Discontinued Cigars 2011

[aes8]

Thanks - gonna need the luck, and a fat wallet. I'm also planning out my hitlist of endangered cigars.

If its any help may I suggest that you develop and stick with a theme. I became the "discontinued, regular production, old school guy". It helped me to limit and focus my purchases. I also liked to concentrate on long and skinny.

This meant that I didn't chase the CGR, (maybe a mistake) or the the Behikes, or alot of the RE/LE stuff. However there were times when I had to jump on an opportunity or lose it and risk never seeing certain cigars again.

[acng77]

You start getting in CC with this great forum and site. Right as you discover something you would like to try, it's gone (BCE)!

[investandprosper]

You start getting in CC with this great forum and site. Right as you discover something you would like to try, it's gone (BCE)!

You can still get the BCE. There are even places which still have the discontinued 50 cab. Just means they won't continue making them, but there will still be stock moving around.

P.s. H SA, WAKE UP!!!!!!!!

[Fuzz]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to face reality. HSA doesn't, and never will, give a rat's ass about us. They are a business that is interested only in short term gains. It doesn't matter to them that they are cutting some of our beloved cigars. After all, we're still buying their cigars!

Yeah, we can ***** and moan about the loss, but what does that get us? Just another round of yearly deletions.

Can we make a difference? Sure. Just buy up as many of your beloved cigars before they hit the chopping block. Maybe that 0.01% increase in sales of the particular cigar will dissuade them from discontinuing them.

The fact is, we are a small community of connoisseurs in a huge market. One day perhaps, HSA will realise that it's their hardcore group of connoisseurs that made them who they are. I won't be holding my breath, though.

Now I'm off to go crawl into a cave and hide with my precious hoard of beloved discontinued cigars!

[PigFish]

I have size 12 feet! I just thought you might like to know!

In a world where everyone else seems to fit into 10-1/2... I can still get a great western boot in Pangolin, or Ostrich in size 12!!!

What does this all mean? Well, I will tell you.

There is no model that insists that Tabacuba must sell all its rolled cigars in one year. While this is a convenient excuse to brainwash you guys into believing that market forces, the invisible hand, pushed my beloved cigars into the abyss of obsolescence it is simply not true.

There are plenty of companies where inventories are kept for prolonged periods. Could you imagine a wine maker having to push this years grape juice out on shelves because he did not want to house it? How about you who enjoy Scotches and other spirits? The providers of these products know their products and their markets. I don't see Isla Broomhilda (a fictitious brand of single malt Scotch) advertised and marketed... They may store it of 12 years or more!

Understanding people have different feet is a part of the shoemakers market. The custom shoemaker and the real high-end boot maker, make sizes to fit all kinds of people. This is just an example of course. Beethoven died some years ago as I recall, along with Handel, Vivaldi and others. We can still hear their music on the radio even though it is not as popular as Hip-Hop!!! How come it is so difficult to understand that a cigar is a niche market product and every rolled cigar will not sell in the year it is produced?

I can understand a corporate leader saying we are making robustos because that is what the most people want. I can understand him making sure that they are always available for him because that is what makes the most money. But I don't understand sitting on unrolled tobacco, laying off workers and allowing your market share to move off your shores due to some impervious idealistic stupidity!!!

Why do I write about it? I write about it to stir you folks up!!! I want you pissed off because these idiots are making a mistake with your smoking future. They are denying you the ability to choose, explore and evolve. Yes, they are within their rights to do it. But if there is any chance that anyone of those dumb bastards stops by here to read, I would like them to know we exist!

Build your fat, amorphous and bland cigars!!! But when the weeks rolling is coming to an end; when there is a **** pile of fine tobacco left in the barn, when the employees want to work 5 days instead of 3, bundle up some coronas, lonsdales... my Party SdC one more time. Price them accordingly and let the people decide.

Fuzzy... that is why I keep talking about it. If "I" sit idly by... I have no one to blame but me! -Piggy

[Colt45]

While this is a convenient excuse to brainwash you guys into believing that market forces, the invisible hand, pushed my beloved cigars into the abyss of obsolescence it is simply not true.

Why do I write about it? I write about it to stir you folks up!!! I want you pissed off because these idiots are making a mistake with your smoking future. They are denying you the ability to choose, explore and evolve.

Speaking only for myself - I can assure you that I am in no way brainwashed - they are a company, in business for profit, and not upholders of any

kind of now mythic tradition.

And most certainly anything they do has no effect on my life - they deny me nothing. They make cigars.

[PigFish]

Speaking only for myself - I can assure you that I am in no way brainwashed - they are a company, in business for profit, and not upholders of any

kind of now mythic tradition.

And most certainly anything they do has no effect on my life - they deny me nothing. They make cigars.

... you were specifically exempted Ross, page 39, section 13, sub-paragrah 12 under whereto's and what nots, who is and who is not brainwashed!!! -LOL

-Piggy

[CBL]

When I was in Japan and went into any random electronica store, I'd see a prominent, albeit very small, Disc-man stand selling those old school portable CD players. In an era where most people listen to MP3's on the go and in a country where digital evolution is 2 steps ahead of the rest of the world, they still sell those seemingly extinct pieces of electronica because at the end of the day, there's still a small group of people who want one and they can go into any store and get whatever color they want!

Same with SACD's (Super Audio CD's) My dad is a collector of those things, but they never seemed to take off they way most people involved expected, yet they still release a small and select number of releases through the SACD program for the collectors, fans and audiophiles. No matter how small the market is, they still make sure that market segment gets served. I wish HSA was more like that

[Guest rob]

If I am allowed the opportunity to digress from the subject of cigars for one moment.....

