TU09 said:
Working off my limited experience, it seems as if a higher MSRP equates to greater consistency and higher quality craftsmanship. While construction quality is a very important factor in my overall enjoyment of a given cigar, it runs a close second to flavor and flavor, unlike construction quality, does not seem to track with MSRP. Also, I look for value in all purchases I make and, dollar for dollar, I think high end cigars are a poor value. I have yet to have a $25 cigar that is, dollar for dollar, better than certain $5 cigars, they are typically better made, but don't provide enough difference in overall enjoyment to justify the higher price. Just MHO derived from my own experiences.
In tracking with TU and LT, I have to note that there are many examples out there of $2 to $4 cigars that smoke as good and as consistent as $10 to $20 cigars. Price can be an indicator on the top end as well as the bottom end, but I find more exceptions on the lower end of the price range than on the upper end; i.e. Most higher priced sticks tend to be good sticks, with a few exceptions, while I find many sticks in the $2-4 range that I like as much, or better than the ones that sell for $15 each.
Famous 3000's comes readily to mind. Taronos Sigs by the box can be had for less that $5 per stick. Onyx Reserves can be purchased for around $2 per stick, and are almost as flavor packed for me as the Sigs. And there are at least half a dozen other examples of $3-5 sticks sitting in quantity in my two coolidors at this moment that are great smokes.
I think the expectations that a high price equals an enjoyable smoke goes haywire more often for two reasons: First, many of the high priced sticks out there tend to be on the full body side of the spectrum, and are "above" the taste buds of many that try them early in their smoking experiences. I say this based on my own personal observations. I have a couple of dozen Opus sitting, waiting for me to get more used to them than I was when I smoked my first one and said "What's the big deal". Many of the stronger sticks I tried early on that I was un-impressed with, now appeal to me much more than they did two years ago. Letting these cigars sit for an extra year probably hasn't hurt any either (which ties directly into the second factor).
I know it has been said before, but I will say it again, because it is important. If at all possible, let ANY cigar you buy sit in your own humi for at least a couple of months if possible (especially if they are stored in cello). I am amazed at the sticks I buy from walk-in humis with good rh shown on the hydrometers, that will almost explode from a lack of humidity if I try and smoke them right out of the humi. You really have no way of knowing how often that humi has been opened, how old or new the stock is, how the cigars were stored before they were put in the walk-in the day before yesterday afternoon, and so forth. As a result, I have had more bad experiences with cigars of ALL price ranges when I smoke them straight out of a B & M's humi. Does anyone here smoke sticks recieved in the mail straight from the mailing box??!!?? I have had some good ones straight from a B&M, but as a precentage, many more bad ones with too little rest than I get from those in my own humi, where I am SURE of the storage condition and the storage time.
I guess the need to have secure knowledge of the storage conditions of your smokes and the effect of that storage on the taste and smokability is the main reason the slope is so steep in this hobby in terms of multiple humis/coolidors/fridgeadors that we all read about. The more you smoke, the more you come to realize that you can have almost as much influence on the enjoyment of your smokes as the roller and manufacturer, regardless of the price of the stick. A good stick, stored poorly will almost always be a disappointment, while an average stick stored properly will almost always be a pleasant surprise!
