What are we going to do about Cohiba. Is this situation Cohiba worthy?

[Connoisseur Kim]

Although Cohiba is one of my fav CC marcas, I'm going to buy rare ones such as COLA, CCE, and Siglo III/V/VI only for Cohiba due to recent Cohiba price spike.

For CORO, it tastes really good for my palate but I can spend my coins on its tasty same sized peers like RASS or even better CCs including Connie A instead.

[jakebarnes]

I'll probably get CCE and SIglo III along the way if I am feeling flush given those are a few of those vitolas that are left--just not a lot of coronas and laguito #2 out there. But mostly will just chase other marcas.

[Connoisseur Kim]

17 minutes ago, jakebarnes said:

I'll probably get CCE and SIglo III along the way if I am feeling flush given those are a few of those vitolas that are left--just not a lot of coronas and laguito #2 out there. But mostly will just chase other marcas.

Much agreed @jakebarnes. With the recent price of most Cohiba cigars, I can buy other CCs and rare ones such as Monte 1, MdO4, and Sir Winnie instead.

Here in Korea every CCs including Partagas Lusitanias are already ridiculously expensive (the price difference between 25ct DB Lusis and 25ct SLB Siglo III at local Habanos Specialist B&M is extremely small) and I believe CC price in Korea will be pricier in near future.

[Ford2112]

At this point I have a box each of siglo 2,CoRo,and exquisitos along with a few Lanceros and an Ambar. I will just score if the opportunity arises but I have a good inventory of other cigars I love like Partagas and RASS,Upmann,JL,Monte etc. I got back into this hobby last fall and went pretty deep. I feel ok where I'm at. No regrets!

[karp]

I don't have many Cohibas, just a box of Siglo II and some packs of CoRo/Sig III and IV's... Trinidad is similar, I just have three boxes. I will ration these and enjoy them over the years, and don't mind sharing them. To be honest I always liked other Marcas better, Upmann, Bolivar, and Partagas. Never really understood the appeal of either Cohiba or Trinidad in terms of straight-up flavour and the cost was usually higher. Bad situation. Just reading over the comments in the past couple of weeks, looks like Cuba has made a risky decision.

[ReturnFreeRisk]

Got near full boxes of II, IV, Medio, MAR CoRo+Panetelas. Few CCEs and Laguito VIs…think these will have to last me the rest of my life—could be worse. Would probably only pop for CoLa at some point when a bonus comes in since my favorite vitola

Its fine HSA wants their $$. I respect that. But part of me also wants this to become a Gurkha circus for them. Same feeling seeing a teenage bro on IG posing next to their Ferrari and chuckling that it probably crashed 5 minutes later…


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MrBirdman]

24 minutes ago, karp said:

Never really understood the appeal of either Cohiba or Trinidad in terms of straight-up flavour and the cost was usually higher.

As we’ve discussed on this forum before (and before the prices went into the stratosphere) there is no meaningful difference in quality between those two brands and the other premium marcas like Montecristo or Partagas. The flavors of Cohiba and Trinidad are different - they’re blends, and so it’s unsurprising many find them undesirable or just “meh.” 

While I smoke more Trini right now than Cohiba, it’s also less of a distinct blend and thus even less justifiable from a price perspective now. Davidoff Grand Cru No 2 and a Coloniales are my two favorite morning smokes. Now the Davidoff will not only be much cheaper, it is - price aside - a better cigar. Yes, some Coloniales exceed it, but most don’t. And there’s no struggling with draw or burn ever. 

[coug28]

Some more light reading on the subject…

Cue the Springsteen! #GloryDays

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/100-cohibas-coming-as-cuban-cigar-prices-going-up

[dominattorney]

3 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

Exactly how I feel. I wouldn’t exactly say I was raised conservatively, but I was raised to be humble and eschew frequently wasting money on extravagances, especially if I’m not sharing them with others (which I can’t because none of my friends or family smoke cigars; in fact they all hate it). 

