Special cigar gift

rzaman

Today I was invited to a colleague's house for launch. He is also a cigar smoker. We smoke rarely but we have been friends over two and half years. After the launch he gave me a vintage cigar because he thought I would have apprecitated the history behind it. In a nutshell, this cigar was given to one of our political officer who was assigned at our embassy in Tokyo. He was a guest to a state dinner party and a Royal Japanese Official gave him this cigar in 1986. He never smoked it because it was a special gift to him. Finally, he met my friend and handed over to him. My friend kept this cigar with him over 15 years. It is a candela wrapper cigar, the band has the Imperial Seal of Japan(Chrysanthemum flower). I did some research but couldn't discover any information. This is another reason why I love cigar, friendship and the culture around it. Most probably I will never smoke it. Here are some pictures:

Toombes

That's light years beyond cool! I agree, that's one to hold on to.

danielzreyes

Awesome story brother.

ShotgunJohn

wow what a cool cigar and a cool story, congrats brother.

farinahome

Very cool, thanks for sharing the story with us!

gmill880

Thats a sweet gift !

taythegibs

woah thats awesome!

skweekz

That's pretty freakin awesome man. Great friend!

Knoxca1

There is a cigar bar that I go to on a regular basis whose owner is very knowledgeable about cigars. I'll show him the pictures and relay the story to see if he knows anything about it

rzaman

That would be very nice. I appreciate it Knoxca.

Knoxca1:

There is a cigar bar that I go to on a regular basis whose owner is very knowledgeable about cigars. I'll show him the pictures and relay the story to see if he knows anything about it

kuzi16

ENFIDL

That's really awesome. Great gift and an even better story

Rhamlin

Knoxca1

Here's some info on it. It's called Onshi cigar(??(Onshi) ??(cigar)) not sure if the characters will show up. Onshi means an imperial gift. I'm waiting for some addtional information specific to your time frame but it is mostly likely cuban made. Very hard to get non cubans in Japan. It is only given out by the Japanese Embassy staff so it is pretty rare one to have. Kuzi is correct that it has a candela wrapper, new ones are very green. I have a picture of what a new one looks like (not mine) but not sure how to post it.

rzaman

Thanks for the info. You can upload the picture at photobucket.com and paste the HTML link here. Again, thanks Knoxca.

Knoxca1:

Here's some info on it. It's called Onshi cigar(??(Onshi) ??(cigar)) not sure if the characters will show up. Onshi means an imperial gift. I'm waiting for some addtional information specific to your time frame but it is mostly likely cuban made. Very hard to get non cubans in Japan. It is only given out by the Japanese Embassy staff so it is pretty rare one to have. Kuzi is correct that it has a candela wrapper, new ones are very green. I have a picture of what a new one looks like (not mine) but not sure how to post it.

Knoxca1

rzaman:

Thanks for the info. You can upload the picture at photobucket.com and paste the HTML link here. Again, thanks Knoxca.

Knoxca1:

Here's some info on it. It's called Onshi cigar(??(Onshi) ??(cigar)) not sure if the characters will show up. Onshi means an imperial gift. I'm waiting for some addtional information specific to your time frame but it is mostly likely cuban made. Very hard to get non cubans in Japan. It is only given out by the Japanese Embassy staff so it is pretty rare one to have. Kuzi is correct that it has a candela wrapper, new ones are very green. I have a picture of what a new one looks like (not mine) but not sure how to post it.

Forgot I had an account there. Hope this works.

danielzreyes

Wow!. check out the difference. Talk about age.

Knoxca1

Here's a picture of the box it comes in. http://www.shojikido.com/cgi-local/mt/archives/shojikido/000274.html

rzaman

Hi Knoxca1, Thanks again for sharing the link. I am in search for this cigar and confident to collect some more. I am getting close to the deal-:)

Knoxca1:

Here's a picture of the box it comes in. http://www.shojikido.com/cgi-local/mt/archives/shojikido/000274.html

Knoxca1

rzaman:

Hi Knoxca1, Thanks again for sharing the link. I am in search for this cigar and confident to collect some more. I am getting close to the deal-:)

Knoxca1:

Here's a picture of the box it comes in. http://www.shojikido.com/cgi-local/mt/archives/shojikido/000274.html

Your welcome and good luck to you in your endeavor. On the cigar forums over here the Japanese cigar enthusiasts have expressed frustration on how difficult it is for Japanese citizens to obtain these.

rzaman

I understand that. I spent a year in Japan and saw they highly value the Imperial items though they are a democratic nation. They still respect the Royal family with deep feeling. I am with the diplomatic core and met my Japanese counter part a week ago. Here the embassy is small and they receive very small lot of these cigars but he is checking with his superior if he can get a box for me. he said it shouldn't be difficult. I gave him a very nice gift as a sign of Nakama Tomodachi-: )

Knoxca1:

rzaman:

Hi Knoxca1, Thanks again for sharing the link. I am in search for this cigar and confident to collect some more. I am getting close to the deal-:)

Knoxca1:

Here's a picture of the box it comes in. http://www.shojikido.com/cgi-local/mt/archives/shojikido/000274.html

Your welcome and good luck to you in your endeavor. On the cigar forums over here the Japanese cigar enthusiasts have expressed frustration on how difficult it is for Japanese citizens to obtain these.

Knoxca1

I'm curious if the box will be the same. The box in the picture is a few years old. Would love to see a picture of a full box once you get it.

The Sniper

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Roberto99

Thanks for sharing all this with us. Things most of us here would never get to see.