What Price Is A Budget Cigar To You?

junglepete · 01/30/2019 09:37 AM

Thanks for the tip for getting this right Bruce!

Recent threads have touched on this subject. Where do you stand?

ninfiction · 01/30/2019 09:46 AM

Anything under $5 for me I guess. I don't smoke 3-4 cigars a day so what I consider a "budget cigar" skews higher probably.

Technically any cigar I buy, I have deemed to be in my budget, and is a budget cigar.

arrow34 · 01/30/2019 10:02 AM

I am with nonfiction - I tend to smoke only 1 a day or every other day or sometimes just on the weekends.

But 80% of the cigars I smoke are under $5, that is my cost, not what the cost of the cigar is in a store. I buy online and stock more then a few cigar lines like many others here. I try to keep my cost on each cigar under $5, but I do splurge on some that are $11-14. But like i said majority under $5. I would consider them bargains more than budget.

benchjockey · 01/30/2019 10:36 AM

For the purpose of this thread my thinking on buying falls into two categories.
The first is finding cigars I like at a bargain price, say $2-$3 under the normal price. This is where I do most of my buying.
The second is the budget sticks where I know I'm getting a decent smoke for somewhere in the $2.50-$4 range. These are good when my smoking time may be limited or my concentration is on something other than what I'm smoking. It's good to have a few of these around. It also builds my supply and is easy on my limited budget.

headfirst · 01/30/2019 10:45 AM

My answer to this has changed over time. When I first started I would've thought under $2. A couple years later I would've said $2-$3. Now that my mindset has shifted from valuing quantity vs cost to quality vs cost I can say under $5 is a "budget cigar". I'm a once a week smoker in general so like others it does make a difference that I'm not smoking 2-3/day, easier to afford a higher price point.

appollo · 01/30/2019 11:34 AM

Quoteheadfirst - 1/30/2019 12:45 PM

My answer to this has changed over time. When I first started I would've thought under $2. A couple years later I would've said $2-$3. Now that my mindset has shifted from valuing quantity vs cost to quality vs cost I can say under $5 is a "budget cigar". I'm a once a week smoker in general so like others it does make a difference that I'm not smoking 2-3/day, easier to afford a higher price point.

I agree with Gary on this,along with many others.I only smoke 2-3 a week so I fall into this category.

Murphy223 · 01/30/2019 11:59 AM

Quoteheadfirst - 1/30/2019 11:45 AM My answer to this has changed over time. When I first started I would’ve thought under $2. A couple years later I would’ve said $2-$3. Now that my mindset has shifted from valuing quantity vs cost to quality vs cost I can say under $5 is a “budget cigar”. I’m a once a week smoker in general so like others it does make a difference that I’m not smoking 2-3/day, easier to afford a higher price point.

Same here - I smoke 1-2 / week and because of that, I try to place more emphasis on quality. Still trying to find out what I truly like best but anything under $5 is reasonable IMO.

Brlesq · 01/30/2019 12:09 PM

Less than $5 for me, unless its from a local B&M here in NY, then its less than $9 (damned taxes!)

Cfickter · 01/30/2019 12:12 PM

Well I am usually 1 or 2 a day and 3 a day on the weekends. I looks for deals that I can buy a good cigar at a great price. Example is the La Palina Red or Black toros. You can get a bundle for $2 ea. on a good day, but I wouldn't spend $2 on a Gurkha .
I can then smoke one of these every now and then and not worry about smoking thru more expensive ones all the time.

junglepete · 01/30/2019 02:08 PM

A budget stick for me in in the $2-$3 range. I smoke two sticks a day. I smoke about 5 budget sticks a week and the rest vary between $3-$5...a couple of times a month I smoke something higher end, $5 and up.

gitfiddl · 01/30/2019 06:24 PM

I chose "Less than $5" based on everyday online retail prices. Like most folks, I shop for deals. For example, I recently bought a 10-pack of Sobremesa Short Torpedos for $50 from CI, roughly half-price. I wouldn't call them budget cigars, even though I only paid $5/stick. My "go-to" budget cigars like 5 Vegas usually sell for $4-5/stick, but I don't think I've ever paid more than $3/stick for them.

tuck0411 · 01/30/2019 06:39 PM

I buy mostly on C-bid and try to get the majority of my sticks for $2 or less, not counting shipping and tax. Am mostly successful, but I'll occasionally go higher for something better than average, say Perdomo or My Father. But when someone says "budget cigar", I think of the cheap samplers I started out with, like the "Cheap Churchill" sampler from Thompson, where I paid about $1.30 per stick. That's a budget cigar and I would humbly submit that an Oliva for $2 per stick is merely a really nice deal for a quality stick that happens to fit my budget quite well...

Koop · 01/30/2019 08:34 PM

I watch Cigar Monster daily and buy when I find a deal. My humidor is 60% Perdomo due to their consistency, but I'll buy others when I can get a deal. I pay retail at S&B stores when I want to try something different, but a sample of one is always a crapshoot. My cigars with discounted prices tend to run under $5.

wescat · 01/31/2019 09:27 AM

Under $4 is the "budget" zone for me.

What about this stick? It dips below $105, with the shipping that comes to $5.60/per, pretty good value: https://www.cigarbid.com/a/aj-fernandez-bellas-artes-maduro-cigars/3099833/

DonM · 01/31/2019 11:07 AM

I selected Under $5. With that said, anything under $3 is scrutinized, because chances are, it could fall into the serious dog rocket category where flavor and construction become an issue

Brlesq · 01/31/2019 03:17 PM

QuoteDonM - 1/31/2019 12:07 PM

I selected Under $5. With that said, anything under $3 is scrutinized, because chances are, it could fall into the serious dog rocket category where flavor and construction become an issue

You can still taste things at your age?

kuke · 01/31/2019 09:01 PM

I selected the less than 5..... but like some others here, I average about 1 cigar a week. So I generally go for cigars that are in the $10 range. But having said that, I've purchased many less expensive quality cigars such as the Illusione Rothschild. I've bought a couple of cabs of those.

Beegerply · 02/01/2019 07:07 AM

3 to 4 for me but not less

Vanilla Gorilla · 02/02/2019 10:16 AM

Being from Canada it's hard to find a decent cigar for less than $5. Anything less than 5...with very few/if any exceptions are trash and not even close to enjoyable. Our tobacco tax here is %56.6 of the taxable price of a cigar. So even a budget cigar to you guys is going to clear that $5 mark for us. For more information on our outrageous tobacco taxes please feel sorry for us by clicking the following link https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/tt/index.html