Budget cigars, are they really worth it?

Started by DonM, 01/26/2019 02:20 PM

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DonM

So, a few things got me on this subject and decided to ramble a bit on budget or bundle cigars.  Most of us have been there, we started on the less expensive cigars.  We were trying to find that wonderful cigar that didn't break the bank of start the family feud on the coin you were spending on your new found obsession.  For me that was 10 years ago. You buy all these cigars, only to find they really weren't that good, fact of the matter, they sucked ass.  Then, you discover that there are some really good cigars out there, but you have to pony up some more coin for those.  All the while, you are sitting on these POS cigars that you bought trying to find that diamond in the rough.

Luckily, I am beyond that phase to a degree, and had pretty much smoked, destroyed or gave away all of those that had been taking up space in the humidor for years, had yellowish brown cello and still were horrible.  I even sent some to my long lost cousin about 6 months ago, who was testing himself on cigars, I warned him!  Of course, I separated those from some mid grade and high end cigars so that he could see the difference.  2 weeks later, he txt'd me and said, you are right Cuz, that one set you sent me really suck!  I told him to pitch them, and work on the others I sent. of which the results were much better.

So, if you read this far into it without exiting out, you are probably wondering "WTF" is my point?  In a moment of weakness, I hit Cigar Page for some of those La Palina Classics and Red Label sales.  I really tried to like them, I smoked 1 today.  It was still as bad as when I bought them.  The moral of my story is:  I would rather smoke 1 GOOD cigar a day than smoke a bunch of Dog Rockets all day.  The lowest I can stoop these days, is maybe a Nica Ristica, Illusione Rothchild, Papas Fritas, etc.  You get what you pay for, and unless you can give me some good suggestions, I will never buy seconds, bundles or cheap shyt again.  

Thanks for letting me ramble

"The Curmudgeon"













appollo

I have only been smoking cigars for a little over 4 years but I am at the point were I go for quality over quanity.When I first started I tried the budget sticks but didn't know what I was missing till I smoked a few better ones.I smoke 2-4 sticks a week and I don't want to waste my time on a hot bitter cigar.

Hot Stuff x

#2
QuoteDonM - 1/27/2019  5:20 AM   The moral of my story is:  I would rather smoke 1 GOOD cigar a day than smoke a bunch of Dog Rockets all day.   


I absolutely agree.  I guess some guys just like having a stogie lit all the time, because i know a few guys that are always burning one, and they'll be smoking bundled cheapos throughout the day, and save the good stuff for when they have time to reflect and enjoy.  But personally I prefer to just skip the yard 'gars and hold out for the good stuff.  Easy for me as I only smoke a few cigars a week at most (even fewer in the wintertime).
LES
Guru of Morning Calm and Oriental Wisdom


_________________
"So I feel like I've cheated on a wife or long time lover... this is your damn fault Les, you sent me that first Tatuaje!!!!!!  You introduced us!!"  - Bob Cordell

"You got me started on both the Liberty and the Christian's Blend, Les. Now my kids won't be able to go to college." - Brlesq

bstessl

I'm still on the budget kick sometimes... Coat page has some decent "Nicaraguan Overruns" at $1.87 a stick or somewhere around there... They smoke and burn well, and don't taste like s**t.  They're not a $10 quality stick, but good to smoke on lunch at work, or when you're just looking for the yard gar.
Smoking cigarettes is a habit, smoking a cigar is an event. - Brad Paisley

junglepete

#4
Yes, to me they are worth it, depending of course, up to a certain point I suppose. Part of the hobby that I really enjoy is finding a cigar that I like at a good price, preferably in the 3-4 dollar range. It's like treasure hunting to me. Lately, the Oliva V Seconds were a great bargain on sale at under $3ea. and I could not tell the difference between the real thing and the seconds. Of course I have my stash of 1926 Padrons, Fuente Sharks, Comacho Liberties and the likes of and I certainly enjoy smoking them from time to time. I like finding and trying cigars that at one time, and at times still currently are/were being sold for an average of $10 or more and can be had for $4 and is quite a good smoke. Camacho Check Six comes to mind. And then there was the Camacho Liberty 2017 going for $15 a stick and I got them for $6 on sale. But then there is also the box of Palina Red Label 6x60 that I hit from cigarpage.com that I just did not like, and I gave it a fair shake as well. However, I did meet a guy that liked 6 x 60 cigars for smoking while on his riding mower so they became his and we were both happy. Most of the ratings here seem to be in the 3-4 star range, even some of the more expensive cigars too. The way I see it, a cigar that is one star better as far as enjoyment goes does not compute in my mind to cost 2,3,4,5,6 times as much. The pleasure of smoking it is just not 6 times better for me, the way I see it anyways. I smoke two cigars a day and don't linger too long about every taste and every nuance about every stick, I just enjoy good taste and good smoking pleasure time. I can certainly taste the difference between a $1 stick and a $3 stick, at least I think I can anyways, and thus no longer smoke the real cheap ones. I'm a big supporter of blind reviews, and I would suspect that even our ratings here would be quite different if all the reviews were blind. I would like to see all the Geek Critiques be blind reviews, with the inclusion of some cheaper sticks thrown in the mix from time to time. If I do end up with 50 cigars a year that no longer suit my taste, because some cigars we like at first and then we become bored with them or no longer like them, or they are just not that good from the get go, then I just donate them to the troops. I got the pleasure of the hunt and somebody else got the pleasure to smoke them, hopefully.  :-)
Guru of Frugality

