Hey so I am curious about Trinidad cigars?

[Sir. smokes alot]

Just wondering why we don’t ever see them on 24:24. Are these cigars over priced, unpopular, or just less desirable? Is it something that is similar to Quai d'Orsay? I am pretty new, so I am trying to figure out these types of things. Thanks for the feedback. 

[99call]

8 hours ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

Just wondering why we don’t ever see them on 24:24. Are these cigars over priced, unpopular, or just less desirable? Is it something that is similar to Quai d'Orsay? I am pretty new, so I am trying to figure out these types of things. Thanks for the feedback. 

The forum has come up with all sorts of flavour notes from recent Trinidads. Some of the most frequently raised ones are:

Donuts, Sandalwood, Cashew nuts, Cake, Tea

I am a huge fan of Trinidads and they are fabulous cigars, with a fabulous blend, but they appear to have been lumped into HSA's Cohiba's elite pricing policy.  The only problem being is that hype works for Cohiba, and it's target audience. The same audience are not as bothered about Trinidad, so the hiked prices look to have been poorly set. 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

Trinidad's launch never lived up to the lore. They had a bunch of smaller cigars that missed the mark for the consumer along with a few hits. I like them, but only a few vitolas are in my wheelhouse. The best one, the Robusto T was short lived for some reason. That was the one everyone liked. Fundadores blend seems influx since the launch.

[Sir. smokes alot]

7 hours ago, 99call said:

The forum has come up with all sorts of flavour notes from recent Trinidads. Some of the most frequently raised ones are:

Donuts, Sandalwood, Cashew nuts, Cake, Tea

I am a huge fan of Trinidads and they are fabulous cigars, with a fabulous blend, but they appear to have been lumped into HSA's Cohiba's elite pricing policy.  The only problem being is that hype works for Cohiba, and it's target audience. The same audience are not as bothered about Trinidad, so the hiked prices look to have been poorly set. 

The price hike in Cubans really sucks. I wished I would have gotten into this about 3 years ago and stocked up. It is what it is though. The thing that made me post this question was hearing all the flavor notes. They sound like a delicious cigar with a cup of coffee or something.

5 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Trinidad's launch never lived up to the lore. They had a bunch of smaller cigars that missed the mark for the consumer along with a few hits. I like them, but only a few vitolas are in my wheelhouse. The best one, the Robusto T was short lived for some reason. That was the one everyone liked.  Fundadores blend seems influx since the launch.

I would like to pick up a few sometime. I seen some Reyes that look about like the size I enjoy. I like a few varieties of something with a smaller ring gauge. 

[BrightonCorgi]

5 hours ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

The price hike in Cubans really sucks. I wished I would have gotten into this about 3 years ago and stocked up. It is what it is though. The thing that made me post this question was hearing all the flavor notes. They sound like a delicious cigar with a cup of coffee or something.

10 years from now, what you bought today should be seen in retrospect as a deal.

5 hours ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

I would like to pick up a few sometime. I seen some Reyes that look about like the size I enjoy. I like a few varieties of something with a smaller ring gauge.

You're in luck then. They are around and still reasonably priced.

[Namisgr11]

8 hours ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

Just wondering why we don’t ever see them on 24:24. Are these cigars over priced, unpopular, or just less desirable? Is it something that is similar to Quai d'Orsay? I am pretty new, so I am trying to figure out these types of things. Thanks for the feedback. 

I bought a 6 pack of Coloniales from FOH, so Trinis do show up from time to time. But most of the line has priced me out, and while I have a decent representation of them on hand now, I can't see buying them again, except if they're being offered at a sharp discount.

[bmac]

At one time I had a couple 100 Vigia and 10 boxes of Coloniales.Down to 12 Vigia from 2017 and a full box of Coloniales.Don’t see myself buying anymore so I’ll just let them age. Price hike being the reason.

[El Presidente]

7 hours ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

Just wondering why we don’t ever see them on 24:24. 

 

..........because I am still pissed off. 

[Perla]

25 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

 

..........because I am still pissed off. 

+1

[MagicalBikeRide]

Super brand. Poorly managed. Both laugh and cry when I see shelves full of Trini and nothing else. 

[Biggerfaster40]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

..........because I am still pissed off. 

I am a big fan of this response. If we pay moron prices we deserve to be treated like morons

[Sir. smokes alot]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

..........because I am still pissed off. 

So can I ask what pisses you off about them? Maybe I can be pissed off with you guys lol!! 

[NSXCIGAR]

8 hours ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

Are these cigars over priced?

Yes.

Cuba is attempting to elevate Trinidad to a premium brand solely with a new pricing structure despite the cigars already having been out for 20 years with reasonable pricing and not being of substantially better quality than most brands. So far the experiment has failed. 

Space on the 24:24 is limited and Rob's trying to sell cigars after all. There's only so many Trini die hards who'll pay $30 for a Reyes or $50 for a Media Luna. 

[Sir. smokes alot]

42 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Yes.

Cuba is attempting to elevate Trinidad to a premium brand solely with a new pricing structure despite the cigars already having been out for 20 years with reasonable pricing and not being of substantially better quality than most brands. So far the experiment has failed. 

