Quote:
Originally Posted by dwoodward
I have noticed something very interesting the last few months. As we collect cigars and catch deals, we sometimes get a little ahead of ourselves and end up buying a collector stash of some extremely small batch cigars. We end up holding on to these cigars to smoke at a very special time. The whole problem is that no time is special enough in our minds to justify smoking them. So we keep holding them. Waiting.
The smoking hobby has almost turned some people into collectors that would rather hold onto cigars than smoke them.
Prime example: (No mean to advertise outside the trade forums, just using as example)
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=35669
So many people just hording this special "cask" of cigars. Untouched cigars still in their factory state. Will they ever smoke them? Probably not...
I guess the real question I am here asking is, why do we horde cigars like these as if they have special meaning, like they are some mythical stick that you need to be a lottery winner to smoke. When it comes down to it, cigars are cigars. Cigars are made to be smoked. |
I'm the OP in the sale thread referenced. In my case, the answer is fairly straight forward: my tastes changed. I used to be a huge Gurkha whore, for example. Loved the Regent. It was my go-to stick. Over time, I became enamored with the kick in gut experience I got from cigars like Camacho, Taboo Special Forces and 601 Green Label. My tastes further evolved into the Tat & Pepin lines. The DPG Blue became my “everyday” smoke and I was all about the Tats with the exception of the White Label. Then I got shoved to the Dark Side. I fell hard for the Cubans, and in the last 18 months, I can count the number of NCs I’ve had on one hand. I sold off the vast majority of my NC stock – everything went save for those sticks where I still felt an emotional connection: a handful of DPG Blues, some San Cristobals, a few Padrons & Opus and my beloved Blacks. While I have an intact jar that I’m selling, I also have quite a few singles. If I get the urge to smoke a Tat Black, fear not, I will smoke one.
I don’t collect. What I buy, I plan to smoke. That’s not to say I don’t put a box or two away for long term aging, and who knows, if my tastes change again, I may sell those.
And I used to ascribe to the “special occasion” school of thought. However, I found I could not guarantee with absolute certainty that the cigar I was holding would match the occasion. I’ll use Davidoff as an example. I have a few on hand, and I used to reserve them only for the most special of occasions. The funny thing is, on more than one of those occasions, the cigar was off. It happens, and it underscored to me that my way of thinking might be a little “pie in the sky” because you never can tell.
Today, I have a few what I refer to as “occasion” cigars. These are from boxes whose box codes coincide with my kids’ birth years. I guess they’re quasi special event cigars, but in this case, it has more to do with the emotional value I place on the cigar because of its year than its flavor profile or rarity. The 1993 RASS I have, for example, holds more meaning to me than if I were to happen upon a 1492. I’m saving those RASS to mark milestone events in my oldest son’s life: turning 18, getting into the school of his choice, college graduation, etc. All my other cigars are up for grabs whenever the moment moves me.