"It is your decisions, not your conditions that shape your life."  ~Tony Robbins~

DonM

Pete, you may not have got my point completely.  I am not talking about a $10 cigar that you scored on a deal, I am referring to those deals on bundles or 2nds that are such a good deal it is hard to pass up @ 1 or 2 bucks a stick.  Then you get them only to find that they are rancid and not enjoyable.  Giving cigars away  that you bought then giving them away because they suck is not very frugal is it?

That is where the statement comes in that I would rather smoke one quality cigar in a day than smoke a few budget cigars that are not enjoyable.  I have not recently smoked a 2nd or budget cigar recently where I said to myself that it was a good stick

"The Curmudgeon"













bstessl

Smoking cigarettes is a habit, smoking a cigar is an event. - Brad Paisley

junglepete

I understood your question Don and I still say yes, they are worth it in my opinion. I still smoke Gilberto by Oliva for @2 a stick and A. Flores Capa Habano in the same price range, and 5 Vegas Gold as well. Giving away sticks to friends or donating them to the troops does not bother my frugal shopping in the least, one is not related to the other for me nor defeats my purpose and enjoyment of both frugal shopping and of sharing.  :-)
Guru of Frugality

"It is your decisions, not your conditions that shape your life."  ~Tony Robbins~

Cigary

One persons Budget STick is anothers mans "go to" cigar.  Having been a 45 year hobbyist tastes change and our taste buds change a lot.  There is always the "talk" as to what is considered a budget cigar and it's about our own opinion.....not a magazine opinion or the guy at a B&M in the corner lighting the wrong end of a cigar.  I grew tired decades ago as to how others throw opinions around as if they cornered the market as to what is good or what is not good ( except for Gurkhas....they're always sub par...lol )

I use to think that certain brands suck ....like CAO in early 2000 and came to find out that they didn't....they snuck up on me like the wind and are now a staple in my rotation.  Another big name cigar.....Diamond Crown is one I can't get behind even though I've tried and others have given to me to change my mind...it's like smoking a paper towel but that's fine as we are creatures of what we like.  I wish I didn't love Opus so much as it would have saved me a ton of money over the years.

biggsy16

I like a dog rocket walking the dog
Never done being a Dad

gitfiddl

I've bit on probably more than my share of budget sticks over the last ten or twelve years, although not so much these days.  Among all those I smoked looking for a diamond in the rough, only two stick out as being netter than what I paid.  The first would be the Manolo's Factory Overruns I used to get from CI back in 2008-ich.  They were out out Manual Quesada's Dominican factory and were a really good cigar.  They were something like $25/box of 20 or 25.  The other would be the Savoy Corona Grande maduros I bought from Holt's about the same time at about the same price.  There have been some others that I picked up in samplers that weren't too bad, but those two are the only two budget cigars I ever bought more of.
Self-appointed Guru of Pass Container Sizing,  All Things Midgetly Stripperish, and general "Stirrer of the Puddin'".

arrow34

QuoteCigary - 1/28/2019  11:41 AM

One persons Budget STick is anothers mans "go to" cigar.  Having been a 45 year hobbyist tastes change and our taste buds change a lot.  There is always the "talk" as to what is considered a budget cigar and it's about our own opinion.....not a magazine opinion or the guy at a B&M in the corner lighting the wrong end of a cigar.  I grew tired decades ago as to how others throw opinions around as if they cornered the market as to what is good or what is not good ( except for Gurkhas....they're always sub par...lol )

I use to think that certain brands suck ....like CAO in early 2000 and came to find out that they didn't....they snuck up on me like the wind and are now a staple in my rotation.  Another big name cigar.....Diamond Crown is one I can't get behind even though I've tried and others have given to me to change my mind...it's like smoking a paper towel but that's fine as we are creatures of what we like.  I wish I didn't love Opus so much as it would have saved me a ton of money over the years.


