Best "Short Filler" Cigar Ever?

[jgros001]

$6 for a short filler PC? No thanks. The list of cigars that cost the same or less than that are phenomenal, I don't need to overpay for the left overs of other cigars.

Let's see, Boli PC, Monte #4 and #5, Tons of Parti's, H Upmann PC, HDM LHDP/LHDM/Palmas/etc, ALL Por Larranaga's, tons of RyJ's, and even the Trinidad Reyes is the same price, and that's not even close to the entire list, nor even NC's. I might also add, those are all long filler, if that matters to you.

Yeah, the list of Cuban cigars in that size but long filler runs deep and in the 100-125 range for 25 count boxes. Basically this will need to be better than a Siglo I to justify. I'll keep an open mind though.

[xFreebirdx]

| Warning - Regard this post as biased as it was written by a guy who has a vested interest in it being successful. |


Pricing is a reflection of cost - and it costs a lot to make LP what it is - we have to buy an awful lot of tobacco to being able to sort out the exceptional leaf for LPs. Indexes are low, yields are low, labor is high, and so on. In short we spare absolutely no expense in making LP, not a single corner is knowingly cut, we simply could not spend more money to make a cigar.

Whether it is a good value for your wallet, well only you can decide that. And we understand it is too expensive for some and we understand that the cigar is not for everybody and that some people just don't like it for its taste. As I always say, "If you make a cigar everyone likes, you have made a cigar nobody loves..."

When it comes to the Papas Fritas, it is actually way way way more work to do what we are doing - nobody sorts their table trimming back into individual leaf variety and thickness to create a sandwich cigar - then hand cuts the filler even and then hand blends each one to a very exact standard. it is totally insane for a tripa corta, but it was the only way we could get the blend consistently tasting and burning the way we wanted it. And well it is LP, so it is only right that we do our upmost to make it the absolute best possible.

The issue is the "short filler". By it's very nature, it has a very negative connotation and rightfully so. Most short fill cigars are crap. Most short fill cigars are filled with scrap tobacco that can't be used in a good cigar. Short fill is synonymous with machine made cigars. Etc., etc..

But that isn't the case here, we are only using exceptional tobacco that happens to be the table trimmings from the manufacture of LP. We are going through painstaking efforts to prep the leaf and to get the blend right. We are using Grade 7 pairs to make the cigars. We spent a year working to get this right... actually longer because we were sharing the first samples right after last year's IPCPR with a few folks and we already were two to three months into this project.

This is totally different short filler than any other anyone has ever created and smoked, myself included. And the truth is, if we didn't tell anyone they were tripa corta, it is doubtful most would ever know because they smoke excellent and even hold a decent ash. I get about 35 - 40 minutes of smoke out it - this is a cigar you will want to nub. But that would go against our ethos of being authentic, so even knowing it is likely to hurt sales and would mean we would have to get over the negative perception of being "short filler", we are fully disclosing it because it is what it is.

There are a ton of $6 - $8 long filler coronas and short coronas in the market place and I believe you will find the Papas Fritas more than holds its own with any of them.

But ultimately, it may be a total flop, it may be a concept that no one is willing to try or like regardless of how it tastes. I hope that isn't the case because being able to make and sell Papas Fritas will help to maintain or at least slow the long term costs of making the other LPs which has gone up dramatically over the last couple of years (another longwinded conversation - sigh). On the opposite side of the coin, I think PF are actually good enough they could put a real hurt on Dirty Rat sales... it tastes different, but it is in that real peppery, spicy wheelhouse with a good hit of nicotine that I can see the Dirty Rat smoker really digging these...

All I can hope is people will try it and hope they see the merit in it that I do.

If not, we will stop making them - it won't be the my first dumb idea, nor my last. :>

BR,

Steve Saka
President, Drew Estate

I hear you Jfire - fwiw, whether you are paying for it in the original cigar or not depends on the factory, the cigar in question and how the factory can utilize the table cuts.

Up until now, all the LP trimmings have been expensed to Liga Privada as we had no reasonable way to cash recover their costs in any meaningful way. As costs have been going up dramatically making LPs, mostly from our having to buy so much more tobacco that nets us a lesser than reasonable yield of uber-premium LP worthy leaf in our attempt to meet demand, our coming up with Papas Fritas is a way for us to try to slow the increasing cost curve that will not sacrifice the quality of the primary product.

Fwiw, we position head filler in the bunch in a special way so as to reduce the bits of tobacco that enter the mouth because we don't like that either - it is another thing that makes this tripa corta different. However, it you really chew on it you are likely to still get some.

In the end, I honestly don't know if this will be a good idea or whether it will become a viable seller. The handmade cigar business is a crazy business and while I would like to believe that when Lew Rothman said I "probably got a better grasp of the industry on the whole than anyone else I know" is true, I know in my heart that there is more that I don't know than I do know.

However, I do believe that JD and myself (and really everyone at DE) always do our best to always be straightforward and sincere when we talk to our fellow cigar smokers both online and in person.

