Wednesday, December 28 2011
By Robustojoe
Special Edition; Limitada; Reserva; Aniversario...when cigars have these titles, we know they are cigars of distinction; with one distinction being their high price. For example the "regular" Padron line sells in the $6 range, but if we want to sample the elite 80th Anniversary cigar, it will set us back a whopping $33! That’s more than five times the cost. Or take the Arturo Fuente line: $6 for their “regular” Sun Grown cigars vs. $79 for an Opus X "A"...ouch! That's thirteen times the cost! But are these cigars really worth the huge increase in price? Is this the only thing that makes them distinctive? Without breaking the bank I set out to see just how special these “special” cigars really were, and whether they were worth the extra expense. What I found was that this question had many answers and brought up some conflicting emotions.
Why are they "special?"
Unlike strawberries at the grocer, it's hard to tell the quality of a cigar by looking and squeezing. The best cigars are not plump and juicy, and only an expert can tell one tobacco leaf from the next. But we DO know a great cigar when we smoke one. Cigar aficionados quickly learn that price does not foreshadow quality. Yet all cigar companies offer cigars at myriad price points. Are the most expensive ones always the best? Many cigar companies offer ultra premium lines at ultra premium prices. Can these premium prices be justified? Let’s talk about:
Tobacco quality.
After cigar tobacco is grown, cured, and aged, the next important step in cigar making is leaf sorting...
Article continues at robustojoe.com
