6 months into Cigaramageddon: Your attitude and buying habits

[SpecialK]

Found this site very late , but was still able to enjoy buying some of my first boxes of Cubans.. Was a reliable NC smoker for many years... 

with the Box prices these days I'm now forced into 1/4 Box mode or if I'm lucky a few 10 boxes.. and it goes without saying I'm now in the Petite corona and Robusto category.. 

[Ford2112]

I got back into the hobby full bore in Fall of 2021. I stocked up a lot pre price increases and I have a fair amount of stock. I have slowed my spending a bit but I can find deals here and there and have a few items on my bucket list,such as VR Unicos and Choix Supreme,and Diplo 2's. I'm done with Cohiba and Trini for now. The N4 nudies are the bomb! So I will be buying plenty of those to satisfy my 2 to 3 cigar a day habit  as well as current stock. It's a fascinating hobby,and I really want to thank FOH for providing such a valuable community and resource to a guy like myself. 

As for other NCs Padron and Fuente are no cheaper. In the states we really can't go wrong buying regular production cigars from the island.

[PrairieSmoke]

I thought the numbers would look even worse for Habanos in this survey. I suppose there is probably some bias toward purchasing baked into people still logging into the forums. 
 

I don’t see myself buying any more Habanos aside from some DCs if they can even make them anymore. I have a multiple decade supply of Habanos and my new purchases have been NCs. 

[cwrightthruya]

I was out of buying for a few years due to covid and when I returned I saw the major price increases across the board.

Sadly, I smoked my last siglo 3 and haven't found a flavor profile I like as much as those and the siglo 2 so I am just buying sparingly while looking for alternatives and hoping the prices won't be sustainable.

[Bigkahuna]

2 hours ago, cwrightthruya said:

Sadly, I smoked my last siglo 3 and haven't found a flavor profile I like as much as those and the siglo 2 so I am just buying sparingly while looking for alternatives and hoping the prices won't be sustainable.

Not exactly the same but some of the farm roll profiles are nearly identical and far far more affordable. You should try some but of course not all are created equal. 

[Tstew75]

Nothing has changed for me except for not purchasing Cohiba & Trinidad anymore.

Everything is much harder to find these days, so there's that. But still lots of opportunities to be had, especially with the dollar being so damn strong.

[Capn_Jackson]

I have been building stock up over the past few years, since I feared the pandemic would raise prices and then HSA would not willingly lower them. Now add the horrible disaster that has occurred down there, and I don’t know if those prices will ever come down to reasonable. Additionally, sadly, I don’t know how they will feasibly be able to produce anywhere near the rate that they used to. At my current rate of smoking, which is usually only a couple or so a week, I can go about a decade on what I’ve got.  I’ll pick up a few boxes here and there to stretch it over the years. There are still some bargains to be found, at least for the moment.

As some have already said, US prices on several premium NC’s have been around $15 to $20 a stick for a long time. I occasionally enjoy some good Padróns, some Fuentes, or VSG/ESG that can run higher than many CC robustos and CG’s. I also keep some much less expensive NC such as Tatuaje Havana VI, and Fuente Don Carlos. My enjoyment of these does not come close to that of my CC’s, but they’ll do in a pinch. I’m going to start stocking up nudies, as well, beginning hopefully in the next couple of weeks. I’ve heard a lot of good things about them!

Up until about 2016 I kept only a few boxes at a time, smoking what I had and then buying more.  A little after that I decided I wanted to build up a stock to age for longer, and I ramped that up in the last few years. Essentially, I’ve spent the recent years building up what I thought would be a good supply to smoke and age throughout my 40’s, and I’m feeling very fortunate that I’ve been able to do so. I don’t really smoke Cohibas, and with the way prices are going, I don’t guess I ever will. If I can keep enjoying the great smokes I do have, I’m perfectly alright with that.

[Nevrknow]

19 hours ago, El Hoze said:

I have found that I don’t particularly like chasing things at this point in my life. In my early 30s I had to have the best of everything and luckily stocked away some great cigars. These days I’m like whatever. Give me a decent cigar and a cold beer I’m good. Though I do look at Esplendidos and Siglo VI a bit differently now as I know I won’t be buying more at these prices. 

