Which cigars would you geve serious contemplation to spending $100 USD upwards on?

[El Presidente]

Which cigars would you give serious contemplation to spending $100 USD upwards on?  

Step 1. Put your soap box away.  "None" is a legitimate answer. However there are plenty of people who treat themselves to a $100+ bottle of wine on occassion (or daily/Ken )

$500+for a box of 5. $1000+ for a box of 10. $2500+ for a box of 25. 

Which cigars in this range, to you........justify the spend? CC and NC 

If you are happily in that market and were to purchase one box today .....which box would it be? 

 

[tbelle7]

Siglo VI (of any age)

[Lucas Buck]

Esplendidos

Siglo VI

Behike

Partagas Salamones

 

My favorite Esplendidos would be my purchase today. 

[Mike Mecklenburg]

I would lay out the coin for a box of Diplomaticos Bushido RE Asia Pacifico.

[Puros Y Vino]

If, I go with new "retail". Probably not much. Does Esplendido cost $100/stick? That's a possibility. BHK56 might warrant that price, but its' well above it. I did spend $100USD/stick on 1970 Davidoff No 1's back in 2011 and they were worth every penny. So, there's some vintage stuff I'd consider at that range. The CGR fiver back in the day was above $100/stick and was/is definitely worth it. IMO that was probably the best Habanos release I was around for (started smoking in 2009).  

[JoshD]

None. I'd have to know there is a 95%+ chance that it would draw properly and also be absolutely fantastic. My luck with CC's (which I have minimal experience to begin with) has been much less than that unfortunately.  

Going on vacation, if I take 5 sticks, 1 or 2 might be CC's, but the rest will be NC's/Fab5/MOFOH, since the chance of getting an outright dud is much lower. The NC's may not reach the upper limits that a CC can, but they don't hit the low that CC's do either.

I did have a CC once that I'd drop a penny on without hesitation, but that was in Munich 20yrs ago, and unfortunately I have no idea what it was...a true 100%'er.    

[Greenhorn2]

The only one for me would be a Cohiba Piramides Extra, my Achilles heel of cigars. I'll crumble like a cracker for one. I broke down and bought a 3 pack in St. Maarten back in November. The last 3 pack in a box with TPO JUN 2017 on it. The shop owner let me break the seal on the box and open the tubes to inspect. When the aroma hit my nose when that cap came off, Heavenly. 

[TheCigarSoldier]

Cohiba Siglo VI, Sir Winston, Cohiba PE, Lusitania (but so hard there because they can be hit or miss).

NC so much harder to justify the price because the price anchor for an outstanding new world is so much lower. That said, Padron 50th Hammer I could see myself splurging on

[Ford2112]

1 box-Partagas 50 cab Lusitanias/

Sir Winnies

1 cigar- something with age. Punch or H.U. larger sized cigars no longer in production. SLR Coronas Inmensa or Monarcha/ Seleccion Deluxe 1 or Black Prince.

[loose_axle]

Siglo VI

Sir Winston

Esplendidos 

Certain Regionals and LE’s. 

NC the Davidoff Zodiac Line and limited, Some AF, LFD and Padron offerings. 

Also for anything that comes in a jar 😅

And if I won the lottery there would be a room full of Behike 56... 

[JohnS]

Cohiba Siglo VI

Cohiba Esplendidos

Cohiba Piramides Extra

H.Upmann Sir Winston

Partagas Lusitanias

Quai d'Orsay Imperiales

[smashed]

Not counting any LE/Regionals, I’ve paid $100 or above for all of the following this year for full boxes:

• Cohiba Ambar Siglo VI, Piramides Extra, Esplendidos, Behike 52

Cigars I’ve paid less than $100 and I’d still put them in the same heavy hitting realm (majority of the time):

• Cohiba Siglo V, Robustos, Lanceros
• H Upmann Sir Winston
• HdM DC
• Partagas Lusitanias
• Trinidad Fundadores.

[Li Bai]

I'd really like to try the SDC, all of them. And I must say I have to control myself whenever I see a box of that Partagas Rito, I'll end up pulling the trigger, it's a bit under 100$ a stick here though...

[KCCubano]

2 minutes ago, Li Bai said:

I'd really like to try the SDC, all of them. And I must say I have to control myself whenever I see a box of that Partagas Rito, I'll end up pulling the trigger, it's a bit under 100$ a stick here though...

