When shopping for cigars online, which are your favorites to order from and why?
Online Cigars
- Thread starter crawdad
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If you want to buy cigars at full price, backed up by excellent customer service, Smoking Pipes is the way to go. I use them to buy premium cigars which never go on sale/never available on auction. For example Padron. I also use them to try single sticks.
If you want to buy deeply discounted cigars, I buy them mostly in auction from Cigar Bids. I have got fantastic prices on Monte Christo, premium offerings from Oliva, Cohiba, etc. The problem with auction though - If you get competitive then you can pay more than retail.
I have also used JR for samplers, discounted cigars, auctions as well. Cigar Bid has a wider selection, but potentially more shipping than JR
If you want to buy deeply discounted cigars, I buy them mostly in auction from Cigar Bids. I have got fantastic prices on Monte Christo, premium offerings from Oliva, Cohiba, etc. The problem with auction though - If you get competitive then you can pay more than retail.
I have also used JR for samplers, discounted cigars, auctions as well. Cigar Bid has a wider selection, but potentially more shipping than JR
-Smoking Pipes is great for trying singles and well worth support as a site sponsor
-Holt's has some great deals in their weekly sales.
- You can score some excellent deals on Cigar Auctioneer, though shipping is a bit expensive. You'll want to have an idea of what a cigar actually goes for around the internet (instead of the listed MSRP) as it is possible to pay more than you should, as @cshubhra mentioned.
-Atlantic Cigar is another favorite. Great selection, good prices.
-I've recently been turned on to Cigar Page by another member here and they have some nice deals as well. Haven't ordered enough to fully vouch for them yet, but so far so good. I like that shipping is included in their prices.
-Holt's has some great deals in their weekly sales.
- You can score some excellent deals on Cigar Auctioneer, though shipping is a bit expensive. You'll want to have an idea of what a cigar actually goes for around the internet (instead of the listed MSRP) as it is possible to pay more than you should, as @cshubhra mentioned.
-Atlantic Cigar is another favorite. Great selection, good prices.
-I've recently been turned on to Cigar Page by another member here and they have some nice deals as well. Haven't ordered enough to fully vouch for them yet, but so far so good. I like that shipping is included in their prices.
Atlantic is where I procure singles to try, as well as larger orders. Their selection is immense and their shipping is careful. They also have limited vitolas of popular marques, which is nice. (Neptune is also good for singles.)
Cigar Page has excellent prices and free shipping, but their shipping has no humidification, and their blend info is frequently inaccurate.
Small Batch is pricey but the most careful and conscientious shipper -- they also have daily discounts. Good if you're buying a box and want to make sure it's been treated well.
Cigar Internat'l occasionally has good deals on things that only they seem to carry, like the Man O War Puro Authentico. Good if you can stand the onslaught of e-mails that will flood your inbox.
Cigar Page has excellent prices and free shipping, but their shipping has no humidification, and their blend info is frequently inaccurate.
Small Batch is pricey but the most careful and conscientious shipper -- they also have daily discounts. Good if you're buying a box and want to make sure it's been treated well.
Cigar Internat'l occasionally has good deals on things that only they seem to carry, like the Man O War Puro Authentico. Good if you can stand the onslaught of e-mails that will flood your inbox.
Interesting thread. I often price cigars and get a catalog from Cigar International, but if I buy anything, it is pipe tobacco. Twenty or more smokes for what would be one or two cigars, and more control over the smoke.
I'd love to order from Small Batch, but since they're based in California, and I'm based in California, they have to charge me California tobacco taxes which renders them non-competitive on price. But I love their site and selection so much, it might be worth signing up for one of those address service/re-mailing things and get myself a Nevada address!
Cigarauctioneer I hesitate to mention, if only because their prices are currently the best in the blends I enjoy & I don't want you folks sniping my winning bids. Even after factoring tax & shipping, they come in lower than Atlantic Cigar, which is probably my next favorite. I've had issues with quality from Cigars International (over humidified & customer service sometimes lacking).
As for overseas, there are several great vendors and scores of lackluster ones, though I hesitate to name either. I will say that on occasion, the Swiss & HK based vendors will have great deals on non cuban brands like Davidoff, AVO & even Fuente from time to time. As for the Havanas, unfortunately there have been significant price increases as of late that are pushing many favorite blends out of the realm of what I consider reasonable.
As for overseas, there are several great vendors and scores of lackluster ones, though I hesitate to name either. I will say that on occasion, the Swiss & HK based vendors will have great deals on non cuban brands like Davidoff, AVO & even Fuente from time to time. As for the Havanas, unfortunately there have been significant price increases as of late that are pushing many favorite blends out of the realm of what I consider reasonable.