I gotta stop looking at this thread and go get some work done - thanks guys.

BR,

Steve

The ways things are in this day in age......I'll be happy to try them just for the honesty in these posts.

Thank You Steve for being so upfront with your endeavors. ;)


.

[Nemo]

[QUOTE=xFreebirdx;1117711]

| Warning - Regard this post as biased as it was written by a guy who has a vested interest in it being successful. |



The ways things are in this day in age......I'll be happy to try them just for the honesty in these posts.

Thank You Steve for being so upfront with your endeavors. ;).

This is one of the big reasons why I'm a huge fan of DE.

[MICSTOGIE]

Any pics on what the tin will look like? These sound like a great smoke. I'll be in for a tin.

[tedp]

I will buy a tin, then smoke and decide if it's worth it.

^^^^^
This! If they turn out like the Tat P, then I'll move onto the next experiment!

[thedismaltrade]

Can't wait. I'm in!

[Scroni]

a P.C. Liga Privada (even though it's a short filler)??!!? I'll be keeping a eye out for these! Anyone know when they're supposedly hitting stores?

[JayD]

Probably September is what I heard

[whodeeni]

Liga @ $6? Hell ya. A good smoke is a good smoke in my book, and I've never met a Liga I didn't like. Excites for this.

Same thing was said when the Tat P series came out, "half priced Tats, hell yeah!". Then I smoked one....

ROTFLMAO!!! Oh Man! I tell you what Steve, I'm going to buy one and smoke it just to see what it's like but I don't
see myself buying these going forward. Why did you guys opt for the tins versus using paper like you do with the
ratzilla's and UF4's?

[SDShark]

Will give these a shot since I love all the other Unicos.

[calgon]

. Why did you guys opt for the tins versus using paper like you do with the
ratzilla's and UF4's?

My guess is that these need a bit more marketing. People hear short filler and may be on the fence. But if they put them in a shiny little box people get excited. DE could put the ratzilla's and UF4's in an old shoe box and they would still sell.

[lilninjabuddy]

$6 for a short filler PC? No thanks. The list of cigars that cost the same or less than that are phenomenal, I don't need to overpay for the left overs of other cigars.

Yeah, the list of Cuban cigars in that size but long filler runs deep and in the 100-125 range for 25 count boxes.

I get that there are a ton of great cigars in this price point. But do any of them have the Liga profile? What I'm getting at is that sure Cubans are fantastic. Sure, other cigars that are cheaper are fantastic. But, they don't taste like a Liga Privada.

As I said earlier, some people will walk way from the stick at $6 because it's just not a "good deal" in their eyes. Others will say, "Well, I want that Liga Privada flavor. I don't care if it's not as great a value."

Some people buy cheap cars because they're a better value. Some people buy more expensive cars, even if the parts aren't necessarily better, because the cheap car's styling doesn't appeal to their personal taste as well, so they'll fork over more money for something that does.

Neither is right or wrong, it's just a difference in priorities.

[ssaka]

Shiny packaging, price point, name of the brand, whatever the story may be even it is 100% true will not matter...

Ultimately people will smoke it and decide for themselves if it is worth $6 of their hard earned money.

I am 100% certain that some people will think it is, while others will think it is not. :>

BR,

Steve Saka
President, Drew Estate

[Gravity]

$6 for a short filler PC? No thanks. The list of cigars that cost the same or less than that are phenomenal, I don't need to overpay for the left overs of other cigars.

Yeah, the list of Cuban cigars in that size but long filler runs deep and in the 100-125 range for 25 count boxes.

I get that there are a ton of great cigars in this price point. But do any of them have the Liga profile? What I'm getting at is that sure Cubans are fantastic. Sure, other cigars that are cheaper are fantastic. But, they don't taste like a Liga Privada.

As I said earlier, some people will walk way from the stick at $6 because it's just not a "good deal" in their eyes. Others will say, "Well, I want that Liga Privada flavor. I don't care if it's not as great a value."

Some people buy cheap cars because they're a better value. Some people buy more expensive cars, even if the parts aren't necessarily better, because the cheap car's styling doesn't appeal to their personal taste as well, so they'll fork over more money for something that does.

Neither is right or wrong, it's just a difference in priorities.

That's why there are so many different cigars on the market, each one will tickle a different persons fancy. One thing I will say though, the cigars I posted aren't lesser cigars by any means, even when compared to this guys bigger brothers.

I personally couldn't pay new car prices for a car stitched together with the parts from other cars, especially if the car maker admits those parts won't quite stay together as well as their other models. Just because a kit car is made with Lamborghini parts, doesn't mean it will perform like a Lamborghini.

[TravelingJ]

That's why there are so many different cigars on the market, each one will tickle a different persons fancy. One thing I will say though, the cigars I posted aren't lesser cigars by any means, even when compared to this guys bigger brothers.

They aren't lesser, but they are a whole lot more illegal.