Well said!

Cfickter

Smoke what you like, like what you smoke
Good cigars can be had a the lower end and bad cigars at the higher end.  Find what you like, smoke it, enjoy tell others to piss off
Guru Master of the Minions

Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms should be a convenience store, not a department of our government!

Gunga galunga ... gunga, gunga-lagunga." - Carl Spackler

Education is important, cigars are importanter!

I like long walks, especially when they're taken by people who annoy me





wescat

#13
QuoteCfickter - 1/29/2019  3:04 PM

Smoke what you like, like what you smoke
Good cigars can be had a the lower end and bad cigars at the higher end.  Find what you like, smoke it, enjoy tell others to piss off
^^^This. Well put Chuck.

Hey Don, long time no talk to.

I agree with no longer being lured into buying dog rockets. Life is too short to waste any more time on that quest.

If your low end smokes are "Nica Rustica, Illusione Rothchild, Papas Fritas", you doing well in my book. Those are good smokes.

I am VERY value conscious. And no matter the price point, if I do not like the cigar, it is a bad value. I must like the taste, I must like the draw, I must like the construction, and I cannot hate the way it ashes. I regularly buy a box of Liberty's every year, at ~ $14/per. And there is a corona I recently discovered that I enjoy, at ~ $1.75/per. Cigar Page has Padron's for $5/per. They's lots of good smokes out there in the $3-$6 range.

You take good care dude, and enjoy the tobacco.
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DonM

Quotewescat - 1/30/2019  9:17 AM

QuoteCfickter - 1/29/2019  3:04 PM

Smoke what you like, like what you smoke
Good cigars can be had a the lower end and bad cigars at the higher end.  Find what you like, smoke it, enjoy tell others to piss off
^^^This. Well put Chuck.

Hey Don, long time no talk to.

I agree with no longer being lured into buying dog rockets. Life is too short to waste any more time on that quest.

If your low end smokes are "Nica Rustica, Illusione Rothchild, Papas Fritas", you doing well in my book. Those are good smokes.

I am VERY value conscious. And no matter the price point, if I do not like the cigar, it is a bad value. I must like the taste, I must like the draw, I must like the construction, and I cannot hate the way it ashes. I regularly buy a box of Liberty's every year, at ~ $14/per. And there is a corona I recently discovered that I enjoy, at ~ $1.75/per. Cigar Page has Padron's for $5/per. They's lots of good smokes out there in the $3-$6 range.

You take good care dude, and enjoy the tobacco.

Greetings Kevin!

That list was a short one of many cigars out there that do not break the bank.  Your points are spot on with the way I feel.  You can at times get a really nice cigar in the $3 - $6 price range with a little research.

You do the same Kevin



"The Curmudgeon"













Chefjohn

QuoteCfickter - 1/29/2019  4:04 PM

Smoke what you like, like what you smoke
Good cigars can be had a the lower end and bad cigars at the higher end.  Find what you like, smoke it, enjoy tell others to piss off

I like this Chuck. Well said and something I've come to learn as a rookie.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

Beegerply

#16
Wow Don I haven't seen Moki since the dog rocket pass LMAO. I still think I have a few from that pass, not sure why I'm saving them I might get desperate sometime. As for budget smokes I still like 5 Vegas cigars.  :biggrin:
Byron

Guru of small balls and big sticks
--------------------------------------------------

"If there are no cigars in heaven I shall not go" Mark Twain

arrow34

QuoteBeegerply - 1/30/2019  7:29 AM

Wow Don I haven't seen Moki since the dog rocket pass LMAO. I still think I have a few from that pass, not sure why I'm saving them I might get desperate sometime. As for budget smokes I still like 5 Vegas cigars.  :biggrin:

I still enjoy the 5 vegas A or anniversary.  I have a whole listing of budget(again my view of budget) smokes that I reach for occasionally and they are a good second or third cigar on a night out with my lounge group.  I never smoke a frontline smoke as a third cigar(unless drunk).  I know I cant taste what I really know I can by my third consecutive smoke.  But I don't feel bad about a good strong budget smoke as my third.


   
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