It is 2020 and Cuban Cigar Prices Have gone Up 22% in 5 years...what do you do?

[Charley]

I would cut down and be more selective. Since i don't smoke everyday i should be able to cope.

[kwsaw63]

By 2020, I plan to have at least 10 years worth of stock stashed away in my OLH and won't be too fussed if I can't afford to buy a lot more.

[Borgy]

My kids would have finished University and now I will be kept the way I should be kept. They will look after dear old Dad and pay me back the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cubans one box at a time.LOL?

[amosnaim]

Selective for sure. I won't quit, but I will be far more selective in my purchases. But as a matter of fact I am also doing it now too - I would love to buy a box of Connie A that everyone is praising, but then I am asking myself does it really going to give double the pleasure of a fantastic SLR Regio that El Pres is offering us at bottom prices during 12:12...

[Quint]

My kids would have finished University and now I will be kept the way I should be kept. They will look after dear old Dad and pay me back the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cubans one box at a time.LOL

Now ya talking.............

[PigFish]

I did not vote.

The internet and the free market continue to create opportunities. As long as I remain free I will smoke as long as I can afford good cigars. As they are getting worse (cigars, not to my taste, historically, MHO) I may not be buying new cigars. As my freedom dies (historically, my experience) I may not be buying new cigars...! As corruption in Cuba continues, there will likely be more distributors crossing borders and moving to sell an extra cigar now and again and there may be a competitive edge in that strategy.

Eventually the Cubans will likely come across another new money crisis issue causing them to screw H SA and their distributor partners and sell into the gray market. That is another potential positive for the consumer.

So, as freedoms die, smoking into the future looks bleak. The potential of Cuba getting their **** together under communism is also bleak. However the corruption that Cuba's government fosters is likely the only opportunity for a break to the everyday smoker and as one despot tries to steal from another Cuban despot to make a buck. Corruption in the Cuban government and their lack of good faith to their free world partners is about the reliable link in the chain.

While that my be a fatalist view, that is about how I see it.

Tobacco sales will continue to move gray market. Brick and mortar stores are on the way out and the consumer will have to look to evade taxes (gray market buy) as Cuba looks to evade paying back partners (gray market sell) to continue to smoke. A don't see this good for cigar smoking. But that is what I see.

-the Pig

[egoo33]

Prices will go up nothing I can really do about it aside from piss and moan but I will keep buying

[aes8]

I've been stockpiling for the last 10 years....that should help.

Cigar prices are already insane!

I think I've reached critical mass with about 100 boxes and customs. If you didn't load up around 2009-10 when PSD4 s were 135 and M2s were 185 a box you missed the buying opportunity of at least a decade.

[teamrandr]

Simple I would move to Cuba.

[Laxman]

If the quality is great I wouldn't care if the price went up. If quality went down the toilet I would pass as I have already stocked enough for a lifetime. HSA hopefully won't over produce to accommodate the US market and we see a huge dip in quality or a massive price spike but either way I got my ducks in a row so no worries here.

[shlomo]

Prices have jumped up at certain vendors around 10-20% already recently....I stopped buying until my pay cheque gets a similar jump....

[Orion21]

This happened a couple of years ago and we all yelled and screamed. Then we kept buying!