Thoughts on "Premium" blends in existing lines

[pathman]

I love to read the reviews that my fellow BOTL come up with on some of my favorite cigars. I still view the world of cigars in terms of bang for the buck in most cases. What do you guys think about the advent in the last 10-15 years of super high-end blends in existing lines of cigars? For example, for years I was a Fuente 858 smoker, I mean I smoked this cigar like people smoke Marlboros. Chances were, if I was smoking, it was an 858, I went through close to a box a week for most of the early 90s. Then, the Don Carlos and Opus started to show up. For the Don Carlos, and even the Hemingway line, I never thought the higher price gave me much more enjoyment than my trusty 858. When I got over the sticker shock of the Opus and really started smoking them, I was hooked, and felt like I liked this cigar 10 bucks better than the usual line. Other examples that come to mind out my personal preferences are Flor Dominicana vs Litto Gomez Diez, and La Aurora vs La Aurora 100 anos. I really feel like these cigars are complex and different enough to justify the added cost. On the other hand, I feel like there are a lot of cigar companies that have just added a leaf or two to an existing blend and some fancy packaging and banding and not really giving you much more for you're smoking dollar. I don't really know where I'm going with this, just wondered if anybody else out there looked at this like I do.

[Dgar]

Im not sure I follow exactly...

But, I do think there is a point within certain brands and cigars in general where the taste dosent justify the difference in price.

lets see a padron 6000, about 6 bucks....... padron 80th about30... is one five times tastier than the other? I dont think so. I look forward to trying an 80th, but at 30 bucks a pop I wont be stocking up.

[MikeyC]

This is a topic I see discussed a lot. When you boil it all down it's a question of value. As anyone who took Marketing 101 knows value is a very personal thing. What is a good value to one person can be perceived as a very poor value to another person.

As already pointed out, with any product there is a point of diminishing returns (as you continue to improve the product the improvements become smaller and more subtle). Whether these differences are "worth it" to you are purely a matter of personal opinion.

These threads get started all the time in my other hobby, car detailing. Like cigars there are wild differences in price between different products. Take for example car wax. You can buy something like Meguiar's NXT at Wal-Mart for $10 (or maybe even less) or you can buy Zymol Solaris for $30K. People always start threads on the forums about "is this worth it?" In the end, they all degrade into shouting matches because everyone's opinion is different. There is no such thing as wrong opinions because when it comes to opinions there is no black & white or objective data.

Just remember opinions are like a-holes: everyone's got one and everyone else's stinks.

In the end, the only person who can ever tell you if something is truly "worth it" is yourself.

[pathman]

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned whether some cigars are "worth" the money, because as anybody knows that is incredibly subjective to many different factors. What I really question about some lines, is the difference in blend,taste,exclusivity etc. Some high end examples of a certain cigar company are radical departures from what they usually roll, while other high-end sticks are barely any different than the parent line. At least thats the way it seems to me. Padron was mentioned in a previous post, that's a good example for me, because I really love my little Padron 3000 sticks. I've bought several boxes of the annys and have given most of them away, just not different enough for my palate to make me reach for them over the normal offering. That's not to say I think they are bad cigars, I think they're quite good, just not markedly better/different than what I usually smoke from Padron.

[MikeyC]

Originally Posted by pathman

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned whether some cigars are "worth" the money, because as anybody knows that is incredibly subjective to many different factors. What I really question about some lines, is the difference in blend,taste,exclusivity etc. Some high end examples of a certain cigar company are radical departures from what they usually roll, while other high-end sticks are barely any different than the parent line. At least thats the way it seems to me. Padron was mentioned in a previous post, that's a good example for me, because I really love my little Padron 3000 sticks. I've bought several boxes of the annys and have given most of them away, just not different enough for my palate to make me reach for them over the normal offering. That's not to say I think they are bad cigars, I think they're quite good, just not markedly better/different than what I usually smoke from Padron.

That's a totally different question. I think it depends on the brand. There is a bigger difference with some more than others.

[craigchilds]

My

When I first started smoking cigars, I bought into the logic that a cigar’s price was influenced more by good marketing and fancy packaging (heavy box, pretty band, etc.) than by its intrinsic quality. I thought cheap bundles were the way to go, and anybody who paid more than $2 for a cigar was probably a chump.

I’ve backed off that reasoning a little bit, now that I’ve smoked many cigars at various points on the price curve. There is a consistent, noticeable difference in quality between a $1.50 JR Alternative and a $7 Fuente Double Chateau, just as there is a consistent, noticeable difference between the $7 Fuente Double Chateau and a $20 Padron 1926. So, I decided quality does determine price... Sometimes. However, taste is always subjective. I’d rather have one of Rocky Patel’s $2 Edge Counterfeits than one of his $12 Vintage 1990 cigars. So, as always, the cigar smoker has to balance taste, price, and hype. It’s part of what makes smoking cigars so much fun.

Thanks to internet mega-distributers, like JRCigars and TNTCigars, and auction sites like CigarBid, I’ve been able to try many high-end premium cigars for a fraction of what they sell for in stores – sometimes getting a $15 cigar for only $2-$3.

But, like every cigar smoker I’ve ever met, I’m always looking for that elusive premium $1 cigar—the hidden treasure in some nondescript bundle that tastes like a $10 Fuente or a Padron or a even a “classic pre-Castro Havana”

[volfan]

Well Mike, I do not know about all of the premium lines, but I do not seem to care for the RP OWR or Padron Annys that much any more. What I do like is the LE AVOs and the Cerberus from Avalon, though. Go figure. For me, it is more about the flavors and less about the price and that lets me enjoy them as mini-vacations. A wise person on this board once said (and I forget who) that you smoke less frequently but better cigars. Quantity does not always beat quality imho.

scottie

[Ratters]

I've found the "Limited" version of the Camacho Corojo to be a significantly better cigar though I do enjoy both.

I found that the Gran Reserva line of the JdN Antanos to not be a better smoke at all.

I guess it just depends.

[PUFFNMO]

For me, the amount of age on a stick makes more of a difference than whether it is a premium as opposed to a regular line.

I would rather smoke a well aged Ashton Heritage than a fresh ESG. Larry.

[nwksaxman@hotmail.com]

The 858 is a good "go to" "everyday" cigar. I think that things like the opus and th 100 anos are some of the best sticks on the planet.

It's like steak. Day to day you eat hamburgers (which, let's face it is just ground up steak ) because they are easier on the wallet, but on occasion you have a porterhouse.