VFM Cuban & Non Cuban

[Cigar_Addict]

An idea based off something similar from another community. This is not a post to find the cheapest, but where the real value lies compared to cost. i.e. does a £100+ stick ever really warrant the price tag? Is a £5-10 stick really just a waste of money? Given the rise in costs this can include absolutely anything... purchases abroad, farm rolls over brands etc. Can be a daily driver's and/or special occasion

Factoring in price point, consistency, (any possible aging time) & enjoyment I'm keen to hear where the value lies for you guys.

Maybe some examples of sticks you've smoked, their price point & whether you'd happily pay that again for them

Have at it..

[liles]

For a proper banded Cuban I'd say it's around 20-40

For a non Cuban I think value is around the 10-20 mark

These are in terms of prices I would pay for those. I haven't bought retail UK in a while except for the occasional purchase for a lounge, which I kinda factor into the price.

I will pay more for something "special", up to a point. I will always try and age Cubans if bought by the box, which I am able to do now because I have a decent enough collection. 2-3 years is kinda essential IMO when it comes to getting bang for buck

I don't particularly enjoy smoking "cheap" cigars. I smoke very infrequently, so I don't like to waste the time on them. If I smoked daily I think I'd happily smoke whatever because tomorrow is a new day, but currently I'm probably averaging one cigar a month. During the summer and when the baby is a bit older I might return to one or two a week, that's still not enough to be pounding dog rockets by the dozen, but does allow for more flexibility!

[Cigar_Addict]

Absolutely. Cheap doesn't mean crap & expensive certainly doesn't mean great. Everyone is different.

[liles]

I mean you can certainly get "cheap" cigars (mass produced machine rolled or just bottom grade raw materials and labour), but when talking about premium cigars (long filler, hand rolled) every single one is an artisan product. It represents a crazy variety of job roles and people, hundreds of hours of labour, thousands of hours of experience and is entirely a luxury item. It should be expensive. Unfortunately like coffee or chocolate there's so many very poor people being exploited by their own poverty to provide those items at such a fractional cost to the final price it's just so frustrating that paying "more" doesn't mean anything to the people putting in the back breaking labour. That's what bums me out, especially with Cuban cigars and the situation on the island. Those lofty prices are lining the pockets of the few, unfortunately.

[mcdee]

I think that the best value for money left these days are the Quintero Panatelas and Petit Quinteros and JLP Cazadores, Petit Cazadores and Petit Caballeros.
Some folk turn their nose up at them due to them being relatively cheap but I think they are quality smokes, especially with a bit of age on them.

[Cigar_Addict]

With my limited experience of all cigars, the best I've probably had recently is a JL1 which was about €18-19? And I'd definitely buy that again (if I see them). That represented good value for me

[Cigar_Addict]

I think that the best value for money left these days are the Quintero Panatelas and Petit Quinteros and JLP Cazadores, Petit Cazadores and Petit Caballeros.
Some folk turn their nose up at them due to them being relatively cheap but I think they are quality smokes, especially with a bit of age on them.

I got a fiver of Petit Cazadores for €10.50 from Tenerife. Very cheap, and certainly ok for the value. Thought they'd priced them wrong at first tbh

[BullittBoy]

For me my ‘bang for buck’ pickups are the JL2, RASS, SP Belicosos, RG CDL and the PL G.

They all still retail between £25-£40 and are all good smokes.

Also when travelling, you are likely to pick these up sub £20 a cigar if you are lucky.

I don’t smoke too regularly - so I tend to be on the hunt for a good value and then rest them before smoking.

[liles]

For me my ‘bang for buck’ pickups are the JL2, RASS, SP Belicosos, RG CDL and the PL G.

They all still retail between £25-£40 and are all good smokes.

Also when travelling, you are likely to pick these up sub £20 a cigar if you are lucky.

I don’t smoke too regularly - so I tend to be on the hunt for a good value and then rest them before smoking.

I think this highlights another thing that I consider "good value". For me an ideal smoke should last about an hour, or somewhere in the range of 45-90 minutes. That's the sweet spot for sitting down and really enjoying a cigar. You could argue that smaller smokes are cheaper and therefore equal better value. While a nice little RASCC, PLPC, HU HC, Monty 4/5 would be a great coffee cigar they don't quite satisfy like a robusto or corona. Equally toro or double coronas are just often too much. Rarely do I want to be puffing the same stick for more than 2 hours

[PeeJay]

I think Partagas and RyJ Millefleurs are a value for money cigar and seem to still be readily available in Europe.

