in the humidor at T1 at the airport but not in Madrid (apart from the RA)
2012. Partagas C & Upmann Robustos. Easy enough to find both, especially at the airport
2013. HdM only at airport. Punch was thin on the ground in Madrid but 2-3 at airport. RyJ was very scarce: split boxes and 1 or 2 at airport
2014. Cohiba was very thin on ground, I only saw 6-7 boxes in total. Bolivar was sold out everywhere in Madrid once I'd bought my box but I saw one at T1. Partagas was very easy to find
Like I say, the city has been stripped bare; almost no rarities or old boxes to speak of. Even boxes for 1999-2001 were very, very scarce with only a few sticks, if any, left.
T1 has a cracking humidor, one of the best I've seen at an airport. It even had a huge pile of 20 or so boxes of Trinidad Robusto T and 4-5 boxes of Robusto Extra.
Prices varied greatly with Madrid itself though eg the Cohiba 2014 was E25 cheaper than Madrid but the Partagas 2014 was E21 dearer than Madrid.
TBH, the city appears to have been stripped bare of any rarities. The RE & LEs were very hard to come by with the RA Caprichos being sold out completely. One shop told me they bought in 500 boxes upon release and were sold out in one month. Buyers were taking 10-20 boxes at a time. If you find them anywhere this summer, grab them
I've put together a wee list if anyone's interested in visiting any time soon
RE STATUS:
-------------
2007. A few boxes of VR Maestros here and there. No RA Grandes
2009. One shop had LOADS of boxes of Punch and I saw a few boxes elsewhere.
2010. Bolivar 108 - NONE
2011. Sancho Panza - A few boxes only in the above shop
2012. Diplomaticos - NONE
2012. Por Laranaga Legendarios - NONE
2013. Por Laranaga Secretos - NONE (I bought all I could find)
2014. RA Caprichos - NONE
So, quite bare to say the least
EL STATUS
------------
2007. HdM Regalos & RyJ Escudos - Split boxes here and there
2008. NONE
2009. NONE
2010. NONE
2011. All 3 ELs were in the humidor at T1 at the airport but not in Madrid (apart from the RA)
2012. Partagas C & Upmann Robustos. Easy enough to find both, especially at the airport
2013. HdM only at airport. Punch was thin on the ground in Madrid but 2-3 at airport. RyJ was very scarce: split boxes and 1 or 2 at airport
2014. Cohiba was very thin on ground, I only saw 6-7 boxes in total. Bolivar was sold out everywhere in Madrid once I'd bought my box but I saw one at T1. Partagas was very easy to find
Like I say, the city has been stripped bare; almost no rarities or old boxes to speak of. Even boxes for 1999-2001 were very, very scarce with only a few sticks, if any, left.
T1 has a cracking humidor, one of the best I've seen at an airport. It even had a huge pile of 20 or so boxes of Trinidad Robusto T and 4-5 boxes of Robusto Extra.
Prices varied greatly with Madrid itself though eg the Cohiba 2014 was E25 cheaper than Madrid but the Partagas 2014 was E21 dearer than Madrid.
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