Have we reached cigarmageddon?

[El Presidente]

Just now, Hollywood Ninja said:

When I got into cigar smoking, CCs were considered to be a "deal" compared to boutique NCs.  

Just paid $32 USD for an Opus X  The Lost City.  

Looking forward to smoking it when I get back home. 

 

[SCgarman]

31 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Just paid $32 USD for an Opus X  The Lost City.  

Looking forward to smoking it when I get back home. 

 

Opus X was never a cheap cigar. Not even back when they came out.

[El Presidente]

Just now, SCgarman said:

Opus X was never a cheap cigar. Not even back when they came out.

Absolutely. I remember the commentary back in 1995....and there was plenty of negativity in terms of pricing. 

 

 

[IrishTony]

42 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Just paid $32 USD for an Opus X  The Lost City.  

Looking forward to smoking it when I get back home. 

 

That reminds me, I have 4 of those, and 4 Sakas, that have been down about 6 months. I think I'll give the Opus X a go this evening. 

[Digi]

These are good points!  I often look at the Davidoff Oro Blanco - my local shops regularly sell out of them.  If there's a working market for $500 a pop Davidoffs, then I figure Behikes should be able to command that price no problem.  Just about laughed out of the room over on Reddit when mentioning that I wouldn't be surprised at that price point or more by the summer of 2023 or 4.

[Araffle]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

Just paid $32 USD for an Opus X  The Lost City.  

Looking forward to smoking it when I get back home. 

 

I hope it burns well for you. A lot of the newer Opus X’s don’t. Frustrating. I never have that issue with the Padron ‘26 (just comparing price wise). 

[El Presidente]

8 hours ago, voxpopulme said:

 Population in many countries is aging faster than the birth rate and there are simply not enough people to replace retirees in the successive generations - my bet is that this will result in fewer cigar smokers overall without factoring in issues like excise taxes or the younger generation's preference for alternatives to tobacco. 

I am in the Empire lounge currently and have been here at various times most of the week.

23  people in now. I would be the oldest at 57. It has been much the same at Galiano lounge and Central Lounge. Everywhere I have gone I would say 38-44 age group would be the average. 

London was much the same. Slightly older crowd than here but not by much. 

When City won the EPL yesterday, Pep didn't say he was going to celebrate with his vape. Ibravahimovic wasn't celebrating his Milan Serie A victory with a vape either 

 

 

[voxpopulme]

12 hours ago, El Presidente said:

I am in the Empire lounge currently and have been here at various times most of the week.

23  people in now. I would be the oldest at 57. It has been much the same at Galiano lounge and Central Lounge. Everywhere I have gone I would say 38-44 age group would be the average. 

London was much the same. Slightly older crowd than here but not by much. 

When City won the EPL yesterday, Pep didn't say he was going to celebrate with his vape. Ibravahimovic wasn't celebrating his Milan Serie A victory with a vape either 

You must be going to the right kinds of lounges because the average age of patrons in my area is roughly 50-65, there are some younger patrons of course; however, the vast majority of the customer base seems to be older than the range you have given. Perhaps this is just a difference between the view on cigars/smoking in USA vs Europe/AUS or perhaps this is a byproduct of the area I live in.

 

[Chas.Alpha]

12 hours ago, El Presidente said:

I am in the Empire lounge currently and have been here at various times most of the week.

23  people in now. I would be the oldest at 57. It has been much the same at Galiano lounge and Central Lounge. Everywhere I have gone I would say 38-44 age group would be the average.

This is gratifying to know. The night before last, I was the oldest person in the pub... 😔

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, SCgarman said:

Opus X was never a cheap cigar. Not even back when they came out.

They certainly weren't. I recall seeing the original Opus X at Casinos in both CA and Las Vegas north of $100 each in the late 90s. 

These were also the years when there was a growing belief and serious PR campaign suggesting NCs had finally evolved past CCs into the best cigars in the world. 

[Corylax18]

9 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

These were also the years when there was a growing belief and serious PR campaign suggesting NCs had finally evolved past CCs into the best cigars in the world. 

So, Today? 😁

[NSXCIGAR]

15 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

So, Today? 😁

1999-2001 was the only point in time that you could have convinced me that some NCs were objectively superior to some CCs. 

[bishop532]

3 hours ago, voxpopulme said:

You must be going to the right kinds of lounges because the average age of patrons in my area is roughly 50-65, there are some younger patrons of course; however, the vast majority of the customer base seems to be older than the range you have given. Perhaps this is just a difference between the view on cigars/smoking in USA vs Europe/AUS or perhaps this is a byproduct of the area I live in.

I’m in the US; in my area it depends on the store/lounge you visit. A couple of them have older crowds, but I can think of others more in the 35-55 range. 

[jakebarnes]

1 hour ago, bishop532 said:

I’m in the US; in my area it depends on the store/lounge you visit. A couple of them have older crowds, but I can think of others more in the 35-55 range. 

Updown had a good younger crowd the day we had the Chicago get together. It hit mid 20s to 50s. 

[Rhinoww]

A simple note of gratitude to FOH for continuing on w 24:24 to ease some of our cigarmageddon woes.

[Rhinoww]

I’m a contemplative mood. 
 

Revisiting this after three months. 
 

Things seem worse in terms of supply and more importantly what is going on the island right now. Seems like cigarmageddon may end up to be a bit of a marathon as opposed to a six month sprint.
 

Things just really suck for those who are still in Cuba and there seems to be no plan to help life get better there for the everyday things like food and fuel. 
 

such a bummer on many levels. 