I am a car guy. Same thing. Had a sales guy call me telling me he had the exact hot new model I want, he quoted me 50% over MSRP. I know MSRP is just a suggested number…the market is the market. I said hey if you can sell that car anywhere near that number I won’t even waste a second more of your time. I’d say the same for Cohiba. I’ll smoke a Nudie Lancero and pretend I just pulled the band off. 

 

I’m the same way brother.

[Sir Diggamus]

I really didn't fit into any of the categories. I have reduced my Habanos purchasing but not really upped my NC purchases at all, mainly due to obligations related to owning a home, not cigarmageddon. But with prices the way they are I wouldn't be buying any boxes of premium Habanos, definitely not Cohiba or Trinidad. If I was in for a box now and had the itch for Cuban tobacco I would probably be looking at a lot of the C&C selections, or picking up singles, 5-packs, and quarter boxes of favorites. 

[KnightsAnole]

Stopped all Habanos purchases. I figure this is a perfect time to explore the NC world in greater depth. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at RYO cigars. It’s proven to be not only fun it’s also taken a lot of the CC heartache away. Maybe, with all this global inflation, in a few years Habanos won’t seem so ridiculously priced. Meanwhile, CCs are becoming less important and I’ve been smoking less out of my own CC cabinet.

[stunod]

I have not bought a CC since the price increase started.  Not entirely true.  In the first few weeks into the apocalypse our host did hold prices down as best he could. Old stock I assume. 
I have a large inventory so not too worried yet.  
Been trying New World but it seems like I’m smoking them so that my Cuban stock doesn’t dwindle as quickly.  Sad state of affairs.

[Jackdani7401]

I’m in a very interesting situation. I found CC’s about 10 years ago, but couldn’t really appreciate them, not to mention my budget was substantially less and I didn’t have adequate storage for more than 20ish cigars. I would buy and smoke NC’s in the $5-$8 range, with the treat being a $15 stick. Over the previous 6 months I have built a decent stock of CC’s, as I now have a different budget, storage and palate, and primarily smoke for evening enjoyment with a beverage and friends, when I can actually pay attention to what I’m smoking. I still purchase NC’s as they are what I will smoke on the golf course, or after a few too many beverages and just want to smoke something. 
 

I’ll buy CC’s that I’m looking for and like trying different vitolas from different marcas. 

[Lamboinee]

On 10/20/2022 at 6:25 PM, Nevrknow said:

While the new prices AND the traffic light have slowed me down, I will only be buying special. 

Im also relatively new and went a little nuts buying at first. It's been awesome but I have had some concerning consistency issues that I've started to notice as I become more familiar and smoke more of the various CCs. I've specifically noticed some wrapper, burn and weight/amount of tobacco issues. Now, like you, it feels like my new hobby is.... Uhh..... Stuck at a red light. Which I understand and respect but wish would end. Especially since I can't just run this dang red light. Im new enough that I do not fully appreciate the impact of recent changes. I'm also new enough that I'll probably keep going a little nuts while trying to sample the numerous different lines. I truly hope that the inconsistencies and variances I've experienced remain limited. CCs taste so much better and I'd hate to have to go back to primarily new world sticks. 

[Nevrknow]

27 minutes ago, Lamboinee said:

Im also relatively new and went a little nuts buying at first. It's been awesome but I have had some concerning consistency issues that I've started to notice as I become more familiar and smoke more of the various CCs. I've specifically noticed some wrapper, burn and weight/amount of tobacco issues. Now, like you, it feels like my new hobby is.... Uhh..... Stuck at a red light. Which I understand and respect but wish would end. Especially since I can't just run this dang red light. Im new enough that I do not fully appreciate the impact of recent changes. I'm also new enough that I'll probably keep going a little nuts while trying to sample the numerous different lines. I truly hope that the inconsistencies and variances I've experienced remain limited. CCs taste so much better and I'd hate to have to go back to primarily new world sticks. 

If it’s draw issues, get a perfect draw and a set of non locking ( or like me grind off the tabs ) of some surgical “hemostats”. Pulled 3 stems out of a “plugged” Lusi. Turned into the best cigar ever. Perfect draw pays for itself with 1 cigar. At the new prices. 😁

[Bagman]

6 hours ago, Nevrknow said:

If it’s draw issues, get a perfect draw and a set of non locking ( or like me grind off the tabs ) of some surgical “hemostats”. Pulled 3 stems out of a “plugged” Lusi. Turned into the best cigar ever. Perfect draw pays for itself with 1 cigar. At the new prices. 😁

some of us don't accept having to pay 40, 50 dollar a cigar that has to be fixed.  Lot of time a cigar plunged with a perfect draw still doesn't burn right or it just doesn't taste like it should.

