What is cheap and what is expensive?

[canadianbeaver]

Matthew and I have decided there are only so many cigars we can smoke due to time and effort buying them, so they better be as fabulous as possible. We even pitch them if they don't meet this standard and choose something else.

We find that price can be a factor because usually a recommended or well reviewed cigar is often rarer or more expensive. They also have age on them so you are paying a premium for that.

If you can luck into a new box that is a great price? Yay!!

[Lant63]

Life is short. Smoke and drink the best. The price doesn't matter. I will pinch pennies to smoke Edmundo Dantes 54, Bolivar Especiales no 2, and PLPC, drink Glenlivet, Glenmorrangie, and Balvanie because they are the best. I like it and I enjoy it. If I cant afford these then I do have cheaper cigars and drink, but i work hard so I deserve it.

[CanuckSARTech]

Anyone can get a good $150-250 bottle of wine, the idea is to get it at $15 a bottle

An $18 Cohiba Esplendido that is really disappointing or, at $35 THAT is devastating - which would you choose?

I recently got a box of Lonsdales from 1995, for the price of Lonsdales of 1895, and it was awful, and I paid an arm and a leg for something else, equally respectable and prominent and it is heaven, so?

What are your ideas?

I'd say it's not about the actual dollar value itself at all.

It's about pleasure value.

If you buy a box of cigar A and they cost X dollars, you have to weigh them against your pleasure derived from them. I think we're all somewhat in the realm of wanting a cigar, any cigar, to perform in at least the 90-92 point range. You buy a cigar, smoke it, and your point value / satisfaction (completely taking price out of the equation) needs to fall somewhere in the sub-90, 90-92 range, and over-90 range. Then, for you personally (as everyone's "easy spend" on a box of cigars varies), you need to assess the cost that you bought the cigars for, against the personal satisfaction and score that you achieved from it. Yes, it's hard to correlate dollar value of a given cigar about what expected performance should be (a more expensive cigar doesn't automatically guarantee a better experience), but you need to make a personal guestimate at it. Then, you can decide if that individual cigar was cheap or expensive (or a good or neutral deal).

So, if you got a decently priced cigar, and it hit a 92, you can say it was cheap (and you were happy perhaps, and it was a great value). Likewise, you could have bought a higher-cost cigar (though that's no guarantee), also smoked it to a 92 score, but could deem that to have been an expensive cigar, considering your expectations of it, and therefore not a great value.

That's my thoughts on this, anyhow, and how I personally rate / assess these things.

[PigFish]

I'd say it's not about the actual dollar value itself at all.

It's about pleasure value.

If you buy a box of cigar A and they cost X dollars, you have to weigh them against your pleasure derived from them. I think we're all somewhat in the realm of wanting a cigar, any cigar, to perform in at least the 90-92 point range. You buy a cigar, smoke it, and your point value / satisfaction (completely taking price out of the equation) needs to fall somewhere in the sub-90, 90-92 range, and over-90 range. Then, for you personally (as everyone's "easy spend" on a box of cigars varies), you need to assess the cost that you bought the cigars for, against the personal satisfaction and score that you achieved from it. Yes, it's hard to correlate dollar value of a given cigar about what expected performance should be (a more expensive cigar doesn't automatically guarantee a better experience), but you need to make a personal guestimate at it. Then, you can decide if that individual cigar was cheap or expensive (or a good or neutral deal).

So, if you got a decently priced cigar, and it hit a 92, you can say it was cheap (and you were happy perhaps, and it was a great value). Likewise, you could have bought a higher-cost cigar (though that's no guarantee), also smoked it to a 92 score, but could deem that to have been an expensive cigar, considering your expectations of it, and therefore not a great value.

That's my thoughts on this, anyhow, and how I personally rate / assess these things.

Value is a correlation of cost to pleasure (with cigars), if that is what you are saying. I would rather buy more cigars, knowing that duds are a reality, and get better cigars for less money. I have more-or-less defined my smoking strategy around this premise. I don't give a damn about boxes and bands. Flavor and cost are all that matters. More of one, while less of another is a winning combo!

I think we are on the same page here! -Ray

[tjohn7]

Smoke what you like, whether the price is high or low (assuming you can afford the high end). Wines and cigars come down to personal preference, and if you prefer the cheap wines and affordable cigars then do that. Don't waste your time smoking what someone else tells you is great. It's great if you think it's great.

Tom

[Lotusguy]

I'm still trying to understand the original question

[1LegLance]

Well I "think" I have handle on the questoin and I am pretty sure I line up with a few of the folks here....

Taking into account we all have different levels of disposible income and different thresholds on what is "cheap" I have to agree with VALUE really being the topic.

I have learned over the years that all that matters is what I think of the taste.

And what I think of the cost.

For ME as I get near $10USD a stick I start thinking of all the great $5-$6 sticks that I love so it becomes harder and harder to enjoy the $10+ cigar.

As a fan of minutos, perlas, PC's and such I get a ton of smoking pleasure without spending a ton of money.

So if you show me at $14 Don Alejando the first thing I will do is break that cost down into how many other sticks I can smoke....and it will be real hard for that VR DA to match that.

Plus with quality being what it is I will have more chances at good construction and smokaility with that greater number of sticks than all the pressure on one stick.

[cybermadhatter]

It is difficult to make a true comparison of 'how good' vs. 'how much,'

as a $7 boli rc being a 92/100 is not 1/4 as good as my $28 Behike 52.

(Or vice versa; the Behike is not four times better)

There are also too many confounding qualities that obscure all the comparisons-- age, draw, burn, ammonia, roll, as well as the person's mood, company, palate fatigue, etc.

I guess we all think 'is this going to be worth it' before buying anything, and what we get may or may not exceed expectations. And depending on your viewpoint-- may or may not be of good value.

I did not blink an eye buying 50-cabs of '98 slr lonsdales in 2003, and I loved 99% of those cigars, but the prices now for the same box, make me think twice. And if I had any left, I would not think they are worth what they are going for elsewhere.

[joeypots]

I've found that with cigars price has a rapidly diminishing return. The inconsistency of Cuban cigars makes buying expensive ones a crapshoot, for the most part, especially if one can't get first release of new items. My experience has been that a '01 Esplendido smoked in '02 was harsh with a poor draw and expensive. A cigar smoked from the same box, kept in my humidor, smoked last week was cheap.

[RijkdeGooier]

Well I "think" I have handle on the questoin and I am pretty sure I line up with a few of the folks here....

Taking into account we all have different levels of disposible income and different thresholds on what is "cheap" I have to agree with VALUE really being the topic.

I have learned over the years that all that matters is what I think of the taste.

And what I think of the cost.

For ME as I get near $10USD a stick I start thinking of all the great $5-$6 sticks that I love so it becomes harder and harder to enjoy the $10+ cigar.

As a fan of minutos, perlas, PC's and such I get a ton of smoking pleasure without spending a ton of money.

So if you show me at $14 Don Alejando the first thing I will do is break that cost down into how many other sticks I can smoke....and it will be real hard for that VR DA to match that.

Plus with quality being what it is I will have more chances at good construction and smokaility with that greater number of sticks than all the pressure on one stick.

This post is very interesting to me - I tend to do the same with different results.

My VR DA would be $16 and I would smoke it for about 2:10 hours or 130 minutes

My VR Famoso would be $11 and I would smoke it for about 1:15 hours or 75 minutes

So, ceteribus paribus, the line of value as the amount of minutes divided by dollars would indicate to me that the VR DA would be the more valuable smoke (given I can find the time).

Is the time/price distribution so different for you?