There is currently a major meltdown happening in the hearts of some Star Wars fans over the new release of the movie series on Blu-Ray.

George Lucas and Lucasfilm, decided that they would make some edits to the movies. These edits have been widely and ctitised - afficionados and fans of teh films have claimed the edits rape the movies of their integrity and change some characters true selves.

Lucasfilm knew in advance the uproar this would create - history told them so - as the last time they made some major edits to the series fans went crazy and screamed to anyone who would listen.

But, they still sold a shitload of them. Shelves emptied off in no time. No doubt many of those who complained also spent their hard earned coin on them.

The same is happening this time with the Blu-Ray rerelease. Lucasfilm will make truckloads of profit from the same people who have complained. They will have been 'let off' for their violation to the movies. They get pardoned as long as the dollars keep pouring in.

Enough of the digression.... and back to cigars.... many of the same people who complain and ***** about HSA will continue to validate them, fill their bank accounts with profit... and support an entity that they ***** about.

There is ONLY ONE WAY to make your statement to a company that relies on profit to survive.

Do you have the nerve to make that statement?

Are you that passionate about your argument and cause that you're willing to make the ultimate statement by closing your wallet?

Me - I'm gonna keep buying their stuff.

[Colt45]

... you were specifically exempted Ross.....

Were it only true......

I do understand what you mean - they most likely don't need to make some or any of these deletions - I'm sure they could roll and keep small quantities as needed.

As usual, my take is this: We can get ostrich boots from Justin, Lucchese, Tony Lama, Nocona, etc, etc, etc.....

Currently, HSA are the only game in town for Havanas.

[Stalebread]

What is it with ostrich boots?

Are they the Behike of the boot world?

[PigFish]

What is it with ostrich boots?

Are they the Behike of the boot world?

Yes, somewhat! The comment was specifically aimed at a comment made by RA sometime ago regarding the fact that "no company wants to carry last years inventory;" not a direct quote, but a statement to that affect. This type of statement bolsters their position and while it may be their rationale, it is wholly untrue that companies don't carry an inventory of products made in previous years.

Where it might be optimum that a company carries no inventory and items are sold the second they are produced, there exists the real world beyond it. I can understand a statement regarding controlling inventory. I can understand a statement regarding limited resources, and limited labor. I can understand when demand forces a product off the shelves because the resources are so scarse that only the top line product can be made. I can't understand when those reasons are used in this situation because none of them exist here!

Tabacuba et al appears to understand that not all their products demand the same cost per gram. While in reality, due to their cost of labor, they likely cost at a manufacturing level almost all the same. They refuse to offer choices and vary retail price as a matter of demand and simply instead cancel product.

Understanding a product line is a part of good management. It has been proffered that these deletions over the last decade were associated with cleaning up the company and making it more profitable. It appears to me the opposite has occurred. The Cubans produce or store more raw tobacco now than before. The rollers rack up less hours. The smoker gets less choices to buy and subsequently buys fewer cigars as there are less choices. The Cubans lose jobs as mismanagement allows them to move from Cuba to other lands... Speculate all you want folks, there is a harsh reality in what I write!

Most companies offer a range in products. Even luxury products often have entry level lines and a range or products that allow the consumer a chance to - MOVE UP. I don't need to buy ostrich boots to find a size 12! When I can afford them (hypothetically) I can MOVE UP to them! It just so happens that I prefer what may be considered by some, the cigars you move from! The evidence has shown me however, that many seasoned cigar smokers actually prefer these 'lesser' cigars. The move up then, the real empirical evolution of some (agreeably not all) smokers is that they find a preference in the performance of many of these deleted sizes. My argument then is that the coronas, like the size 12 shoe is not an everyday seller. But it remains important for the size 12, coronas smoker!

Looking to buy a box of cigars now and again has been a rather fun endeavor for me the last decade. Over the last year, I bought 4 cigars from Rob (RA). There are only a few cigars now in the catalogue that I want to own. I already own many boxes of those, many over a decade old now. With these folks not giving me what I want, why should I give them my money? Some suggest I don't.... and I don't!

I have smoked less than a box of cigars from the years '09-'11. That means that Tabacuba, H SA, et al, has effectively lost me as a customer. Bundle 50 Bolivar, Partagas... or some other deceased in cello wrap and market it for $150 smakers and I am a buyer tomorrow of these 2011 cigars!!! While I am in the minority here, there are a lot of me out here. I am suggesting that my plan could sell millions of cigars in months. What these dumb ***** fail to realize is that the storage of unfinished materials due to dogmatic stupidity is not as good a choice as selling some great cigars that they no longer make for a great price.

I know I cannot do a damn thing about what these folks are doing. All I can do is stay engaged and refuse to buy substandard product. So that is what I do!

Hear that H SA... you stupid group of lemmings! This 1000 cigar a year smoker bought 4 cigars from you last year! I think I might start looking into NON-Cuban coronas this week end. Perhaps I will start posting about those instead!

-Pig

[Ginseng]

If I am allowed the opportunity to digress from the subject of cigars for one moment.....

There is currently a major meltdown happening in the hearts of some Star Wars fans over the new release of the movie series on Blu-Ray.

I am among those who are indignant about this. Horrible. How could this be painted as anything other than hack revisionism at its worst. And you're right of course, as long as people buy, Lucas can just ignore us. He's lost his vision, his talent some years ago and it shows. Perhaps he just got lucky with the original three.

Wilkey

[BENN]

It should be OK to slap the S.O.B (pardon my French) that decided to discontinue TRINIDAD ROBUSTO T.

/ Ben Bockbrännarbolmers