Hey AJL67, Quick Question

[cigrmaster]

I was reading one of your posts on a thread and you made mention of the Habanos Massacre. What is that about? I have been out of the cigar game for over a decade and could still come up with 8 or more vendors who shipped to the sates.

I ended up my cigar career with 6 letters from customs seizing my Cuban cigars. I of course never argued as my vendors covered my losses. What kind of massacre and if you need some names for the vendors I had great relationships with, let me know I would be glad to help.

 

[AJL67]

I was reading one of your posts on a thread and you made mention of the Habanos Massacre. What is that about? I have been out of the cigar game for over a decade and could still come up with 8 or more vendors who shipped to the sates.

I ended up my cigar career with 6 letters from customs seizing my Cuban cigars. I of course never argued as my vendors covered my losses. What kind of massacre and if you need some names for the vendors I had great relationships with, let me know I would be glad to help.

Sorry don’t know how i missed this, the price massacre is what i was referring to, the insane price increases across the board where fresh boxes of CoLas are now $2500 and that’s gray market vendors.

i still have my first customs letter, i framed it, rite of passage!

 

[onepyrotec]

Sorry don’t know how i missed this, the price massacre is what i was referring to, the insane price increases across the board where fresh boxes of CoLas are now $2500 and that’s gray market vendors.

i still have my first customs letter, i framed it, rite of passage!

Prices are at the point I am smoking what I have and not purchasing anymore.

I feel sort of left out of the club. I have been purchasing Havana cigars since 1988 or '89 and have yet to receive a customs letter.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Prices are at the point I am smoking what I have and not purchasing anymore.

I feel sort of left out of the club. I have been purchasing Havana cigars since 1988 or '89 and have yet to receive a customs letter.

I can send you one of mine if you want.

 

[cigrmaster]

I am so glad I am out of cigars. The flavors cannot compare to pipe tobacco and the cost factor is ridiculous. After I toured thee Cohiba factory I switched up to the Trididad Fundadores for my Lanero as they were rolled great and tasted great and for 292.00 out of purosexpress in Spain the price was untouchable. This was before the Euro and the Spanish Pesetas was 181 to a US dollar. Trini's were 336 in Cuba and only 292 in SPain. There were many other examples of this but I cannot remember. One I remember were the Cohiba Siglo III's for 177.00 a box of 25. Sigo 4's were also under 200.00.

 

[kcghost]

Somehow I always flew under the customs radar.

 

[mso489]

I think many start cigars because, although it could be twenty or thirty USD a stick for some, or more, that doesn't seem to be that much of an investment, until you start smoking three or four a day, and buying by the box or more. Then the reality kicks in. This year, I'm smoking one small cigar ("dog walker") at the first of each month, and that's it, with another five pack in the locker. But the pipe is better, more variety, potential for home mixes, more control over the experience in general, and much less prohibitive expense.

A tin of premium pipe tobacco that gives around twenty smokes costs about what one primo cigar costs.

 

[cigrmaster]

Somehow I always flew under the customs radar.

Considering I had a few years in a row where I was spending 20- 25K a year and getting in tons of boxes from all over the world. I think only 6 letters was pretty good.

 

[Searock Fan]

A quick cigar story. There used to be a pipe/ tobacco/cigar store in this city. The owner was one of the most money hungry persons I ever met. His theory was that if people would pay X amount for something they would pay a little more. In keeping with this, every time he got in new product he would price it a little higher. Now, because the was so greedy he had a nice underground side line of selling illegal Cuban cigars and the used the same tactic in pricing them. Finally, one of his well healed Cuban customers got tired of being gouged and ratted him out to the feds. They seized all the Cubans from the back room of his store and searched his home where they found even more. I have it on good authority from someone in the know that they took about a hundred grand worth of cigars. There's a moral in there somewhere.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

A quick cigar story. There used to be a pipe/ tobacco/cigar store in this city. The owner was one of the most money hungry persons I ever met. His theory was that if people would pay X amount for something they would pay a little more. In keeping with this, every time he got in new product he would price it a little higher. Now, because the was so greedy he had a nice underground side line of selling illegal Cuban cigars and the used the same tactic in pricing them. Finally, one of his well healed Cuban customers got tired of being gouged and ratted him out to the feds. They seized all the Cubans from the back room of his store and searched his home where they found even more. I have it on good authority from someone in the know that they took about a hundred grand worth of cigars. There's a moral in there somewhere.

The saying/moral in my line of work is: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.