Would you pay premium price for scotch or wine if occasionally you have to manipulate it to taste right, and a certain % of the time no matter what you do, you have to pitch the bottle?

To each their own.  Somehow I'm stuck at both acceptance (mostly done buying cubans) and anger.

[dominattorney]

I can't seem to follow the instructions on 24:24 regarding putting all the required information in my emails. Lately I've been buying less because of my own shortsighted stupidity. 

[bassistheplace]

Thanks to the wisdom of the people on this forum, I started stocking up in 2019-21 to take advantage of "good years". Now that the prices have inflated out the ying/yang, i quit buying for storage/aging. I have started smoking more NC. I also don't share cigars like i Used to, which sucks because it's fun to turn my friends on to great Cubans.

 

[HarveyBoulevard]

I am curious to hear from @El Presidente on what he has noticed as it relates to buying trends and any geographic shifts within those trends.

[BettyHumpder]

i've had to get creative with my sourcing, but i'm still buying. just spreading out the money across vendors based on price and availability. i've stocked up on some non-cubans that i enjoy as well. aladino, fuente, aganorsa, etc.

[El Presidente]

4 hours ago, HarveyBoulevard said:

I am curious to hear from @El Presidente on what he has noticed as it relates to buying trends and any geographic shifts within those trends.

It has been an intriguing period. Let me start a new thread on this specific topic. 

[Chas.Alpha]

35 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

It has been an intriguing period. Let me start a new thread on this specific topic. 

I also would be interested from an analytic POV. My buying habits have had more to do with relocation than price/availability.

 

[Lewberry]

I’ll add. Just joined a few months ago and bought my few first boxes just to learn what CC’s were about, and have yet to smoke my first one > unbelievable to me. But buying in at these highs, had to be careful/intent in my purchasing.

Tracking the last few months, with prices/stick continuing to rise and maybe? plateau, I don’t intend to purchase any more anytime soon, which is a shame. But the older I get, the better restraint I seem to have against purchasing FOMO and overspending for no reason.

Looking forward to resting and enjoying what I have, and really, hoping for future opportunity getting fair deals on the sticks I will enjoy.

[GVan]

It's somewhat cathartic reading all of the above replies - thanks to all.

I'm in full acceptance mode - not angry at all - just adapting.  I haven't stopped buying CCs but I've hugely (said with Trumping emphasis) slowed down.  Like many here, I started buying a little in 2018, heard 2019 was better and bought more, heard 2020 through 2021 was even better so bought more (and a greater variety) and now am worried that after 2022 we'll see lousy tobacco and even worse supply than today.  

So, I buy mostly smaller CC's because I like them and go through more of them than the larger formats.  I dislike but can justify the price increase because "I'm just filling a few holes in my CC collection!" (Nope - she doesn't buy it but lets me get away with fooling myself).

What I have done differently, is visit my local B&M's and really talk with "cigar guys".  We all know that a cigar tastes better when it's paired with good company, great conversation and the drink of your choice.  I've picked up a few great boutique NC recommendations so I've bought more NC's the last 6 months than CC's.  There are NC's out there with little to no pepper and great flavors.  No they don't have the CC transitions we're used too - but, they're pretty good cigars.  Besides I'm really enjoying the camaraderie with the local B&M guys bitching about supply and prices.

I still share my CC's but I'm enjoying sharing my NC's even more - meaning, I'm down to just 2 boxes of Lusis, don't expect to buy anymore for years, and I'm holding them for myself!

 

[Kaptain Karl]

I've completely stopped all purchasing. However that's just as much to do with prices as it's to do with inflation crushing my industry and having to cut all unnecessary spending. May even sell a few boxes here. Thankfully at a big profit 😆

[dicko]

For me a purchasing hold on Cubans for the last 12 months and the foreseeable future. Ive been sampling NCs for the last 24 months and have been buying 5-10 packs to slowly build up a NC base in my humidor.
In my part of the world I can get an NC to my door for a quarter of the price of a cuban.
For now I'll enjoy some AF hemingways instead of an H upmann

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