Why Wine Disappears and Cigars Accumulate

[El Presidente]

 

During our Parallel Tasting review of the HDM Epi 2 and MOFOH Robusto Trinity yesterday (video up end of week), I had a converstaion with Cliff (Glass Half Full) on the timing/consumption of cigars by the average punter/cigar smoker. I made the comment that I didnt think it was too different to wine. I made the comment that in Oz, the average bottle of wine is consumed within 90 minutes of purchase. It is a number I recall from a previous survey of wine drinkers in Australia. Now if you take restaurant and BBQ purchases into account it is probably correct. 

My thought process is one that I didn't think cigar purchases (globally) would be too different. Not everyone are FOH (or similar retail) buyers. How many cigars are consumed at the lounge (tasting/UK for example) or picked up on a Friday to be enjoyed over the weekend?. 

Our discussion on the video review was about how many people actually age (or at least rest) their cigars? We segwayed during the discussion as to the different thought processes between NC and CC buyers. 

So I took the question to ChatGPT/Gemini/Anthropic AI. 

Ageing by purchasers of wine/spirits/cigars. 

The results. 

The notes: 

“Based on aggregated industry scanner data, household panel surveys, excise replacement curves, distributor reorder behavior, and secondary-market holding patterns.”

One insight worth underlining 

Wine and spirits are depleted.
Cigars are accumulated.

This single behavioral difference explains:

• Secondary market depth

• Aging premiums

• Brand myth-building

• Why cigar collectors behave more like art collectors than drinkers

 

🚬 Cigars

This is where it gets interesting.

Primary sources & proxies

• Importer & distributor reorder lag

• Humidor capacity vs annual consumption studies

• Auction house re-entry timing
  (how long before a cigar reappears on secondary markets)

• FOH-style community self-reporting

• Cuban export data vs global consumption lag

• Aging-premium analysis (price appreciation vs time held)

What they consistently show

• Cigars are intentionally not consumed quickly

• Storage improves perceived value

• Large quantities are held years or decades

• A meaningful % are never smoked by the original buyer

 

I found it interesting at least 

Let us know where you fit?

 

 

[loose_axle]

Spirits I'll consume at anytime after purchase, and up to $25 a bottle with wine the same. 

But with cigars and the better wines I'm fascinated with aging and tasting and aging again so they get hoarded as long as I think I can go with them. 

[Li Bai]

I rarely smoke a cigar that's been purchased less than 6 months prior and with spirits, I have no rules.

On the other hand I never really went down the wine rabbit hole and I don't intend to (one more expensive hobby and I might end up living in a trailer park...).

I like wine (red wine in particular) and I'm lucky to have good mates in Bordeaux who supply me with nice bottles occasionnally but those don't last long.

 

[Christophe]

A rational reason for me to buy more cigars than I keep up with smoking is the regulatory pressure and potential supply chain disruptions. Buy 'em while you can, basically. I intend to smoke everything I have, and I intend to enjoy cigars for many more years than theywill probably be easily accessible or even available at the current pace. 

And while I'm sure the regulatory pressure on alcohol is ramping up as well, it's at least a few years to decades behind. Most spirits I want, I can buy at the click of a button. And I do mean literally pretty much anything. Even if I want to buy a specific single cask select rum from a specific year, it's likely gonna be available to ship to me from somewhere in the EU. With cigars on the other hand, can't even view what a store has online anymore in most EU countries, let alone order.
 

[SirVantes]

A box purchase of cigars is 25/50 count.  A case purchase of wine is 6/12 count.  Spirits are typically bought singly.  That alone means there are more units of cigars to potentially age.

Once you get past the casual stage, money-wise I would say typically 1 box cuban cigars = 1 case wine = 2 bottles spirits (based on my buying habits).  Again, there are more cigar units to potentially age.

Of course, all that assumes some sort of median - all bets are off if you are into Habanos auction humidor releases, DRC allocations, or Karuizawa or 3 bottle Macallan releases in Lalique.  

Cigars and wine are intentionally aged.  Spirits are only accidentally aged (because they don't improve with age, due respect of Serge and OBE advocates) when they are hoarded.  There is much, much more literature, conventional wisdom, up-to-date punditry about the age curve of just about any wine, so punters will have an idea of peak consumption periods.  You get much less help with deciding when to finish off that box of cigars. Keep that bottle of Lagavulin as long as you want.

For what it's worth, on a descending scale, I have too many: cigars, then spirits, then wine, even though I buy and keep "sensibly" all of them.