I had several boxes of all SdC. Superb but I had my fair share of construction issues. 

[cnov]

I'm still in the realms of 'none' at present, that's firstly related to not having enough experience of 95+ point cigars and secondly, not having enough cash to drop that sort of substantial money on cigars while sober. 

A $100 bottle of wine is more likely despite me drinking much less wine than I smoke cigars, a decent bottle can be a great shared experience. The Mrs isn't too keen on sharing my smoke and if I'm sharing with mates, multiples of $100 cigars becomes an expensive evening if you're the poor bastard buying all of the cigars. 

 

 

[Christophe]

So that's about €85.I wouldn't on a CC at the moment to be honest, given the inconsistency. The chances I'd spend that on a NC are also quite low, but not totally non-existent. 

Ultimately, I just think there are very, very good sticks for ~25 € (Monte 2, Partagas D.4, Padron Exclusivo, ...), and I think there is a law of diminishing returns at some price point. Not sure what that price point is, but unless someone whose palate I trust can convince me otherwise, and I feel comfortable assuming I'm gonna get a good quality stick, I draw the line around ~€30 in my neck-of-the-woods in 2025. 

Regarding a €85 bottle of wine, that's true, but a wine is already something you can enjoy with at least 2 people. I'm also more comfortable spending €85 euros on e.g. a bottle of rum than on wine, because not only can multiple people enjoy that, but it's gonna last you longer than a single evening. Cigars are essentially a single serving, and paying €85 euros for a single serving of wine, is a whole different proposition than paying it for a bottle. 

[smashed]

As it’s being tied to value here, I gotta be honest, I don’t get this reiteration of horrible construction and hit or miss on QC in 2025 with people being scared. Cuba has gotten SO much better in my opinion. I can’t even remember the last time I smoked a CC which couldn’t be fixed with a quick twirl of a Perfecdraw. To be quite frank, I kind of feel some people (not calling out anybody in this thread, but just speaking in general) are just regurgitating stuff they read online about ‘shoddy QC’ and haven’t experienced it themselves at all. It’s kind of weird.

ALL my friends whom I personally know and purchase from sources of 100% provenance also are on the same page as me. QC is way better, confused as to the guys constantly chirping stuff like ‘half the box wasn’t smokeable’. I’m honestly starting to believe this is either made up or they bought fakes. The only other possible conclusion is that myself (and my friends) are the luckiest people ever when it comes to CC. Which is highly doubtful, lol.

Again, this is strictly to let’s say boxes within the last couple years, nothing older.

[Christophe]

32 minutes ago, smashed said:

As it’s being tied to value here, I gotta be honest, I don’t get this reiteration of horrible construction and hit or miss on QC in 2025 with people being scared. Cuba has gotten SO much better in my opinion. I can’t even remember the last time I smoked a CC which couldn’t be fixed with a quick twirl of a Perfecdraw. To be quite frank, I kind of feel some people (not calling out anybody in this thread, but just speaking in general) are just regurgitating stuff they read online about ‘shoddy QC’ and haven’t experienced it themselves at all. It’s kind of weird.

ALL my friends whom I personally know and purchase from sources of 100% provenance also are on the same page as me. QC is way better, confused as to the guys constantly chirping stuff like ‘half the box wasn’t smokeable’. I’m honestly starting to believe this is either made up or they bought fakes. The only other possible conclusion is that myself (and my friends) are the luckiest people ever when it comes to CC. Which is highly doubtful, lol.

Again, this is strictly to let’s say boxes within the last couple years, nothing older.

I'm fairly new to CC's after a long hiatus. I've only smoked ones from 2025 recently, 100% provenance on all of them. I haven't encountered anything that's unsmokeable, i.e. couldn't be fixed as you say, but when spending 100 USD, that's not something you should have to worry about. 

Of the CC's I've smoked, 100% have been unbeatable for flavor. Construction-wise though, I'd say close to 1/5 have had tight draws, ugly rolls, torn wrappers, inconsistent ring gage in tubos, and general rolling defects that are rare if not virtually non-existent in premium NCs (of which I've smoked many hundreds over the years). And that's only the CC's I've purchased and smoked, not counting the many single sticks I've seen in the shops and passed on due to clear defects.

Again, nothing that couldn't be salvaged, but we're talking about dropping 100 USD here. That sets a level of expectations in my opinion.