Being able to “afford” Cohiba doesn’t mean I have a limitless budget - extra money spent on cigars is money that comes out of wine or other pleasures than I CAN and do regularly get to share with others. Spending $60-$80 on a cigar feels selfish, especially when I don’t think it’s worth anywhere near that much. So this price hike makes those cigars less enjoyable for me, even if I acquired them at much lower prices.

I’ve taken this entire situation to reassess my spending on cigars in general, and spend more of my discretionary budget on building out my wine cellar. 

Precisely what I've done. You can get a great wine for 60 bucks a bottle. 

[karp]

21 minutes ago, MrBirdman said:

The flavors of Cohiba and Trinidad are different - they’re blends, and so it’s unsurprising many find them undesirable or just “meh.”

Agreed - they are different and I do actually like them too. But not as much as others, and certainly not at the price point we're hearing! Interesting what you say about the Davidoff, I am going to be trying some NCs down the road depending on how bad things get.

[canadianbeaver]

So here’s me standing in front of my 6 foot tall wine fridge.

Not smoking the LE Genios. Auction. Vintage Piramides? Auction. A couple of other full vintage untouched ones, auction. Yeah ok.

But partial boxes of anything else that even smells loveyCOdovey to me are for Mrs & Mr Beaver’s dead hands unless you say the magic code word: Trevor.

CB

[dshot]

When there done I'm not buying anymore. All boxes where bought pre-covid here so that's good enough for me. It's already become a one every 6-12 months cigar for me. Now maybe every few years. Oh well, so many good cigars out there at a "decent" price. I'm glad I got to smoke the one's I did over the yrs. but I'm not caught up in FOMO price increases. Maybe I'll get few singles if I can make my way back to the Hotel Naccional or on vacation. Actually, I'm more sad about Trinidad which I was smoking more of over the course of the past few yrs. I Love'd those esmeraldas for awhile bought multiple boxes burned through most of them. Oh well, these days with cigars it's an adapt or die attitude you must take.  I'm excited to see what happens to Nudies TBH. El Prez I'm sure will expand the line more so now then ever. Custom rolls I feel will be the way of the future for a quality smoke at a decent price or H.S.A will implode. My prediction is New World cigars will take even more global market share since I'm sure the 99% of us don't want to burn $100+ dollars everytime we want a good cigar.

[RDB]

I’ve always thought Cohiba were expensive but relatively underpriced. Undisputed no.1 brand in a luxury segment. Tons of seriously rich people want them. Easy to flip, strong grey market. Why would the producer allow that to continue?
 

I enjoy them, but I’m not crazy mad bug-eyes about em. I won’t buy for a long while at the new prices. Never? Depends on my future circumstances.

In the end, whether you buy Cohiba depends on how much spare cash you have, and the overall market depends on how many rich folk want em.

[Chas.Alpha]

6 hours ago, jakebarnes said:

I hear glass tops are gonna get hit the hardest by the price increase.

I am buying the glass top boxes at a furious pace, wherever I can find them! Before the price increase takes effect. 😳

[jakebarnes]

21 minutes ago, Chas.Alpha said:

I am buying the glass top boxes at a furious pace, wherever I can find them! Before the price increase takes effect. 😳

If you need more, I've got a source. He knows a guy that knows a guy that can get you more. 

[Boxer31]

Thanks for the laugh about Elaine - have to clean up ash all over the place. 
If my worst problem the next few yrs is how to ration out my CoRo, Sig 3 and Espy (both under 10), then I really don’t have any problems.   Will mix in more NC in case I don’t see “value” anymore.  

[MrBirdman]

12 minutes ago, Boxer31 said:

Thanks for the laugh about Elaine - have to clean up ash all over the place. 
If my worst problem the next few yrs is how to ration out my CoRo, Sig 3 and Espy (both under 10), then I really don’t have any problems.   Will mix in more NC in case I don’t see “value” anymore.  

Completely agree. 