[Cigar_Addict]

I think Partagas and RyJ Millefleurs are a value for money cigar and seem to still be readily available in Europe.

See, I have this dilemma in that I have a (part) box of each, yet won't know their true potential for a few years. Then I'll need to decide to either buy another box & have to go through the 3-4yr cycle again or wish I'd got some every time I see them abroad

[Simon Bolivar]

As I don't smoke N'C's, my cheaper Cubans are RG PX, Mille Fleurs (as PJ highlighted above) & Vegueros. In a normal world PL Panatela too.
I guess my regular smokes fall into the £20-40 bracket these days, although I paid less (sometimes way less), when I purchased them.
Epi No2, ERDM CS, RASSC & RASS, BFF & Old Machine Mades, Belinda Princess & R&J Panatelas.

Occasionally I have spent a large sum ona vintage cigar, a few Davidoff's at £100+, just to have tried them once. Would I do it again? For something rare & very old maybe. Never smoked a Dunhill for example. A single original release Behike 52 or Sig VI for sure but never likely to find either in the £100-150 bracket & wouldn't pay prices charged in top London hotels that probably have examples.

Value is a very subjective thing, after all most of the public think we are mad & think it's the equivalent of smoking a rolled up £20 or £50 note. I would rather pay for age than a brand new cigar with an extra band or two. Just the same as I would about a decent claret.

Another factor is how much cigars cost when you started smoking them. When I first bought Cubans Epi No2's & other robustos were e8, DC's e12 & Cohiba's from e7 for a panatela to e25 for an Esplen'. If you started a year or two ago then e20-30 for the average range of Cubans would sound reasonable, even if you'd never tried a Cohiba
or linea Maestro because of their crazy current price. I have never smoked a Partagas Linea Maestro & & won't buy one either. Maybe I'll get lucky one day & share on with a fellow BOTL but I won't be holding my breath, it'll be so much better than the Party No2.

[Cigar_Addict]

As I don't smoke N'C's, my cheaper Cubans are RG PX, Mille Fleurs (as PJ highlighted above) & Vegueros. In a normal world PL Panatela too.
I guess my regular smokes fall into the £20-40 bracket these days, although I paid less (sometimes way less), when I purchased them.
Epi No2, ERDM CS, RASSC & RASS, BFF & Old Machine Mades, Belinda Princess & R&J Panatelas.

Occasionally I have spent a large sum ona vintage cigar, a few Davidoff's at £100+, just to have tried them once. Would I do it again? For something rare & very old maybe. Never smoked a Dunhill for example. A single original release Behike 52 or Sig VI for sure but never likely to find either in the £100-150 bracket & wouldn't pay prices charged in top London hotels that probably have examples.

Value is a very subjective thing, after all most of the public think we are mad & think it's the equivalent of smoking a rolled up £20 or £50 note. I would rather pay for age than a brand new cigar with an extra band or two. Just the same as I would about a decent claret.

Another factor is how much cigars cost when you started smoking them. When I first bought Cubans Epi No2's & other robustos were e8, DC's e12 & Cohiba's from e7 for a panatela to e25 for an Esplen'. If you started a year or two ago then e20-30 for the average range of Cubans would sound reasonable, even if you'd never tried a Cohiba
or linea Maestro because of their crazy current price. I have never smoked a Partagas Linea Maestro & & won't buy one either. Maybe I'll get lucky one day & share on with a fellow BOTL but I won't be holding my breath, it'll be so much better than the Party No2.

I still have the 2008 Epi 2 I got from you a couple of years ago. Along with the two Partagas LE's, they are my prized possessions and need a nice relaxing environment to smoke those.

[OtELos]

Smoking cigars since 2023 late of that year more intensively. I have never experienced so called bargains in comparison with today's pricing. My every day smoke starts with vegueros all of them, HUHC, quinteros , epi 2, montecarlos, never tried any millerfleur whatever the correct name is. I have spent over the top for cigars I wanted to have in my collection and try to smoke. I remember I also smoked P2 and D4 very often from the beginning and wasn't put off by pricing and strength P2 was 500 dollars for box of 25.


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