Liga Privada
 

I have to ask what your thoughts are on this topic being the Liga line is one of my favorites to smoke right now and has been for some time but trying to get product at time seems to be tough. I know a couple years ago the 9s were said to be in low quantities due to the poor growing seasons the years prior for the Connecticut Broadleaf used on the wrapper. Made sense and I didn't question it. Than the T-52s which are what I prefer between the two began to become scarce for the same reason. OK, it seems if there were low yields of wrapper leaf than these would be effected in due time. I have noticed that the two lines as of late are becoming a bit more challenging to get and the reason I am hearing is the lack of Broadleaf due to low yields due to poor growing seasons. OK, understandable IF and that's a very big IF there weren't many other manufacturers who are having zero issues providing great smokes with Connecticut Broadleaf as the wrapper. For example Pepin with the Jaime Reserva Especial, or the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla(Broadleaf Puro) or the latest limited release from Pete for the TAA which has had me thinking. Are they just using this as a marketing strategy ala Fuente Anejo or Opus X? I am wondering if this most recent shortage where retailers are not able to fulfill orders is a little coincidental with the upcoming release of Undercrown which the story behind it is that they restricted their rollers from smoking Liga due to the low numbers of sticks being able to be produced so their torcedors came up with another blend that they could smoke while working and it turned out so great that they wanted to release it to the public. So I am wondering if this latest shortage of product is to help launch Undercrown.
Don't get me wrong I am a Liga Ho but not always being able to get it and having to hoard it when I can is starting to get old especially when the reasoning behind it doesn't seem to be true for other manufacturers using the same leaf. So what's your thoughts or do you have any insight that I may be missing that is making these so challenging to be able to just snag a box when needed when no other manufacturer is having these issues with Connecticut Broadleaf?

Re: Liga Privada
 

Just because other manufacturers have broadleaf right now doesn't mean that it's the same leaf as what DE is using.

In fact, I can tell you quite assuredly, that it's not.

The tobaccos, the capas (wrapper) in particular, that DE uses are very specific to certain seeds and only handled by a limited number of growers. Furthermore, there is a certain style of fermentation that they require to meet the criteria to be used for those cigars.

It's not a ploy, there really is a lack of useable LP tobacco right now and Jon, Marvin and Saka are simply not willing to make the cigars in a substandard fashion or change things just to fill shelves.

Jon is a good friend, I talk to him often, he ain't any happier about the leaf situation than you are.

PS: T-52 capa isn't a broadleaf, it's a habano seed. It's exclusive to DE and the farm that they have on contract. No one else has it.

Re: Liga Privada
 

I read that the Undercrown is the same blend as the LPs but with less age on them.
Cigars at your price has a pretty good availability on the LPs.
I don't really have any knowledge of the shortage of leaf so I have no comment on that.
I too am an LP whore though:dr:dr:dr

Re: Liga Privada
 

Thanks for the insight and that is the kind of feedback I was looking for and by no means was I trying to make this a conspiracy theory type thread. Just trying to fill in the blanks in my head.
I know that each manufacturer has their own processes and use certain seeds for similar leaf grown in a region but I was just trying to make sense in my head why they have had such a hard time getting the yields needed when it seems so many others are producing sticks with wrapper from the same region especially since it seems that so many new sticks as of late are sporting Connecticut Broadleaf as a wrapper. I know the Pepins have a very high standard too and I would figure they would be facing the same issue but I guess the difference must be in the seed.

Re: Liga Privada
 

Yeah the guys at DE in general and LP in particular are definitely straight shooters. Plus, given the fact that it's difficult to keep LPs on the shelf, you can bet if they had more to sell they would be selling them.

Re: Liga Privada
 

Whomever wrote that is mistaken, such is not the case.

What the Undercrown is though, is a cigar that uses some of the same tobaccos as the LPs, but from different primings.

Re: Liga Privada
 

I believe they share some of the same components but I believe the wrapper is a Mexican San Andreas. I was lucky enough to smoke an Undercrown already and it does not have the strength of the 9 or T-52 but has it's own unique flavor. Definitely a medium bodied stick where I would put the 9 and T-52 in the full category. It was very enjoyable with a perfect burn and super white ash. I am hoping these hit the shops soon as I am anxious to revisit it.

Re: Liga Privada
 

Yah I just read an article from Ca, it is much more in depth than what I read previously. The original article I referenced was pretty early information:

"We have the farmer harvest the tobacco later than is common to increase the starch in the leaf so that when it is air cured, it results in higher levels of natural sugars," said company president Steve Saka. He said this practice means the harvest is delayed by four or more weeks.

The torcedores also "inverted" Undercrown's binder and filler tobaccos, too, using the same leaf in a Liga Privada blend but from different vintages and primings on the plant. For instance, the stalk-cut Connecticut used as a wrapper on the Liga Privada T52 is the binder in the Undercrown blend.

Re: Liga Privada
 

See, that's just it - new. They can use what is out there now and create something with it. For the Ligas currently on the market, they are committed to a specific blend with specific tobaccos. Changing something isn't an option.

Seed, farm, weather, how it's fermented, all of this plays a part to make a finished leaf different. If the Pepins were using this same tobacco, grown on the same farm, processed the same way as DE, then they would be faced with the same issues, but they aren't using that same tobacco. They are using a tobacco with only, at most, a few things in common, but being from the same original genetic lineage, the same name is used to describe it to the public in the releases.

Re: Liga Privada
 

Yes, now that is much closer to what the cigar is.

Re: Liga Privada
 

Whatever the case may be, damn these are awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on some more. Thank you for the scoop on what is actually going on with them.

Re: Liga Privada
 

One of the B&M's I go to had several boxes of the LP's on their shelf. Let me know and I can see if they have the one you are looking for.
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Re: Liga Privada
 

I know that either last year or the year before entire fields of broadleaf tobacco in CT had to be destroyed because of weather related issues. The crop looks good this year judging by all the filled drying barns I drive by every day.

Re: Liga Privada
 

It's a conspiracy, I tell you. :tf