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Taste is a very remarkable and very individual thing. What cost me an arm
and a leg and tastes smooth and full of flavor, may taste like old sawdust
to you. I’m always wary of relying on the price of a cigar as some indication
of the actual quality.
I can still remember the story of an Australian red wine that won a gold medal
at a prestigious wine show here in America early last year. The judges thought
the wine was wonderful and awarded it the gold medal over many other fine wines
from various parts of the world. Many people agreed with the wine judges
decision too because the taste was excellent.
Back in Australia, where quality wines can sell for anything up to $80 or $90 a
bottle the wine that won that prestigious prize sold for under $10.00 a bottle.
Now that might sound really hilarious and it does say a lot for people's taste
but it also says a lot for the myth that the more expensive a cigar might be the
better the smoke. It should be telling you that price really is no clear
indicator of value and that's something that you really need to remember when
you go shopping for cigars. You can even see in our own
cigar reviews that often times, lower priced cigars get better ratings than
the higher priced sticks.
Sure, there can be some cigars on the market that are of excellent quality and
they might be sold at a very high price but that may be more as a result of
market forces than of genuine cost to the grower and manufacturer. At times
limited supply of a certain leaf may join with a high demand to push up the
price of a cigar. At other times it may just be clever marketing that pushes up
the price.
Retailers and marketers know that cigar smokers are just like many other people
out there in the marketplace – they fall for the concept that high prices mean
quality – and so the marketers and retailers play on that. They boost the price
of an otherwise average cigar and the consumers think that it must be quality,
because of the high price.
At other times it's not the cigar that's expensive, it's the shipping and
packaging, that adds to the price. If the cigar comes in an expensive looking
package then you can be sure that somebody has to pay for that packaging and
that someone is you.
The packaging can go beyond what you see around the cigar too. Where is the
store located that you're buying your cigars from? Is it in an up-market part of
town, or tourist area where overheads are high or is your cigar shop in a less expensive part of
town where overheads are more reasonable?
The cost of the rent and the fancy fittings for the cigar shop in an up-market
part of town has to be paid for and the one way of doing that is to buy in stock
at a reasonable price and sell it out the door at a highly inflated price. So
let's face it, price is no clear indicator of quality when it comes to cigars or
anything else for that matter.
The true value of a cigar should never be determined by price. Instead it should
be determined by what you think of the cigar. Does it please your palate? That's
the only deciding factor that you need to apply to the cigars you smoke because,
in the end, you're the only one who has to be satisfied. It all comes down to
individual tastes and budget. There are definitely some cigars that I enjoy
which are substantially above the average price of a cigar. I love the
Padron 1964 Anniversary, and many people love the
Fuente OpusX, and are more than willing to pay the above average prices for
these extraordinary cigars. However, the
Flor de Oliva is a very good cigar at an unbelievably low price.
So, don't be afraid to try that $3, $4 or $5 cigar. If you'd like some personal
recommendations, sign up for our free message board and ask "the guys". They are
very friendly and helpful.
Sign up here and ask your questions
