Cigars by the Pound

[deluxestogie]

Cigars by the Pound

I just received these. They are from JRCigars Dutch Auctions. In a Dutch auction, the item (say a bundle of cigars) is typically offered as a lot of 20 bundles. You bid what you will pay per item, but can specify any number—1 bundle or up to 20 bundles. While some lots in the Dutch Auction completely sell out by the end of the auction, many sell only a few bundles, and the rest just languish.

For these Rosa Cuba 6 x 60 mixed-filler cigars, I placed my bid for two of the bundles. At the close, only 15 of the 20 available had been sold.

I refuse to pay a vassal tribute or hostage ransom to any company, just for the privilege of spending my money there. (i.e. I am not a "member" or a "prime" anything.) These two bundles cost me $31.50 for the cigars, tax and shipping. So these cigars cost me $14 per pound. Usual JR Price is $43.15 per bundle of 20. The MSRP is delusional.

• Are they great cigars?: no
• Are they crummy smokes?: no
• Are they enjoyable?: definitely yes.

The wrapper is Ecuador Sumatra, and the binder is from Nicaragua.

In general, factory made, mixed filler cigars (short filler), exhibit poor quality control, which is evident in uneven draw (some are unsmokable) and uneven burn. But my home-rolled short filler cigars always, always have an excellent draw and a decent burn. The issue comes down to Lieberman bunchers being fed too much filler for the mold size. At home, when I roll short filler cigars, I can feel how much traction the binder/wrapper should apply to the filler, to assure a decent draw. I simply do not use a cigar mold for these.

My secret to happily purchasing a couple of pounds of cheapo mixed filler cigars is to go for the larger ring size. A minimum of 50 seems to do the trick. A 60 ring is nearly foolproof. The binder tensile strength required to compress a cigar to a particular density increases rapidly as the ring gauge increases. At 60, binders simply split open, if they are required to compress the filler to a density that is no longer smokable.

[By the same logic, I find home-rolling a very thin cigar that draws well to be far more challenging than rolling a fat cigar.]

These fat cigars cost me (total real cost) just under 79 cents each, with no labor.

Cigar snobs can always apply a beautiful, expensive wrapper to these 79 cent cigars. Nobody will know!

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

This rather nice robusto (4¼ x 52) began its life as a JR Alternative Excalibur Emperor (8½ x 52). These are routinely priced at $62.80 for a bundle of 20. I purchased the bundle in a JR auction for $27.42.

Since I am not man enough to smoke such a gargantuan cigar, I set my tuck cutter for a length of 4¼", then simply cut the cigar in half, always smoking the foot half first, since the head end is capped and glued.

Although the quality control of JR Alternatives has diminished (after the company was purchased by a marketeering conglomerate), and some of their JR Alternative cigars are no longer well-made, the larger the ring gauge, the greater the probability that the cigar will draw well. This bundle has so far drawn perfectly (especially after being chopped in half!).

Cutting these oversized hunkers in half, means that each 4¼-inch "rubusto" cost me less than 69 cents.

Bob

 

[willgodwin]

Also, that has to be one of the nicest looking tuck cutters I have seen!

 

[deluxestogie]

Thank you. That lovely tuck cutter was a gift to me from Don about 8 years ago.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

$21.51 per bundle

These JR Cuban Alternative Punch Churchills appeared in the JR Dutch auction last week. I purchased 3 bundles of 20 each.

About ¾ pound per bundle. So, $28.68 per pound of quality, long-filler cigars.

The wrapper color (difficult to capture in the flash photo) is a medium EMS. The construction is excellent, as is the burn. Flavor and aroma are lovely. Even if I include taxes, shipping, and the other taxes, they still came to less than $1.50 per stick.

You can roll your own from purchased whole leaf for about $1.20 per stick, plus some effort. Rolling from home-grown leaf knocks it down to maybe $0.35 per stick, plus a ton of labor. [Of course, once you start growing your own, then "supply chain" becomes just a curious news topic.]

Bob

EDIT: One of the disadvantages of purchased cigars is that they are often individually wrapped in cellophane, and like the tag on a newly purchased hat, sport an aggressively attached cigar band that must be carefully removed. Since today, anybody can easily counterfeit a cigar band, they no longer assure authenticity, and have become meaningless to the smoker.

 

[waikikigun]

I need to either bookmark this or memorize the phrase "cigars by the pound." This is great info, thanks for sharing it. Last time I bought any JR Alternatives (~15 years?) they sucked, but those weren't dark habano, which I think is easier to make a passing stick with.

 

[deluxestogie]

JR Alternatives (~15 years?) they sucked

The different Alternatives vary in quality. In general, the so-called Cuban Alternatives seem to be more flavorful, with a broader flavor profile, though I avoid those that claim to mimic actual Cuban cigar brands that are well known for being ferociously strong (e.g. Por Larrañaga). Some of the Cuban Alternatives that were excellent in the past have occasionally disappointed me. The darker EMS seem to balance better than the very dark Maduro versions. It's always a gamble, though the odds are far more in your favor than with any lottery.

Another treasure trove at JR is their Consuegra cigars, which are actual seconds of the Honduran brands (Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, etc.). But only some of them are reliably excellent, directly reflecting the lines offered by those manufacturers. When I can find them on sale, or at auction, I look for #9 (Rothschild), #25 (double corona), #30 (robusto), #72 (robusto Zavala), #73 (principale). With these, my preference is for the Maduro or (Double Maduro) Oscuro. The other numbers are seconds of the factory's second-rate cigars (e.g. Governors, Sultans, Superiore, Silver bundles, etc.). I've never tried the #84 (Pyramid).

Bob

EDIT: There used to be some other Consuegras available, such as seconds of Flor de A. Allones, but they seem to have vanished. One other note on the Alternatives, the Alternatives to JR Ultimates seem to have a high chance of being excellent.