A premium or super-premium cigar is a cigar made by hand and should be consistent from one cigar to the next. A premium or super-premium cigar is 100% tobacco, and each stage of the cigar's creation is controlled by humans. And, keep in mind, some of the best cigars are not the most expensive.
I read once, that another variety of "premium" cigar is what is sometimes referred to as the "super premium." (Usually super-priced, too). These cigars are genuinely a cut-above the average premium because they are made with specially selected tobaccos and higher grade wrappers (the most expensive part of the cigar).
Super premiums also tend to have been aged longer which enhances the taste and complexity of the cigar. Brands which are touted as super-premiums include such labels as Cohiba (Red Dot), Avo, Montecristo, Davidoff, Punch Gran Cru Reserva, Partagas Black Label, Fuente Don Carlos and Don Tomas Dominican Selection.
I also once read, that the the president of one of the largest manufacturers of fine cigars said he doesn’t smoke even his own super-premiums. "Too expensive for too little difference in performance," he opined.
There are only so many cigar makers, and most roll cigars under a lot of brand names, both nationally-advertised and private-label. In many cases, a super-premium, a private-label, and a "second" are the same, identical cigars, all off the same rolling table! The lowly second is relegated to lower status ... and a lower shelf in the retailer’s humidor ... but, often it’s merely because of an irregularity in the leaf color, a rain spot or two, or perhaps an errant vein that gives a snaggy edge to the leaf in one spot.
There's an immense cartload of psychological and sociological baggage associated with cigars. They're the big status symbol, like BMWs in the '80's. Whoopee. Buying $7 to $15 specimens may impress friends and clients, but tens of thousands of veteran smokers of premium cigars ... as well as the guys in the industry ... know the price often belies the performance. The fact is, many times the unremarkable cigars, the ones you must bend over to see on a lower shelf at the tobacconist’s, outperform the stars ...
Until aficionados gain a knowledge base, they’ll swallow the advertising hyperbole that "the more expensive, the better."
Prestige is nice, if you can afford it. But for us mere mortals, what we save by smart shopping buys us more cigars, better cigars, or maybe that two hundred-passenger humidor we're drooling over. To me, prestige is handing a delicious cigar to a friend and watching his face when he learns it cost a third of his prized specimen.
One last thought: Too often, we smoke expensive cigars to the death, because they cost so much we’re determined to get our money’s worth. Doesn’t it make more sense to buy two good cigars that cost half as much and only smoke them to the midpoint, quitting before they turn on us like a Doberman going for his master’s throat?
