Victoria Burnett New York Times

Simon Chase, a British sage of the cigar world, stood in an elegant hotel salon here on Wednesday before a select group of aficionados, scrutinizing a box of 1970s cigars for evidence of their proclaimed vintage.One clue, he said, was the style and quality of the seal on the box. Another was the cigar's old-fashioned, slightly domed end, or "cabeza...

Simon Chase, a British sage of the cigar world, stood in an elegant hotel salon here on Wednesday before a select group of aficionados, scrutinizing a box of 1970s cigars for evidence of their proclaimed vintage.One clue, he said, was the style and quality of the seal on the box. Another was the cigar's old-fashioned, slightly domed end, or "cabeza...