[mprach024]

Prices won’t drop until stock starts piling up on shelves.  Even the premium NCs are a disaster to find.  Just seems like the old ideology of manufacturing retail to the max, then discounting under sold product, and bringing out seasonally new items to reengage interest has been corrected and discontinued.  Companies are manufacturing less, while posting higher profits.  Cigars are just an example.  The old ways are likely gone.  To be honest the only thing that could change this is a global recession and drastic shift away in consumer spend.  Which……you know…..

[dominattorney]

8 hours ago, mprach024 said:

Prices won’t drop until stock starts piling up on shelves.  Even the premium NCs are a disaster to find.  Just seems like the old ideology of manufacturing retail to the max, then discounting under sold product, and bringing out seasonally new items to reengage interest has been corrected and discontinued.  Companies are manufacturing less, while posting higher profits.  Cigars are just an example.  The old ways are likely gone.  To be honest the only thing that could change this is a global recession and drastic shift away in consumer spend.  Which……you know…..

I just doubt we will see prices decline after a few months at current levels with no real problem moving the limited product that exists. 

[Mikeltee]

The day HUHC went over $100, I lost any interest in CCs. I'll buy a 5er here and there for special occasions. I will buy Nudies as long as the price stays the same. My latest 5er ended up being a 10er. The best stick by far was the #3 from last year, but that doesnt count the Yolanda from '20 that was slipped in there. I barely got any barnyard from any of the CCs aside from the Yolanda. Both Nudies contained it in spades! Far less quality for double the price than what i paid in '19 which was my last full box purchase???? No thanks...... 

[Wookie]

On 5/24/2022 at 9:36 AM, NSXCIGAR said:

They certainly weren't. I recall seeing the original Opus X at Casinos in both CA and Las Vegas north of $100 each in the late 90s. 

These were also the years when there was a growing belief and serious PR campaign suggesting NCs had finally evolved past CCs into the best cigars in the world. 

I bought a box of opus X torpedoes in 1996 for about $12 a stick, which was a lot back then.  The B&M owner looked at me and said, “you own em”.  They were fabulous.  I think they’ve gone downhill over the years, maybe due to overproduction? But I also think esplendidos and Lusitania were much better in the 1990s.  Maybe my taste buds are shot. 

 

For the record I was paying 175/box for monte #2 in Madrid in late 1990s. 

[SCgarman]

3 hours ago, Wookie said:

For the record I was paying 175/box for monte #2 in Madrid in late 1990s. 

The question is will you pay $500+usd/box now? I certainly won't. 

 

16 hours ago, mprach024 said:

Prices won’t drop until stock starts piling up on shelves.  Even the premium NCs are a disaster to find.  Just seems like the old ideology of manufacturing retail to the max, then discounting under sold product, and bringing out seasonally new items to reengage interest has been corrected and discontinued.  Companies are manufacturing less, while posting higher profits.  Cigars are just an example.  The old ways are likely gone.  To be honest the only thing that could change this is a global recession and drastic shift away in consumer spend.  Which……you know…..

Or...supply increases due to less people buying cigars. The anti-smoking sentiment is world wide now. Nobody in my immediate family will take my place when I drop dead. My 16 year old daughter tolerates my cigar hobby, but she would never in a million years be interested in smoking cigars. Pretty sure there are many more in my situation. 

[Digi]

8 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

Or...supply increases due to less people buying cigars. The anti-smoking sentiment is world wide now. Nobody in my immediate family will take my place when I drop dead. My 16 year old daughter tolerates my cigar hobby, but she would never in a million years be interested in smoking cigars. Pretty sure there are many more in my situation. 

That's an interesting take!  From my point of view, over the last 3 years, I've never met more new cigar smokers or people who simply don't mind cigars.  There's a local bar nearby that lets me smoke on their patio (and will serve me!  very, very unusual in Seattle).  It's been a few years since anyone has made a negative comment and I used to get them all the time. 

I can be found with a cigar on internal Zoom meetings at work and am always surprised by the amount of folks who tell they secretly enjoy them.  The "cigar shed" chat rooms I setup typically have more than a dozen folks.

While you daughter might not like cigar smoking I'd bet a box or two that, down the road, she ends up in a relationship(s) where her partner does   Pretty sure it's going to work out that way for mine, haha!

[Kaptain Karl]

Prices now are super difficult coming from being able to buy em for $250-280 2 years ago. I know I'm probably done buying for awhile. Part of it is high prices, part of it is I have enough, another is I'm 32 and I'll probably have my first kid 2-3 years from now and I'm sitting on a big supply. Zero way I need anymore when I know I'll be lucky to get 1-2 in a week when I have a kid. 

14 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

The question is will you pay $500+usd/box now? I certainly won't. 

[SCgarman]

14 minutes ago, Kaptain Karl said:

Prices now are super difficult coming from being able to buy em for $250-280 2 years ago. I know I'm probably done buying for awhile. Part of it is high prices, part of it is I have enough, another is I'm 32 and I'll probably have my first kid 2-3 years from now and I'm sitting on a big supply. Zero way I need anymore when I know I'll be lucky to get 1-2 in a week when I have a kid. 

I average 2 a week now, since I have stopped buying and using my hoarded inventory. Friday night and Saturday night are cigar days. Not interested in smoking during the week.

[Arabian]

36 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

The question is will you pay $500+usd/box now? I certainly won't. 

I was thinking the same, will you spend extra money or work within your fixed budget!? and what happens if there's nothing worthy within your budget. personally, I became very attached to the cigar lifestyle, it's almost impossible to give it up. I think the same goes to watch collectors, geeks who into electronics, car guys...etc.