....apparently easy to taste without complications.

[PuroDiario]

And a bag is a bag. But for some reason call it craftmanship, provenance, social signaling, snobery, perceived quality, exclusivity, personal opinion or any other reason people pay 10grand for a Hermes bag and doubt if paying $100 for Zara's. While objective utility of either is equivalent, perceived utility is diametrical opposite. So sure a cigar is just a cigar for you and I and many. But in aggregated terms, based on the demand response to significant price hikes over the last year, a Cuban cigar is not just a cigar (for most of their portfolio). Now again, if supply increased drastically probably things would be different but at this level of supply this is it. 

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, Fugu said:

Not all of them. Staying in your analogy, there’s still a good deal of Volkswagen there and a certain amount of Audi in the CC range. Still, you can also find a few Škodas (well, even Dacias, one should say, but strictly not the same concern...), no-frills cigars that get you from A to B. So, you can still move a bit down the line while staying within the company’s portfolio.

What they try is to crank up pricing for the Porsches (while not altering the product, and getting rid of the “pedestrians”) and to make people believe Trini in unit with certain special lines (Linea 1935, Linea d’Oro) in their showroom are all new shiny Porsche, too (Macan perhaps)....

You're forgetting the range of Porsches is pretty wide enough to accommodate the analogy, but certainly it applies more to Cohiba specifically. The Macan and Boxter are about $60K. Middle class cars. The bread and butter. Think PSD4 and Monte 4. 911 Turbo & GT3 at $220K. Then GT2 up to nearly $500K. 

A very wide range that on the upper end will never have to worry about price. People would still buy 911 Turbos at $500K but they would not buy Macans at $120K.  

[Fugu]

On 12/10/2022 at 9:59 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

You're forgetting the range of Porsches is pretty wide enough to accommodate the analogy,

Sure, one could see it that way, but honestly, I don’t see Rafael González or Sancho Panza in the “Porsche” realm, even not, let’s say, Monte 4 or 5 or a humble Romeo MF and the likes (solid VW), let alone Quintero. Just to be clear, personally I am a fan of all those, but I don’t quite see the “Porsche” nimbus there..., and it has never been, and I think still isn’t, widely perceived that way in the market either.

On 12/10/2022 at 9:59 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

People would still buy 911 Turbos at $500K but they would not buy Macans at $120K.

Well, you say it, the Macan is an Audi effectively, with a Porsche badge. Why my likening it to Linea 1935 or Linea de Oro... 😉

And all I see is indeed, they don’t move at current pricing, just like Trini Reyes, ML or Vigía. So in essence, we both seem to agree in that certainly not all CC show a Porsche-like performance in demand. I guess in the end we are meaning to say the same thing.

[NSXCIGAR]

4 hours ago, Fugu said:

And all I see is indeed, they don’t move at current pricing, just like Trini Reyes, ML or Vigía. So in essence, we both seem to agree in that certainly not all CC show a Porsche-like performance in demand. I guess in the end we are meaning to say the same thing.

I will concede on the very low end we may be dipping below Porsche analogy. Clearly cheap and cheerfuls would be in the Volkswagen column. And while I personally have respect for cigars like RGP and SPNP I would put them in the Volkswagen category of in terms of worldwide demand and is a perfect example of why raising prices on these cigars is absurd. Although I'm sure there are still a few people whose favorite cigar is RGP or SPNP and are loaded enough to pay pretty much anything for it.