Space on the 24:24 is limited and Rob's trying to sell cigars after all. There's only so many Trini die hards who'll pay $30 for a Reyes or $50 for a Media Luna. 

That makes sense. I can see how it’s bullshit for Cuba to try and jack the price up with no improvement in quality. It would be nice if Cuban sales got so bad they were forced to bring prices down. I really don’t see that happening though. I am new to this and have already designated a small portion of each pay check to some Cuban sticks.

[NSXCIGAR]

1 minute ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

It would be nice if Cuban sales got so bad they were forced to bring prices down.

CC prices never go down. Best we can hope for is they don't raise them for an extended period allowing inflation to catch up. That's what I expect with Trinidad. I think prices will remain unchanged for years until supply & demand start to equalize.

[Sir. smokes alot]

37 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

CC prices never go down. Best we can hope for is they don't raise them for an extended period allowing inflation to catch up. That's what I expect with Trinidad. I think prices will remain unchanged for years until supply & demand start to equalize.

I hope they don’t go up. I have a humidor I am already struggling to fill. 

[El Presidente]

30 minutes ago, Sir. smokes alot said:

I hope they don’t go up. I have a humidor I am already struggling to fill. 

.............you may be a minute late and a dollar short 

• Prices aren't coming down. Folk have been waiting since 2022.  
• FOlk can bitch about CC QC as much as they like. It doesn't affect sales. 

In terms of Trinidad, I purposely cut my orders some 95%. Each week I get asked if I can take more Trinidad. I say "No. You guys screwed the market and they are now largely unsellable". Other retailers are doing the same. 

End result. Trinidad is the only brand without a proposed price increase this year. 

[99call]

9 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

End result. Trinidad is the only brand without a proposed price increase this year. 

Nice work. Hats off

[seanxuan]

Btw, how much they plan to increase this year, I heard BHK by another 50 percent? 🤣

[JohnS]

9 minutes ago, seanxuan said:

Btw, how much they plan to increase this year, I heard BHK by another 50 percent? 🤣

Price rises for this year can be viewed in this thread below...

[Sir. smokes alot]

5 hours ago, El Presidente said:

.............you may be a minute late and a dollar short 

• Prices aren't coming down. Folk have been waiting since 2022.  
• FOlk can bitch about CC QC as much as they like. It doesn't affect sales. 

In terms of Trinidad, I purposely cut my orders some 95%. Each week I get asked if I can take more Trinidad. I say "No. You guys screwed the market and they are now largely unsellable". Other retailers are doing the same. 

End result. Trinidad is the only brand without a proposed price increase this year. 

I can see where that is frustrating and makes you it want to support that brand. There are a ton of great Cuban cigars out there. 

[Ford2112]

I miss Trinidad. But I'll not be buying any of these for the foreseeable future. Plus the sizing on many of the vitolas is goofy to me, bad pricing, and I can't believe what Fundies cost now.

[MrBirdman]

3 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

CC prices never go down. Best we can hope for is they don't raise them for an extended period allowing inflation to catch up. That's what I expect with Trinidad. I think prices will remain unchanged for years until supply & demand start to equalize.

This is what I expect as well, especially for the smaller formats. Fundis could go up but their scarcity makes them almost irrelevant. Cuba was pumping out a good number of smaller cigars like Media Luna - they’ll presumably just limit production or force distributors to take losses by discounting stock, at least until the price increases in other marcas start making Trini look like a better value down the line. The prices will continue to increase elsewhere. Consensus is their production may never return to pre-COVID levels.

HSA’s pricing strategy with non-premium brands is, to me, riskier than pricing Cohiba like a Swiss watch. Cohiba might have worst quality control than Louis Vuitton, but at least it offers a unique experience under the band’s logo. I can buy a higher quality version of pretty much everything LV makes for far less money. If LV can sell all their crap by slapping a logo on it then there is room for that segment in cigars. I mean Christ, Gurkhas still exist, somehow.

Their pricing strategy is helped considerably by the tax structure in most countries, based on weight, which evens out the base price disparities with NC competition. Non-Cubans are rolled for the US market where weight-based taxes are minimal, and so consumers gravitate towards cigars with lots of tobacco because of perceived value. 

[JohnS]

It's logical, from our consumer point-of-view, to surmise that the on-going continuation to brand Trinidad as a luxury marca equal in status to Cohiba is nonsensical. From a business perspective, yes of course it is.

This goal of marketing the Trinidad brand in this way has been on-going for some time. Basically, in a nutshell, Habanos S.A have been reactionary and lost sense of their objectivity, some time ago, because they entered into a long-term legal dispute with the Trinidad Family over this marca and in doing that, they've maintained a position that Trinidad must be seen as practically equal to Cohiba as a premium marca. In my opinion, this understanding goes a long way to explain the history of the Trinidad brand over the last twenty years.

If anyone is further curious about Trinidad, then read on at the link below...

[Deeg]

Trinidad has become my favorite marca - I love the flavor profile.  But I'll likely never buy another one due to the price explosion, so you just have to move on.