"Genuine Connoisseurs among CC buyers"

[El Presidente]

I will answer to the best of my ability the following question from Li Bai tomorrow but I could use some member input.

Here is the Q. 

I have a question for you @El Presidente, how representative of the typical CC smoker are we FOHers?

In other words, what was the percentage of genuine connoisseurs among CC buyers before 2022 and what is it now (give or take)?

 

Here are my Q's for members. 

How would members define a "genuine connoisseur"

How would members define a "typical cc smoker". 

 

Thanks for your help 

[barrygoodvibes]

My quick answer.

I think a "genuine connoisseur" is someone who has tried many different Cuban cigars and has a grasp on what each of them has to offer, and more importantly, what they themselves like and look for in a cigar.

Sadly, nowadays, I think that the "typical cc smoker" is a higher income / higher net worth individual, probably a business owner or higher up in a company with a large amount of disposable income and time to sit and enjoy what is now a luxury good. There certainly may be Cuban cigar smokers that are not a high income or high net worth individual that may have a large collection of cigars that they procured before Covid, but if you are asking what the typical cc smoker is now, then I stand by my categorization. 

[Puros Y Vino]

Tough one.

To me, a "genuine connoisseur" is someone who enjoys the wide range of Habanos. From Bauza to Behike. Looks for the best in each from a humble stick to a triple banded monster made for despots.

A "typical cc smoker" is someone who chases the "gold". Will only smoke the best. Cohiba, GR's EL's, RE, etc.

I would also say, you can easily reverse these and that would make sense too.

[JDoughty]

I'm not nearly pretentious enough to call myself a connoisseur. I like cigars, and taste very much matters to me. Brand and prestige does not. I have no interest in dressing up in a fancy suit or owning high status accessories that don't actually do a better job of cutting or lighting or storing my cigars. Either it works or it doesn't, tastes good or doesn't. Depending on your definition, this either makes me a typical cigar smoker or a connoisseur, if you aren't defining a connoisseur as a snobby status seeker. I usually do. 😆

[Li Bai]

I'm sorry, rereading my question I understand it wasn't that clear so I will try to define the terms as I implied them:

Genuine connoisseur:

A humble smoker who spent hours smoking different cigars from different brands and years trying to figure out what his tastes are, what defines a brand, how pricing, bands and ageing can impact a smoke. One who will seek to purchase great smokes for now and for the future without being influenced by trends or bands or premium lines or whatever...

Typical CC smoker :

Simply put, what I mean here by typical CC smoker is the profile that brings the most money to HSA.

[JDoughty]

It is also possible to define "connoisseur" as "someone who can actually taste cigars and who will point at you and laugh if you try to brand garbage as a luxury product." In which case that would be all of us at FOH. 

I remember when Lars Tetens put out this absolutely horrific cigar, advertised as 'infused with super rare botanicals' and marketed to appeal to status seekers. Imagine if you took an inoffensive but not particularly flavorful long filler cigar, soaked it in your grandmother's perfume, slapped on a couple of of your grandmother's arthritis patches for good measure, and aged it for a couple of months in the bottom of a well used cat litterbox. I would turn around and walk right back out of a store if I saw these in their humidor. They stank like an unwashed whorehouse. I can't even begin to describe how bad they smelled. I actually thought they were a joke the first time someone showed me one, like a prank fart bomb mixed with cheap Dollar Store potpourri.  Sadly, they were actually being sold as high end luxury cigars. I have no idea how anyone with a sense of smell would be able to smoke one. I understand they were pretty successfully marketed for quite awhile. They may even still make them, though I haven't seen them at any store in decades. Thank goodness. 

[LordAnubis]

To me connoisseur is someone who’s tried a range of habanos portfolio and then either has a collection or access to a good selection of stock from their local. The average smoker is two parts. “Yeah I’ll grab a RyJ for my brothers wedding and smoke 1cm and ditch it” and then the “I only smoke the best 250 dollar cigars, you peasant”. 

I think “connoisseurs” make up maybe 20% of the total customer base of habanos. FoH would make 5% of the total customer base of Habanos S.A. 

[westg]

10 hours ago, LordAnubis said:

To me connoisseur is someone who’s tried a range of habanos portfolio and then either has a collection or access to a good selection of stock from their local. 

Average smoker is two parts. “Yeah I’ll grab a RyJ for my brothers wedding and smoke 1cm and ditch it” and then the “I only smoke the best 250 dollar cigars, you peasant”. 