On stuff in stock and not subject to MAP (minimum advertised price ) restrictions or other exclusions that would have been illegal price fixing a few decades ago, it is hard to beat JR when they have a site wide discount code going. Right now, HOT25 gets you 25% off. Shipping is a flat 7.95, but you can join their JR Plus and get free shipping for a year for $59.95, and the $25% discount works for that, too. Oh, they have pipe tobacco, also. Others have complained about backorders and shipping issues, but the very few problems I have ever had since I started ordering from them circa 1972 have been quickly and favorably resolved.
So, as a frequent buyer from Cigar Page I've always lamented their lack of humidity-control with shipped cigars, but I deal with it because their prices are so good and their shipping is fast. Until yesterday, that is, when to my surprise and delight they sent an actual Boveda pack (62 rH, which I thought was an interesting choice) with my 5-er of Alec Bradley Tempus coronas. At last they've seen the light, I thought! Unfortunately, they never zipped shut the plastic bag that held the cigars and Boveda, so the latter had assumed the approximate consistency of slate. But it's the thought that counts, right? Must be a learning curve.
Last I read the Cuban cigar industry had been
crippled by "process improvements" dictated by Castro trying to milk the boom for a maximum return. 200 years of expertise acquired by the Cuban cigar worker discarded. Only 2 or 3 brands were allowed to continue making cigars that were the finest they could make.
Moreover, the layers of trust that need be navigated to obtain Cubans in today's circumstances are ridiculous. I was told by pm by a member on a forum who thought I should know of a vendor in Hong Kong who dealt in non-counterfeit cigars. So I have to trust the member. Then I have to trust that whoever the vendor gets the cigars from is legitimate. Now I don't know the board member, the vendor nor the vendor's supplier. But there's one more level. The supplier has to trust his contact who works in the factory. So that's three or four levels of trust depending on how you add them. I won't meet any of these people. Unacceptable.
And have you ever read of what Cuban smokers go through to authenticate that the cigars they bought are genuine? There's a dozen or so marks including the date stamp, etc., on the box, and they change. So they not only have to find the mark and ascertain that it is correct but also the date range when it was used in that manner.
Counterfeiting Cubans is big business.
This was a circus that I learned to avoid when I smoked cigars, and it was made all the more easy to given that fine cigars are made in various locales. Maybe Cubans are better, but to me they weren't worth the trouble.
crippled by "process improvements" dictated by Castro trying to milk the boom for a maximum return. 200 years of expertise acquired by the Cuban cigar worker discarded. Only 2 or 3 brands were allowed to continue making cigars that were the finest they could make.
Moreover, the layers of trust that need be navigated to obtain Cubans in today's circumstances are ridiculous. I was told by pm by a member on a forum who thought I should know of a vendor in Hong Kong who dealt in non-counterfeit cigars. So I have to trust the member. Then I have to trust that whoever the vendor gets the cigars from is legitimate. Now I don't know the board member, the vendor nor the vendor's supplier. But there's one more level. The supplier has to trust his contact who works in the factory. So that's three or four levels of trust depending on how you add them. I won't meet any of these people. Unacceptable.
And have you ever read of what Cuban smokers go through to authenticate that the cigars they bought are genuine? There's a dozen or so marks including the date stamp, etc., on the box, and they change. So they not only have to find the mark and ascertain that it is correct but also the date range when it was used in that manner.
Counterfeiting Cubans is big business.
This was a circus that I learned to avoid when I smoked cigars, and it was made all the more easy to given that fine cigars are made in various locales. Maybe Cubans are better, but to me they weren't worth the trouble.
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I think that's a bit overstated. For one thing, all boxes come with seals and UPCs that you can verify on the Habanos SA web site. I'm sure it could be gamed, but if everything else is in order and the cigars line up with what you've had from a known legit source like a Casa Del Habano store, I think you can be pretty confident.
Secondly, it depends on the marca. If you buy Cohiba or Montecristo, there are more efforts made at counterfeiting those cigars. But I highly doubt anyone is counterfeiting, say, Por Larranaga Montecarlos or Upmann Majestics.
Selling genuine Cuban cigars is also big business. Everyone's gotta make up their own minds, but I love the occassional Cuban.
Secondly, it depends on the marca. If you buy Cohiba or Montecristo, there are more efforts made at counterfeiting those cigars. But I highly doubt anyone is counterfeiting, say, Por Larranaga Montecarlos or Upmann Majestics.
Selling genuine Cuban cigars is also big business. Everyone's gotta make up their own minds, but I love the occassional Cuban.
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