A: The main things that make that cigar $25 are, number one, the taxes, then the bands, packaging, certainly, the cost of the tobacco, especially the wrapper, the labor, shipping costs, etc. It may also be the “prestige” factor. For example, the La Palina cigar I sampled at a “coming out” party in NYC a few months ago tasted every bit as good as many $5 cigars I’ve had. Yet, because it was made by Graycliff Cigars, it retails for $19. To its credit, however, the cigar was quite a smoke and has received glowing reviews. Just looking at it you could immediately tell everything about it was top-drawer from the dark, oily wrapper to the rich-tasting longfillers, to the handsome band.
Fact is, some cigars are targeted only to the “luxury class cigar” consumer. Other examples include Davidoff cigars, Prometheus God of Fire cigars, Ashton ESG 20 Year cigars, Macanudo Vintage 2000 cigars, et. al. Of course, the one thing they have in common is they use only the highest quality and most fully-aged ingredients. Go figure. But there’s something to be said for treating yourself to one of these fine cigars every so often.
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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Living in Australia there’s a extremely high duty applied to tobacco products. I just bought 15 cigars online from the States. I had to pay currency conversion, shipping, customs duty, and a goods and services tax.
That’s what costs too much and makes it expensive – not the cigar itself..
The cigars ended up being AUD$45 a piece.
A little less than buying them from a local Australian bricks and mortar store, which has an extremely limited selection due to such low demand these days…