I think “connoisseurs” make up maybe 20% of the total customer base of habanos. FoH would make 5% of the total customer base of habanos. 

5% I think would lie somewhere between 40 to $45 000 000 going from memory on last years figures. I could be wrong. I reckon if you offered a guaranteed 5% customer base to any Habanos distributor they would snap it up fairly quickly.  

Rob, remember Aaron? He drove us back to your hotel when you were over last . That boy is a connoisseur, he can break a cigar down by profile piece by piece in a definitive succinct way like no other. Hopefully we can catch up with him again someday.  He will blow your mind with his breakdown of the Nudies and Bond Roberts line. That is a fact. What defines a  cigar connoisseur, I think other people will let you know if you are or not. JohnS,  Dimmers ( Dimitriy) Geoff Magor, Optic101 (Werner ) KW from Singapore all amazing people and all of them to a degree...well are somewhat different to me. That said, all of them are connoisseurs to me and it is an absolute thrill to be in there company whilst smoking cigars. What a learning experience.  

A Cuban Cigar smoker. Someone who can sit down and and enjoy a cigar with people from all walks of life. Race religion, status usually means nothing. One and all can appreciate what could easily be the best raw product in the world. A few of us always new this time / period was coming. We did talk about it, these things are going to cost an awful lot one day well and truly North of a 100 notes a cigar and more.They have to...they are that damn good how can they not be already. For us nothing has changed between then and now. 

[Fuzz AI]

Yeah I ain't no ginuwine coinasewer, nor am I a typical CC smoker. I'm just some guy. 

[Li Bai]

I can see many are uncomfortable with the word "connoisseur" and to be honest, I am too now that I understand it doesn't really mean the same in French.

I don't think of myself as an expert at all for example, let's replace it with "one who wants quality smokes and who won't get fooled by marketing tricks no matter how elaborate they are" or "one who went down the rabbit hole and figured out that the correlation between pricing and quality is deeply questionable".

[dicko]

On 11/1/2025 at 7:45 PM, Li Bai said:

I can see many are uncomfortable with the word "connoisseur" and to be honest, I am too now that I understand it doesn't really mean the same in French.

I don't think of myself as an expert at all for example, let's replace it with "one who wants quality smokes and who won't get fooled by marketing tricks no matter how elaborate they are" or "one who went down the rabbit hole and figured out that the correlation between pricing and quality is deeply questionable".

I always liked "aficionado". To me, an amateur enthusiast and may or may not imply genuine expertise. Connoisseur, implies some formal training such as a wine industry sommelier. However this is from Dicko's Dictionary and likely incorrect semantically.

Love the topic and seeing the responses so far.


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk
 

[Li Bai]

2 minutes ago, dicko said:

I always liked "aficionado"

Yeah me too, it's much better than "connoisseur" in my question's context, thanks @dicko!

[Chibearsv]

I enjoy cigars. I hope others enjoy the cigars I share with them. I will smoke any cigar that anyone graciously shares with me. I prefer some cigars over others based on factors like flavor, feel, and environment. I am affected by pricing, marketing, packaging, etc. I make value decisions when purchasing cigars that aren’t always wise. 

Which am I?  

[joeypots]

How would I define connoisseur? Who cares? If we all had our own definitions of words there would be more chaos than we suffer with now. The dictionary on my PC defines connoisseur as an expert judge in matters of taste. There is implied authority in 'expert'.

Most of us here are typical Cuban cigar smokers who love the cigars and smoke them regularly. Most of us are not experts, I think, we are enthusiasts.  

[tbelle7]

I agree with the last two posts / explanations above.

The term connoisseur implies a level of knowledge and expertise that most people don't posses.  A collector with a broad range of knowledge and experience. 

"Typical CC Smoker" - someone who enjoys cigars, buys what they like, avoids the brands they don't like and goes on about their day. I don't believe the typical "IG Influencer accounts" that plague the industry represent a "typical CC smoker" at all.

 

[westg]

54 minutes ago, joeypots said:

How would I define connoisseur? Who cares? if we all had our own definitions of words there would be more chaos than we suffer with now. The dictionary on my PC defines connoisseur as an expert judge in matters of taste. There is implied authority in 'expert'.

Most of us here are typical Cuban cigar smokers who love the cigars and smoke them regularly. Most of us are not experts, I think, we are enthusiasts.  

 

47 minutes ago, tbelle7 said:

I agree with the last two posts / explanations above.