[GVan]

Started this hobby seriously in 2018 and now have over 3000 cigars in the collection.  I'm probably pretty rare cigar smoker and apparently pretty lucky- why? Because I have never smoked a Cohiba and never wanted to buy one because of the price.  Every time I looked at the price differential (even pre-covid) I ended up buying a box of Boli's, JL's, PLPC's, RGPC's, Dips, SCdlH, Monte 2's & 4's and building what I thought were really tasty cigars 4 to 12 boxes deep.  Now I find myself with many Cubans approaching 5 years old and really enjoying the flavor progression as they age. I've slowly kept buying favorites or to fill a few holes in the collection but, now, even slower over the last year.  Sure the few boxes of Lusi's I managed to get from our host were $17 to $18 a stick.  But overall the collection still averages $8.43 / stick.  That's what I think about no matter what stick I grab from the humidor to enjoy or share with friends.

Never tasted a Cohiba and at today's prices, probably never will -- and that's pretty lucky.  Can't miss something that you have never experienced or actually even wanted. 

[Deezwho]

I will continue to buy Cohibas but now I only buy the ones I actually want to smoke since there's not point in stockpiling the less desirable ones (for me that is) at these prices.

CoRo, Siglo VI, Piramides, Medio Siglo is about all Im looking for in the 24:24 now.

Piramides were already overpriced IMO so Im interested to see what the new price point will be. 

 

[Bill Hayes]

In the past I smoke Cohiba on impulse. Same with other brands. It's what I feel like at the time. Usually after a sunny day in Spring or early summer at sunset. There's more of a dry heat where I live generally and I find those days seem to scream Cohiba for me and a whisky highball. Lately haven't purchased due to cost but definitely would if I could. Coro, Esplendidos are two of my all time favs as regular production cigars. Cheers

[SmokyFontaine]

$20/cigar in a box purchase was my threshold for the absurd. In all humility, I could afford to go big, but I don't want to. Between inconsistency from cigar to cigar in a box to smoking a cigar to enjoy, sometimes a half, sometimes to the nub - if it's an $80 cigar, I'm smoking that thing until I puke, then smoking it even more. That's not a pleasurable hobby, that's a job. I need great value in a cigar, and in the time I choose to invest smoking. Cohiba and Trinidad, and really a lot of Habanos products, have priced me out from a value perspective. And I think I'm mostly ok with that. I kinda want a brand to compete for my business. Right now Habanos is making it clear that's not a priority.

[PrairieSmoke]

I won't buy any more Cohiba. The Cohiba I have is regular production. I doubt i'd auction them, though it's tempting. These will just be special occasion cigars/cigars I save to smoke with my three boys when they are old enough.

[SpecialK]

21 hours ago, Lord Verulam said:

with a personal stock of 250 cigars, I wouldn't consider sharing with a single person ....thats scary lol

My Personal stock is around 100... I'm a <= $200 guy for anything... and prefer smaller sizes as these fit my lifestyle at the moment..  One of the many things I appreciate about this place is the option to buy  1/4 boxes  on the 24:24 offerings... I will be taking advantage of this...  As far as Cohiba... I have a fiver of siglo III. 

I actually prefer Trinidad over Cohiba and have to admit I'm starting to feel the FOMO pressure but my wallet/wife will keep me in check  

[Kaptain Karl]

I think we’re all assuming this price hike is going to work. We’re all assuming Cuba is going to somehow absorb a massive amount of their cigar work force leaving during the pandemic. We’re assuming that a globe wide high interest rate recession isn’t going to squash consumption at these prices. I’m not sharing in the optimism that this CC world with HSA and state ran production is going to continue. 
 

Im sure there’ll be an initial surge on Cohiba, but I don’t see this sustaining itself over the next 5 years. Frankly at this pace I hope it all crashes and El Prez is able to buy quality product off the island and blend Cuban tobacco with Hamlet and sell to us 🥰

[Juliano88]

At a certain point, price exceeds value. And that is what I am seeing here. I love cuban cigars, but to demand those prices I would expect a much better product in terms of construction and consistency. Too many of my boxes have a few if not more cigars that are plugged. There are way too many great cigars being made in Nica, DR and Honduras that are going through the proper quality control process for a less aggressive price. I love my CC's and they will always have room in my collection/rotation, but at this point I will be seeking value elsewhere for the time being.