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I have a college project that I am working on and would like some feedback from the group.

I have three questions which I would like to get personal opinions. I am in search of novice and experienced opinions. Therefore, regardless of your experience please let me hear your opinion. It does matter to me.

Background: In recent times Hollywood and many famous people have glamorized cigar smoking.

1. What is the intrigue and attraction of the tobacco leaf?

2. What constitutes a good or great cigar?

3. What should you expect to pay for a premium cigar?

Thank you all in advance for any feedback that you provide.

_________________
Regards,

B

I'll give it a whirl. You can put me in the upper novice category....since most of the guys and gals here can smoke when and where they like. And do so with more frequency than I. Plus, I've only been steadily into cigars for less than 6 years and have only a few pitiful humidors.

1. Attraction to the leaf:
At the surface is an image thing. Macho for men, daring and intriguing for women. Deeper, on a personal level, you get the addictive buzz from a near raw tobacco product. It is a legal buzz and a legal addiction similar to snuff or chewing tobacco. Cigarettes are available to the masses. Anyone with $30 can have enough smokes for a week. Cigars on the other hand aren't a commodity that can last as long for the money spent. Individually more expensive and rare than almost all cigarettes, they impart a sense of taking part in something old, rare and (formerly) reserved to those with a lot of money or during a special event.

2. Good cigar:
A good cigar is one which immediately you begin to enjoy the moment you take your first puff. The burn is even so you don't have to mess with it. The cigar stays lit even if you forget to puff for a while (which you shouldn't with a true good cigar). And it tastes good throughout the burn. It should burn for a long time. I think finally, it is one which people near you, who aren't smoking, compliment the aroma. Pipe smokers get this more than cigar smokers, but I have had a few compliments on aroma from non smokers. Some poorer cigars really stink.

3. $$
A "premium" cigar is an ambiguous label. Many cigars are rolled at the best factories, constructed with the best leaves and aged wrappers by the best rollers and may be bought (on this site) for a buck a piece.

Others from this same category might be marketed, named, touted, had several thousand dollars pumped into C.A.'s bank account to get the coveted 90 plus rating and sell for $18 a stick. (But don't taste any better than your dollar stick).

A good, well known cigar favored by many on this site as their favorite regular smoke will probably average $5 to $10 a stick on retail (outside California) $3-$7 here on this site or other discount places.

Your average Walgreens bundle run .25 cents to .75 cents a stick. Machine rolled, short filled probably from a mega plant in Tampa.

As a fellow College student I will help ya out.

1) Attraction to the leaf?

To me it is all about the look and feel of a cigar at first. To see my cigar and realize that it was made by someones hand is a big attraction. To know that someone put all of his skill and care into my smoking pleasure. The smell is definitely alluring too. Nothing better than removing a cigar from my humidor and smelling it. Sampling what it will soon give forth.

2) What makes a good cigar?

For me it is a total package. Look, feel, smell and taste. As I get enjoyment out of all of these things if a cigar posesses ALL of them then I know I have had a great cigar. The most important thing though is taste. Cigars, like fine wines, impart different flavors in different brands. Some are mild and creamy and some are strong and spicy. I have been smoking for about 10 years and as happens, with most if not all cigar smokers, we evolve to more and more full flavored smokes. My tastes also very depending on time of day. I don't want a kick in the head cigar first thing so I keep many milder blends on hand. To sum this up...Look, feel, smell and taste make a great cigar.

3) What would you expect to pay for a good cigar?

This question is almost impossible to answer. If I don't like a 15 dollar cigar then I wouldn't want to pay even one dollar for it. If I absolutely love a cigar I found for .80 cents then it to me is a GREAT cigar. Price means nothing in the cigar world. More expensive does not mean better on the whole. Cheap does not mean a horrible cigar. Price is irrelevant.
I typically pay between 2 and 4 dollars for most of my smokes.

PadronMan

1. What is the intrigue and attraction of the tobacco leaf?

For me its an opportunity to pause. Its not glamorous per se, its more of a reason to stop the life around us. To enhance the moment in time with a pause. To contemplate nothing else but where you are at that moment in time, and the cigar in your hand. That pause is such a luxury in life, that it is associated with the well off, the rich, the elite.


2. What constitutes a good or great cigar?

The combination of taste, age, and where it happens to be smoked. This totals its perceived value.


3. What should you expect to pay for a premium cigar?

The cost of the moment in time, or money spent, it is that of a luxuray item, which is never cheap. I have smoked a dollar cigar, and a $35 cigar, it is the surrounding in which we happen to pause, that sets the value.

Cheers,
PT

Yeah, what's the most you ever spent on cigars? I bought a box of Opus X double coronas at auction (for the children!) for $635... 29 stix in the box, that was 21.90 a stick. I have bought more expensive individual sticks and won't be buying a box of Opus again anytime soon! That was last spring. Smith, you got some you ba$tard! :-) I know you liked them.

What Pete and Padron said too. You can't beat the "pause", the anticipation, or the feel. Looks like we have all had the same moment.

1. Attraction and intrigue with "the leaf".
Enhancement of the moment - I light up when I want to, where I want to. Because I want to take wherever I am at that moment and turn it into a more relaxing, enjoyable time. That may be after dinner, on my deck in the summer, by the campfire, after a business dinner or lunch, and in the vehicle traveling. When I light up I am "large and in charge" and my wife recognizes the mood, as do my children and my co-workers when we are out and about. When I light up after a business dinner, it's a signal to my staff that I'm about to hold court. My kids know the same signal. My wife sees the stress of work melt from me after a couple of puffs on a good smoke. So cigars are an important part of my life, ranking up there with food, socializing, relaxation.

2. What makes a good cigar: It starts with the smell pre-light, and the heft (I prefer larger ring cigars). I like a label with some character, as well. The amount of tobacco in the stick and the relative humidity affects the heft and odor, as does the age. The color is uniform, the leaves have some physical character. The cigar lights easy, burns evenly, and the more snow-white the ash, the better I like it. I like one that starts with a kick, then relaxes slightly to a body that you can feel in your stomach and head as the smoke progresses. Lots of billowing smoke, easy draw, stays lit, and you can smoke it to a tiny nub without it getting tarry or bitter.

3. I pay what they are worth to me, not what the manufacturer thinks they're worth. Thus I happily pay retail for a Hemingway Classic, would be willing to pay twice what I pay for Padrons, and won't pay half of what they want for some other "super premiums" that I have tried and found thoroughly "average."

1. What is the intrigue and attraction of the tobacco leaf?

To be brutally honest, we're drug fiends. We don't like to think about in those terms but there it is. But it's much more than that. We love our cigars like a wine connoisseur loves wine. We think a primo cigar is a thing of beauty. We admire the construction, color, shape, aroma, the band, even the box it comes in. And that's before we even light it. And we love to feel superior to cigarette smokers who smoke compulsively with little appreciation of the experience. We get a kick out of living in a state of denial about the health risks--gives us a living on the edge kinda feeling.

2. What constitutes a good or great cigar?

Flavor and nicotine buzz. A cigar can provide either, neither or both. A good cigar has both. Good construction is essential--if it's plugged you won't enjoy the flavor or the buzz. It must have been stored properly, dried out or damp cigars don't smoke well. Next, look to things like shape, color, smooth wrapper. These are nice but non-essential. Better to have a wrinkled, ugly cigar that has smokes well than a beautiful cigar that don't.

3. What should you expect to pay for a premium cigar?

Varies a lot and depends where you buy and what you consider premium. At the smoke shops in Washington state around $8 and up. At CBid $2 and up. Sometimes $1 sticks are decent.