The term connoisseur implies a level of knowledge and expertise that most people don't posses.  A collector with a broad range of knowledge and experience. 

"Typical CC Smoker" - someone who enjoys cigars, buys what they like, avoids the brands they don't like and goes on about their day. I don't believe the typical "IG Influencer accounts" that plague the industry represent a "typical CC smoker" at all.

 

Ditto my brothers.  

[bmac]

I think it’s a lot like “practicing” medicine or practicing “law”. I’ll never graduate I’m just in the process of receiving my degree.I’d say I’m a smoker- much more so than a connoisseur.

[JDoughty]

7 hours ago, Fuzz AI said:

Yeah I ain't no ginuwine coinasewer, nor am I a typical CC smoker. I'm just some guy. 

Don't lie, we know you're actually a robot. 😆

I think it is a very rare individual who truly knows a significant amount of what there is to know about cigars, their history, the factories where they are made, every different brand and regional, the state of the fields in which the tobacco is grown. As a long time cigar enthusiast, I've maybe scratched the surface a little. I think it's fun to smoke cigars, collect and smoke rare and historical cigars when I can, and learn more about them here and there. But there are real professionals who have forgotten more than I've ever managed to learn myself. Neither my bank account nor my available free time is anywhere near sufficient to keep up with all the cigars being made these days, so I don't know what all of them taste like. Sadly. Maybe when I'm retired and win the lottery. 😁

[ha_banos]

"especially : one who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and is competent to act as a critical judge"

I think we ought to return to the popularly understood definition.

I know when a cigar is $h!t!

 

 

[Havanaaddict]

I don't know if I would call myself a connoisseur maybe some would! I have been smoking cigars since the mid 90's CC only from 2000. I have gone through all the stages, smoking custom rolled by ever roller I could get my hands on. Then onto aged and then onto vintage 70's 80's, and most all of the REs. I smoked 4 cigars a day for 15 or so years than dropping back to 2 a day where I am now. I have been lucky enough to smoke most ever Vitola from ever brand, also Davidoff's Dunhills, Don Cándido, Don Alfredo, Flor del Punto, J. J. Fox's Exclusives. Also lots of the Humidor release stuff 1994, Cubatabaco 25, 1492 you name it I have probably smoke it! I have been blessed to experience that's what I call it not just smoking. I believe that smoking cigars like these should be an experience that you savor and lock into your memory bank! All I can say is I am in love with cigars, it has been like a wonderful relationship! It started with the first dance then the chase, and the perfect relationship with amazing adventures! I hope I can enjoy this adventure as long as I am alive😍

[Darco]

On 11/1/2025 at 6:50 AM, El Presidente said:

How would members define a "genuine connoisseur"

Wide knowledge, wide experience & good taste. 

A typical smoker lacks one or more of the above.

[westg]

3 hours ago, Havanaaddict said:

I don't know if I would call myself a connoisseur maybe some would! I have been smoking cigars since the mid 90's CC only from 2000. I have gone through all the stages, smoking custom rolled by ever roller I could get my hands on. Then onto aged and then onto vintage 70's 80's, and most all of the REs. I smoked 4 cigars a day for 15 or so years than dropping back to 2 a day where I am now. I have been lucky enough to smoke most ever Vitola from ever brand, also Davidoff's Dunhills, Don Cándido, Don Alfredo, Flor del Punto, J. J. Fox's Exclusives. Also lots of the Humidor release stuff 1994, Cubatabaco 25, 1492 you name it I have probably smoke it! I have been blessed to experience that's what I call it not just smoking. I believe that smoking cigars like these should be an experience that you savor and lock into your memory bank! All I can say is I am in love with cigars, it has been like a wonderful relationship! It started with the first dance then the chase, and the perfect relationship with amazing adventures! I hope I can enjoy this adventure as long as I am alive😍

Wow. Perfect answer.  👍😎🌴

[BoliDan]

A little subjective in a luxury hobby. To people new to cigars, damn right I am. But I can't even afford to be considered a connoisseur in most circles. 

[Ford2112]

I think of Min Ron Nee. The Sahakians. People like that. 

[Montezüma]

The third kind is the worst kind: The Hoarders. I don't mean collectors, I mean those who buy and stash to profit from outrageous pricing, waiting for another crop failure to happen. I don't mean to point anywhere particular but these duty free raiders should be sent to 3/I Atlas for a ride to the other side.